Review: DROUGHT, VAULT Festival
By: Cindy Marcolina Feb. 24, 2019
Written and performed by Kate Radford and featuring a variety of disciplines, Drought tells the story of Caenis, a character from Ovid's Metamorphosis.
Aided by a loop machine and large projections she takes her audience on a journey through the desert in an epic about sexuality, free-will, and inherent human violence.
She creates a rhythmic and poignant script broken only by ostinato that create an ambience of doom and inevitability. The play is highly artistic and lyrical but tips into a slight pretentiousness that leads to the patronisation of the crowd here and there.
At times, Radford manages to turn Drought into a piece of performance art rather than a theatre show, demonstrating vast aesthetic sensibility and skill and a natural inclination to beauty.
She questions the stories we as women are told, asking where they come from and why they're told in the way they are. Her penchant for challenge serves as a direct critique of the patriarchal system, turning her work into a visually impressive feminist cry.
Drought runs at VAULT Festival until 24 February.
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