Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster

Nicola Gunn photo by Sarah WalkerA white stage stained with a faint water-like projection and Nicole Gunn dressed in her ‘happy any day’ casual getup talking to you. It’s all you need for an engaging night at the theatre.

Nicola Gunn’s Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster at Performance Space’s Liveworks Festival is delicious and funny. We see a witty woman articulating through words and her body the never-ending quest to understand one another and connect through art.

Jo Lloyd’s choreography and the precise, dexterous way Gunn delivers an athletic performance make for an engrossing 70 minutes. The unexpected climax that slowly builds through the later half with Kelly Ryall’s composition and Niklas Pajanti’s lighting design thrills and provokes.

Best of all is the stylised text Gunn works with to directly ask the audience a series of random and themed questions. Gunn is a natural, making the audience chuckle throughout the piece. Her words engage around the scene of a man throwing stones at a duck for the sake of art, and Gunn intellectualises the paradox of real-life consequences versus the high-art value of pursuing an idea. Go see it!

Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster
Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
Performance: Wednesday 4 November – 7.30pm
Information: www.performancespace.com.au

Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster will also be performed at Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall: 11 – 15 November, and Vitalstatistix, Adelaide: 25 – 29 November 2015.

Image: Nicola Gunn – photo by Sarah Walker

Review: Maryann Wright

Maryann Wright is a performer and writer. She has a Diploma of Musical Theatre from Brent Street and a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from The University of Sydney. Recent performance credits include: EIGHTSubject To ChangeHeart of a Dog (Australian premiere), Carrie (Squabbalogic) and Urinetown (Brent Street). Journalism credits include: www.artshub.com.au, The Guardian, news.com.au and Girlfriend Magazine. www.maryannwright.com.au