Cassie Hamilton is one to watch
Presented by: Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Reviewed: 19 June, 2024
“Why is nobody talking about the Mouthfee- I mean, Cassie Hamilton?”
Cassie Hamilton is one to watch, folks. In an hour-long workshop, her work A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying sought to examine themes of transgender identity, leftist internet subcultures, socio-political anger vs apolitical apathy, and so much more; I truly cannot wait for a full staging.
Avis O’Hara (Hamilton) is the “right kind of trans” – designed from the ground up by and for cis people, from her hair to her perfect princess kitty, everything about her is a creation of her “dollmakers”, the online community that votes on her entire life. Her foil is biting Corrin (Adam Noviello) – a bitter, edge driven takedown merchant whose life is driven by her need to support her online comrades, no matter how their personal life falls apart because of it. As focused on image as O’Hara, Corrin really provides an interesting other side of the coin – O’Hara is clearly in the wrong, designing her life for the benefits of those who seek to placate her, but is Corrin necessarily in the right by so outwardly decrying the expression of another. Here lies some of the work’s most interesting dialogue between characters.
Also onstage are the effortlessly charismatic duo, Mouth_Feel (Mo Lovegrove) and Sasha (Issy Coomber) who, alongside the multitude of other characters they play, are ferocious and savage and a neat and tidy representation of the online worlds ability to provide both a haven for support, and it’s ability to froth a mob – as righteous or misguided the mob maybe. A piece so driven by a connection to the online world of gender queer spaces, it would feel as at home in the Natalie Wynn/Abigail Thorn universe, as it does on the main stage.
The work is breakneck, as is any workshop, bouncing from scene to song, providing the barest glimpse into what this work may become. The synths and hyperpop inspired scoring is sleek and bouncy – part 100 gecs, part Yve Blake, part Kate Miller-Heidke, this mix of genre and theatre is unique, and feels like a truly Australian work, whilst being centred in a truly global sense of shared dysphoria.
Credit must be given to music producer Beau Esposito, musical director Jesse Budel, and director Brittanie Shipway, who pushed this work to a true high, something I can truly be honest when I say often didn;t feel like a workshop at all. Give this work the applause it deserves.
What almost rhymes like Blahaj? 5 Stars.
Reviewed by Daniel Hamilton
Photo credit: Claudio Raschella
Venue: Banquet Room, Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: ended
More News
