Image: supplied
Icarus was the boy in Greek mythology who, when escaping from the tower in which he and his father were imprisoned, flew too close to the sun. The wax on his homemade wings melted and he plummeted into the sea.
Scott Wings, who also goes by Scott Sneddon and Darkwing, is alternately called a performance poet, an entertainer, a physical performer and a comedian, among many other things. With Icarus Falling, Wings has taken the Icarus myth and messed with it until it makes sense to him. He has adopted its imagery, played with its metaphors, and woven through his own poetry, to make a show that crackles with originality and brilliance for about 40 minutes, before plummeting into the sea and slowly drowning in the final 20.
Wings has many hats and wears them well in combination. Icarus Falling weaves together a number of factors and forms – namely myth, poetry, physical theatre and comedy – to create a show of great texture that is (before it falls apart) intensely dynamic and wickedly engaging. Wings moves in and amongst the audience. He is all over the stage. He plays both Icarus and his father Daedalus, as well as the narrator, and plays each with distinction, knitting in relevant performance poetry pieces as he goes. The poetry illuminates the work, and the physical performance – Wings is in complete command of his body – brings it screaming to life.
In Wings’ take, the Icarus myth is not about hubris or obedience to one’s parents, but manic depression – with its Apollo-kissing highs and bottom-of-the-ocean lows. It’s a surprising and original angle from which to examine an old story, and a through-line that works extremely well when held steady in the bones of such an indestructible myth. But when Wings runs out of story, as he does a little over halfway through, everything falls apart.
From here the show derails. Wings essentially whips away the metaphorical veil of the myth to expose what’s underneath: a personal story of living with both depression and an abusive father, of escapism and modern masculinity. The show does not survive the transition. While the content is still excellent – Wings is an incredibly talented poet and performer – it’s rendered naked without its context, and all the clever weaving that bound together the first half of the show very quickly comes unraveled. Without its story, the show turns didactic. It loses its fantastical edge and its cliques bubble to the surface.
Icarus Falling is an incredible modern take on an ageless story. It hits upon a beautiful balance between modern dilemma and ancient myth. Wings writes brilliantly and is a transfixing physical performer; in fact, this show is well worth the ticket price just to sit in front of him for an hour. It’s the initial brilliance of the first half, however, that makes the fall of the second all the more devastating.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Icarus Falling
Written and performed by Scott Wings
The Bird, Northbridge
10-11 Feb
Kidogo Arthouse, Fremantle
14-17 Feb
