Yours the Face

Reviewed by Alex Sutcliffe

There are countless ways to engage an audience; for a Fringe theatre show in a low-capacity venue, utilising intimacy is crucial. Yours the Face (written by Fleur Kilpatrick) goes beyond just that. It is a piece that captures, and then alienates, its audience. Presented by Quiet Little Fox, Yours the Face is a well-executed piece that both engages and challenges.

The play delves into the lives of Emmy, a model, and Peter, a fashion photographer, as the two find themselves in London working together on a shoot. Writer Fleur Kilpatrick perfectly captures the alienation that they feel. Though her script is filled with clever syntactic play and neatly tied-off motifs, the most important decision she made was to have one actor play both characters. All of the tension (and desperation) between Emmy and Peter is played out in one body. Their common alienation is presented as something of a cultural bipolar.

Roderick Cairns is deft in his role as both characters in this one-person show. He manages to change identities in a split second, giving Yours the Face the life, and the body, it requires. In conjunction with the backstage team, he also manages to ensure that the show does not become visually dull. Impressive, considering that he is on the plain, white stage for 80 minutes. The minimalist set, however, is crucial as it leaves the audience to fill in the blanks. As an audience member, you too partially embody both Peter and Emmy. You share their alienation.

Yours the Face forces its audience to grapple with what it means to live in a society that privileges beauty, both as the viewer and as the viewed. It is not merely engaging, but rewarding. The play turns the audience’s gaze back on itself, doing so with the help of its intimate setting.

Yours the Face, Tandanya – Firefly, 20 Feb to 1 Mar