The Soaking Of Vera Shrimp

Stepping through the door into Judy’s, the audience is immediately met by the star and the show has already begun before we take our seats. A modest sized room, filled only with a single wall of bookcases, jam-packed with office and scientific paraphernalia, and simple seating around the other walls comprises the very intimate performance space. There is no fourth wall in this solo show and the minimal audience is immediately drawn into the proceedings and continually encouraged to interact throughout the show.

Martha Walker brings teenage schoolgirl Vera Shrimp to life through an impish personality which seesaws between nervous excitability and adolescent angst. Her character is constantly moving, and her frenetic energy is captivating as we are swept along with her as the ‘presentation’ of her research project about rain bounces back and forth between physical demonstrations, projections, maps, lists. and statistics.

As we become familiar with Vera, and her story unfolds, we begin to realise why she is so fascinated by rainfall:

‘I can feel the rain. The colours, the sensations, the words inside each drop when they land on my skin and seep inside me, so that means that everything is different now, and I can make things alright again.’

The condition of synaesthesia is not new but may be unfamiliar to many. This neurological trait, where multiple senses blend together is most often seen in creative personalities. Well known musicians, such as Billy Joel and, more recently, Billie Eilish and Pharrell Williams have described experiencing sounds associated with colours, shapes and textures. Vera Shrimp’s physical experience of rain also includes flavours, smells, words and emotions which she industriously documents in a plethora of exercise books.

But the question remains – what is it that needs to be made right again? Her whole life has become an exposed nerve, highly sensitive to any form of stimulus as she attempts to connect with her emotionally distant, scientist father whilst they are thrust into the realities of grief.

Vera’s journey through the rollercoaster of loss is palpable, enhanced by props as simple as post it notes or a container of water, and the clever choreography of costume pieces, props and furniture. The constant twisting of her shirt tail instantly evokes the anxiety of her tender age and the complex nature of the world she finds herself navigating. Her narration of the events of the funeral and the challenges of the constant stream of donations of food from helpful friends and neighbours brings home the enormity of the struggle to attempt normality in a life torn apart by loss. Returning to school is a nightmare for her and she finally explodes just as the local drought breaks in an almighty thunderstorm where she discovers her ability to feel a new world of sensation in the rain.

Being inside a normal room, rather than on a stage, options for lighting the performance are severely limited. Despite these restrictions, a combination of both wall mounted and overhead projectors, along with a hand-held torch (an audience member’s responsibility!) effectively create an intimate atmosphere where you feel that you are not just a simple witness but an important part of her healing process.

This intense, short show (less than an hour) is perfect fare for a festival show. Its pace is unrelenting, and we feel the full force of her life’s rollercoaster, with excitement building to great heights only to be brought crashing down to complete devastation as the depths of grief manifest in a range of different situations. Everyone’s grief journey is different and individuals find healing in their own ways. Vera’s soaking opens her up to a whole new world of emotional release resulting in her novel hypothesis of one person’s emotions being able to be absorbed by others though the water evaporation cycle.

Vera’s grief journey will leave an imprint on your heart and a hope that she can indeed ‘make things right again’.

Rosie Ferguson