YOUARENOWHERE, Performance Space 122, Arts House, North Melbourne, Melbourne Festival, Monday October 19th 2015

YOUARENOWHERE, Performance Space 122, Arts House, North Melbourne, Melbourne Festival, Monday October 19th 2015

I have written two versions of this review:  one with spoilers for myself and THIS ONE is published without the spoilers.

"YOUARENOWHERE" is presented by New York's Performance Space 122 in conjunction with Arts House, North Melbourne and the Melbourne Festival.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre.  So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.

Wow what a way to spend Monday October 19th 2015!

I have written two versions of my review.  This one for public release is minus my spoilers.  The second version will be printed and stored with my programme.

This is my interpretation of what I saw in this sensational show called "YOUARENOWHERE" by Andrew Schneider and a superb team of collaborators/co-creators.

We were so lucky to have seen the last performance of "YOUARENOWHERE".  The Melbourne Festival can have its hits and misses and this show was certainly up there as one of the most memorable for this 2015 festival.  I am so glad that we took a chance when buying tickets with our package a few months earlier.

The doors opened at about 6.28 and we knew the show would not start on time.  What is new?  As no show we have attended the Melbourne Festival since 1986 has started on time.  We had bets on what time it would begin which was in keeping with the time travelling theme of the show.  We thought the show began at about 6.42 pm.  Well by my watch anyway!  MMMMM!? Or was it the past? Or the future of that time zone?  MMMM!

When entering the theatre I tripped on something which was a cushion.  For safety reasons there should have been an usher with a torch making patrons aware of a potential obstacle.  The theatre filled very quickly and the usher was struggling to locate vacant seats for those who could not sit on the cushions in the front row.  Two young people offered their seats to a smartly dressed couple who could sit on the floor mats in their attire.

Upon entering the theatre two people held long black hanging straps to be kept out of the way of the audience entering the theatre, and for safety reasons.  There was a stark white floor with a white background and black walls on either end of the staging area.  A rectangular shape hangs centre stage at about head height for a tall person.

Black out.  The show begins.  The harsh lighting presents the stark white stage.  Black out and the lights come up again and a man appears.  This repeats a few times with the man appearing and disappearing.  Is he there or not?  Did we really see him?  An instant contract is made with the audience to allow us to immediately enter the genre of theatre.

Andrew Schneider lies on the ground after one of the black out moments.  This reminded me of the repeating tripping sequence from Jenny Kemp's "Black Sequin Dress" performed at the Playbox Malthouse Theatre.  Here we are reminded of the time shifting blur between memory and reality.

He looks into the hanging rectangle which could be a mirror.  At times he seems to go through the mirror as if time shifting.   He talks about time and what is now or the past or the future.  We are spinning with time options.  Are we seeing the beginning, the end or the middle?

The sound of his voice is sampled and repeated.  His voice is scrambled.  Is it happening live?

He speaks to a crew as if giving directions when the lights or sound appear to muck up.  Could it be errors or directions?  It all blurs and you are taken on an incredible journey.

He sings a song into a microphone.  He has a lovely melodious voice.  I can't remember the song he sang now which frustrates the hell out of me.  I remembered at the time and loved the lyrics.  Did I really hear him sing?

Later he offers a lady sitting on the floor mat a CD and asks her to select a track.  The sound changes rapidly between many genres of music.  He is playing with us as if we are on a roller coaster ride, and our seats are our only safety device to protect us.

There is a huge blast of colour lighting change which is in total contrast to the black and white.

There is a duet with a man who presents a monologue on a screen.  He says the same monologue in unison with the man on the screen.  Sometimes the screen voice fades out,  The vocal unison is brilliantly executed.  He even mirrors the gestures and facial expressions of the on-screen image.

A train speeds across the large white backdrop.  At times it looks like it is in mirror image and other times it looks as if the same images are horizontally duplicated.  It blurs and your mind is spinning with this journey.  My partner could not tell me for sure as our realities are now divided.

He appears to lecture the audience about a missed opportunity.  There is a man and woman and he questions whether they saw each other as the train went through a station.  What do you see first - that which is forward or backward?  We saw a documentary on this similar story on television in 2014.  It also reminded us of a train and body scene from an Agatha Christie movie.

At no time was I  bored during this brilliant show which was so intriguing and yet there was more to come.

SPOILERS here have been deleted on purpose!

"YOUARENOWHERE"is one of the moments in time that you want to remember like I was three years old when JFK got shot and I remember the crying. Or Princess Diana died a day after my youngest brother died.  These are unforgettable events and this show is one that I want to talk to people about and yet I do not want to spoil it.

Make sure you see it when it comes to a theatre near you.

I adored the change of perspective.  It was as if our reality was being challenged, but the steak knives were yet to come!

We were then invited to change seats to get a new perspective.  I have seen this done before with a dance performance and more recently on Broadway with the final scenes in "Rocky - the musical".    (You may wish to read my review of  "Rocky the musical" that as I am still in awe at how they staged that final section.  It was amazing to watch the major staging of how security and stage management moved hundreds of people onto the stage as they flew in the boxing ring to cover the front rows of the Wintergarden Theatre.

The AA meeting sequence with the twelve steps where his voice is reversed and replayed.  But does he say some of this live too?  Boy we are really blurring what happened.

There are discussions about physics and time curving and Einstein's theory of relativity etc.  So much science that I do not pretend to understand.

I could not work out why the words in the title all joined together.  Thank you to The Age reviewer, Cameron Woodhead who pointed out that the title could be interpreted as either "You are nowhere" or "You are now here" on Saturday October 17th 2015.  I am glad I did not read his review until afterwards as it would have given me some hints and reduced the my head spinning during this show.

Near death experience:  Yes I nearly died in 1998 in a work accident and the opening sequence reminded me of some aspects of that memory.  Flashes and drifting in and out.

Ending with a light globe falling from the ceiling.  Or was the beginning action that caused his nosebleed.  He did not have the nosebleed at the start of the show. Whereas in a promotional video of "YOUARENOWHERE" he did have the nosebleed at the beginning of the show.   But was that the start of the show? He steps on the globe as he exits and it shatters.

He comes forward at least twice to tell us "This is the end" - once in blackout and then once in full light to repeat "This really is the end".  This ending reminded me of the Melbourne Festival 2014 show "Since I Suppose" by "One Step at a Time Like This" that concluded in a similar way in this exact same space twelve months ago.

After the show two young people swept up the shattered globe.   Did this just happen?  Or have we been watching a show for an hour?  What a great journey and all without alcohol or drugs!

It was delightful that there were no mobile phone incidents during the show.  An usher did make an announcement prior to entry for people to turn off their phones prior to entry as they could interfere with the equipment.  Mind you two people near us only turned their phones off at the last minute.

Andrew Schneider is a talented artist who is compelling to watch.  He has a great body, a rich melodious voice and is a terrific mover.  More so, he is a great story teller who takes us on a wonderful mind blowing journey.  I have seen many great artists perform and he is certainly in one of my favourite shows ever.  I cannot wait to see more of his works.

Congratulations on a brilliant show that finally pushed some of my boundaries with some simple and effective staging devices.   After seeing so many wonderful types of theatre over 49 years "YOUARENOWEHRE" is so far (as of October 21st 2015), my highlight of this year's Melbourne Festival.

Thank you to Josephine Ridge and the Melbourne Festival team for bringing Andrew Schneider with "YOUARENOWHERE".

This was sensational festival fare and gets 8.5/10.

Bronx Gothic, Arts House, Melbourne Festival, Sunday October 11th 2015

Bronx Gothic, Arts House, Melbourne Festival, Sunday October 11th 2015

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre.  So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.

"Bronx Gothic" was originally produced by Performance Space 122 from New York and was presented at the Arts House in North Melbourne for the Melbourne Festival.

The first thing that hits you as you walk past the billowing white curtains entering the theatre is the heat.  It is oppressively hot.  The second thing that hits you is the stale and rancid stench.  The third is a woman, Okwui Okpokwasili dancing in the far corner of the stage with her back to the audience. We were allowed into the theatre at about 4.50 pm for the 5.00 pm performance.  A lady in the front row of three rows has to leave and get water.  I can barely breath.  Is this a part of the show?  If so, it is like "1984" with the smell-o-vision.  People were trying to get comfortable and at about 4.58pm the air conditioning sounded as if it had been turned on.  I wanted to vomit and fanned myself.

The performer Okwui Okpokwasili continued to dance with her back to the audience.  The corridor lights went down outside the white billowing curtains as the music changed slightly.  To me this was the beginning of the show as prior to this was context setting and a warm up.

Well Okwui Okpokwasili continued to dance until 5.15 and the music changed again.  The audience were getting tired of this.  I think we got the point!  The sound scape changed again slightly and this continued until 5.20 pm.  Yes I was clock watching as it was so uncomfortable.  She was so physically fit to be gyrating and pulsating for what was now half an hour.  She was wet and glowing with sweat.

Maybe this long prelude was to introduce us to the theme of the show.  Maybe the smell was a coincidence.  The dancing and sweat was like a combination of an African tribal dance, sexual ritual, a trance, self absorbed and a tantric orgasm.

Many audience members were intrigued with where this dance was going.  Some people were very uncomfortable with the length of this introduction.  In hindsight I think this would have been more powerful had it been for half the length of time.  Less is more.

Okwui Okpokwasili is a brilliant story teller and introduces us to her letters that she has rewritten from memory.  She reads from these letters and embellishes upon their contents.  The letters are discarded just like rape victims can be physically discarded.  The throwing away of these letters makes the story more poignant that no one will ever be able to erase horrific memories.

A rape dance sequence was repeated about three times where she assumed various poses of sexual exploitation: on all fours, rolling over, legs up etc.  This was more effective than the opening sequence as it was succinct and ultra specific in its choreographic intention.  Her facial expressions added to her body being exploited.

The set comprised of thirteen upturned lamps with their cellophane still on the lampshades.  The largest lamp had its cupid like stand broken in two.  Was this the object that she picked up and broke? It did not matter as the lamps were used to light the stage in varying intensities.

Some of the sections of "Bronx Gothic" reminded me of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" that I saw in 1976 at The Comedy Theatre. I even have the script and the original cast recording. The difference was that Okwui Okpokwasili performed as a soloist using her rich voice and brilliant physicality to bring multiple characters to life.  The other difference was that I had tears rolling down my face with some of the stories in "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf"  while with "Bronx Gothic" I felt empathy but did not have as deep theatrical connection to the characters.

The limited humour heightened the drama by giving us some relief.  This intensifies the drama and our attention.  Various stories and memories unfold.  There was a large group of school girls in the audience and they reminded me that was about their age when I saw "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf".

Close to the end of the show, the middle aged woman in front of me just had to check her phone for messages during a poignant moment.  How rude of her.  I was hoping for a performance distraction free of "twanking" mobile phone addicts. Sadly not.

Overall "Bronx Gothic" was a challenging show for the wrong reasons due to the oppressive environment.

I gave this performance a 7/10. My partner gave it a 4/10.