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Reviews of Unicorn Productions Projects

Review of Instructions to a Double by Jon Andrew in Canta Magazine March 25, 2009

witch_012Held in the small confines of the Salamander Gallery, in the Christchurch Arts Centre, with a very limited audience, and staring Julia Campbell and Erin Hutching (with Jenine Kerr), Instructions To A Double is an experimental short play that uses live acting and multimedia to tell its story.

On arrival at the Salamander Gallery I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Instructions To A Double. Forewarned, as I was, that there were only twelve audience members and that the show was interactive, I was slightly apprehensive for no particular reason. It was probably just a feeling of something unknown.

As we were led into the makeshift theatre, Viscountess Kasmira Auchinleck (Erin Hutching), in full pre-revolution French dress, invited us to sit around her dinner table.

As we sat down, the Viscountess walked around us and the table, welcoming us to her 100th birthday. It was at this point I noticed a general dog’s body crawling round under the table. As the Viscountess continued to walk and talk to us, her guests, the dog’s body (whose name currently alludes me) stole shoes from the audience members (most notably shoes without laces as they were easier to take).

Erin Hutching, doing a bulk of the work as the Viscountess, easily held the attention of the “Party goers”, whilst Julia Campbell crawled round on all fours stealing shoes and making many breaks for the food just to the left of me.

The visual work was equally as impressive as the action. Never once did it strike me that it was out of place, being, as it was, perfectly integrated into the live action sections (except for one small hiccup during the performance where one of Jenine Kerr’s (Multi-media artist) friends popped up online on MSN messenger – no one noticed).

As the play progresses, we, the dinner party guests, eventually find out that the Viscountess has for a very long time been hiding a particularly damning secret. Which, for some reason, on her 100th birthday she tricks herself into revealing. I won’t spoil the twist for to do so would ruin the experience.

Both Erin Hutching and Julia Campbell are very gifted actors. Conceptually the play is well executed. I look forward to witnessing what next work they have to offer.

Review of Instructions to a Double by Dana Moran in Magneto Magazine, Wellington

Instructions to a Double is a perfect example of an individual’s ability to sugar coat certain aspects of their memory rather than to recall the entire truth. This short half-hour performance is based on the feminist poem, of the same name, by Tess Gallagher.
This play is an alternative approach to drama where the cast of two women heavily interact with a very small audience. It is set in an old Victorian house in a small corner of Cuba Street’s Mighty Mighty.  Viscountess Kasmira (Erin Hutching), a boastful elderly lady, invited us (the audience) there to celebrate her 100th birthday. You could be forgiven for not believing her age as she holds it so well. Erin Hutching captures the essence of an elderly lady well, with a comic sense of forgetfulness. Kasmira does manage to recall her early days in a delightfully sugar coated fashion. She reminisces about how she was her father’s favourite and how he used to dote on her, pausing only to tell off Lucius (Julia Campbell) and gaze longing into her small mirror. She makes a special mention to her necklace, a diamond ‘K’ on a small chain,  only vaguely pointing out her sisters ‘M’ lying on a nearby table. Kasmira believes her father only got her sister one to keep the peace; and that she in fact was the special one.
Julia Campbell plays Lucius, a newly trained boy servant who is yet to become domesticated. He joyfully played with the audience’s belongings, misplacing them, or sniffing and nibbling interesting shoes beneath the table.
Kasmira happily shares memories of her younger days and tells us story after story. The truth of these memories was revealed to the audience through the small video beaming down onto the dining table. Thus hitting home the main theme of this play: that people’s recollections of an event are not necessarily the true story.

Instructions to a Double radio ad Wellington by Radio Active (Click below to play)

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Review of Alex London Dies in Public by Nerina Dunt in DB Magazine issue #436 19 March – 1 April 2008 , Adelaide

review-picture‘Alex London Dies in Public’ questions just how far a performance artist would go for the sake of art. For the dedicated Alex London, it does not seem unusual that death be the measure, and that for art, such an end be ‘a triumph’. This multimedia exhibition, presented as a film installation on three screens, offers four scenarios in which London commits suicide – or does she? On the middle screen plays an informal, doco-style interview with the portrayed artist who sheds some light on her artistic vision. London’s death scenes are beautifully filmed with dramatic effect matched with appropriate soundtracks that assist in creating climax. In a wonderful example of web interaction, London’s myspace page perpetuates the drama of this sacrifice in the name of art.


Buzzcuts – Melbourne Fringe Festival audio review from October 2008 (Click below to play)

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