Child

Presented by The Blue Room and Ascension Arts, Child is a multi-disciplinary piece of theatre, performed at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya, Beaufort St, North Perth, where lead artist Puvan Kumar Hari was trained and grew up, a fitting choice given the themes of his piece, which include embracing your inner child, and coming of age.

A lovely venue, which is shoe free, and which provided a foyer activation, meant that the audience felt welcomed and at home, although this was undermined somewhat by starting over twenty minutes late, without apology or explanation.

A beautiful looking and sounding production, it featured gorgeous colourful lighting, with which the performers interacted, and beautiful harp music and singing from Kira Gunn. Puvan Kumar Hari also shared his considerable musical talents, with skills on marimba, various drums and keyboard. 
Puvan Kumar Hari worked well and moved well with fellow performer Mani Mae Gomes, whom we learn eventually is playing the inner child.

Despite strong skills throughout, the meaning of the show remains unclear until the final ten minutes - perhaps because choreographer and dramaturg Radha Krishnan, clearly a talented choreographer, was unable to take an outside view of the production. Once things click into place, the production feels stronger.

An interesting and thought-provoking production.

Kimberley Shaw