Canadian dancing clown Lauren Brady’s 'Swan?', on the surface of the lake, is an absurd re-telling of the iconic Tchaikovsky bird ballet.
Underneath, though, there is a dark reflection: what if the myths we tell about heroes and damsels who need saving perpetuate toxic and abusive masculinity?
While audiences line-up for 'Swan?', Courtyard of Curiosity volunteers hand out slips of paper and pens. You are asked to write down what a dream hero would be like for you. As you enter the Gallery venue while Amy Winehouse’s 'Back To Black' blares, Brady’s swan, with her beaked face painted, subtly gestures with her feathered nest of hands for you to give the slips of paper; the bond is established. Eventually, everyone’s suggestions make their way into her box: a music box.
The stage is the swan’s lake; at either side of the back corners there are mounds of grass and wetland plants. Gliding across the water, often en point, the swan puffs on a vape and recounts the familiar tale: cursed by a sorcerer to be a swan for most of the day, the spell can be broken by a vow of true love and fidelity. Maybe the prince is sitting in the audience; perhaps in the front row? We all get to find out.
'Swan?' questions whether the spell that needs to be broken is the belief that women need saviours, and that those heroes come in male form. Maybe the converse is true: it’s the men that are the threat. Being an elegant swan, having 'pretty privilege': is that the curse? To be forever bought free drinks at bars by ogling men, to be followed home, to face the risk of life-shattering sexual violence?
'Swan?' addresses the deepest of themes but so subtly, so hidden beneath a shroud of hilarity, that many may not consciously see they are there. By the show’s conclusion, though, the crowd is coaxed towards revealing their compassion, their willingness to shout out to stop an injustice. Speaking up when things are wrong; maybe that’s how curses are really lifted.
★★★★★
