Review by Kate Gaul
It’s always a treat to see Australian artists in Edinburgh – especially when the work is of the calibre of Leah Shelton’s “Batshit”. Leah Shelton – doyenne of the Australian theatre. From her website – “Psycho-siren Leah Shelton creates stylized, guttural, renegade feminist work soaked in cult references and dark humour. Her work has taken her from the glamour of Las Vegas to the back streets of Kings Cross, from rigorous training in Japan to live art festivals in New York.” And directed than none other than the undeniable Ursula Martinez –“Ursula Martinez fuses theatrical concepts, personal experience and popular forms to create innovative challenging, experimental theatre that is highly entertaining and reflective of our contemporary, post-modern world.
At the core of the work is a commitment to exploring humour and what it is to be human.” Theatrical royalty in a premiere venue. Heaven!
“Batshit” is inspired by Leah’s grandmother’s experiences of mental illness and forced medical treatment in the 1960s. It is a kind of love letter to Gwen (her grandmother) and to all women who are (mis)diagnosed with mental illness, hysteria and/or called crazy whatever the era. From ordinary housewives to world leaders, women are subject to patriarchal pathologisation, dismissed or silenced. "Women are often framed as hysterical, irrational, mentally ill in a court of law as a way of undermining their credibility or they are seen to be imagining symptoms in a medical system. They're also twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, eating disorders and PTSD, and seven times more likely to be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, so it’s fair to say it’s a long-standing systemic problem." (Leah Shelton interview for Melbourne Fringe)
“Batshit” not just female empowerment on stage this is a battle cry for change!
The feel of the show is somewhere between cabaret, performance art and solo drama. It begins in a Lynchian nightmare of seductive image, unsettling lighting, lip synched classics. Leah Shelton moves like a dream. The rigorous control she has over her body and other performance elements are echoed through the intelligent direction – there’s A LOT going on here, but it’s delivered with a light touch.
All text is projected, and the content includes detailed medical records, song lyrics, last century and contemporary vox pops coming to us through an ancient TV, live video. Recordings of Shelton’s mother talking about Gwen are particularly moving. Shelton begins dressed in gorgeous green cocktail mid-century cocktail frock and bits of straight jacket-like wraps; there’s a nurse uniform; a petticoat and finally as herself – vulnerable, powerful, dangerous!
Oftentimes personal stories become confessional and ultimately a bit dreary. But not “Batshit” – its distilling important issues. The canvas is large, but the story has an intimacy to it. It is also immediate. In the modern day vox-pops both women and men are asked to describe who is crazy: Britany Spears comes up a lot. Don’t be loud, opinionated, brilliant or what to change the world. Don’t demand things for yourself. Keep quiet. Keep still. Are you crazy?
Told with humour, honour, mountains of skill and imagination ‘Batshit” is also a bit of a tearjerker. And the notion of “taking and axe” to a problem will never be the same again.
Beyond fabulous and earned a standing ovation!
Image Supplied
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