Anna Bella Eema

As invitations to Fringe show are bountiful and reviewers are spoilt for choice, it is difficult to know what to pick to see.  Motley Bauhaus caught my eye.  Confident that Jason Cavanagh would program unique interesting shows I said yes to seeing Anna Bella Eema. And, I am very glad I did, it is a delightful joy filled gem – like an extremely old glowing piece of polished Amber filled with tiny natural treasures. But it has such a short season in a quirky little theatre space.

Anna Bella Eemais by American playwright Lisa D’Amour.

This particular production is a vital experience - an immersion into a magical world of a fairytale, that seems to float in an intoxicating dreamy feminine ambience.  It is gentle and lyrical and directed with a very fine eye to detail by Anja Homburg.  And dare I say ……. it seems to have the mysterious affect of a restorative tonic.

It feels mystical and magical with superb acting/storytelling from all three performers, who are seated in the very small performance space - though there is nothing passive about their performances.  They all have trays in front of them, a little bit reminiscent of old-fashioned tea trolleys.  And there are objects, around them that look like sewing/knitting baskets filled with important objects and collected treasures.  But these objects are perhaps rotting a bit and accumulating growing moss and fungi. They echo the traditional business of women.  This intuitive set design is by Abbey Stanway.

Maxine O’Hara as raconteur, and partly daughter Anna Bella, is a beautifully clear and expressive performer.  The story is about coming of age, reaching puberty and moving beyond.  To do this Anna Bella creates her own Golom-like creature - a companion, Anna Bella Eema - from mud and three drops of blood.

Maeve Hook as Anna Bella Eema is also marvelously expressive and she morphs beautifully into creatures and animals as she supports the storytelling

Placed in front of the two younger characters is Shelly Dunlop, who takes on the persona of Anna Bella’s mother.  Initially she features, however as the story progresses her character is more subdued as Maxine O’Hara takes over much of the storytelling as emerging young woman.

All three women have beautiful singing voices and the songs, by Natasha Moszenin, they sing as rounds and harmonize are unique, surprising and haunting.

Lighting by David Silvester supports the whole excellently.

Truly worth catching if you can.  Hopefully it will find an extended season in the not too distant future.

Suzanne Sandow

Credits

Directed by Anja Homburg

Abby Stanway – Set Designer

Natasha Moszenin – Composer/Sound Designer/Musical Director

Fardia Sadri – Costume Designer

David Silvester – Lighting Designer

Jordan Carter – Stage Manager