When the obscenity of death collides explosively with the absurdity of living, manifestations of grief are as individual and eclectic as stars in a constellation. It is a constellation, and a consoling serenity, that greets an audience to OBSCENE MADAME D. What we will encounter is the personification of the madness of grief in the form of Hillé, Madame D. D for dereliction of duty – to her community, her God and her late husband, Ehud.
Madame D has chosen to live in an alcove below the stairs, chosen to shut in the house and chosen to frighten the locals and their children by wearing masks to obscenely stave off their kindnesses and to turn those well-wishers into decriers.
Taken from the 2012 novel of the same name by Hilda Hilst (Translated by Nathanaël , Rachel Gontijo Araújo and Carlos Gomes) OBSCENE MADAME D is a immersive work where the audience wear headsets and video graphics bookend the space. Directed and designed by Carlos Gomes, it begins with serenity on the audio track which morphs into whale cries and on to the leitmotifs of steps, tick tock clock and the bubbling of coffee. The visuals begin in galaxies and become mesmeric, evocative chalk-redolent drawings. It is only then that we see the performer who crawls, atavistically towards a ragpile on the floor in search of consuming.
From here, the production is a stream of conscious exploration of “multiple nothings” which allow humans to reach for, but not touch, divinity. A production which encourages curiosity and reflection and which allows for multiple experiences. It’s an interesting exercise to examine what you respond to during the show. Are you watching the graphics, honed in on the artist, exploring the empty parts of the space, drawn to the light or blind to all except the noises?
Mobile and warm, the lighting plot is mainly soft and eliding but even when sudden in change, is never stark or jolting. (Lighting Design: Fausto Brusamolino) “She’s darkening,” says the voice matter-of-factly and the amber of the design warms further reflecting the contracting landscape inside the sealed house. The setting is complex inside the simplicity. Piles of rags inside which are the masks and outside of which are clues and things unspoken. Like a used strip of birth control pills and a shoe discarded.
The graphics (Video Artist: Sam James) are brilliantly created in a sepia, decayed wallpaper background or in monochrome with an occasional hit of colour, like cathedral glass or the orangey red of a beating heart. It also makes a fantastic use of shadow story that complements, or is contrapuntal to, the action. A grandfather clock is drawn and a shadow boy climbs to the top of chalk drawn staircase. Or a tiny bedbug climbs onto the period lace that covers hanging lights. Random images, scratches and scrubbings out, also appear. And there are sound effects like that too.
Birds or material flapping, what do you hear? The audio is equally as evocative with a subtle and highly suggestable technical skill embracing levels and stereo travelling for both the dialogue and sound effects. The occasional echo of her real voice also adds depth and dimension. (Composer/Sound Artist: Gail Priest) For there are people in Madame D’s head and in our ears too. The dialogue is voiced by some stellar names (Arky Michael, Drew Fairley, Nick Meenahan, Jane Phegan and Kym Verco).
Madame D is played with focus and intimacy by Katia Molino. She nods and responds to the voices that we hear in our ears and she can gesture in tiny motions or expansively with a pointed finger. Havisham-like she commands the stage in stillness or in disguise as much as when she is impelled, sometimes at speed, around the stage by forces unseen and voices heard clearly. And her tiny body vibrates with Madame D’s madness as we indeed ask … “What becomes of the soul in madness?”
OBSCENE MADAME D from Theatre Kantanka has completed its run at Riverside Theatres but has a new season at 107 Projects Redfern 23 May 2018 – 27 May 2018.
