BILLIE – A GIRL, A SWING & UNDERPANTS
There are many performances that explore dark subject matter. Billie – A Girl, A Swing & Underpants is one of them. But it is the beautiful way that this stunning story is told that makes it so unique. Written by and starring Michelle St Anne, Billie – A Girl, A Swing & Underpants takes audiences on a journey into one girl’s mind and memories, as she recalls the events following her mother’s departure. But it is the questions that are raised that are most compelling. What is real, what is imagined, and what is a distorted memory? Using a blend of audio and visual, the play submerges the audience into a surreal world that explores some very dark and disturbing subjects.
“I am fascinated [by] how narrative can unfold. In Billie, AV and audio are part of the narrative line. This is not a work just about language but about the sounds, smells and images of memory … The audience will often be left with just a floating image or sound that will help them visit their own imagination,” St Anne says. “It is about a woman dealing with childhood trauma – the idiosyncrasies of her way of coping whilst tracing back moments of her childhood. Billie is about abuse in a domestic setting. But beautifully told! We experience with [Billie] the observations of the relationships between her parents, grandmother and sister … Ultimately my work is about the human condition. The beauty and the suffering. I hope the audience leaves with an empathetic heart and a heightened awareness of the person who could be sitting next to them on the train.”
So, where did the inspiration for such a piece come from? “At the time [2003] I was obsessed with Tim Winton’s book The Riders. Using his, ‘What if…’ and the starting image of Billie ‘…smelling of raspberries and Jennifer,’ my imagination took me to smelling my mother’s Oil of Ulan.” And St Anne says it is that Winton-inspired idea of ‘What if’ that makes this confronting tale more accessible. “The subject matter is strong. The ‘What if’ makes this universal – opening out the myriad of possibilities.”
Dec 8-12, Cleveland St Theatre, 199 Cleveland St, Sydney, $18-22, 9213 4508, actt.edu.au
