Green Porno

Isabella Rossellini was greeted with enthusiastic and extended applause the moment she walked on to the stage of Adelaide’s Her Majesty Theatre. Seventy minutes later, as she took her bows after delivering a witty and deft lecture, the audience once again rewarded Rossellini with deserved enthusiastic applause befitting what was the marquee production of the last weekend of the Adelaide Festival.

This production adapts and expands on a series of short films on animal sexual behaviour known as Green Porno that were written, directed, produced and performed by Rossellini and were first aired on the Sundance Channel in 2008. 

Rossellini is an acclaimed actress best known for her roles in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990) and Robert Zemeckis’s Death Becomes Her (1992). Rossellini was also a model for 25 years. She is the daughter of the triple Oscar-winning Swedish actress, Ingrid Bergman, and Italian neorealist film director Roberto Rossellini. During the performance Rossellini displays pictures of her famous family to pay tribute to them and to illustrate the role familial connections play in the lives of humans.

The production is quite simple: standing on stage at a lectern with just a large screen behind her, Rossellini uses dialogue, short videos, costumes and props to describe the fascinating details of the sexual lives of various organisms from snails, whales and ducks to salmon, barnacles and Australian spiders. The short videos demonstrate Rossellini’s talents as an actress; talents that the lecture format of the Green Porno performance only briefly allow Rossellini to demonstrate on stage. 

The information that Rossellini provides is endlessly absorbing, frequently mind-boggling and always entertaining. At one point, Rossellini amusingly feigns outrage that flowers, which she points out are the sexual organs of plants, are used to adorn pure, sacred places such as church altars. Rossellini’s use of props is inventive. For example, she dons rubber gloves and a toothbrush to demonstrate how rival dragonflies increase their chances of fatherhood. 

There is so much about the animals and insects around us that are unfamiliar to us, and this performance is cleverly scripted to provide equal measures of laughs and thought-provocation. Dressed in a simple black robe adorned by a necklace of pearls, Rossellini delivers what she calls her ‘conference’ with considerable charm, skill and confidence. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in animal behaviour and her assured performance clearly demonstrates her knowledge of her subject matter. 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Green Porno

Arts Centre, St Kilda Rd
www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
March 26