Hir Project of Queering Everything
✮✮✮✮ 1/2
Taylor Mac's Hir
Belvoir St Theatre | Sydney
directed by Anthea Williams
Paige is suddenly emancipated. By a stroke of luck, her abusive husband Arnold has turned invalid, revealing a fortuitous way out of misery. She revels in her new freedom with a maniacal glee, and together with her now transgender son Max, their household is transformed to radically embrace every concept of anti-patriarchy that they come across. Taylor Mac’s Hir is a revenge story, centring on a protagonist who tries to find independence and a better life by subverting prevailing notions of gender, the very thing she identifies to have been responsible for her adversities.
The play is uproarious, with Paige in various states of hysteria, desperately seeking redefinition for her existence. The action begins when her elder son Isaac, having been dishonourably discharged from war, returns to the deliberate chaos at home (set design by Michael Hankin is remarkably mirthful). Unable to come to terms with the shock of the news, Isaac attempts to restore the old order and things quickly escalate. We watch Paige being confronted by her position as mother and wife, as she persists with the project of queering everything and are enthralled by the brutal tenacity at which she sticks to her guns in a face off with a past she is determined to be rid of. It is a wild premise that the playwright establishes and the ride that he takes us on. It is as emotionally powerful as it is entertaining, all the while maintaining a level of intellect that many will find irresistible.
It is a spectacular production, painstaking in the way its progressive and sometimes obscure. Ideas are interpreted with brilliant lucidity, to be presented alongside some thoroughly enjoyable comedy. Director Anthea Williams brings to the piece, a boldness of spirit that allows its controversial qualities to speak poignantly and persuasively. Hir is political theatre, unapologetic in its desire to make an impact on the way we think.
Playing Paige is the absolutely scintillating Helen Thomson. The actor is gloriously funny, with perfect timing and faultless instincts that have us hopelessly captivated. A portrayal of a woman reclaiming space, strength and sovereignty, Thomson is commanding and, when required, vulnerable. She is called upon to make some very extreme statements about womanhood and although not to everyone’s tastes, the way she delivers each audacious proclamation, is beyond gratifying.
If Paige finds the answers she wants, she will discover that it is not necessarily happiness but a heavy burden that she will encounter when living a life of integrity and enlightenment. When we reject conventions and systems that are unfairly stacked against us, we are guaranteed only honesty and liberation. To not expect hardship is foolish. In the struggle against deceit and inequity, fulfilment when derived, is often more painful than joyous. It is how the bastards keep us dishonest, by issuing modicums of petty bribery that offer an illusory sense of security and comfort. So that we maintain the eternally exploitative status quo. In cases when a straw does break the camel’s back, however, a woman scorned will unleash a fury of mythical proportions, to seek redress and to aggravate for a revolution.
photo | ©Brett Boardman
