This evening I went to watch ‘Talk To Yourself’ at The Kings Arms, Salford. Talk To Yourself is a unique piece of drama that includes spoken word, music, artificial intelligence and live painting. The one woman monologue explores themes of pregnancy, self acceptance and societal views on current ‘taboo’ subjects like abortion.
The story begins with a character flicking a light on and off, this character is nameless and can only be identified by a number. As she flicks the light on and off I can feel the audiences anticipation as they’re waiting for her monologue to begin. The character is in her early 30s and has found herself pregnant, again. Her only communication throughout this performance is to the audience and with a computer system named CHOROS. The system believes humans are unable to make life decisions and so screen every conversation she has. As the character starts to reflect on her past pregnancy, the system intervenes. The character, played by Brooke Parratt, shared that her first pregnancy was at the age of 18, and at that time she took the decision to have a termination. Fast forward ten or so years and she in now pregnant again in a society where such topics are forbidden to talk about. Although the monologue ends differently from her previous experience, I found myself empathising and understanding each and every choice the character made, putting my own life choice into perspective too. I believed Parratt was suited to this role, her performance was engaging, empathetic whilst feisty at the same time, she was able to soften her character whilst also showing her vulnerable side. A fantastic performance from her.
As a collective, Talk To Yourself isn’t only an expression of femininity: it is also a collection of art, combining live painting and sound. As an audience member I watched as Catherine Jack expressed herself through the use of water colours and paper, carefully crafting her brush strokes to the ambience of the room.
On the other hand Jo Montgomerie layered each sound alongside the story that was being told, ever so eloquently as to add depth to the topic being discussed.
Director Adriana Buonfantino has a very clear vision when directing this work, her attention to detail and the creativity of the words all pieced together this hard-hitting yet slightly dystopian piece. The use of the theatre space at The Kings Arms was a very good choice and the staging of the piece was engaging and visually appealing. Overall I very much enjoyed this performance and if you’re partial to a bit of thought-provoking theatre you should definitely have a watch.
Reviewer - Caroline Bleakley
on - 24/7/19
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