“They have shit, and we have shit.
It’s all just different shit.”
‘SHIT’ is Dee & Cornelius’ contribution to the Neon Festival of Independent Theatre, an event where five companies get to present their own work as they want.
Peta Brady, Nicci Wilks and Sarah Ward in ‘SHIT’ – image courtesy Sebastian Bourges
‘SHIT’ is about the girls and women you rarely see represented in media; angry, nasty, ‘uncouth’… everything society tends to look down on. It’s fair to say most people have had interactions or encounters with women like the three characters, Bobby, Billy, and Sam. Throughout the play, pieces of their lives and childhood are offered to the audience with nonchalance, a throwaway line about a drug addicted mother, a male figure with wandering hands, and well-developed skills of faking tears even if you’ve never cried real ones. Anyone who dares to dream or identify out of the norm is quickly quashed back into submissive acceptance of their status and lives.
The message of the play is evident in the first ten minutes, with everything following fleshing out backstories and motives with anecdotes and language that shocks the audience into laughter at first but soon becomes numbing, losing all effect. The lives being portrayed on stage are nothing like those of the majority of the audience, and it’s a glimpse into something foreign and almost taboo.
The three actors become their characters completely — screaming, swearing, flashing, and slowly pulling the audience in with a mixture of comedy and raw emotion.
‘SHIT’ is a thought provoking play. It’ll have you wondering about stereotypes and the assumptions people make about others you walk past in the street everyday.
-Jasmin
Jasmin Ashton is a PR student and designer from Melbourne who has a lot of feelings about pretty much everything. Find her at @Jasmanna
‘SHIT’ runs 25 June to 5 July at Southbank Theatre. This production contains nudity, adult themes and powerfully offensive language. Recommended for ages 16+.
Book tickets now.
Disclosure: The Plus Ones attended courtesy of Starling Communications.
