Child - Ascension Arts

Reviewed by Hannah Goodman

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When was the last time you felt truly happy? Child, brought to the stage by Ascension Arts in collaboration with The Blue Room Theatre, unpacks this and other similar questions by stepping its audience through the life cycle of modernity, where we enter the world as curious and adventurous creatures, but often lock away these parts of ourselves as we grow older.

Presented in the cozy setting of Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya, an artistic hub tucked away on Beaufort Street, the performance began as soon as the front door was opened. Stepping out of the cold and rainy hubbub of the city, you are enveloped in warmth, smells of eucalyptus, and the soft chatter of audience members. While a venue requirement, being asked to remove shoes before entering the performance space added a layer of connection often not experienced when sitting in a theatre.

Once settled in the main performance space, the artistic collective, comprising Pavan Kumar Hari, Kira Gunn, and Mani Mae Gomes, had already begun to whisk the audience into a lullaby, harkening back to the adventures and curiosity of childhood. The acknowledgement of Country was woven into the beginning of the performance rather than a separate introduction, a nice touch. Harpist and vocalist Kira Gunn provided a solid foundation upon which performers Pavan Kumar Hari and Mani Mae Gomes unfurled the narrative through dance and prose. The performers journeyed through the cultivation and suppression of the childlike wonder experienced by humans as we get older.

Accompanying this journey were well-timed sound and lighting (Hament Hari, Devendran Rao) and subtle costuming changes. Pavan Kumar Hari is to be commended for showcasing a breadth of emotion across a series of instruments, well paired with each stage of the narrative.

The suppression of emotions and childhood memories culminated in a perfect storm of instrumentation, lighting and costuming to showcase the pent-up frustration and ultimate burnout of an individual stuck in the system. There is a content warning for loud percussive sounds – thematically appropriate, but there were periods of sustained loudness which may be intense for some audience members, and it was difficult at times to hear some of the spoken narrative over the instrumentation. Nevertheless, this busy, self-critical and jarring scene, followed by a sudden dissolution into self-introspection, is a feeling audience members will identify with.

Child invites its audience to buck the system and reach out to their inner child. In just 45 minutes, this performance is a sensory feast that brings a melding of Western and Indian storytelling to the fore. Ascension Arts is a relatively new kid on the block, and they have set the bar high for their future performances.

Image Credit: Phoebe Eames

Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.