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Future Of The Species #1 Director: Ingrid Voorendt Space Theatre, Inspace Program Friday 26 Nov  DJ
Tr!p's futuristic soundscape combined with a circle of glowing unnatural
crystalline material to contextualise a woman's self-imposed exile
to seven years of medical servitude some time in the future. Her gametes
are harvested for stem cells, and instead of having children, her
bits have grown into useful body parts.She's rather angry about the deal, although she is toying with the idea of another few years with her pal, the lab rat. 'Future Of The Species #1' is the first of three plays conceived by a trio of women focusing on maternity, feminism and the future. As much as I try to avoid stereotype, writer and performer Maude Davey presented an extremely credible rendition of the sort of socio-economic intellectual who might be desperate enough to do this sort of thing (don't let science get in the way of a good premise) for money. Davey presents an alter ego more intent on destruction than creation with equal skill. The production is very strong on visuals - including what should have been a side-splittingly funny side show satirising Kylie Minogue's body augmentation surgery with a sausage. Unfortunately, the context was so strange, nobody was game enough to laugh. There are birthing images galore - too many to mention (designer - Geoff Cobham). Our woman was full of complaints, such as, my mother doesn't decide for/support/protect/love me, I should be having a real child instead of cells, I can't remember what I look like, even a rat has babies in this crummy lab, I should be paid more. While we were eavesdropping on what seemed one of the last days of her contract, nothing happened (it sure wasn't after her contract as explained in a written prologue audience members found on their seat - why wasn't she out spending her money?). She didn't decide anything or do anything and the blame was spread far and wide. While an interesting futuristic concept, our subject woman's situation was presented as entirely of her own making. The opportunity for dramatic tension due to the imposition of conditions, or a denouement involving some decision taken in the context of the evolving meaning of maternalism as a consequence of innovations in biotechnology, was not taken. I'm hoping for better resolution with #2 - while the set and the setting were intriguing, let's hope the next installment delivers on the issues.  |
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