COMEBACK festival week 1 → Goodwood Theatre & Studios
Friday 14th August, Goodwood Theatre & Studios
Initially, Comeback Festival was designed to bring audiences back to the theatre following the pandemic lockdowns. Now, Goodwood Theatre and Studios’ Comeback Festival returns as a way to platform artists and their newly developed shows. Most were last staged during past Adelaide Fringe seasons, and now have the opportunity to come back better than before through further development and performance opportunities.
In the midst of winter and a lull in Adelaide’s festival seasons, Goodwood Theatre has seen this as a welcome opportunity to give independent South Australian theatre the stage again. The program is exceptionally curated so that each week is a themed-pairing of shows with a hearty home-cooked meal served in between. The supper break is a wholesome opportunity to connect with the theatre community, something that, in the busyness of festival seasons, we rarely have the chance to pause in between shows and chat with fellow audience members and artists. Congratulations to Simone and Chris for curating such an opportunity for all!
Show 1: Goddess Era by Wilde & Darling Productions
FOUR STARS
Written by Sarah Kwong, Goddess Era was last performed at the Adelaide Fringe in 2023 and was shortlisted for the Holden Street Theatre award. The work is a clever exploration of modern womanhood and the feminine rage that simmers beneath the lived experiences of many women today.
Kwong takes inspiration from four women from Greek Mythology: Artemis, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Medusa - their stories are adapted and placed in the present day. For example, the first piece transforms the story of Artemis. Artemis spent a life single, in the mountains, after requesting Zeus to keep her un-married. Her story is an empowering one. In the modern day, Kwong writes about Anna: a single, career-driven woman who is thriving, yet society assumes she is lonely and pities her. As a result, we question why society admires Artemis’ bravery to stick to her principles, yet behind the back of Anna, colleagues gossip and critique her choice to remain single. These connections between the goddesses and the modern women though, would’ve been most obvious to those familiar with the original tales; therefore a way to weave in the message of the original Goddess’s story would have helped the audience along a little clearer.
Woven throughout the stories are original pieces of music written by Sarah Kwong and Shannen Beckett. They are beautiful melodic songs sung acoustically that create an ethereal tone to the work. Beckett plays acoustic guitar and boasts an incredible voice. There are also many sweet moments where Beckett and Kwong harmonise together. The song titles include Powerless, Not Yours, and My Story to Write - the audiences were left humming these post-show!
Both Kwong and Beckett were confident in their storytelling and delivery. In an intimate setting, I can imagine how vulnerable this type of piece to share would be. The way in which they ensured to catch the eyes of all audience members and break the fourth wall to invite us in was extremely powerful.
Whilst there were some comedic moments with digs at the patriarchy and parallel parking, the show’s purpose is to amplify the hardships women continue to face, concluding with a message of hope. Across the scenes, the stories of the modern women are fictional, yet are likely women you know, or have experienced similar yourself.
Kwong and Beckett still calmly guide the audience through some of the situations that are hard to hear, yet ultimately, all conclude with a message of hope and empowerment. Most obviously, it becomes clear that we can learn a lot from these Greek Goddesses, as we can when we listen to stories told by the people around us today.
Show #2: i know the end, a new world by Alix Kuijpers
FIVE STARS
Keeping with the evening's ethereal vibes, i know the end is a fascinating contemporary dance work that is an exciting merging of sci-fi themes and movement. It's truly mesmerising to watch, danced beautifully by Caroline De Wan and Fern Mines.
Last performed in 2023, i know the end won awards at the Adelaide Fringe, yet has had three years of growth since its last run. Kuijpers shares that this time, they have been unafraid to add what they feared three years ago, taking the work to a further place.
i know the end is intended to be a queer coming of age story that explores intimacy and connection through those that are raised alien to it. Kuijpers expertly designed the lighting and composed the original sound design for this piece. All elements combine to stimulate all senses of the audience, fully immersing us in the same outer-worldly experiences as the dancers.
The work begins with De Wan and Mines on either side of a mattress, they alternate between moving away, then coming back to lie next to each other. The stage is covered in white sheets, and eventually they are used as props. The carefully made white-sheeted stage becomes disrupted by the dancers movements - sheets are crumpled, thrown, worn and tied, perhaps a symbol of them dismantling their sense of normalcy and reluctance, succumbing to the pull of connection to each other.
Kuijpers never lets the audience’s minds wander elsewhere. Our senses are constantly stimulated and we remain intrigued and curious during every stage of this journey towards transcendence. I admired the attention to detail here, where care was clearly taken to develop an expert combination of sound, lighting and visuals.
Later in the work, the dances physically peel off the layers metaphorically restricting them— now they fully succumb to each other— linking and attaching their bodies in unique ways. They begin to whisper fragments of thought that slowly grows louder, and grow in their movements like some love-sick extra terrestrial.
There’s elements of fast-paced playful fun that are contrasted with slower, hypnotising movements and sounds. Without spoiling the works’ uniquely entrancing conclusion too much, we are collectively plunged into almost darkness, whereby we can only faintly see and hear the dancers work with plastic stars that clatter to the floor. The show’s final lighting and sound cue snaps us out of this dreamlike trance - it was honestly very epic to collectively experience!
i know the end’s fascinating combination of movement, speech, storytelling and technology culminates in an otherworldly dance experience. The newfound attention to all the details and sold out show are clear indicators that Kuijpers’ work finally had the comeback it deserved!
~ by Sophie Tsoulos
Festival Run: till 30th August
Theatre: Goodwood Theatre & Studios
Tickets: https://www.goodwoodtheatreandstudios.com.au/about-1