Reviewed by Jordan D'Arcy
White Sun is absurd on its face and thought-provoking on the inside. Presented by WilL Dickie, this production isn’t so much dance but also isn’t so much poetry. The style was a combination of spoken word/slam poetry and contemporary movement. White Sun is self-reflective and makes fun of itself on occasion in order to drive a more serious point home. The production is a comment on the world we currently live in.
This production was conceived in England and has had a very successful UK tour before arriving in Perth as a part of the Blue Room’s Summer Nights programme. I was fortunate enough to catch some of the creative team on my way out of the performance, who informed me that this piece has been in production and been reworked since the beginning of 2020 – meaning it has grown and changed as the result of everything that occurred throughout COVID lockdowns and since.
Will’s delivery of both the movement and spoken aspects of this production was excellent. There was clarity in every word and every movement, and although sometimes the words and movements themselves didn’t make sense in the moment, nothing was missed and everything felt important. The audience was clearly uncomfortable (in a “this production is making me think about the world” way) as there were cleverly placed moments of humour dispersed through the performance, that the audience latched onto with nervous laughter.
I feel that this production relies heavily on the context that each individual audience member brings to it when they watch it. The aspect of the storyline that we are addicted to aspects of our lives that maybe we weren’t even aware of; addicted to things that were passed down to us by the culture we are born into was what stood out to me as the main theme. This meant my interpretation of the story was heavily guided by my understanding of Western culture, and my internal values and attitudes surrounding what we as a society are (or aren’t) doing in terms of aiding our minority groups to find equality. After speaking with the production crew after the show, I now know that the main theme was intended to be the treatment of those minority groups by Western societies, and how those of us born into Western societies benefit from their struggles.
As discussed with Will himself post show – it will be interesting to see how this production resonates with Perth audiences, given how stylistically different to most of what we are exposed to here White Sun is, as well as the depths of the conversation it sparks.
Reviewer note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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