Love/Love/Love/Love/Love – Sydney Fringe Festival (2023)
Choreography and performance by Tessa Redman.
Reviewed by Natania McLeod
PACT Centre for Performing Artists, Erskineville
Season 19 September – 23 September 2023 (NSW)
5 STARS
- Innocent, hilarious, real, erotic and heartwarming, this is a must see this Sydney Fringe -
On a hot Sydney night, dressed in simple track pants, sports bra and white singlet, Tessa Redman turns up the heat even further with laughter in her performance Love/Love/Love/Love/Love.
A conversational dance about the various forms of love, Redman invites the audience into her world of love while mirroring back some universal truths on how most of us feel about it. Redman held the audience with a mischievous gaze and quick verbal snippets to introduce the show and open each segment. This also served as an anchor to bring her audience back to reflection for key moments, before she dove again into a sea of expression. Addressing this emotion, this chemical pull, is not easy to put into words, let alone movement; but Redman did this with gusto, precision and tenacity as well as vulnerable honesty. A highlight was her display of sibling love; her recent SYNZ Ready to Tour Award from the New Zealand Fringe is well deserved.
Throughout the hour-long performance, the simultaneously awkward and subtly cunning humour familiar to Aotearoa, New Zealand was ever present. From the simplistic yet effective set and lighting by Elekis Teirney to the timing of the sound by Jackie Jenkins, everything was prepared to tickle audience members into sudden bursts of laughter.
In exploring the topics of how she relates to love in its various forms, whether chaotic or calm, Redman’s professional training and dedication to her practice shone through in the cleanness of her dance technique. Moving both expansively and intricately with ease around the space with no props or fancy outfits (save her birthday suit at one point), her energy was such that, on a larger stage, she could easily fill the space. This perhaps, is the one downside. This act could do with a larger venue and more viewers. Therefore, anyone who wishes to view an alternative yet wholesome take about a universal subject, who enjoys humour well placed on a woman’s shoulders, should make sure they don’t miss out on this show.
A must see for one-woman act enthusiasts, performance art lovers and those who want to come away from a show smiling. Redman’s performance can be summed up with these words: innocent, hilarious, real, erotic, heartwarming.
Choreography and performance by Tessa Redman Lighting/Set design by Elekis Poblete Teirney Sound design by Jackie Jenkins Set construction/photography by Trantham Gordon
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