Presented by No Strings Attached
Reviewed 3 July 2019
Adelaide’s world renowned No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability once again shows how it is done.
Stripping theatre back to its story-telling foundations, Alirio Zavarce has gently devised a performance which breaks down walls: the wall between audience and performer, and the wall between those living with disability and those who have not yet experienced that.
Using the co-creation methodology which has taken the company to international conferences, the ensemble has pulled together stories of memory and memories: the way in which we “remember”; the jumbled nature of our memories, presented in all its messy glory; the need to hold memories for others, when they can no longer remember.
The collaborative cast: Michaela Cantwell, Kathryn Hall, Kym Mackenzie, Duncan Luke and Cassie Litchfield are all dynamic performers. Cantwell has a magnetism about her, which is hard to define, and Hall oozes comedic charm. Every performer has a specific style they bring, and this variety is part of the richness of the work. There are moments of hilarity, moments of sadness, even moments of darkness. Yet what ties each of these moments together is humanity. Suffice to say, this is an hour jam-packed with stories and emotion.
Assisted by some excellent creative work from Matt Crook, Tyson Olsen, Katherine Kleeman and many others, this is a group production in every sense of the term.
I Forgot to Remember to Forget has a (sadly) short run at the Space, so you’ll need to be quick to grab a ticket. Tonight’s performance includes audio description and Auslan interpretation.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
Rating out of 5: 5
Venue: Space Theatre
Season: 3rd-6th July
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets: $25-$30
Bookings: https://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/events/i-forgot-to-remember-to-forget/
https://www.nostringsattached.org.au/