In his solo work The Honouring, emerging performer
Jack Sheppard (Kurtjar people, Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York) combines
movement, dialogue and puppetry to explore how a person’s spirit or soul can be
prevented from moving on when culture does not recognise it. With some
impressive design elements, it is a performance that doesn’t shy away from
exposing pain or grief while still retaining an air of hope and peace.
Sheppard shines when he uses his body to tell this story and
he throws himself into the powerful choreography. Paired with the history of
ritual, it is captivating to see how Sheppard chooses to express the emotions
and issues that arise from suicide as a First Nations person.
There is
a familiar smell in the air as I take my seat at Arts House theatre. Even
though I can’t quite put my finger on it, it feels like rain on a cold, wet night
with mist and fog in the air, which subsequently fits in nicely with the show I
am about to see, about death. In Endings,
Tamara Saulwick explores our attempts to stay connected with loved ones after
they have passed away.
Saulwick
explores this concept in a very intimate setting with pre-recorded conversations
with people who have lost loved ones as well as opening up about the death of
her own father. These recordings and conversations describe not only the
moments leading up to the death but the thoughts and actions immediately
following. One person mentions photographing the deceased with family members
and another recalls the shock of hospital staff at a request to bathe the
deceased.
