I went to the ICA to see some free artistic events last night, there was an eclectic mix on offer. Try laser gunning an artist until a red strapless dress appears on his body…or taking part in a Sewing Machine race (a sort of snakes and ladders meets high-speed stitching) there was also a good folk band playing in a cavernous space romantically lit by candles – that was nice.
We went to see a play called ‘Growing Old With You’ which, in their own words: “attempts to document lived experience in real time”. I was none the wiser upon entering and…not much the wiser upon leaving. It seemed the performance revolved around a couple’s experience together in a relationship, and certainly didn’t leave you with a warm feeling of ‘togetherness’. One of the many silent role plays included the female artist rubbing her man down with TCP, much in the vigorous manner you would imagine employed by a matron during the war. She then covered him with three industrial sized tubs of salt whilst he finally gave in to sing her the theme to Home and Away (a song she had requested he sing on their first encounter apparently)
I applaud their highly physical role play which was compelling…however there was no grace to the choreography but rather a series of aggressive treatments (remember the TCP?) which gave a feeling that this relationship was a clunky and cold affair, that there was no tender, loving bind keeping this couple together. I even think they intended to irritate the audience with their long pauses and their emotional detachment from one another – I almost wanted to scream “lighten up!”
If it was their intention to irritate and estrange the audience then bravo, job done. But there was precious little information on what the piece was intended to portray, so it left you guessing. To be honest it wasn’t good enough to engage the audience and stimulate them to make their own interpretations.
At least it was free…
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