www.fringeworld.com.au
Trekking into the rather gloomy Velvet Lounge in Mt Lawley some distance away from the main Perth Fringe Festival venues, this world premiere performance of Thread already felt at a disadvantage. Anticipating an interesting expose around social media, commentary threads and how our relationships are impacted through our virtual interactions, I sat in an audience of 65 – pretty good going for a mid-way night. However at the end Thread felt both overwhelming and dissatisfying leaving me exhausted and confused.
The New York based Award winning playwright Elena Zucker, has thrown everything into this 70 minute solo show performed by Mischa Ipp: Israeli diaspora, Palestinian suffering, Intifada, love across a crowded nightclub, war, first experience of Jewish chanting groups, the subway, cultural dislocations from GPS voices, Facebook comment threads, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, and threadbare life in a big city. It is relentless.
In contrast to that, it starts out self-consciously drawing attention to itself (e.g. ‘why did I choose to start this play pretending to play the harp?… because it is the best imitation of texting using the thumb which is my allegory for this play’) and using too much deconstruction. This is then over-balanced by the last part of the theatrical experience feeling like a constant barrage of ideas and concepts. At times, it felt like a workshopped student piece that had not had sufficient gestation and editing time. There were simply too many ideas to allow any of these threads to truly breathe.
West Australian actor Mischa Ipp who has won a PAC Screen Award and is based in New York, is a passionate performer. On this occasion, she does not bring off convincing acting of other characters; her attempts to play an Israeli-half American who is the boyfriend to the main character of Mimi, felt rather flat. The highlight of being the only performer with absolutely minimal props is that you can completely control the space, including the audience’s mood. The downside is that everything rests on you. When there is no humour to break the tension and not much visual interest (apart from our main character taking off and putting on a black leather jacket over her dress) then the text and the delivery must be absolutely stellar.
Overall this show did not appeal to either myself or my theatre companion, and we have vastly different expectations of what a good theatrical experience is made up of – with one seeking more entertainment and enjoyment, and the other a more analytical performance with depth. Neither of those things was achieved. The depth, based on Jewish and Arabian religious history, and the backlash sparked by the ‘liking’ of the third Intifada on a Facebook comment, was either too specific or dry (as though we had to be filled in on all these historical facts) or rushed in delivery, so it was easy to feel lost as an audience member. There was simply not enough directorial control of the use of pausing, allowing highs and lows to be enjoyed by the audience. Hence even though there were some instances of clever word play, it got absorbed into the dense overflow of information and monologue.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Thread
The Velvet Lounge at FringeWorld 2015
Performed by Mischa Ipp
Written and Directed by Elena Zucker
Set/Lighting Design by Zach Murphy
9 -18 February 2015
