Review: For You To Know and Me To Find Out at Sydney Dance Company

Review by Michelle Sutton 

Liv Tennet’s one-woman dance-theatre show For You To Know and Me To Find Out explores the complex intersection of motherhood and being an artist. It is being performed at the Dance Hub location for Sydney Fringe Festival at Sydney Dance Company in the intimate Neilson Studio.

The show grapples with the challenges of change and transformation, as Tennet examines her changing relationship with her art, her body, sexuality, her relationship to fun and other friendships and relationships in her life. 

Throughout the 45-minute show Tennet expertly and poignantly tells a complex story, with heartfelt emotions and a smashing sense of humour. Tennet incorporates many different styles including contemporary, hip hop, jazz, and one very funny and memorable tap number. The stage is mostly sparse except for a few key pieces of furniture that transform throughout the show. Costuming is simple with Liv Tennet wearing a white outfit with different layers she adds or removes depending on the number. Lighting design is a crucial aspect of the production, adding layers of introspection. 

The creative soundtrack by sound engineer Tom Broome incorporates jingles and music from children’s toys, and different styles of music to create different scenes and soundscapes. The soundtrack cleverly conveys new anxieties, different fantasies, experiences and self-doubts. The sound design also incorporates charming voiceover from Tennet’s son.

Barnie Duncan served as the dramaturg for For You To Know and Me To Find Out and has done an excellent job ensuring Tennet’s personal dance-theatre piece is well structured, cohesive and articulate. For You To Know and Me To Find Out is a show that knows exactly what it wants to say. The runtime of 45 minutes flies by, every minute feels perfectly necessary and purposeful. The audience leaves the theatre feeling satisfied that no second on stage was wasted. 

Everything about For You To Know and Me To Find Out is meticulously thought out piece of theatre, with a sense of purpose and completeness behind every routine and moment. Although created by Tennet from inspiration from her own lived experience of grappling with motherhood and being a dancer and performer, It is a show so well-crafted that it can resonate with anyone.

The show has universal appeal as any audience member will find something to relate to, perhaps a period of time they felt disconnected from themselves and their body or their ambitions, perhaps a stage of growing and transformation that felt awkward, or maybe the uncomfortable and graceless challenge of communication with a partner about whose dreams get to take centre stage at different times.

Tennet sensitively explores the intersections of profound joy, pride, and grief, confusion and overwhelm at the experience of motherhood and the demanding and always evolving role of being a parent. She utilised many different genres of dance and movement to convey a complex truth. It is a tender, funny, deeply human and deeply accessible show. It is sure to delight any fans of dance, theatre and human stories.  

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