Review – It’s Happening in the Space Between My Face and Yours
If you’re a young woman who walks home alone at nighttime do not see this play. Its message: you will be captured and killed, your housemates will smoke all of your Champion Ruby, and you will be replaced by a guy who drinks all the soy-milk. Your ghost will haunt your housemates in a fancy jacket, flat-lining monologues about death (sort of) in repetitive poetic prose. People will grieve, then go home and post it on Facebook.
Co-presented by Monash Uni Student Theatre and Spare Room, it’s happening in the space between my face and yours, written by Izzy Roberts-Orr, didn’t fill my face with a particularly original happening.
As the audience entered the space, four actors moved in infinitesimally-slow motion, dance party style, lulling me into a false sense of intrigue. The tagline of the piece is, “We love. We fuck. We live. We survive. We’re afraid.” But what are we afraid of? Another monologue, it seems. Most of the actors spouted visceral text that might have been shocking if we hadn’t heard it all before. The monologues were too vaguely connected to the main storyline, creating an un-surmounted challenge for the actors to avoid predictable patterning clichés.
Occasionally, dialogue would rear its awkward head. I wondered if the actors were just playing surface-level versions of themselves. There was one scene between the soy-milk drinking housemate and the soy-milk stealing housemate that was quite amusing, especially compared to the uncommitted lesbian could-you-even-call-it-sex scene. But at least they were all good-looking.
The set was excellent: the wooden floors of the small Sketch and Tulip stage perfectly complemented the artistically stacked wooden chairs lining the back wall, and the door that became a table that became a bed was a creative and transformative addition.
It was an admirable attempt at an almost-interesting piece of work, but it didn’t say anything new. See it if you like sexual poetic prose or if you’re friends with the cast and crew. While you’re there maybe suggest that they don’t read this review.
Yet again another try-hard reviewer rears his ugly head just in time for the Fringe Festival.
I can do nothing but assume that you are a ‘he’. A vitriolic, scathing and severely lacking review. Without any of the qualities required of a good commentary. Such qualities, intellectual engagement with the content, form and dramaturgy are sorely missing from what otherwise is a piece of absurdly-written-ego-stroking-opinionated drivel. I can only assume that is a piece written by one of those ten-thousand hacks, whose artistic career fledged at the age of four once their kindergarten teacher ‘tut-tutted’ one of their monochromatic finger paintings. Driven by the sudden need to attend the fringe festival, these trolls of the artistic community wander through venues, desperately seeking self-gratification by assaulting new and arising works. The irony is that they are the type of reviewer (undertrained, undereducated and immensely lonely), who will never be pleased by a production of any shape or form. Because they lack the vocabulary with which to engage with theatre. Not only does this review fail to note key moments of the show (I do wonder if you were even watching?), but they display little to no comprehension pertaining to the show’s content, nor do they even bother to discuss the issues raised through the performance – an evident sign of a failure to understand the message. Titling this as a ‘review’ rather than the egotistical member-stroking opinion piece (‘after’ Andrew Bolt no doubt) that it is, serves as not only an insult to reviewers around the world, but serves as potent argument against having freedom of speech in this nation. It is an outrage that a reviewer feels the need to (instead of actually writing a critique of a performance) comment on the ‘attractive’-ness of the actors onstage: what an absolute absurdity.
For reference, please find this link on how to write a review. https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-critical-review
Shows get bad reviews, it’s something that happens. Reviews aren’t personal assults (at least this one isn’t). I struggle to understand how you can call any of this egotistic when it has no identity attached to it and never makes any comparisons or references of a self indulgent nature. While I also dislike getting a bad review, I don’t attack the reviewer. The fact that you felt the need to retaliate and write a personal attack on the reviewer show what little experience you have in performing arts outside university. Reviews are opinion pieces, the opinion of the reviewer. The publisher and the readers can be decerning about the reviewer qualifications, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to write a review. T’ll write a review on your comment right now:
The commenters use of pretentious prose clearely shows their conceit. Their arguments are overshadowed by the fact that they have clearely never read another review on this site and have missed the concept of heckler.com.au entirely. How can the reviewer “never be pleased by a production of any shape or form” when there are other reviews (mostly positive) of fringe shows right next to this one. The point “nor do they even bother to discuss the issues raised through the performance” gives some insight into why the reviewer may not have liked the show. This show can raise as many issues as it likes but ultimately if it is not entertaining or engaging then the points raised on those issues will be lost to any audience member and the production will become nothing but “egotistical member-stroking” for those involved with it.
I however have not seen the show so I cannot comment on its level of entertainment or engagement. Who knows I may really like it. What I do have problem with is the trolling you have perpetuated (which I also sort of have, trolling trolling but we’ll ignore that). What would have been more acceptable is to fine a good review and post it here.
A fair response. I learnt something from it.
Thank you.
“Ego stroking” “vitriolic” “desperately seeking self-gratification”
Did you read your post before putting it up?
HI There! My Name is Nick Fry, the director of ‘it’s happening in the space between my face and yours’ while nobody appreciates a bad review, I can assure you everyone within the production respects feedback and understands that all work is subjective. We do not align ourselves with this ‘Janis’ person and would like to make it clear that they are not involved with the production in any capacity whatsoever . A reviewers job is to review, and if they didn’t enjoy the work, they are well within their rights to give their honest opinion. Thank you for coming out of your massive fringe schedule to come and check us out!
That’s a generous response, Nick. While the reviewer didn’t appreciate your play on the night it was performed, we hope the Fringe is going well for you and the cast & crew and look forward to seeing your future work.