Chain Gang All Stars

Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the two biggest stars on BattleGround. Peerless warriors on the field, tender lovers off it — they are at the white hot centre of a massive media empire. They're also prisoners who fight to the death to gain their own freedom while entertaining the masses.

We've seen countless variations on this theme onscreen, so all credit to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for keeping our interest. We expect the corporate branding on the prisoners clothes and body, we're hardly surprised by the 24/7 coverage on and off the field, we expect the ravenous crowds screaming for blood and developing para-social relationships with people they would otherwise cross the street to avoid. But Adjei-Brenyah can script a bloody spectacle that puts you in the seats of the spectators and suddenly you might find yourself just as caught up in the world, just as complicit as the rest of the rabid fans.

There's an interesting thread with a wife of a super-fan, initially sickened by the bloody display on the field and ethically opposed to everything about the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE) program that so captures her husband's interest. Initially a conscientious objector, we see her getting wrapped up in the drama that takes place off the field, invested in the relationship between Thurwar and Staxxx. Slowly she too comes around to the gladiatorial combat.

The activists protesting this barbaric spectacle are, perhaps aptly, a nuisance to the main story. Barely there, weakly gesturing at the inhumanity of the whole endeavour, backed up by the multiple footnotes that link the story to our world, to the current realities of America's carceral system. But their cries for justice and compassion are drowned out in the excited roar of the bloodthirsty crowds eager to see who will end up dead or “Low Freed” this time out.

The objections are clumsy and awkward and while appropriate, they kept jolting me out of the story and could hardly mount a credible defence against the pure momentum of the rest of the story. It felt off balance as a result.