THIS IMAGINARY WOMAN Patrick Fitzgerald and Fern Smith

THI IMAGINARY WOMAN
by Patrick Fitzgerald and Fern Smith

Volcano theatre company
Runs: 1hr 20 mins No interval

TICKETS: 0845 330 3565
Review: Ranjit Khutan 6 November at The Arena Wolverhampton

A powerful and hard-hitting performance where storytelling and drama are used to maximum effect to convey a myriad of emotions and thoughts.In This Imaginary Woman Fern Smith reflects on death and in particular on her mother's death. A dark lament opens the performance; Smith recalls the dreams she had after her mother died weaving together stories based on reality and fiction.

The content is dark, disturbing at times, but a sense of melancholic pleasure sweeps over you it's her way of dealing with death and how she makes associations, with 'remembrance' as her gift.

Smith moves quickly and energetically from expressions of extreme sadness when her mother dies to guilt at the pleasure of being freed from her mother's crippling illness, Multiple Sclerosis. She tells others her story and admits to being a 'death bore'.

Smith's energetic physicality does not wane throughout the piece she is strong in her delivery of emotion and vocally is equally powerful. Every tiny feeling, unconscious or not, is expressed in her voice. This is gently reinforced with the use of coloured lighting on a white and black set.

Patrick Fitzgerald provides minimalist tunes that build and develop into more complex layers in line with the layers of emotions that are being played out on stage.

Not an easy subject matter and not an easy performance to watch - it will leave you thinking about those who have passed away and your own mortality.

Performed by Fern Smith

Director: Paul Davies
Designer/Lighting: Andrew Jones
Composer: Patrick Fitzgerald

2003-11-12 12:14:35