4/5 stars

The Carriageworks

November 17

getinthebackofthevan.com

 

Comic awkwardness, a rabbit, and only one song on repeat are just some of the weird and wonderful elements involved in staging Big Hits, a very different show which is a mix between live art and theatre. Performed by Lucy McCormick, Jennifer Pick and Craig Hamblyn, who all keep their names onstage, the piece has no narrative so to speak, unfolding more as a one-way conversation with the audience as well as between the three performers.

Jen is dressed as a giant rabbit, and we’re told she represents something or someone that is special to you- something that brings comfort or a sense of safety. Lucy, dressed in revealing clothing (“because I’m all for transparency”) tells the audience she represents “you”. With this idea in mind the pair, accompanied by Craig who they treat as an assistant-come-slave, embark on an attempt to successfully perform “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley to the audience, thinking about the ‘pain’ behind the performance and repeating the song throughout the piece.

it is certainly something that not everyone would be comfortable watching.

The performance changes in tone quickly, from some comic dancing and silly voices to a darker moment in which Craig stages hitting Lucy repeatedly with the track still playing in the background. Some moments are shocking too; Lucy eventually ends up exposing herself to the audience for a prolonged amount of time while Jen and Craig make a succession of jokes about it (“Lucy, you’re making an arse of yourself”). Lucy is told to “clean her act up” and somehow it reverberates with the audience.

Of course, the entire piece is very ambiguous so this is just one interpretation; each spectator is likely to leave with a different impression of what the performance meant. The only problem is that some messages are not as clear as others; having spoken to director Hester Chillingworth, I have a better understanding of the piece, but those who don’t have such an opportunity could be left confused and bewildered. If theatre that is a bit out there is your kind of thing, then Big Hits is something that you would certainly enjoy: but while it is well made and performed, it is certainly something that not everyone would be comfortable watching.

 

After the show, Alice Rafter spoke with director Hester Chillingworth about some of the ideas behind the performance

Watching Big Hits, I had a sense that there were various important meanings behind every performance choice used in the piece. Talking to Hester Chillingworth after the performance, I realised exactly where their interests lie. Chillingworth reveals that as a group they are interested in pop culture and the drive to be a star; the idea that such a thing would make life “more worthwhile”. The “mass consumption of things that are distasteful” is questioned by the production, continually asking the audience to consider the implications of what they are watching; should they be watching it, and are they complicit in the actions taking place?

 an interest in pop culture and the drive to be a star

The piece also aims to explore and question society’s easy consumption of violence, particularly in the selling of sex, making a comparison to pop culture and some of Rihanna’s recent singles. Moments in the performance, such as Craig ‘hitting’ Lucy, are meant to create uneasiness in the audience. Although we know nothing is actually happening, we still feel uncomfortable and want it to stop. However, Chillingworth wants there to be an ambiguity present, and the audience’s allegiance is changed when Lucy turns the violence into a sexual game. This mix of absurdity and dark humour creates a fine line between fiction and reality- something which the company are interested in. Chillingworth states that she wants to create “situations that are the closest to reality” in order for the audience to view something that they find difficult to maintain a distance from.

The use of repetition within the piece is used as a tool to push material to the extreme. Chillingworth wants to change the audience’s relationship with the music as the performance moves along, and this works well. Combined with Lucy’s change of tone in her singing of ‘Hallelujah’, you do start to hear the lyrics taking on new meaning.

 

Alice Rafter