WIP – need to enmesh audience and performers together to counter representationalism
(Cabaret) At The Paucity
In the darkness, Poverty sits at the table with nothing to drink, unable to make sound, while shoppers on stage sing brash arias concerned with new kitchens, bulk loo roll and multiple threats to mass production. Their lament to failed deliveries and broken logistics is meant to make an audience cry. But Poverty only notices the chorus line applaud and kick itself blind. And from her seat, she sees overnight workers in the wings; filling shelves which magically appear centre stage, dancing and mopping fluorescent-lit aisles. Poverty would like to stand up and share a mournful verse – but she doesn’t know any words or a tune. And her dress is shit. So instead, she watches performers with stunning masques fixed in place being lowered from the lighting rig, dramatically serenading Mental Health, Physical Exercise, Immigration, and expedited Climate-Change, who sit inside and all around her, holding hands, growing from and within – her family. But the actors are singing to themselves and so blinded by their spotlights, they never notice.