Review: OUTSIDE, The Space
Photo credit: Robert Thompson
Streaming live on Youtube from the Space, due to the live entertainment restrictions in place during lockdown, Outside is the latest show from The Space’s digital line up, presented by Minty Fresh Productions, and written and performed by Gabrielle MacPherson in her first self-penned solo show. Directed by Karis Crimson, the show is the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign.
What would you do if all pieces/aspects of your existence/life were controlled by someone close to you? And what would you do if at some point, you learnt a truth which could change lives? Your life? Will revenge can ever be justified?
Willa is 30 years old. She hasn't left her house for a long time. For 30 years, every moment of her life has been controlled, and she spent the majority of her life locked in her room. She disappeared from society and her only reality about herself, about outside her family and her house exists between the pages of the books that her semi-absent father publishes.
But something changed, Willa is still in a room but not a familiar one. It's a witness questioning suite. She's surrounded by boxes from her dad’s study with papers, letters and books. She needs to investigate, to go through her family history and to speak. Someone prompts her to do so, to allow her to tell her story freely and that's what she does during the performance. She goes through her memories using all of the evidence she has and from what she remembers. It is her confession monologue as well as “her prison to which she must return captive, despite herself”, quoting a character from The Captive in 1926.
With well-crafted directorial work from Karis Crimson, when Willa speaks, she's speaking for herself, for her voice, for discovering the why, and remembering the when.
After all, there is her family. There are people who saw her but McPherson’s talent goes beyond speaking through young and adult Willa. It’s like she's speaking for other people too, as if she is carrying their stories through Willa's character. She wants other people to listen, to deliver her clues. She wants whoever can hear to prove to her that she is not only a “human piece of evidence” but a person with dreams and hopes.
And that's what the audience sees, surrounded by their four walls and watching the show behind their screens during an unprecedented time, with memories of their past and their online world to remind us that we still exist as we witness Willa's story. Because at the end of the day, we need the world to say to us that we still exist, as Raymond Carver wrote, and as Willa could have said.
The simplicity of the set and of Willa's clothes (pale blue long blouse and dark socks) designed by Ica Niemz serves itself perfectly to the piece because it also tells Willa's story to the audience; an impersonal room with its white walls, two doors at the back, a table and chairs, full boxes everywhere, plus a giant board with written papers. Specific details including a loudspeaker, a hi-fi system and a recording machine also play a crucial role. The lighting echoes the performance style effectively, as well as some of the close up camera shots. Laura Howard’s sound is loud when needed and completely clear, all well done for an online performance.
Willa mentions that “adults don't need to learn about the bad things outside because they already know, they are already told." Gabrielle McPherson's tour de force is not only a flawless performance but also a necessary show.
MacPherson specialises in working through the arts with young people with additional needs and with those who have experienced neglect and abuse. She has witnessed young people disappear into the system and felt the frustration and helplessness with the limited support accessible to people. She asked herself for years, what would happen if a person was truly forgotten behind the façade of a perfect family and the effect this would have on adulthood.
With difficult times comes people in danger, especially young people in unsafe environments. Outside shows what could happen to a child if left in a dangerous situation every day for their whole lives and the drastic effects it can have on them and the whole family. Art has the power to entertain us as well as to awaken us about the reality surrounding us and Outside participates to this movement.
Let's listen to Willa's monologue and not turn away. We could always hear the (only) song of the show " Please Mr Postman" from The Marvelettes to remember!
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Alexia Irene
The production will be performed live and streamed from The Space between 18 - 20 February 2021, with tickets available here for this evening’s performance.