Is it the
fulfillment of the performer’s intention? Is it a neatly coherent narrative? Is
it a happy audience? Is it the amount of applause produced at the conclusion of
the piece? How do we know whether a show has reached it’s full potential? And
how then do we deem whether it was ‘successful’ or not?
Questions
such as these inform the basis of Sydney dance company The Fondue Set’s new
show No Success Like Failure. Developed in collaboration with UK based director
Wendy Houston (DV8, Forced Entertainment) performers Emma Saunders, Elizabeth
Ryan and Jane McKernan explore slippery notions of expectation, disappointment
and failure through a fractured combination of dance, physical theatre, text
and song.
No Success
Like Failure is a self-consciously performed performance. The audience is never
allowed to forget that this is a constructed or better yet, deconstructed
reality. From the very entrance of the audience within the space, the
traditionally hidden mechanisms of the theatre are laid bare. The performers
change clothes and hairstyles, move props and wait in the wings all in full
view of the audience. The piece contains constant references to ‘the show’ and
what it will or will not contain, reminding us that what we are going to view
has been carefully devised and developed.
Yet having
said that, there is a kind of looseness within the structure of the piece. It
sometimes appears as if the show is an independent entity, morphing and
evolving before our very eyes. One gets the impression that this is a sort of
twisted television Tonight Show, a surreal variety hour where dreamscape
characters spout exposition and disappear down textual tangents as if they were
rabbit holes.
The Fondue
Set manipulate notions of expectation in performance. A post-show discussion
happens pre-show. The performers talk themselves in circles, reiterating what
has already been said and pounding the point home long after it has been made
and made again, testing the audience’s endurance and attention span. Several
segments of the show are pursued long after their potential has been exhausted,
exiling the performers within a self-imposed downward spiral, leaving them in a
performative netherworld with no concluding point to cling to.
Which is
not to say that sections of the show didn’t hit their nail squarely and firmly
on the head. The unison choreography sections were stunning both technically
and conceptually and the ‘Everybody Hurts’ sad dance was an absolute
showstopper.
No Success
Like Failure is a conceptually fascinating show containing a plethora of rich
ideas and resonant images. Some were dangled in front of the audience until we
grew monstrously tired of them and longed to escape their gaze. Some were
snatched tantalizingly away before we barely even caught a glimpse.
But given
the premise, the proverbial tree in the forest analogy can best sum up No
Success Like Failure.
If the
concept of a show is failure and the show fails then is it a success?
I’m still not sure. But it’s an interesting question.
Arts House presents No Success Like Failure The Fondue Set
Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall | 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne Mel Ref: 2A J10 Dates: Wednesday 13 to Saturday 16 August 2008 Times: 7.30pm. 70 minutes no interval Tickets: $25 / $18 Bookings:artshouse.com.au or 03 9639 0096
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What makes
a performance successful?
