Phluxus2 Dance Collective is an award-winning dance/ theatre collective best known for its challenging concepts that demand audience participation.
In their latest production our involvement is requested even before we enter the performance space. We are invited to remove our shoes in the foyer so we can experience ‘the delicate embrace of parachutes' but as it turns out, there is nothing for our feet to embrace but the hard wooden floor.
As the session bell chimes, the audience is ushered into the performance area and from there, into a loosely formed tent made of parachutes - and while most gravitate to the centre, I prefer to stand outside the tightly packed throng. I am asked politely to enter the tent but when I defer, there is a brief tête-à-tête between house staff. I sense they don’t appreciate this reluctance to get involved. I stand to one side as the tent slowly fills to capacity.Originally inspired by mementos left by WWII Paratrooper Richard Matthaei, grandfather of artistic director Nerida Matthaei, 'The Paratrooper Project' takes us into an entangled world where stories of wars, historical imaginings and harsh realities become knotted, interwoven and laid bare – the physical space controlled by the parachutes that hover above.
As the parachutes retreat – pulled back like curtains – the sparsely set space is revealed and we hear the first of several monologues delivered by the players. Rather than bind the performance, these war narratives, delivered mostly by actor Margi Brown Ash, are difficult to access, hard to hear and generally distract rather than inform.Matthaei’s minimalist choreography means the dancers are never really challenged and while there is some activity on the floor, there are inexplicably long periods where some of the players do nothing at all.
Local composer Andrew Mills' equally minimalist score does little to help build momentum with the sounds of exploding shells and the rat-a-tat of machine guns oddly mixed with orchestral strings and unrecognisable sound effects.Toward the end of the show we are asked to lie down on the floor, relax and concentrate on our breathing. While the majority of the audience comply, a handful decline and are left to stand awkwardly at the perimeter. At the end of this meditation exercise, giant pieces of chalk are distributed, and for reasons never fully explained, the audience is invited to write messages to the dearly departed – 'to the ones who came before'.
As the lights come up, it is clear some members of the audience have been profoundly affected. A young woman wipes tears from her eyes as she surveys the messages scrawled on the floor. Others are less emotionally connected – failing to understand the raison d’etre behind this immersive work – a sentiment shared by this reviewer.Performed by dancers Matthaei, Gareth Belling, Gabriel Comerford and actor Margi Brown Ash, 'The Paratrooper Project' is not easy viewing nor is its purpose clear, but for those with a penchant for the unusual and the challenging, Phluxus2’s latest offering won’t disappoint.
'The Paratrooper Project' plays the Judith Wright Centre until 4 July.
