This show, 'Gag Reflex' debuted back in March and was a huge hit. It won the Fringe Festival. Once you’ve seen it you'll understand why.
Beginning in darkness, standing atop a rostrum veiled and crowned like a chaste queen from Henry IIIV’s court, she soon strips down to a corset and knickers and reveals her true side. Not innocent in the least. Her exotic, sexy, thrilling tale is her real-life journey from teenage stripper to high class kinky Madam to Vaudeville Circus performer to legalised sex worker, university student and contented bride to be.
Along the way she’ll tell us about body shaming in her pubescent days, violent controlling boyfriends and a toxic marriage.
She’ll also add in a few cringe-worthy, gasp-out-loud ‘excretiating’ anecdotes about her time working as a ‘poop specialist’ in the sex industry in New York and a coined operated stripper in London.
Along the way she thrills us with her sword swallowing (not a singular but a ‘triple penetration’) and knife throwing - with Ms Atlas, herself as the target!
She’s assisted by a mysterious hand that produces props and costumes from underneath the stage and a 7th foot Death Metal rocker in a gimp mask. The latter throws knives at Atlas with such brutish abandon, I genuinely feared for her life.
She tells us that she's the only female sword swallower in the motu. I believe that! It's incredibly dangerous. And she does so confidently, like it's nothing more than knitting a scarf.
Her act pivots from narrator/actor to circus performer. Throughout the show the capacity audience whooped and cheered her on - in all the sad, outrageous, funny and downright hair raising moments. The woman next to me was so taken, gasping in anticipation every time she saw a dangerous moment or dark swerve in the narrative approaching. I was afraid she’d either wet herself or faint overwhelmed!
The music and sound were clever. It fitted perfectly with the story and created an instant mind picture of the exact time and date she was talking about – London in the 90’s, the rave culture she indulged in. Or the bird life of Banks Peninsular which became so prominent during her escape from the Big Apple to a COVID isolation sanctuary in Canterbury. Here and there the cues failed and this was a bit distracting but that’s minor in context of the whole package.
Credit should also go to costume designer Go Go Amy for the ‘Elizabethan’ shawl, stunning gold crown and velvet dress, a wedding dress, with veil, and especially the raunchy (yet only just modest) corset and underwear.
Sabrina Martin directed Atlas perfectly, keeping the action close to her audience and ‘real’, as she smashed the fourth wall to talk directly and even engage occasionally with audience member to hold focus. It was like she was speaking right to you and that greatly increased the intensity and honesty of the piece.
Bekky Boyce quietly and effectively controlled the lighting and projections. One especially effective moment was a text message that came up on the veiled back drop. One tiny criticism was the length of the text, which was just too much to read in the time allowed before the action moved on. But that matters little, overall.
It was clear that this story runs a parallel between Atlas’ own life, the weight of shame that comes with her chosen occupation and stigma attached. Her mission was to overcome and detroy that stigma. And she succeeded.
She completes with a simple statement: never be ashamed of what you do for a living and your body is nobody’s business but your own. Never let anybody control you or your body or determine how you use it.
Atlas reveals at the end that she remains a sex worker. She does it on her terms, and I believe it.
What a way to begin. This is her debut show but it was done as if it was but one of many. Atlas is well rehearsed and a natural on the stage. She may have been nervous but she won the audience over, and quite rightly.
I celebrate her honesty, flare, skills and sheer guts. We need more people like this on our stages and in our lives!
If you get the chance, make sure you see this production.
It’s excellent on all levels!
Tahi Festival, at Bats Theatre and Circa Theatre is a celebration of solo artists, a 10 day Festival dedicated to showcasing the finest and most engaging solo performance from around the motu. Check Out the Tahi Festival
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