Politely Savage
My Darling Patricia
FULL TILT
27 September 2006
Fairfax Studio,The Arts Centre
Frock up in your party favourite, but wear your flat shoes, because we’re going for a walk into the depths of our unconscious.
There’s no sitting around. This is a cocktail party (complete with champagne and food on toothpicks), there are only 40 guests and your hostesses are immaculate.
Politely Savage by My Darling Patricia combines interactive performance, installation, puppetry, film and performance art. It’s like a dream. Not a comforting and lovely daydream, but one of those dreams when you wake up clammy and spend the rest of the day trying to decipher it.
My Darling Patricia take the familiar and send it to that very dark place in the back of our minds. Their images are archetypal and sometimes obvious, but they work so very well.
Cecily Hardy is tantalising as our guide. She is mother/housekeeper/nanny – forever hovering between comforting and confronting, safe and foreboding. She convinces us to leave the party and follow her down into the world that was hidden by the pretty taffeta dresses. She takes us somewhere deep and unsettling, but we have to trust her to guide us out safely. Be prepared to walk.
This was my first show for the Melbourne Fringe and a perfect example of the unique and authentic work that can be created when artists are unrestrained by demographics, budgets and policy. Politely Savage is now polished and perfected, having already had two sell out seasons in Sydney. The Arts Centre is presenting it as part of the FULL TILT program, which supports the development and redevelopment of independent works.
Politely Savage finishes on Saturday. With only 40 people per show, this is one you really should book for.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
