[Performance Analysis:] NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, Golden Goose Theatre, London.

The Live Performance Mentor analyses NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, Golden Goose Theatre, London.

This is a most creative and unique performance written by Isabell Friis and Sunny Jiu Liu, and produced and directed by Jiu Liu. Recounting elements from Friis’s life and that of Yufei Lucia Jiang, the play blends a multitude of storytelling devices together exceptionally well. It is usually the case that having multiple, distinct devices allows for stylistic incongruity or discontinuity, with each competing against the others until order and cohesive voice are lost. However, in this performance, they each add an extra otherworldly layer, capturing the imagination of a child, in early parts of the performance; the sense of “the Other” in the use of disembodied voices, silhouettes, symbols, etc.; and then general visceral perception/feeling as the characters reach adolescence/adulthood. This is efficacious and successful, serving as a multifaceted, visceral and symbolic representation. It is also enjoyable in its variety and dynamism.

However, I would recommend further attention be given to the respective communications of each device (shadow-puppetry, projections, consecutive translations and direct address vs enclosed monologuing/dialoguing, soundscapes, etc). If each device is bringing a unique and distinct voice, texture, mood and message of its own, each earns its place and brings yet another piece of information, another layer of depth. If the audience perceive a crossover, however, there is likely to be a muddy sense of inconsistency and redundancy across each device’s use. This could be seen with how the shadow puppets are used to symbolise figures from the characters’ pasts, who are vocalised by murmurs and utterances off stage. Yet, in other parts, Character A (played by Friis) is seen voicing the workers at the Nigerian Immigration Service, or Character B (played by Jiu Liu) is seen translating her conversation with her mother to the audience.

These translation scenelets, in particular, might be worth re-examining when considering the relationship between the two primary characters: why can Character B not be translating her conversation to Character A? This allows for consistency in audience address and establishes a relationship between the two of them. Currently, they are distinctly separate characters/stories, united only by theme, and experience of prejudice, until the very end of the play when we are re-presented Character A’s opening scene. It is perfectly fine to have them unrelated to one another directly throughout; they do not need to meet somewhere in their timelines because they are already connected in this way. However, if they should physically meet, this meeting should be expectable and repeated throughout; otherwise, the final revelation of their relationship feels like an afterthought and allows for a jolting disconnection. There is also a disconnect when considering why we are re-presented Character A’s opening scene and not Character B’s — perhaps it would be interesting to play with two perspectives of the exact same scene?

I do have some notable concerns in regard to blocking and the topographical arrangement of technical entities and theatrical properties. The most notable is having the projector placed at the audience members’ eye-/seat-level and positioned amongst them in the stalls. This would become even more apparent if the audience were bigger, but any latecomers and fidgeters interfere with this. Indeed, I myself inadvertently covered the throw of the projector several times in my own fidgeting. Additionally, performers themselves blocked the projection screen, sometimes at quite vital moments. It also then becomes a health and safety risk and adds an extra production-level concern. For shadow puppetry, the light and the cut-out together can be moved to keep the hardness of the resulting shadow consistent whilst playing with size and position. There were quite a few times where cut-outs were moved independently where they needn’t have been, and this caused softening of the shadows and an overall ‘blurring’ or ‘fuzzing’ of the image. Rotating the flat cut-outs also interfered with visibility.

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