Review by Anja Bless
Aptly set in the new Qtopia Sydney space in the converted Darlinghurst Police Station, The Past is a Wild Party shows how history is tied to the present, existing all around us. This performance essay, written by Noëlle Janaczewska, is debuting at The Loading Dock Theatre, and follows the story of a woman seeking her genealogy not in her biological lineage, but along the traces of queer community throughout history.
Combining archival and historical exploration with personal biography, The Past is a Wild Party shows how far the queer movement and LGBTQIA+ rights have come. But also what is at stake in the age of increasing literary censorship and how themes of homosexual love, lust, and longing have pervaded for millennia, despite how hard hetero-patriarchal forces tried to cover or silence them.
Of particular focus in The Past is a Wild Party is the work of Amy Levy, a nineteenth century poet who advocated for women’s right to education and whose closeted sexuality and battles with depression echo the experiences of many LGBTQIA+ people today. Beyond Levy, Janaczewska combines the works of ‘Lesbian pulp’ from Sappho to Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, highlighting the shared journey of discovery, exploration, joy, and struggle in queer love across time, including that of Janaczewska’s own life.
The Past is a Wild Party is performed by Jules Billington, who confidently navigates Janaczewska’s script, using movement to masterfully transition across time and space. In this they are also aided by the lighting design of Benjamin Brockman who helps to bring the settings, from balmy Sydney to foggy London, to life in a sparsely set stage.
For a performance centred on literature and autobiographical experience, The Past is a Wild Party does well to keep the subject matter relateable, light and enjoyable. Without skirting around heavy hitting themes, Billington’s navigation of the script ensures that energy and life remains humming throughout the performance, even when reading from pages written more than a century prior.
There are times, however, when the script is a little jolting, as the distinction between different time periods is not always clear and the voice of Billington, or rather Janaczewska, becomes lost in quotes and words of other the writers. This also leads to Billington’s performance at times appearing somewhat stilted, as they navigate around Janaczewska’s script that includes some unnecessary breaks in the fourth wall, such as assuring the audience that the name of lovers mentioned in the story had been changed. These moments, even with Billington’s skill and ability in engaging and drawing the audience in, then break the flow of the performance.
However, on the whole The Past is a Wild Party is a commendable performance of engaging, informative, and beautiful theatre. The stories it tells are both modern and ancient, as human as love and attraction can be. An apt choice for this exciting new space that aims to tell the stories of Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community in the past, present, and into the future.
Image Credit: Alex Vaughn