Having read the publicity
for Paisley before I arrived at the Leaf Café on Portland Street, I was
expecting something a little out of the ordinary. It had been described as a “deeply personal
piece of theatre focusing on culture and its development from a woman’s
perspective” – and this was very much all of those things and probably more.
The scene is a typical
girl’s bedroom with clothes strewn over the floor, a large mirror and dressing
table and lots of personal touches dotted around the room. The girl in question was Paisley, dressed in
her pyjamas and brushing her long blonde hair. In walks her mother and proceeds
to collect up her abandoned clothes whilst bemoaning the untidiness. Paisley is due to get married on that day,
her wedding dress hung up and still in the protective wrapping, and all things
are clearly not as they may seem.
The overall story was one
of women supporting women, with each of the characters telling their own tale
of past struggles but each in a very unique way.
First there was Paisley’s
mother who had talked very little of her past before Paisley was born, but in a
Bollywood-style dance interpretation she shows how she had to battle against
the odds in a war-torn land before escaping in order to build a life that now
included her daughter. The dance was
beautifully choreographed and with the exception of a scene where cast members
came out wearing cows' heads it perfectly described her story – I struggled to
see the symbolism that was being portrayed with the cows' heads.
There is Kira, the mother
of John (Paisley’s groom-to-be) who had to endure an abusive husband when she
married very young. Her story is told
through the medium of Japanese puppetry, using beautifully created paper puppets
and a shadow box to display the show using the grand fireplace in Paisley’s
bedroom. Whilst the fireplace seemed
like the perfect setting for this, being sat on the back row on seats (albeit
with only 3 rows) I struggled to see everything that was going on and judging
by the arching necks around me others did also.
Gabby’s story was next (Paisley’s best friend through her childhood) who suddenly reveals she is gay
and talks about the struggles she has had with her sexuality and her
relationship with her own mother since coming out. Gabby sings her story in perfect pitch,
switching between English and Spanish lyrics throughout.
One of the big things that
came through in this performance is the attention to detail – the set design is
just about perfect with every element playing its part in setting up the
performance. The girlie touches that are
placed around the room and even family photos just make this the perfect
setting.
I enjoyed the performance
of Paisley very much, the stories of struggles for each of the women were
varied but all had the same underlying message – strength in adversity, women
supporting women and true equality for women to stand shoulder to shoulder with
their male counterparts. I did feel like
the play was just trying to tick too many boxes with the different methods of
storytelling but art is about pushing boundaries and I think Paisley did this.
Reviewer – John Fish on - 16/7/18
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