In the Society room at The Stanley Arts Centre, Dear Annie whistles into a mic. They press buttons and birds chirp, wings flutter in take off, a woman’s voice sings in a foreign language. Emilia Nurmukhamet moves slowly into the space, orange-lit, the audience contrasted in dentist green. Emilia and Annie smile at each other when they see each other, and Emilia’s knee-length plait grazes her knee as she turns. On the stage is a pile of presents and Emilia takes a pair of scissors out of a box in this tower and cuts off the plait.
“I was going to give you this performance as a gift, but I can’t do that,” says Emilia. So begins an exploration of giving and taking, of gifts given freely and gifts given with terms attached.
The performers explore through dance, through time spent with the audience, through electronic soundscapes and stories shared. The performance is signed by Hahna who is embedded into the piece, an active part of everything that is happening onstage.
There is so much play in the show: a joy and a silliness that feels unmistakably queer, that takes its shape in embodied gifts and giant pieces of fluff. This sits alongside a story that Emilia’s Mum used to tell her, a folk tale about a gift that is really about someone taking something that isn’t theirs. This tale offers us a way into a transaction that is happening right now: the eradication of indigenous peoples in Russia, how they are being lured into conscription with perishable goods, gifts exchanged for a life. At the end of the show the performers talk about their own relationship, the indebtedness they feel to each other, an indebtedness they are more than happy to live with.
There are so many rich strands in the show, and a difficult job is balancing how much time is spent with each, how they are weaved in and out of each other. The storytelling could begin sooner, the audience interaction could be more spaced out across the piece, the thoughts around giving and taking (gift giving as a love language, transactional gifts, the performers' own relationship to giving to and taking from each other) could be more explored in more depth across the piece. Annie and Emilia move beautifully together, dancing around each other, against each other in an act of giving and taking space and touch that I wanted even more of.
‘GIVE OR TAKE’ explores its subject with a warmth and an authenticity that is irresistible. It is playful and moving, political and personal, angry and tender.
When the show ends its audience don’t leave. We stay and we talk about it and we exchange feedback forms for a polaroid of ourselves, in credit to the space the performers have held for us.
‘GIVE OR TAKE’ appeared at The Stanley Arts Centre in November 2024. You can find out more about the production’s history here.
Photography credit: Tainted Saint
Comments