Muse 90401

Fadik Sevin Atasoy performs this one-woman show where she interrogates the treatment of some important artistic muses. This show is beautifully crafted and opens with a pianist sitting at a grand piano who provides a delightful and evocative musical accompaniment. When Atasoy enters she mostly works in a spotlight and employs singing, dancing and stylised movement to question the treatment of the women who have inspired some of the most notable literary figures in history. Atasoy’s energetic embodiment of the spirit of a muse is used as a way to question how these women have been incarnated and makes the inquiry enchanting yet serious.

Firstly, she takes issue with Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The spirit of muse that advances this inquiry is troubled by the depiction of such an accomplished woman who surrenders to suicide. The text highlights the more positive and affirmative qualities that the character possesses but are overlooked. Atasoy then turns her attention to Shakespeare’s Cleopatra, a highly talented woman whose advanced education is completely obscured by her terrible fate. 

Atasoy’s investigation of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is equally scathing and she points out how the woman who inspired this painting was an example of the finery and accomplishments of Florentine culture. However, as muses these women are rarely remembered for their own incredible achievements while their personas have been appropriated to advance the careers of male artists.

Atasoy’s performance is quite masterful and she is able to inhabit the different women and invoke their presence with simple but striking use of lighting, staging, costumes and props. While this is a performance that would undoubtedly be more fully enjoyed live, the recording does justice to the finery and the details of the production.  This show provides a very unique and interesting insight into these figures and casts new light on the way their images as muses do not always capture the true spirit of these formidable women. 

Patricia Di Risio