Diva - Creative Collaborations (28 October 2015)

Warning: contains strong language, drug and sexual references.

There’s no denying any of that.

There’s also no denying the fact that this is a searing psychological profile with no less than a full-throated performance by Tiffany Barton. She completely inhabits the character of June, a former New York opera singer now stricken at the thought of leaving her apartment. 

Barton is fearless in exploring all the complexities of this larger than life diva; from the grotesque to the outrageous; the flat out funny to the poignant; often with devastating self-reflection. It’s in your face, immediate and compelling. What a joy to witness an actress not only embrace but trumpet all the jagged little edges, contradictions, hopes and fears of a character so thoroughly. June is, in part, based on a real person so this bleeds with authenticity.

The show literally jumps out at you and at first I was taken aback. There’s a certain shock value as we initially meet June but various story strands slowly emerge in this meticulously crafted monologue. Two great love affairs come to the fore – one with June’s husband Manny; the other with the opera and performance itself. The discovery that one largely destroys the other adds to a sense of pathos. But make no mistake; there is a fierce determination here to enjoy all that life has to offer, with every lump and Tosca inspired orgasm!

Underpinning this is June’s relationship with her father who will abandon the young girl and be absent through key moments of her life. Then there’s the reason why June can’t leave her apartment that is potent in its understated recounting. It will resonate with any artist who aspires to greatness.

All these strands are woven together amidst moments of manic energy as June dresses up, sings along to her beloved opera, laments the effect of age on her looks, consumes pills hidden in a teapot, and happily submits to the attention of ‘Mr Buzzy’, a formidable looking vibrator. Tellingly though, it’s the quieter moments that pack the biggest wallop – Barton and director Helen Doig aren’t afraid to let us observe June who becomes increasingly bizarre in appearance. Those moments of stillness and sense of vulnerability are quite special.

There are two clever devices to allow the character to ‘perform’ and share her memories – one, improbably, is a stuffed cat called Eugene, smothered to death by a drunken June; the other, an ingenious puppet of Manny made of cardboard boxes and rollers. Again, having Barton ‘impersonate’ Manny, become the innocent child who misses her Daddy, or admonish her dead cat allows for changes in rhythm and pace that keep this unpredictable and enthralling.

The simple telephone injects a note of dread as a symbol of the outside world (and the past) that June seemingly craves to reconnect with but is paralysed at the very thought of. Indeed, audio cues are an important component from the strains of opera to amusingly salacious lyrics to prompts to snap June in and out of moments of self-reflection.

This is a well written, well directed and beautifully crafted piece of theatre with a memorable performance that sponsored a most interesting discussion afterwards in the lobby. Highly recommended.

Diva was written by and stars Tiffany Barton and is directed by Helen Doig with puppets, set and costumes created by Cherie Hewson and sound by Max Porotto. Perfectly suited to the intimate black box theatre upstairs at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in Fremantle, it runs until 1 November as part of the Fremantle Festival.

The List - Fragmented Artists (27 January 2015)

I didn’t lay a finger on her. I didn’t hire anyone to sneak in and murder her. And yet it’s as if I killed her.

The opening lines of this one woman performance that immediately grab your attention. But this is no remorseful Antonio Salieri, rather a Canadian housewife lost in guilt in a small village in Quebec. The ‘her’ in question is a friendly neighbour who died after giving birth to her fifth child. The woman, played by Gemma Cavoli in a tour de force performance, then recounts their friendship and the events that are the cause of that guilt, all the while composing To Do lists, themselves complicit in her fragile emotional state.

This is a combination of wonderful writing (the original French text by Jennifer Tremblay translated into English by Shelley Tepperman) and impressive acting from Cavoli. She inhabits multiple characters including young children and even grandparents with such an expressive face and great skill that by the time the story comes to its devastating conclusion you are totally immersed in this wintry microcosm. There is a real connection between actor and audience enhanced by the intimate setting at The Guild Studio.

The lists themselves and the ritual of making them are a barometer of the woman’s emotional wellbeing. They give solace and certainty in routine but ultimately are the very thing that proves the woman’s undoing. There is a rhythm in their construction, like a metronome, and when things get out of whack that metronome oscillates out of control as the woman becomes more frantic. But in making the lists has she overlooked the very essence of what makes a friendship, a marriage, a life really work?

There is such attention to detail here in the descriptions of this woman’s day-to-day life, her thoughts, her reactions, the sense of isolation and emotional decay. The story unfolds with great skill as we are drawn more and more into this relationship between the woman and her neighbour. Gentle humour is used throughout and many of the situations will be instantly familiar from managing a ‘brood of children’ to trying to make friends in a new place to those craved for moments alone to indulge yourself away from parenthood and responsibilities if but briefly. Sprinkle this with a poetic sensibility to the language being used and there is an honesty and insight that is compelling.

Director Suzanne Ingelbrecht allows Cavoli to make full use of the small performance space and she takes full advantage, roaming across the stage. The set itself is simple with a desk, coat stand and a small child’s chair. A note pad on the desk takes on increasing significance. On the back wall are white curtains where ‘windows’ are projected and there is lovely use of lighting to convey different moods and to denote change of setting.  

  

This really is a wonderful piece of theatre and a quite demanding monologue that has so many textures and hues. Cavoli is outstanding and received well deserved applause with many people staying behind with one main question to ask – how long did it take you to learn all those lines? That she did and delivered them so expertly is a testament to her skill.

The List, tucked away in The Guild Studio in East Perth, may not be in the hubbub of the Cultural Centre or Pleasure Gardens but it is definitely worth the effort to discover as a gem of this year’s Fringe World. It runs until 1 February and bookings can be made here.