Fringe Review: Moira Finucane's The Rapture Chapter II Art vs Extinction
Have you ever done a Myer-Briggs Type Indicator? It only takes about 15 minutes and often can yield some deeply personal and unusual results. Think of it as a fancy horoscope - but instead of randomness, your "type" is determined by psychology.
When I first did it, the test told me I was an ENTP - or colloquially, a Debater Type. Now, this in itself wasn't surprising. I love a good argument. Having my boundaries tested and pushed is stimulating to me, the feeling of being affronted and exposed. Speaking in favour of a point I don't necessarily believe in to watch how people respond to the devil's advocate. The use of civil and good-intentioned conflict to explore ideas. Reading the description for The Debater, I started to feel like someone had written down things I knew implicitly about myself. It was strange seeing those parts of me written down in concise ways I would never have been able to. The moment I read this was somewhat of a revelation - and revelations are hard to come by.
Revelation through a contest of the mind is embedded into the very core of The Rapture Chapter Part 2 - Art vs Extinction by Moira Finucane. Boundaries are highlighted and made prominent before being stepped over without apology. Nothing is off-limits. The vanities and grotesqueries of ourselves, of human nature, laid bare one after the other. It is a church in which to worship the sacrament of desecration. A twisted cathedral housing the warring factions of our society and how they play out in our minds. But none of this is without purpose - the shredding of morals is with sincere and evident intent. There is a conscience here at play that emerges again and again, like a whale breaching the icy waves. Huge and unmissable when it rises above the water, to disappear into the depths again.
The show starts in an icy cavern. Icicles hang from the ceiling and penguins are adorned with religious robes. Finucane emerges, postured as a hag, but beautiful and graceful, clothed in an elaborate gown befitting the Ice Queen she is. She speaks of vanity and postulates about our fears and freedoms. How we use and abuse our abilities. It is mesmerising to watch her monologue, fingers bent like claws, pacing every which way on a runway shaped like a crucifix. Her ability to hold the audience’s attention is impressive. Finucane rewards your keen ears by sprinkling dark humour into places it feels it ought not to go. She blends, taking herself and the subject matter seriously with a total lack of reverence like lollypop after a nasty shot. She invites difficult and exposing thoughts - using her heightened reality to make them seem less daunting, less harmful.
Throughout the show, she transforms. From Queen of the Frost, she becomes a punk rock mum, topless and unafraid. She is an artist in furs trapped in a tower above a forest in Denmark. A ghost net bore on the tidal drifts, the embodiment of hell. She is stark naked and covered in black ink - imposing and treacherous. Her use of costuming adds a lot to the show - it is clear that there was no lack of creative juice in the concept of the show.
The themes are wide and varied - with a strong focus on the feeble, dying pulse of nature and the injustice faced by Australia's first people. With special guest Ray Dimarrkari Dixon and several moving songs played on the acoustic guitar - most in his people's tongue - are moving reminders of how much further we must go to put right injustice of the past. The use of opera and gospel interspersed throughout the show is reminiscent of many styles of worship.
The show mainly keeps at a good pace, but sometimes is weighed down by its ambition. The desire to include so many sections and themes means that it loses some of its momenta and its emotional arc seems disrupted. The use of many voices frequently is excellent, but due to poor sound balance - gospel harmonies often feel like they are at discord and lean towards screeching rather than preaching. Themes often seem to resurface again and again, each time bearing less of an impact and starting to feel more like a lecture than a journey of discovery. These issues with vocals, pacing and recycling subject matter could be fixed easily with a thorough editing process.
The best moments though are Finucane doing what she does best. Expressing herself boldly in a brilliant costume - capturing minds and hearts in her net of influence.
The show is an elegant, genre-bending piece of theatre. Mixing cabaret, gothic monologues and fever dreams it manages to provide incredible moments of insight and excitement. This show highlights the talent of all involved and demonstrates the immutable and extraordinary voice of a woman on a mission.
Nowhere else will you get disco, macabre nudity, and the opportunity to have your mind blown open by the magic of theatre.
3/5 bits of bread
The Rapture Chapter II: Art vs Extinction is now showing at fortyfivedownstairs as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. More information can be found here