Shamita Sivabalan and Emma Jevons in The Adventures of Yoni 1 and Yoni 2. Image supplied by Zoe Brinnand.
Let’s get one thing out of the way right at the beginning: those costumes.
In the picture above, you will behold the master-work of Jason Chalmers – full-body velvet unitards with generously lippy labia around the neck. The head, we may presume, is the clitoris. Even before taking into account any other element of this show, I’d pay the ticket price just to see these glorious giant vulvas in action. If this sentiment strikes you as cavalier or flip, you ought to check the statistics on the rise of labiaplasty (surgery to alter the appearance of one’s labia). You ought to know that the Australian Classification Board requires that images of vulvae ‘must be healed to a single crease’. ‘HEALED’? Women in Australia, and in much of the world, are not given realistic or positive images of their own genitalia. These full-body velvet morph suits are the most realistic renderings I’ve seen of vulvae in some time. That ought to tell you something. The Adventures of Yoni 1 and Yoni 2 is ultimately accessible and crowd-pleasing, but these costumes are an example of the ways in which it’s also quietly revolutionary.
This show claims to be inspired by the Bollywood tradition, in terms of the use of music, the use of gesture, and the shape of the narrative. Those who arrive expecting the full Bollywood experience may be a little disappointed – the inspiration drawn from Bollywood is mostly quite loose, and what we really have here is a pantomime in a broadly Western tradition, with a handful of Bollywood dance sequences scattered throughout. That having been said, the pantomime style is achieved quite well. Performers Emma Jevons and Shamita Sivabalan are both engaging – Jevons with a keen sense of the clown, and Sivabalan with the perfect balance of grace and goofball. Both seem to relish their roles, and the fun of their performances is infectious for the audience.
There are moments where this show soars. I won’t name plot points, for fear of spoilers, but the naivete of both narrative and style are, at times, tremendously and unexpectedly moving. But this same naivete is also evident in some less positive ways. My response to the show on the whole was a conflicted one. On the one hand, I believe in the right for all to marry, and I feel that any positive portrayal of lesbian relationships is a step in the right direction. As Brinnand outlines in her program notes, too many queer narratives in our culture end in death and despair – this bubble-gum fairytale certainly bucks that trend. But at the same time, I found myself wondering about the timeliness of this piece. Did the desire for positive representation tip this piece too far away from complexity of any kind? The only barrier the characters face is that they aren’t allowed to marry in Australia. Which would be a huge barrier – except that these two characters are able to jump straight on a plane to the Netherlands, touring the world on the way. Despite a rousing speech about Australia’s marriage equality laws towards the end, this foreign wedding does feel like too neat a bow on a much stickier problem.
This is an entertaining show, full of heart. For purely political reasons, I sincerely hope that it becomes redundant in the near future.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
THE ADVENTURES OF YONI 1 AND YONI 2
Deviser/Producer – Zoe Brinnand
Co-deviser/Director – Simone French
Co-deviser/Yoni 1 – Shamita Sivabalan
Co-deviser/Yoni 2 – Emma Jevons
Sound and lighting – Adelaide Harney
Costumes – Jason Chalmers
Video – Adam Ibrahim
The Butterfly Club
January 31 – February 5
