TILT is a yearly occurrence presented by the Bachelor of Performing Arts in the final year of their degree at WAAPA, it is a showcase of the talent and learning that has taken place and is a chance to show off their creative talent and to wow the audience, this year was no exception.
Program 1
Bury the Fish
A whodunnit slapstick adventure going through unexpected twists and turns through characters’ psyches. A fast paced, hilarious, and stylistically impressive piece, the actors had intense commitment to the caricatures they had inhabited. I found it to sit at a similar high intensity pace the whole time which became a bit exhausting but the short form allowed the stylistic choices to speak for themselves and bring the audience back in with every scene shift and revelation.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Mirage
A solo piece about a woman in her early 20’s dealing with monumental life changes as she travels across the Nullabor. Marie-Eve takes us through a story of change and turmoil as she enters a new part of her life, her performance is fantastic, landing each moment with sincerity. There were great moments of staging, involving pulsing lights and a mirage effect on the wall and Marie-Eve’s physicality pushed this up a level. I think the story itself played out in a bit of a stereotypical manner of a coming-of-age story and just lacked a bit of oomph to bring up talent just below the surface.
Stephen Heath Photography.
CORE
Starting out in a nightclub we are brought through with powerful prose on how the land we live on is built on sacred land, the music and the projection intensifies as we are suddenly brought to an oasis. It takes a lot of vulnerability and bravery to just let moments breath, Shontae and Reuben did this brilliantly, taking us into a gorgeous landscape through just soft movement and text. Shoutout for the AV and music design on this piece as well, incredibly immersive and extremely effective.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Out for the count
Exploring toxic societal expectations on men through the intensity of a boxing ring. Oliver and Henry deliver some of the best fight choreography I have seen on stage in a while, the momentum was broken a bit for me with sometimes stilted language giving us hints into the lives and troubles of the characters. We then jump into a back and forth of the characters dunking their heads in water and going back and forth about an intensely traumatic story about expressing emotions, I found the language and journey highly emotionally affective but the repetitive motion and back and forths slowly drained the emotional heights the first half of the show achieved.
Stephen Heath Photography.
MUSE
Touching on the lost art of the poet Sappho, through blacked out verse and dialogue and the embrace of love and queerness, MUSE shows us the effect of lost art and how we can go from there. Laura, Emily, and Isobel deliver emotion-filled verse in the style of Ancient Greek Chorus to take us through the journey of understanding how devastating losing such art is for us, broken up by a repeating dialogue that loses more and more of it in each repeat. We are brought around to a joy filled ending embracing the love and life we have now. Gorgeous, I love lesbians.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Program 2
Cowboys & Indians
A feel good slap-stick western about identity and navigating an uncertain world. The ensemble work well in tandem and commit wholly to their slapstick routine, the accents stunning, and characters themselves brought out wonderfully by the cast. The story itself, while straightforward, had some lovely moments but perhaps a consequence of the format the show is presented in, the ending felt a bit unfinished and potentially could be more effective if worked into more consideration with the length of the time allowed.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Road Moving
Work like this really excites me for how our generation of creators will start to shape our experience of the world into art. Isobel – the sole performer and creator, communicates exclusively through a live projection of her laptop and typing out her anxieties and comments on the world. Most of the audience’s attention is otherwise put towards two ‘performers’ on stage who are audience members guided by Isobel’s language on stage. It could have become ongoing venting on frustrations and worries but the show comes about in the desire for connection with people and how that could save us.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Femoid
Three high school girls entering next steps of life and how incel culture has done intense damage to some boys and how that is even more damaging to the girls it affects. The narrative navigates the complexities of these issues with finesse, presenting well-developed characters whose journeys evoke both empathy and discomfort. With sharp writing and exceptional performances, the show challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about societal expectations and personal identity.
Stephen Heath Photography.
The Sink
The Sink presents a captivating premise, inviting audiences into a kitchen where mythical Sprites unleash chaos as they explore hidden desires. The movement is imaginative and engaging, effectively highlighting the tension between relief and disorder. However, while the choreography is visually striking, at times it sinks into repetitiveness and vague ongoing tableaus. The performers elevate this with eerie body movements, uncanny facial expressions, and seamless flowing movements involving the whole 5 person ensemble.
Stephen Heath Photography.
Eat Shit!
A surreal fever dream featuring raw onions, fried apples, cake, and a visceral sensorial world. Exploring food, indulgence, and excess, Eat Shit! is a nonsensical world broken up with monologues diving into experience of life and food and relationships with others. While it’s tricky to keep up sometimes and you do start to lose some of the underlying meaning to the piece, it doesn’t really matter. The creators achieve a strong aesthetic backed by perfectly deadpan performances and striking language to follow.
Stephen Heath Photography.