Low Down

Iris Brunette takes the audience with her on a journey through time as she reminisces about the past, about a world when friendship and love had not yet been lost in the oblivion of war. It is a deeply engaging piece that arouses a plethora of emotions by actively involving audience participation. Sometimes sombre, sometimes jovial, sometimes nostalgic, it is a wholesome performance that satiates the senses through captivating visual imagery and soundscapes.

Review

Inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 film La jetee, about a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel, Iris Brunette is a gripping performance comprising of endearing images and dialogues―a photomontage of sorts that unravels the stories of loss and survival as it unfolds itself through time. It is Melanie Wilson’s most recent solo show and one can see why it was awarded the Best Production at the Dublin Fringe.

When it is time the audience is led to the performance space through a couple of makeshift doors, amidst numerous black curtains all around the place. The journey has already begun. All personal belongings are kept aside to enable you to immerse yourself in what is to follow.

The comfort of familiarity and distance is blown away in the first minute of the performance, when the eerie silence transforms into an intensely gripping sound track. Gradually, a few dim spots of light emerge in space against the backdrop of abstract images and you know that you have successfully travelled in time.

Amidst an intimate seating arrangement, in a 10x10 square metre circle, with about five chairs on each edge of the space, the performer begins from one corner and then changes position at different moments during the show, encouraging spatial contact with everyone around. It is not just by virtue of verbal dialogues that audience participation is encouraged; the chosen person has to bear the burden of choice. She must partake in Iris’s dilemma and make decisions for her, by choosing one out of the two possibilities that arise from every situation she might find herself in. Herein lies the crisis, what might seem like a light hearted, random and impulsive selection will have a significant bearing on what is to follow. A relationship of a whole lifetime gets lost in the debris of the city as an outcome of the war. The viewers are made to be both players and voyeurs and the responsibility cannot be denied.

Brilliant technical expertise is on display in this production. Melanie Wilson is remarkable in her portrayal of a nervous war survivor. What especially remains in my memory are the delicate images of her sleeping as she is standing upright against a light backdrop, while the upper half of her body gets illuminated by moonlight. The violence, destruction and hopelessness of the surrounding war memories evoke painful pathos when contrasted with this childlike innocence.

A heart warming rendition of the aftermath of war, Iris Brunette comes across as a deeply passionate and experiential show and completely justifies itself as being one of the Best of Fringe.

Reviewed by Swati Arora 3 September 2010

Website :

www.melaniewilson.org.uk/

http://www.fueltheatre.com/

 http://www.amsterdamfringefestival.nl/fringe/programma/fringe-2010/iris-brunette.aspx