Devised and performed by Annabelle
McMillan
Where: PACT Centre for emerging
Artists 107 Railway Pde, Erskineville
When: Sept 21st-29th
Cost: $24/$18
Reviewed by Lana
Hilton
I simply don’t know where to begin to
describe what I witnessed whilst sitting on a milk crate, watching Porphyria’s
Slumber, on Tuesday night.
A myriad of things happened; some were
funny, some were frightening and most were very confusing.An assortment of props was used;
garden pots, garden gloves, vegetables, seeds, chocolate cake and a peeler.Images were projected onto a screen;
some were of people, some were of flowers blossoming and one was a man’s eye,
looking at you, blinking.
The woman who tied it all together was
dressed in flowing, white clothes and had three white flowers in her messy
hair. She had dirt on her feet and big brown eyes. She was lost and determined
and hopeful all at once. At one point she put on the gardening gloves and acted
out a naughty little play and her hands had sex.
Porphyria’s Slumber is not a play – so
the Directors Notes read - “it is an artist’s self-conscious response to a
world laden with the burden of materialism”.
Porphyria’s Slumber is a poem written
by Robert Browning who is referenced in the performance by the devisor and
actor Annabelle McMillan, in video-blog form; she speaks of his effects on her
through the five senses. The poem creates vivid images and tells the tale of a
woman and a man, in love, and the man then strangles her with her own hair.
Well, that’s what I read into it.
Despite not knowing what I was looking
at and not being aware of the artist’s intentions; I really enjoyed the
performance. It cleared my mind and was very entertaining. There was mime,
slapstick comedy, R-rated puppetry, shadow puppetry, physical theatre and
audience participation – and all in 45 minutes!
I would recommend reading the Notes
before you watch the performance, to get a better idea of what it’s about. I now
understand the ridiculousness of what I was watching was the intention and
interpretation of the artist. She highlighted the hopelessness and
deterioration of society in a very, very unique way.
