RAT RAT RAT

Old Operating Theatre

★★★

“visually compelling, often funny, and full of promise”

Presented by EggGen and Selene Mingyue Hu, RAT RAT RAT is a site-specific movement and puppetry work staged at the Old Operating Theatre Museum, one of Europe’s oldest surviving surgical theatres. The venue is not merely a backdrop. Before the performance begins, the audience has time to explore the museum’s displays of medical history, surgical tools and anatomical memory. By the time we enter the performance space, the atmosphere has already prepared us for something unsettling. The standing arrangement also alters the act of viewing: we are not simply watching a show, but are placed inside a historical site of observation, discipline and pain.

The work opens with a gentle wash of light and music. Three oversized rats appear, dressed in ballet-like costumes: soft, fluffy, oddly adorable, and immediately comic. The opening classroom sequence is one of the most visually successful sections. A teacher-rat leads from the front, while the two rat-students follow in a triangular formation. The choreography, developed by movement director Jonathan Layton, gives each rat a distinct personality. One particularly clumsy, awkward rat becomes the comic centre of the piece, its failed attempts at discipline producing some of the evening’s strongest humour.

There is also a striking visual intelligence in the candlelit reading scene. As the rats gather around small lamps, the combination of lighting, Freya Yuejie Li’s costumes and vintage props creates a painterly atmosphere, almost reminiscent of Rembrandt or other old master interiors. The rats reading under lamplight are genuinely funny: one appears absorbed in study, while another struggles with the very idea of reading. These small physical details successfully build character.

Where the piece becomes less certain is in its tonal and dramaturgical development. According to the press material, RAT RAT RAT draws from histories of animal experimentation and the atrocities of Unit 731 during the Second World War, asking how violence becomes normalized through systems, routines, instructions, and the language of necessity or scientific progress. This is a powerful premise. Yet in the current version, the connection between the comic rat-school and the later surgical sequence is not fully resolved.

When one rat is forced towards the audience, stripped, and placed on the operating table, the atmosphere should sharpen into horror. Instead, the moment unfolds too naturally, almost too smoothly. The potential climax of bodily violence needs more dramatic pressure, not necessarily through gore, but through rhythm, sound, stillness and escalation.

As a work-in-progress, RAT RAT RAT has significant potential. Its puppetry, costumes and site-specific concept are strong, and its mixture of cuteness, oddness and dark comedy is distinctive. But the piece now needs to decide its central mode: is it a homage to brutal theatre, or a satirical fable about institutional violence? With sharper dramaturgy and a clearer tonal spine, RAT RAT RAT could become a genuinely unsettling and memorable work. At present, it is visually compelling, often funny, and full of promise — but still in search of its final bite.

RAT RAT RAT

Old Operating Theatre

Reviewed on 14th June 2026

by Portia Yuran Li

Photography by Alyssa Tianai Zhou

RAT RAT RAT

★★★★★

“Rosen proves that magnificent theatre requires no grand spectacle”

A burst of disco lights and roaring cheers is hardly a traditional literary curtain-raiser. Yet, as Michael Rosen takes the stage for Nice!, the energy crackles with the familiarity of a joyous reunion. The setting is stripped bare—just an armchair, a small table, and a screen—but in Rosen’s hands, this sparse canvas conjures entirely new worlds. He begins with a rolling wave of hellos, sweeping the stalls and upper circles, instantly dismantling the invisible wall between performer and audience.

What follows is a masterclass in pacing, unfolding with conversational grace. Rosen glides seamlessly from self-mockery about the endless “Rose versus Rosen” mix-ups to musings on his favourite foods. He then reveals the mechanics of his craft, demonstrating how the rhythmic pounding of a run translates into poetry in his head. His legendary physicality transforms simple anecdotes into vivid theatre. He even leads the house through a nine-word story exercise, subtly planting seeds of creative writing in hundreds of minds at once.

The brilliance lies in balancing poignant lyricism with uproarious comedy. A collective hush falls during a sublime rhythm poem—moving from a hand feeling the shudder of a train to the deeply moving “hand on your life, feel the rhyme of time.” Yet, in a heartbeat, wistfulness dissolves into the raucous, call-and-response joy of dog rhythms. The theatre rings with laughter as the audience eagerly matches his couplets, unwittingly absorbing poetic structure through sheer delight.

For lifelong fans, the repertoire is a treasure chest. The breakdown of Dad Knows Everything—centred on the immortal baked potato incident—brilliantly isolates that universal childhood epiphany when parents are suddenly proven fallible. Yet, Rosen isn’t frozen in nostalgia. He gleefully leans into his status as a modern internet icon, playfully referencing his viral meme fame and the universally recognised ‘Nice’ grandpa in Chinatown. It proves his charm organically crosses cultural boundaries.

The climax is undoubtedly Chocolate Cake. Here, the marriage of Rosen’s physical comedy and subtle screen animations achieve flawless theatricality. Miming the creaky wooden box and agonising over stray crumbs, he doesn’t just act; he resurrects the precise, guilty psychology of childhood temptation. We follow this with wildly imaginative detours—claiming to be a 3,000-year-old Stone Age survivor, and leading the house in a breathless standoff against a notoriously strict teacher.

When the house lights rise for a Q&A, the space is thick with the raised hands of eager children. Rosen treats every question with respect, cleverly guiding the conversation back to his books.

Billed for “the young to the young at heart,” Nice! proves this with its sprawling demographic. The gentle architect of countless childhoods, Rosen proves that magnificent theatre requires no grand spectacle—just a generous heart, a sharp wit, and a voice making us feel profoundly understood

Tag Archives: Portia Yuran Li

RAT RAT RAT

★★★

Old Operating Theatre

RAT RAT RAT

Old Operating Theatre

★★★

“visually compelling, often funny, and full of promise”