Theatre
Attempts on Her Life
St James Cavalier

Breaking away from the conventional plot and story in theatre has been done since the dawn of the postmodern age and now that we’re heading towards the post-digital and the post-human age, everything seems to have been attempted already.

However, the beauty of Martin Crimp’s 1997 play, Attempts on Her Life, written almost 20 years ago, lies in its versatility and adaptability which keep it fresh, current and valid in any period. Written in a narrative manner which does not specify characters or quantify how many are required, this piece is driven on the strength of its individual segments – 17 short scenes which at times require direct audience address, at other times take the form of a monologue and in others appear to be conversational tableaux with a dyad involving two or multiple characters.

Unifaun’s ongoing production of Attempts on Her Life at St James Cavalier is under the excellent direction of Dave Barton, and examines the different permutations of a woman’s life through the lens of minimalist techniques blended with physical theatre, technology and harnessing the cast’s most crucial raw resources: voice and movement.

The segments all attempt to pin down and explain different aspects of a woman – at times called Anna, Anne, Anushka, Anny, Ana – in various guises, situations, personal difficulties and phases in life.

This female figure becomes representative of what it means to be a woman and how she is viewed by others. At times a young girl next door, at others an artist, a make of car, a porn star, a model, a daughter, a mother, a confused old woman fleeing conflict, Anna is moulded and reshaped by the cast’s attempts at making her life comprehensible to the audience, while also having attempts made on her life – in a very clear implication of an attack, not necessarily to her physical state but to herself as an individual and a woman.

Anna is not, however, a symbol of the feminist agenda, but a symbol of individualism and the strengths and vulnerabilities of a feminine entity who combines her womanhood with her humanity in a whole which is greater than the sum of her parts. And therein lies her beauty and power.

With a simple set design by Romualdo Moretti and Chris Gatt’s effective and often striking lighting design, director Dave Barton’s vision for this piece was strong and extremely well executed by the cast. Their movements, thanks to Sandra Mifsud’s choreography, were slick and so accurately timed that it seemed like second nature as they went through their paces. The only element I found rather distracting was the constant projection of images on the raised screens in the first segment All Messages Deleted, featuring a monologue by Marie Keiser Neilsen – where the character and concept of Anna was introduced. Neilsen gave a poised and strong address to the audience which paved the way for the second introductory segment.

Tragedy of Love and Ideology postulated Anna’s motivations and possible interests: love, career, location, education, character and so forth, in a tripartite discussion between Lizzie Eldridge, Timmy Paris and Mariele Zammit. In a fast-paced but well-modulated piece, these three actors gave us multiple dimensions of being for Anna.

The whole company had several pieces which showcased their technical expertise and visual appeal, with The Camera Loves You describing Anna as a model, while later Porno envisaged her as an adult film star.

The Threat of International Terrorism and Previously Frozen respectively explored Anna’s fears and discussed the crystallisation of her feminine entity going through cycles.

Of all the company pieces, Particle Physics, which consisted of a dance in the dark set to the light of colour-changing spheres, was graceful and verging on the edge of faerie.

Among the scenes which were more visually effective, was Mum and Dad, which saw Vladislav Ilich, Eldridge, Neilsen, Bettina Paris and Zammit imagining a dual situation where Anna is a wife, mother and daughter. Ilich’s deep, rich voice gave the piece itsgravitas, along with the beautiful red backlighting. The parent figures holding up umbrellas were an example of a lifestyle which many could identify with.

Ilich and Bettina Paris sold the audience The New Annie – a sleek and sexy car model; while the eloquent Larissa Bonaci earnestly recounted Anny’s story as a confused old woman fleeing civil conflict in her war-torn country while worrying about her absent daughter in Kinda Funny and again with Antonella Mifsoode in Strangely!

Anna became a celebrated artist in Untitled (100 Words), where the company merged and melded into various art installations in which Ruth Borg and Timmy Paris aped art critics/aficionados who walked around spewing pseudo-intellectual interpretations of Anna’s work.

Borg’s and Timmy Paris’s portrayals were incredibly convincing and entertaining because they truthfully sent up the intellectualisation of art. In The Statement, it was not only Borg and Ilich whose interpretation was strong; so was Philip Leone-Ganado’s role in this tripartite look at Anna’s agenda.

Finally, The Girl Next Door saw Mathias Mallia as a guitarist accompanying several members of the company showing Anna as a girl everybody knows – and who the audience could identify with.

The beauty of Attempts on Her Life is precisely that it is an attempt at understanding on the audience’s part as well as explanation on the cast’s part; making it an excellent piece of minimalist, experimental theatre which challenges and teaches while being highly entertaining.

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