Who is Nicola Gunn? In this Melbourne Festival production she’s a world famous performance artist whose fame rivals the likes of Stelarc and Marina Abramović; the genius responsible for such timeless works as the striking Disappointment Mountain and the powerful and compelling Carpetburn.
This short season of Gunn’s work at Arts Centre Melbourne coincides with the opening night of Exercises in Hopelessness: Nicola Gunn (1979 – Present), a retrospective exhibition curated by the academic, Susan Becker, and featuring pieces such as Unexpected Hair and Failed Compost installed in the theatre foyer.
Except, of course, neither Nicola Gunn nor Susan Becker actually exist; they’re the creations of Melbourne performance artist and theatremaker Nicola Gunn and her Sans Hotel collaborators for this short season of In Spite of Myself at the Melbourne Festival.
A gloriously entertaining piss-take of performance art comprised of excerpts and ideas from the history of the art form, and performed with complete commitment by the celery-flinging, plasticine-stomping, audience-confronting Gunn, In Spite of Myself is the latest work inspired by Gunn’s own life and career, following on from the Green Room Award-winning At the Sans Hotel and Hello my name is. It’s also her most entertaining work to date, full of absurd ideas that provoke fits of laughter while simultaneously subverting and satirising many of the tropes of theatre-making.
The results of a residency at Arts Centre Melbourne, the content of Gunn’s performance cut close to the bone, judging from the reactions of the Arts Centre employee seated beside me during the performance; his laughs of recognition, groans of sympathy and occasional stiffening in shock and discomfort were a sign that Gunn has not only made the most of her residency, but has not shied away from exposing the foibles of the culture she was observing.She shows an equal honesty in all other facets of the production.
‘Writing a play is hard,’ she exclaims at one point, eliciting a wave of sympathy from throughout the theatre.
Though the production slightly outstays its welcome, running out of steam around the 50 minute mark before girding its loins for a final, engaging rally, In Spite of Myself is never less than fascinating; a meta-theatrical delight that subverts and entertains in equal measure across its 90 minute running time.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
In Spite of MyselfConcept, text and direction: Nicola Gunn
Dramaturgy: David Woods
Production design: Nicola Gunn and Gwen Holmberg-Gilchrist
Cast includes Nicola Gunn, Maureen Hartley, Brenda Palmer, Hanna Reptis, Pauline Gunn and Annabel Warmington
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
9-13 October
Melbourne Festival 2013
www.melbournefestival.com.au
11-27 October
Photo: Sarah Walker
