Above and featured: Performer Daley Rangi performs in Takatāpui at The Studio. Photo credit: Cassandra Hannagan. 

‘Unwrapped’, the series of storytelling events from  individual creatives at the Sydney Opera House has been marketed as ‘Short, Sharp, Surprising’. Takatāpui lived up to this description  as it entertained, lamented, inspired and protested.

This is a  vivid self-portrait/fable/expose. In it, modern hope and sweet identity gets abused. Daley uses clever poetry and other theatrical  devices to enhance this tale of a date-rape event survived.

This super sharp, surprising (or maybe not so surprising) tale retold reaches us with  spoken word, vocal effects, song, mime, dance, caricature, stunning lighting design, poetry, anger, fear, pride, queer quirkiness defying labels and a fabulous composite costume.

In 1989 American actor Jodie Foster won the first of her Best Actress Oscars for her role as a  victim of sexual assault in the movie The Accused.  Her acceptance speech concluded with the words: ‘Cruelty might be very human, and it might be very cultural, but it is not acceptable’.

Decades later, Takatāpui’s grisly modern fairy-tale demonstrates that in our allegedly modern and broad-minded society,  dangers still can be found lurking.

Above: Performer Daley Rangi moves around the stage at The Studio in this vivid storytelling event. Photo credit: Photo credit: Cassandra Hannagan. 

This show’s vivid painting of a non-anglo, gender-fluid hopeful-meets white boy date night was crafted and retold with the charm and rhythm  of an entertaining story, complete with lyricism, lighting and lore.

But close to the brimming surface in this date-night description was a culture of cruelty, intolerance of gender identity variables and predatorial, even colonial cruelty. This shocking reality was creatively exposed.  Our society, with a history of  frighteningly direct, disguised or violent racism as well as difference-phobia, is a tricky and terrible one for one outside the binary model to socialise in.

Rangi’s clever poetry melded sentiment, huge detail and honest emotional reality into the complex conouring of the spoken word account. This ballad was intelligent, sassy, witty, heartbreaking poetry which is beautifully written and performed with brave, bold edginess.

Jarring the verse were biting realities described in brief depth. Feelings are forced out of hiding and caricatures of everything from dressing up, train crowds, fine-dining restaurants and interracial dating.

Early in the monolgue there was an ominous cover version of ‘Bad Moon Rising’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival. At another signpost moment later on, when Daley escapes the attacker’s lair on this night,  there was another sobering song-break, in the form of a haunting version of The Church’s ‘Under the Milky Way Tonight’.

Above: Lighting greatly enhanced the emotion and flow of Daley Rangi’s words throught this event. Photo credit: Cassandra Hannagan. 

This Unwrapped event dealt with a difficult sharp reality and a shocking set of behaviours endured under the night sky. Daley Rangi used  humour, movement, vocal effects in an audio-visual entertainment constantly changing pace, expanding and contracting.

The sudden use of lighting states filled the space at key moments in the horror. They inundated the performer and audience with fabulous effect and also brought a greater meaning or sense of further dread.

Moving away from the intimate, static delivery at a central table with microphone for the sad-but-true, cruel but cleverly parsed narrative, the show in the versatile hands of this performer ebbed and flowed as it took the commentary right around the Studio floor.

The storytelling grew even further up in this way to embrace us with singing, small dance spots, stand-up non-comedy, dancing , as well as angry or tired warnings from an uplit face  Energy, identity and  a litany of griefs moving about the stage in this way were imbued with haunting hues and a brave sharing here.

This elaborate chat was instantly endearing, with warmth, laughs, tears and unfortunately an account of cruelty and a questionable snapshot of  broadmindedness breaking down in our still violent society.

This commentary on the minefield of staying individual and keeping safe  makes for haunting and necessary viewing. It deserves a solid future of repeat or touring performances outside the Unwrapped series, where its survival can speak volumes to the dangerous mainstream.