Expectations: 3/5
Reality Rating: 4/5
Fidget Factor: 0.3
A Womb is Meant to Harbour Life and Mine Became a Tomb… In the small space of Studio 3, C Royale, Nightingale Productions tackle a mighty subject. Invited into the intimate space of Phoebe’s bedroom, breathing through yoga and intoxicated with incense, a vulnerable and honest conversation is started.
Pheobe isn’t one for dodging a conversation, she’s straight to the point, no mess. When Phoebe finds out she’s pregnant, her friend Lloyd helps her weigh up the pros and cons; big boobs and a chance for tacky tattoos but your dead, dead boring. What starts out as a hilarious comedy about getting knocked up by a one night stand turns into an emotionally gripping story about miscarriage.
Phoebe states she hates pregnant women and babies, but it’s hard for her to sympathise when jealousy and pain eats away at her. The pain she keeps hidden in a show box under her bed. Carried Away approaches the sensitive, often unspoken topic, of miscarriage and pregnancy loss.
Simonet and Grace have found several powerful uses of language for their solo piece, as friends throw Phoebe a ‘Baby Sunami’ and Phoebe confesses her guilt around her lost baby; ‘a womb is meant to harbour life and mine became a tomb’, it is obvious how overwhelming her situation is. After creating a connection, the audience share Phoebe’s anxieties towards the end of the show when her due date gets closer, a deeply emotional part of this production.
Alexandra Simonet knows when to be still and when to pace the space. Using all the levels available to her, including the floor and the table, Simonet finds ways to create visuals of DJ booths and hospital beds without changing the set. The female character which has been developed is strong and resilient when both hiding and facing her depression. There are some confusing moments between mum and daughter when the characters aren’t quite defined enough to make a clear difference.
Carried Away is created by Alexandra Simonet & Lizzie Grace, who both perform the solo production on alternate nights.
Impose on and explore Phoebe’s heartache and celebrations in Carried Away.
Click for Tix: @C Royale
Time: 50 Minutes
Running: AUG @ Ed Fringe
♥ Thank you to Lizzie for the invite
♥ Thanks to Greg for A Secret Shoe Box illustration
