Love, Loss & Lattes

It is not very often we see someone’s love affair with coffee interpreted in such an imaginative way. Coffee has become the 21^st century’s drug of choice with no defining demographic. Missy brings her diverse skills to the stage in her first solo show. Her ambition to perform by herself at the Adelaide Fringe is one she claims she can now cross off her bucket list.

Lucky enough to be able to stage her show in the divine performing space of the Tandanya Theatre, the diminutive Missy leaves her footprint on the large space with an intoxicating performance of narrative, silks, aerial hoop and pole dancing.

The thread that holds the show together, besides her core strength, is her dependence on coffee; she tells us it has been there during peak times and challenging moments and was perhaps the real reason university essays were handed in on time.

Her desire is evident in a stirring (pun intended) performance on pole. Her use of singular beats highlighted expert choreography, all whilst balancing her coffee mug. There is something very ethereal about silks and it was easy to be swept up in her performance. Beneath a red splash of light we witnessed the addiction she developed. Her movements were quick and manic as she battled through her desires with the help of aerial hoop. Breaking out to deliver a light-hearted segment on ordering coffee, the absurdity of the many variants of this beverage was comical.

You do not have to be a connoisseur of coffee to appreciate this resourceful show. Combining circus and physical theatre with contemporary dance gives this show an edge. Two years in the making, Missy has brewed (pun again intended) up a winner.

Kerry Cooper