Most of us can play when playing is required… small relatives or cute fluffy animals will bring out our childlike side. However, I think we can agree that public play is really the preserve of the young. Explain then, how a predominantly elder audience ended up on the floor of the Old 505 theatre this evening indulging in a bit of advanced silliness. How Kay’s unnamed stand-in managed to get us to experience Follow the Leader, world mapping and the building of a weird Martian War of the Worlds landscape.
AN HOUR WITH KAY is actually an hour with Kay’s stand-in, who does look suspiciously like the Kay we see on mobile phone footage abandoning the building. The unnamed, white suited, blue high heeled substitute guides the audience through an hybrid hour of play, dance and image creation.
The play sequences take the audience from their seats into each other’s orbit to share without any of the fear normally associated with audience interaction. The camaraderie is skilfully fostered from the moment we are asked to step together into a series of footsteps. Queuing jostles us together and the decision-making requires we speak to strangers and look into their eyes.
We are seduced by the group experience to interact with each other rather than with the mentor of the process. We laugh and share with people near us and engage busily with the game we are given.
The movement sequences are equally seductive. Like the pan flute version of IMAGINE playing on loop in the foyer, the Kay replacement invests the dance with imagination and an ethereal yogic quality. The twisted shapes and forms fight for escape and the final dead crow pose nests gently in the world the audience created.
The program notes will tell you later that the women of the Parramatta Female factory are in the heart of the work. It is then the strain of the stretching and moulding, the stillness of the poses and the tension of the extremities of the dance gains new meaning.
The images are created somewhat unknowingly by the observer but with clear intent by the artist. Strewn objects, created objects, objects used for unnatural or symbolic purposes and shadows … lots of shadows. The voice from the shadows is funny and wise. There is much to laugh with and enjoy. There is text and movement, wordplay and buffoonery.
And above all the absence of Kay. I didn’t miss her and I don’t think the other players noticed her absence. There is far too much enjoyment in her staying way and allowing us AN HOUR WITH… Strangers.
AN HOUR WITH KAY is part of Old 505’s Freshworks season and is playing until July 5th.
For more about An Hour with Kay, visit http://www.venue505.com/theatre