Anna Bella Eema - Melbourne Fringe

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Tue 10 Sep 2019 - Sun 15 Sep 2019

Can a ten year old make an adult face reality?



Only three more performances are left of Anna Bella Eema at the Motley Bauhaus Theatre! you don't want to miss out on tickets! Buy your tickets here .

Anna Bella Eema is a fierce call for more understanding of the test of reality. Anna Bella's mother just won't wake up. Amidst a tight caravan space, her world exists but Anna Bella's doesn't. She sees beyond the door into the encroaching painful culture that just won't understand. If a highway is coming, a highway is coming. One flailing root of defence is a pointless gesture. Anna's Bella's mother just won't see that. Can she adapt? Anna Bella's world is a mixture of realities and fabrications.
Written by Lisa D'Amour, the play is sensitively, wittily and powerfully crafted. It offers metaphors to unveil plain truth. The audience identifies with so much. They can not help but relate to the fear of the outside world bulldozering in on the peace of childhood innocence. Intensely sad but beautiful at the same time.

The Performers
Shelley Dunlop - Anna Bella's Mother
Maxine O Hara - Anna Bella
Maeve Hook - Anna Bella Aema

The play's world is brought to life by these performers.



Shelley Dunlop is commanding and strongly convincing. Her whole face can shift into the animalistic pose. She captures the character's deep human instinct. Driven by fear but commanded by love, her performance is unforgettable and thought-provoking.



Maxine O Hara as Anna Bella tears at your heart. You hear her child's heart and the theatre space transforms into caravan space. You see her world through her animation and you drift into this crazy reality that is both scary and a lullaby.



Maeve Hook as Anna Bella Eema mirror's Anna Bella so well, you can feel the mud on her skin and you are wrapped in every second of her performance.

Together this cast takes you on a journey. It is scary at times, confronting but very powerful. I will be thinking about this play for many weeks to come.

The play is Anja Hamburg directorial debut and a masterpiece revealing great insight and vision.

The Motley Bauhaus is very easy to spot. It bustles with life. On the night we attended, there was the added layer of experience of an art exhibition opening. The space was signing with life. Obscene Gestures speaks to the Deaf community. The Motley Bauhaus is filled with interest. It is definitely worth checking out all that is on.

Arrival
Come at least fifteen minutes early. You can use the time taking in the art exhibition. As the shows change over quickly, this makes it much easier for the organisers.

Many shows were happening and the space is tight, so be prepared to orderly file in and out of the theatre space.



Seating
A strong squish factor may bother you if you are remotely claustrophobic. The best idea is to file to your seat last and this way you can get on the aisle without disruption. The show goes for an hour, but it feels like a day or a week in Anna Bella time.

Food & Drink
The bar is well equipped with options to quench your thirst and interest. There is some food on offer. This show definitely makes you thirsty.

There is plenty of info on the Motley Bauhaus website.

This is such a beautiful opportunity to have your mind and heart provoked, don't let it slip through your fingers.

All Images by photographer Kimberley Hodson.

#community_theatre
#exhibitions
#fitzroy_north
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#september
!date 10/09/2019 -- 15/09/2019
%wnmelbourne