Before I begin, I
have to comment on how undeniably fantastic the set was. We had arrived at a
remote, fantasy island with piles of sand all around the stage. There were mini
palm trees, weights on the ground for a workout, bottles of water, and a gold
painted treadmill. This was the kind of luxury treatment Séne’s sassy TV
alter-ego deserved.
Nima Sene's 'Beige B*tch', presented and produced by The Contact Theatre Company was a fabulously fiery fusion of live art,
movement, and film that told the story of a black woman’s quest for cultural
and aesthetic belonging. Expressing herself through her alter-ego with a pony
tail longer than Ariana Grande, she asked what it means to be both ‘beige’ and
black, deconstructing and challenging conventional ideals of beauty throughout.
The underlying themes
pointed towards the idea that a lot of what we understand about and how we
perceive other cultures comes from a white person’s perspective. This
performance examined the representation (perhaps lack of representation) of people
from other races and cultures in the media, news, and fashion industry. In the
process, the show looked at conservative models of beauty.
Present in the
performance were society’s misconceptions of various races and cultures. The
show was about Séne’s journey for cultural and aesthetic belonging in a “white
privileged” world. There was a monologue which referred to the notion of
“cultural ambiguity”, the scenario presented someone’s confusion regarding
which country a person came from. An anecdote explained how a woman chooses to
wear her Hijab by her own free will. Finally, there was a story about how a white
woman patronisingly commented on how delicious Séne’s caramel skin was.
We never really
get to know the real Nima Séne: most of the time she performed as her alter-ego
and we never got the chance to look into her eyes because she wore sun glasses.
This appeared to be an intentional artistic decision relating to the representation
of ethnic groups. How many times have particular groups of people been represented
as a collective or as a number, rather than been characterised as individuals each
with a vivid and comprehensive story to tell?
I liked the
metatheatrical speech, which made reference to the devising process of the
show. Séne spoke of the fragmented nature of the narrative and putting her life
onto the conveyer belt on the treadmill. Slowly but surely, she took off parts
of her character’s costume and dropped them onto the conveyer belt, revealing
more of her personality each time, but not completely. When Séne walked forward
on the treadmill it became her effortful journey towards her sense of
belonging. The times she walked backwards on the treadmill could easily be
symbolic of the world going backwards to the racist attitudes of the past.
Breaking up the
performance was a series of spoken word pieces, unfortunately the writing was
metaphorical to the point where it was rather difficult to make sense of it in
the context of the show. It was only the very last poem which made a clear link
to the performance narrative. These dark, lonely, and colder scenes effectively
felt worlds apart from the glitz and glamour of her reality TV show.
Verdict: an eye opening performance, leaving the audience with lots to think about.
Verdict: an eye opening performance, leaving the audience with lots to think about.
Reviewer – Sam
Lowe
On – 26/10/2018
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