In 'Psychopomp', Adelaide clown Poppy Mee summons a god in a quest to discover her life’s story, and to quell her existential dread about what happens when her story ends. By the show’s end, it becomes clear Poppy’s story is telling stories.
Early in Psychopomp', after Poppy Mee has gifted the assembling audience assorted offerings to the gods, like stuffed animals and Cheezels, she reveals her motivation for attempting a summoning: she has been diagnosed with a pair of unnamed mental health conditions and her government-subsidised mental health plan appointments have run out. She is seeking assistance with symptoms which first emerged in childhood: fear of making choices (because what if they are the wrong ones), and an obsession with knowing what the right path is for us to walk, in a life when we all are heading to the same destination: death.
Although it’s her first attempt, Poppy succeeds in summoning a god; the one who spends eternity hearing the departed’s life stories in purgatory and determining where they will spend the afterlife. This god inhabits Poppy’s body, and explores the corporeal form for the first time, touching, feeling, and wondering in the human experience. Poppy uses skilled clowning and physicality to alternate between possessor and possessed, and in the process transforms the deepest of philosophical and psychological themes into comedic gold. By show’s end, Poppy chooses life, in all its imperfections.
'Psychopomp' is Poppy’s second solo show and was the recipient of The Mill’s Centre Stage Residence. It features some of the most priceless segments of physical comedy of this year’s Fringe, including when the god disappears within Poppy’s orange clown onesie to explore the pleasures of the flesh. There are some moments where the direction could have been more mindful of sightlines, because some sections are not always visible from every vantage point.
Ultimately, though, Poppy takes risks and makes choices on stage which show she’s definitely in the right place.
★★★★☆
