An Ambivalent Woman of 37: Emma Sandall mines the motherlode of decisions

Sheila Heti’s contemplative book on the question of whether to have children, simply titled Motherhood, was an unlikely best seller. It tells of her personal challenge with this age-old choice through the lens of a fictional character in a semi-fictional narrative. When dancer and performance artist, Emma Sandall read the novel, she felt immediately inspired — compelled, really — to find a way of creatively interpreting the book for the stage. 

An Ambivalent Woman of 37, is the result of several years of conversations, collaborations, and trial and error. The one-hour show, being presented as part of Sydney Fringe Festival, is a multi-media, low-concept, two-hander that meanders through a complex mental and emotional forest with inventiveness and humour. 

Sandall is joined on stage by internationally renowned pianist, Yanghee Kim, who plays an electric piano at the edge of the stage. It is very much a dual act, with Kim and Sandall sharing witty banter and taking cues from each other in a precisely-timed script. 

The music itself is an original score by esteemed Australian composer, Elena Kats-Chernin, and it is absolutely perfect for the show. It has the feel of a silent-movie accompaniment and is intrinsic to what is going on on stage. 

It’s a very meta script. Sandall directly addresses the audience, explaining that she will be effectively performing the Heti’s book for us, albeit in an abridge, abstract way. This in fact, leads to a little confusion as we progress through the performance; it’s hard to know whether we are still adhering to Heti’s text or are being privy to Sandall’s own throughts. 

A large canvas screen fills the back wall of the stage area. Onto this is projected various images, including Monty Python-esque cut-out animation, computer-generated visuals, silhouettes, and video-recorded live action scenes featuring Sandall and other actors. 

Sandall also performs various choreographed sequences, sometimes to music, sometimes as she speaks. 

The production elements and creative ideas are engaging and quite entertaining, and Sandall is a very charismatic personality. 

If there’s a fault with the show, it’s that it tends to become repetitive, that is, it hovers around certain very specific, very esoteric considerations around whether or not to have a child and perhaps doesn’t cast the philosophical net wide enough. 

As a piece of unique, engrossing theatre, however, this is worth having a look at. 

An Ambivalent Woman of 37
Until September 14
Flight Path Theatre, 9b/142 Addison Rd, Marrickville
https://sydneyfringe.com/events/an-ambivalent-woman-of-37