I must admit, this is a show I felt a little trepidatious about - the synopsis available in the publicity was vague about plot, talking more about how it looked at the heritage of a home in Bungendore, and using the term "multidisciplinary theatre work", which sounds awfully like an academic term for "self-indulgent wank". With director Kate Walder mentioning her qualifications from Ecole Phillipe Gaulier in her bio, my brain immediately turned to Zoe Coombs Marr's show "Dave: Trigger Warning", which spoofed a certain type of uberfrench mime to brutal perfection.
In this case, though, "multidisciplinary theatre work" means "a collage using bits of mime, dance, comedy, and drama in a gorgeous impressionistic look at history and time", using three skilled performers in a show that is astonishingly beautiful to see. There's not really a strong central narrative, but this is not a show that is about telling a story so much as showing a feeling.
Performers Kate Walder, Damien Warren-Smith, and Poppy Lynch create moments of connection, comedy and deep emotion as they explore simple things like daily household tasks in the late 1800s, unconventional surgery, a surprisingly fertile expanding family, a montage going through the 60s-80s eras with musical backgrounds like "Have you Ever Seen the Rain", "Space Oddity", and "Boys Light Up". There's blithe romantic shuffles, pratfalls, surprises, and cosmic beauty throughout.
John Shortis' score is beautiful, romantic and yearning, giving the show an air almost of a silent movie, with the score reinforcing the emotions of what we see on stage. Stephanie Howe's extraordinarily adaptable set and costumes cover several eras and configurations wonderfully, filling the Q space in ways I've not seen before, assisted by Benjamin Brockman's tight and well-focussed lighting design, and Claire Hennesy's sound design, mixing music and recorded personal history in intriguing manners.
This is innovative, cutting-edge theatre unlike much you've ever seen before, and it should be approached with a receptive mind and an eye for something spectacular and beautiful. It's also a show that is a nightmare to criticise in words because it's utterly theatre - any attempt to describe it in words is only going to diminish and pin down something that is elusive and beautiful. But it's definitely recommended, it's worth your dollars.
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