Thricely? Precisely. A pocket full of Pips
16/06/2011 - 25/06/2011
Production Details
Director: Brigid Costello
Score: Tane Upjohn-Beatson
Presented by Pinwheel Productions
Returning from their sell-out season at the 2010 Fringe Festival, Pinwheel’s neurotic ‘dance theatre’ experience delves into the depths of a hidden anxiety disorder.
‘Thricely…’ is brought to life by the ferocious talents of former-Footnote dancer Anita Hunziker, NZ School of Dance graduate Gina Andrews, WOW cover-girl Jane Wenley and features a new mind-bending score from Tane Upjohn-Beatson.
‘This is the dance show of the year you don’t want to miss.’
‘an enigmatic hour’ – Jennifer Shennan
‘highly sophisticated…totally refreshing…a strong and courageous work’ – Theatreview
www.bats.co.nz 1 Kent Tce, Courtenay Place, Wellington – 6.30pm (daily except Sunday and Monday)
Tickets$18/$13
Bookings: 04 802 4175 or book@bats.co.nz
Dancers: Jane Wenley, Gina Andrews, Anita Hunziker
1 hour
Compulsive cycles of behaviour out in the open
Review by Deirdre Tarrant 30th Jun 2011
A delicious title that belies the anxiety and compulsive behaviour that director Brigid Costello has chosen to explore. “Thricely” is three dancers dressed very precisely in crisp white with just a hint of colour and individuality, and the “pocket full of pips” is as much with the audience as the cast by the end of this arresting piece of theatre.
Worried writing on the walls, bursts of irrational energy, possessiveness, obsessive cleaning, twisting, scratching, wiping – the tensions are internal and spatial and the constant switching, writhing and repetitive actions take paths of ritual fixation that simply cannot be ignored nor resisted. Fleeting moments of calm resolve nothing.
Anita Hunziker shines with clarity and a psychotic understanding of every detailed move. Her nightmare on her mattress goes where we all have been and offers little solace. Jane Wenley is blissfully inscrutable and in her own untouchable world, and Gina Andrews is an irrational manic caught constantly fighting her inner demons. I found myself wanting to shake them and call “enough” but that was exactly the point of the pips!
Some relief came in a sort of foam play exercise, but this was more of a contrast than a cure, and the cute cliches of playing with the shapes failed to settle any demons. I got a little frustrated at the long sufferingness and simpering of it all but this was a tightly executed dance/drama that held attention and touched our own dissatisfactions and brought the desperation of compulsive cycles of behaviour out into the open.
The music by Tane Upjohn-Beatson and Dale Hitchcock was driven and powerful and all design elements were detailed and excellent – compulsive even – and totally in sync with Costello’s vision. An unsettling but excellent hour!
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
A definite must-see
Review by Greer Robertson 18th Jun 2011
Bizarre for some, normal for others, but to the sufferers, hardly a choice.
When you go to the theatre you expect an experience. I can say that with this show, I definitely had one!
Returning from their sell-out season, Pinwheel’s neurotic dance theatre experience delves into the depths of hidden anxiety order. Originally devised and performed for The Wellington Fringe Festival 2010, this brave powerful work returns to the stage, and is fresh to my eyes.
Actually, “Thricely” is now twicely. An odd sentence I know, but in the world of compulsive rituals, oddness is the norm and the sufferer would be relieved to a certain degree, to have only have performed it twice.
So, what is normal?
This work shows through explicit clever choreography, a slice of life in a different lane.
A lane that isn’t easy at all.
Under the directorship of Brigid Costello, three exceedingly competent female dancers bare their inner selves. (I wondered whether their afflictions are gender specific? This fleeting thought required delving into my memory banks to find an answer. But there was no time to try and retrieve that fact. I was being further drawn into their world.) A world of repetition, where they are compelled to perform extreme tasks, a world that exposes the combination of compulsions, a life of repetitive obsessive behaviour, and a life of emotional and physical distress.
A life where there can be hope hopefully?
Shunning outside contact, sadly the individuals carry their load alone.
If we care to admit it, either quietly to oneself or verbally out load, we know somebody just like them in this rapidly expansive syndrome.
With detailed dexterity, dancer Anita Hunziker feels every move, every thought, every pain. I marvel at her slickness and the speed with which she produces her inner struggle. Every quarter second counts.
Refreshingly simplistic after the intense body slapping, hair pulling, nail biting and wall hitting routines, a welcome interlude of sheer silliness has us all relaxing. As a clever contrast, ridiculous Bavarian music fills the air while the dancers playfully maneuver pliable mattresses in shapes that you can only imagine. This choreography cleverly displays the hoarding paranoia as the characters realize their psychotic yet comic behaviour, but still feel compelled to carry out their task. Mattress upon mattress, their dreams are met.
Jane Wenley brings an ethereal grace and wistful charm seldom seen in angst-driven contemporary pieces. Her costume design (simple strappy white dresses with some falre in the skirts) also adds a refreshing flavour and suggests that on the outside the illusion is always one of crisp efficient togetherness.
And Gina Andrew’s energy led me to believe that her plight was newly found.
It is a journey of courage, trust, respect and honesty.
I was drained. But, what about them? Is there hope, tomorrow is another day.
Another day to live in the same lane?
A thought provoking hour that I’m sure will stay with you upon leaving the theatre.
A definite must see.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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