Florence: arts@work reviews

The reviewers are Kylie Eastley and Anica Boulanger-Mashberg.
Florence
Louise Moyes
The Peacock Theatre
29-31 March, 2-5 April (various venues)

Florence
Florence is a performance of dance, song, film and story telling by Newfoundland born performer Louise Moyes that was performed as part of Ten Days on the Island at the Peacock Theatre, Hobart.

The work depicts the life of Florence Leprieur, a 94 year old from Port-au-Port Peninsula, Newfoundland. Research and conversations between Moyes and Florence have inspired this one person performance.

The show is separated into two parts, with an introductory dance, Portscape, followed by Florence. The scheduling of this is an unnecessary interruption for the audience, who contend with the intrusion of clunky stage changes in preparation for the main act. This is unfortunate for Moyes, who is obviously very committed to portraying the work and the character of Florence with integrity, love and truth.

Florence is a collage of movement, speech, voice, film recordings and music. Moyes voice is strong and enigmatic as she flips between her role as narrator and the old woman. There are interesting moments when Florence on film interacts with Moyes on stage. This could have been utilized more to convey the relationship between the two women.

The story of this character is an interesting one. Living in an isolated town, raising nine, she is portrayed as a woman who teetered between her life as a mother with her love for dance and music.

Moyes movements are mesmerizing at times, but not beautiful; with chopping, cutting and pulling of her body, reflecting the physical and emotional hardship in the story. This conflicts with Moyes’ playful movements; reflect the smiling Florence that we see on screen.

The recordings of Florence singing are rich and work well with Moyes movements and interaction. The films work best when projected onto a small window frame, creating a sense of intimacy.

The sound design, produced by composer, Lori Clarke, includes singing, traditional music and recorded sounds. They effectively combine with the performance, film and dance to assist in the telling of the story. The lighting throughout is subtle, often appearing as early evening, however, there are times when the spot lighting misses the moment.

While some elements work well, there is a general lack of cohesion throughout the performance. There is an intimacy in Florence’s story that is not fully realized which is partly due to the inadequate set design and production. The strength is in the script, voice and performance of Moyes.

This was a production that I wanted to appreciate more. Moyes portrayed a woman who may not have been likeable, but was interesting. The love for Newfoundland and Florence is evident through Moyes performance. The Peacock Theatre proved a perfect venue for this intimate production, which was complemented by the after show slide show and presentation which gave the audience further insight into life in Newfoundland.

By Kylie E Eastley a freelance arts consultant based in Hobart, Tasmania.

…

Florence
Louise Moyes
The Peacock Theatre
29-31 March, 2-5 April (various venues)

Tell us a story
Louise Moyes begins this show with an introductory dance which attempts to set the scene in early twentieth-century Port-au-Port, the Newfoundland area where the Florence of the title lived. The dance is a little too introspective and ambiguous, and does not really manage to convey the story it purports to (a history of the working women in the community). It is followed by an inexplicably – and unforgivably – lackadaisical set change before the narrative-proper begins. These delays don’t make for an easy entry in to the world of Florence.

Once these barriers are finally overcome, Moyes presents a portrait of Florence through dance, song, narrative, slides, and video projection. While the range of modes sometimes overlap to form quite a lovely texture, more often the transitions between them are uncomfortable and awkward. This is frustrating: it is sometimes too hard for an audience to negotiate the nature of their relationship with the performance and with the performer. It also creates fissures in the structure of the work, to the extent that there are several false conclusions. This is a pity, as these moments undermine the actual ending, which is moving in its simplicity.

It is never quite clear what kind of storytelling Moyes’s performance is intended to be. Florence doesn’t quite create the comfortable, personal, intimate atmosphere of an individual telling a story to her listeners (an atmosphere which Moyes does generate in her optional postscript, where she presents a short slideshow about her home island). Nor does it achieve the heightened performative mode of an interpretive re-telling. Instead, it sits unsteadily somewhere between the two.

Despite its uncertainty in delivery, Florence still creates some resonant moments. At several points, Florence’s story is translated from interview to text to movement and finally back into narrative. This distils the character, allowing us to approach her from various angles, ranging from the material to the more abstract. Sometimes Moyes’s exact words, accompanied by symbolised movement, are heard in the (often overly-rich) soundscape, in Florence’s own voice. Sometimes the order is reversed, so that Moyes and Florence echo each other in a gentle circle of union.

While this works well when Florence’s voice is in the soundtrack, it is not so effective when we see Florence in the video projection. In fact, the inclusion of the video at all is a mistake. The ‘real’ Florence is so charismatic and entertaining that any re-creation of her, no matter how sensitive and perceptive, is bound to pale in comparison. And this is unfortunately what happens in Florence.

However, there is one beautiful moment involving the video projection which almost justifies its inclusion. On the screen we hear Moyes’s interview questions and see Florence’s responses. On stage, a small square of warm light fades up on Moyes as she enacts her own interview questions in stylised physical gesture. This reflects the most endearing and powerful aspect of Florence: Moyes’s empathetic passion for transporting Florence’s story across the world and sharing it with us. While Florence’s story is fabulous raw material, and there are engaging moments, Florence is uneven and could benefit from some refinement.

Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a Hobart-based performer and writer.