What happens when you put two women on display and invite an audience to look? In EXHIBIT, Emma J Hawkins and Leisa Prowd turn that simple proposition into an entertaining and quietly provocative piece of performance.
Created and performed by Hawkins and Prowd, with a directorial eye from Susie Dee, EXHIBIT sits somewhere between performance and installation, using the concept of an exhibit to explore what happens when people themselves become the subject of scrutiny.
The work centres on two women who are frequently mistaken for one another, an assumption they embrace rather than resist. Instead of correcting the gaze, they turn it back on the audience. It is a smart premise, and one that gives the work plenty of room to play.
The staging is deliberately spare. Two large boxes, resembling packing cases, are manoeuvred around the performance space, variously becoming objects, platforms and architectural markers. Two impressive latch-hook works by Hawkins are also incorporated into the performance, adding another layer to the question of what constitutes an exhibit.
Much of the work’s appeal comes from its physicality. Hawkins and Prowd have an engaging chemistry, and their willingness to embrace awkwardness, repetition and the occasional absurdity of their situation produces some genuinely funny moments. The comedy, however, is rarely there simply for laughs.
Beneath the playfulness is an examination of how we decide what is normal, what is interesting and what is worthy of our attention. The work recognises that being seen can be both liberating and uncomfortable, particularly when the expectations placed upon us do not quite fit.
Age becomes an important part of this conversation. EXHIBIT does not attempt to disguise or diminish the performers’ age. Instead, it incorporates it into the work’s physical and visual language. Vitality is presented not as something exclusive to youth, but as something fuelled by experience, curiosity and a willingness to remain visible.
Richard Vabre’s lighting helps define the changing theatrical environment, while Dan West’s sound provides an effective atmospheric layer. Kyall Shanks’ movement direction gives the performers a clear physical vocabulary, balancing the everyday with moments of heightened theatricality.
There is an appealing mischievousness to EXHIBIT. Hawkins and Prowd know that the audience is looking at them and, rather than allowing that gaze to remain passive, make it part of the work. The result is occasionally odd, often funny and more thoughtful than its playful surface initially suggests.
EXHIBIT
La Mama Courthouse, 349 Drummond Street, Carlton
Performance: Thursday 1 October 2026
Season continues to 4 October 2026
Information and Bookings: www.lamama.com.au
Images: Emma J. Hawkins and Leisa Prowd – photos by Darren Gill
Review: Rohan Shearn