A contemporary piece exploring an ancient culture, Thomas E. Kelly’s [MIS]CONCEIVE was a wonderful show to kick off APAM 2018 with!
A graduate of NAISDA since 2012, Kelly seems to have been providing audience education through performance since . And in a time when our Government is completely failing to lead towards official indigenous recognition, may white Australia be on the receiving end of as many of these pieces as possible.
Not that [MIS]CONCEIVE comes across as overtly political – It’s just kindly inviting us into the Aboriginal experience for a short while. But in that short while, we are taken on multiple individual journeys of discovery and growth, and we see how communities can be both warmly supportive, and quickly cold.
[MIS]CONCEIVE runs the audience through so many emotions. This is 50 mins of insight generously given, that caused both laughter and tears. It marvellously creates a space where the audience can safely sit with any discomfort until it moves to the next stage – which is such important work to be doing.
It’s wonderful to see how Kelly, Sansbury, Sansbury & Pelarek have polished this work over the past couple of years, based on reviews … what they’ve discarded and what they’ve honed has resulted in a piece of sharp choreography, music, spoken content and themes, whose optimistic heartbeat leaves at the end with you.
By Tanya Green