★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Emma Beech. The Mill. 23 Feb 2023
There we are. A seated audience. There she is. Emma. The black clad, tall authoritative storyteller. An improvisational experience is to be had, the show blurb promises. How does that work?
Well, there’s a scripted bit outlining things. We can say stuff. Ask questions. Emma can ask questions. Emma will decide what she does with responses or random chat. Not in a fashion we might necessarily expect.
Nothing occurs in a fashion expected in this created-from-the-ground-up show.
An expressed liking for the doors of the performance space, a love of Dublin or a question about the gold chain on Emma’s black slacks prompts tales from Emma’s life that take on an extraordinary otherworldly life, as each tale links up in the afterglow of the previous one.
We become conscious that some power has seized the words uttered by audience members and extracted from them something deep, complex and challenging. We sit transfixed by the quixotic nature of the stories told. They seem so unreal yet here they are.
How bizarre it is these stories have been prodded out into live expression by a couple of words from an audience. That the sum total of an hour has created a once only moment of thought, reflection and new understanding of the great and small issues of life.
Tonight’s audience experience is unique to us only. Please take the chance to make yours.
David O’Brien
When: 22 Feb to 18 Mar
Where: The Mill – The Breakout
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
