Complexity of Belonging, Southbank Theatre, The Sumner Theatre, Friday 24th October 2014

Complexity of Belonging, Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, Friday 24th October 2014

For those new to my blog, I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre and I do not repeat the story as in many traditional theatre reviews.

"Complexity of Belonging" was presented as part of the Melbourne Theatre Company subscription season at the Southbank Theatre - The Sumner.  This was also presented as a joint project as part of the Melbourne Festival, the Brisbane Festival and Chunky Move.

"Complexity of Belonging" is described as a project by Falk Richter and Anouk Van Dijk.  I have seen some of their previous works including "Hedda Gabler" and "An Enemy of the People" both of which I enjoyed. 

Wow what a show!  "Complexity of Belonging" is true festival fare of the highest order and deserves to tour the international festival circuits.

"Complexity of Belonging" began with a prologue as the actors bring out props to prepare the show.  This is a ritual of taking ownership and belonging to the show.  During this prologue, at least four audience members were on their phones taking photographs even though there was an announcement in the foyer.  I wish the ushers were more vigilant as I would have thought it was a breach of copyright.

Technically "Complexity of Belonging" began at 8.03pm which is not too bad.

"Complexity of Belonging" is about relationships with others, to the land and to Australia. It is a research project for an installation.  It is a project within a project. Both Karen Sibbing and Eloise Mignon's characters are doing research and take many notes.

Each performer had defined roles and carried these throughout the entire show.  The performers would take it in turns to highlight their story.  These varied from tragic, desperate, funny, poignant, racist, brothers, gay etc.  They touched on so many issues relating to the sense of belonging.

A complex work about what it means to belong in Australia.  "Complexity of Belonging" is like art within art.  The final image is of a group of statues as if they represent the stories we have heard and seen earlier.  In the art gallery pose there is so much respect and homage to the people's stories that we hear through the performance.

It does not matter to me that there is not a Muslim story represented in this show as one critic wrote.   There are so many religions, races and issues that are not introduced here.   I think the critic missed the point.  Other examples that were not shown included the viewpoint of a farmer, traditional housewife, child's, or a disabled persons etc.  This show creates powerful images of what it means to belong in Australia.

If anything I thought there was not enough emphasis on sport and being a "bloke" or a man in Australia.  There was not enough about political correctness, bullying and the cotton wool generation.  There was not enough about the older generation and what it meant to them for generations to assimilate.  The voice of the stories was younger than I thought. We were not shown a full range of viewpoints.  But - you know what!  I don't care, as "Complexity of Belonging" was about raising the complex issues of belonging in Australia and creates room for discussion.

The cinemascope cyclorama looks like a football scoreboard/screen.  This is used so effectively to transmit images from portable cameras to this screen.  As a scoreboard we could be measuring the score of what it means to belong.  The central image of the scoreboard/screen was foremost in our minds with many images being projected.  The performers climb this structure and hide as if hiding behind the shelter sheds and having their initiation to sex, or they try to climb higher in order to determine who is belonging more.  I loved these images.

The dance was great for most of the time.  Anouk Van Dijk's choreography is frenetic at times.  Wonderful images were created to counter point or provide a backdrop to scenes. There were two main instances of unison dance that were not in unison.  Also the canon effect of falling off the sofa chairs was out of time by the lady second from upstage.  She needs to prepare and anticipate her moves to keep the canon image fluid.

Alya Manzart is such a fine dancer.  Eloise Mignon is a fine actress that has a gawkiness to her role.
Josh Price, Karen Sibbing and Tara Soh are all fine performers.  Joel Bray played the boyfriend with sincerity and a genuine concern to try to understand his boyfriend played by Josh Price.

The powerful image of the bearded actor, Josh Price explaining the five options to his boyfriend Joel Bray who has climbed to the top and back of the screen. Joel Bray's head appears small and highlights the enormous projected image of his "bullet point" boyfriend.  This was a terrific image of the various degrees of power in a relationship.

I love the needy boyfriend played by Stephen Phillips  who has a Skype call with his girlfriend in Australia. 

I loved Lauren Langlois as the female character who lists what she wants in a man.  She is an exquisite performer who relishes her monologue with the therapist. It was a huge list of about 167 items. A male dancer comes and begins to lift her and throw her around.  She continues her rant, unperturbed.  The audience thunderously applaud her monologue.  Sensational theatre that had the audience completely engaged.

Karen Sibbing's character highlight the language barriers of coming to Australia and trying to understand the phrases "No worries" etc.

At one stage the cast of  "Complexity of Belonging" are lined up with microphones and it reminded me of a scene from an early 1980's production by Pina Bausch where the cast compete to tell of their body scars.

Another image of the man, Stephen Phillips building a structure with the sofa chairs. It is as if this is his mundane job.  He builds a second tier as if he has achieved middle management status.  He keeps organising them until he builds a tower.  He stands aloft.  It is as if he is the king of his castle.  The CEO.  He has achieved, but he is so desperately unhappy.  He is seeking meaning in his life, as do the other characters.

Stephen Phillips  deconstructs and reorganises the sofa chairs into a line.  He ensures they are evenly spaced and checks his work, then proceeds to hurdle over the sofa chairs.  Again, he reorganises the them into a slightly different configuration and proceeds to hop over them like a kangaroo.  Both of these sequences visually represent the competitive and sporting nature that is expected by many Australians. The hopping like a kangaroo sequence is something many children copy and is an international identity.  It both speaks of the outback and the Qantas logo.  It also represents the early flights to London which was known as the kangaroo route/hop.

James Vu Anh Pham is a powerhouse dancer.  There is a section about the Asian invasion of Australia.  He talks about the film "Romper Stomper" and being Asian.  Ironically, Russell Crowe who stars in this film is a New Zealander who made Australia his home.

"Complexity of Belonging" includes the use of the cameras and a crew member, who really should be credited as a cast member with her involvement in making sure the technology worked.  She was on stage many times as if the silent majority. Voiceless, but always observing.  Her presence gives texture to the staging. It is a shame that she is acknowledged more in the programme.

I loved the sections of  "Complexity of Belonging" with the actors walking backwards and forwards as if on the crowded streets.  The camera would focus on one performer.  Sometimes the camera would go into slow motion and what we were witnessing on the screen was a time-lapsed version of what the performers were doing. 

Three whiteboards were littered with photographs and articles for the research project.  Occasionally these items were projected onto the scoreboard/screen.  The whiteboards would be turned around and become the backdrop of an apartment, an airport with a Qantas plane, or an office building.  As backdrops they were used in so many creative ways: from providing depth to a scene or dance across the stage, or give a sense of perspective to a scene.  Sometimes they looked like camels crossing the desert and it felt like we were moving with the characters on their journey of discovery.  This paid homage to the early pioneers discovering their sense of belonging in years gone past.

Sometimes I longed for more stillness in "Complexity of Belonging" to reflect and focus upon the action.  The performers were scattered across the stage at times, as either individuals, pairs or small groups, as if they were searching for what it is to belong.  It looked like a huge scavenger hunt with the performers reaching into themselves.

We finish at the installation in Paris with Josh Price calling his boyfriend, who has not turned up.  I wonder if this had to do with the introduction about the Malaysian flight?  Was the boyfriend lost on the Malaysian flight?  I wonder if the phone call about the child being picked up by the mother meant that the child had one less father.

I loved the final images of the statues at the installation and the artist, Karen Sibbing desperately writing her notes that were projected onto the scoreboard screen.  She then edited these notes.  Her alterations being so beautifully poignant.  Great theatre.

I cannot rave enough about this production and would love to see it again.

Overall both my partner agreed simultaneously this deserves an 8.5/10.

Labels:

Complexity of Belonging, Melbourne Theatre Company, Melbourne Festival, Brisbane Festival, Chunky Move, The Sumner, Falk Richter, Anouk Van Dijk, Karen Sibbing, Eloise Mignon, Joel Bray, Lauren Langlois, Alya Manzart, Stephen Phillips, Josh Price, James Van Anh Pham, Tara Soh,