The Photo Box
Emma Beech describes her work as “direct address, and montages stories, gestures and physical narrative”. The Photo Box is no exception to this. As she rummages through the photos that stand as memorials to a place and time, she invites us to get to know her family, the Beechs of Barmera and the foibles, traditions and inner workings that make them tick.
Her family snaps are projected (projection design by Chris Petridis) onto a cleverly constructed, yet simple, set designed by Meg Wilson. Each photograph invokes a memory but are those memories as much myth as they are reality?
A photograph of Beech as a baby in her mother’s arms bookends the show. Her mother Betty was 40 when she gave birth to Emma, the same age as the performer is now. Born the 9th child, after an 8 year hiatus, there is plenty of material from her large family to keep the show moving at pace.
Interspersed with short videos (produced by film maker Shalom Almond) and live cameos from family members, the show feels intimate and personal. Emma engages directly with the audience and shares many family moments that will be easily recognisable to many, not least the hot Christmas dinner on a 40 degree day.
Beech is an empathetic and talented storyteller. Her description of growing up in a country town, years of teenage angst, and pushing the boundaries whilst entering adulthood, is likely to be familiar to all. Beech raises issues that could be, at times, uncomfortable but she gains such rapport with her audience as to gain sympathetic sighs rather than shock.
This is a fine, funny, poignant new work from one of South Australia’s finest and warmest performers.
Jenny Fewster
Photographer: Roy Vandervegt
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