Leo/Taurus/Taurus is a sparkly, tongue-in-cheek new work from Lady Great Theatre Co and The Blue Room Theatre, appearing at Summer Nights until February 12th.
The show presents several of the tools and mechanisms which have been used throughout history to classify people and personalities. The actors on stage make links between Noongar story-telling in Dreamtime and astrology, Myer-Briggs tests with Enya Gram (not what you think it is), and Hogwarts houses with Buzzfeed quizzes. A combination of tableaux, songs, skits and lectures are interwoven to bring these ideas to life. However, I can’t help but feel that some of these scenes could have been left on the cutting room floor.
Leo/Taurus/Taurus Photography by Michelle Endersbee
At its best, Leo/Taurus/Taurus is an insightful and charming performance lecture that invites us to reflect on the way we describe ourselves. At worst, it’s a shallow exploration personality quizzes and much of the comedy falls flat. In particular, an otherwise delightful song from the perspective of a fiddle-leaf fig leads to nowhere and fails to reveal anything as introspective or interesting as some of the character work from the D.O.P.E.S.K.W.I.E- look it was a long acronym and I had a lot of letters to remember at the time
That’s not to say that the performers Ruby Liddelow, Andrea Lim, Lily Murrell or Lainey O’Sullivan don’t deliver a strong or thoughtful performance. Live score by Georgina Crammond is lovely and balances the action of the play very well. It seems the issue I’m having is with the dramaturgy of the work.
Leo/Taurus/Taurus Photography by Michelle Endersbee
The central question ‘who are you’ remains unanswered and as for whether or not we should buy-in to such prescriptive personality tests or analysis the play seems to end with a resounding “I dunno like if you want to up to you, I guess…” Much of the comedy felt forced and a little over the top, and without much sense of genuine interest in astrology from the start it’s hard come along for the ride.
Maybe it’s just my Cancer sun/Pisces moon that’s looking for something a little more sincere, or perhaps as an INTP the brashness of the show overwhelmed me. Whatever it was, Leo/Taurus/Taurus sadly missed the mark.
-Mitch
(Hufflepuff)
Leo/Taurus/Taurus is on at The Blue Room Theatre now until Feb 12.