With cups of tea and biscuits in hand, and name labels firmly attached, an unsuspecting audience took their chosen places around a circle of chairs at Vitalstatistix’s Waterside Workers Hall on a calm night in Port Adelaide. Though their tickets indicated they were for Nicola Gunn/Sans Hotel’s Hello My Name Is, the attendees quickly discovered that they’d gathered for a community workshop called ‘How To Change The World Through Social Transformation’.
Far from predictable, Nicola led the group through various exercises, games and activities, ostensibly to educate us on improving conversation skills with strangers. There is delightful humour throughout the piece, with the spontaneous smatterings of laughter emanating from the audience as different moments appealed to different individuals. Productions that involve audience participation can often be intimidating, but Hello My Name Is managed to create a warm and comfortable environment with plenty of pleasant surprises. The 75 minutes whirled by as the show leapt from karaoke to dance to life-drawing, using the space within and outside of the venue.
The theme of intimacy was strong throughout this piece, both through Nicola Gunn’s personal revelations (in more ways than one) and in the connections made between participants. As the work progressed, there was the sensation of a strengthening bond among members of the audience who were on this chaotic journey together. There was a fascinating energy exchange between performer and viewers, and it would be interesting to observe the different iterations of the production over time, as each night’s audience influences the outcomes and experience.
Hello My Name Is was a welcome addition to Vitalstatistix programming this year, coming in as a balm to soothe post-‘Mad March’ festival season depression. In 2012, the show won Best Experimental Performance at Melbourne Fringe, The Blue Room Theatre Judge’s Award for Outstanding Theatrical Experience, and was nominated for a Green Room Award for Best Production. Melbourne-based collective Sans Hotel is led by Nicola Gunn, with key collaborator Gwen Holmberg-Gilchrist and associate artists Michael Fikaris and Pier Carthew. The collective is ‘committed to experimental and site-specific work’, and other projects have included In Spite of Myself, Miracle Man and award-winning At the Sans Hotel.
As the show came to a close, the participants realised that they were ultimately the stars of the show, and the satisfying ending left everyone with smiles. Hello My Name Is is an exciting example of contemporary performance art by an artist at the top of her game.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Hello My Name Is
Presented by Vitalstatistix
Sans Hotel and Nicola Gunn
Waterside, 11 Nile St, Port Adelaide
www.vitalstatistixtheatrecompany.blogspot.com.au
2 – 4 April
