Fiona’s Score: 5 out of 5 wings rising from the flames
Running onto stage breathless, crying, in high heels with big hair and a sequined party dress we first encounter Bryony Kimmings in a larger than life fantastical mime of sex, love, and birth. Quickly she drops the façade, removes the wig, and exclaims “Imagine if I started the show like that!” The fun, humour and camp flashiness begins. There is a lot of laughter as Bryony Kimmings gives us a brief theatrical history of her style of autobiographical performance and then we dive into the show about the worst year of her life.
The stage has four little areas that frame Kimmings in the performances of her everyday life: meeting her partner, getting pregnant and having a baby. She takes us through each of these stages via cinematic projection, musical theatre and spoken word and it is wonderful. The costumes, backdrops and her bold melodic voice create distinctive worlds that evoke the Hollywood grandeur of the past. The lyrics to each song are clever and funny and convey the humour of these domestic moments.
Soon after the birth of her child in 2016 things went unbelievably, horribly wrong. Kimmings way of describing each event taps into to core of who we are as human beings and an emotional response to the trauma that is being depicted onstage cannot be avoided. There were many gasps from both the men and women in the opening night audience and quite a few tears. This is a finely tuned, highly skilled performer who has lived through an unimaginable ordeal and is working at the cusp of reality and art. All of the events in I’m A Phoenix, Bitch really happened. There is a discomfort in witnessing someone mine their own grief for our entertainment and yet we cannot take our eyes off her.
After the horrific and frightening portrayal of her isolation and psychosis the show takes a dip in energy. The camera is switched off, the costume is removed and we are brought back to a matter-of-fact presentation style with some physical weight lifting. This is one of the moments where Kimmings has embedded cognitive behavioural therapy into the performance. What is lacks in theatricality it makes up for in shifting the paradigm of what is possible in live theatre. This technique adds to what is truly impressive about I’m A Phoenix, Bitch. Through one woman’s story of resurrection the work constructs a new model of creating live theatre with safety and inclusiveness in mind. Kimmings has an astute understanding of the need for the audience to know that she is ok. Can the artist really “go there” and be safe? The question is answered by inviting the audience to see her in the foyer after the show or just sit in the theatre as a safe space for as long as needed. The purpose of storytelling is to understand ourselves and the world around us and she gives us the time and space to do this. If only the staff at Sydney Opera House had also listened to her invitation and not ushered people to leave.
I’m a Phoenix, Bitch is theatrically epic and the ending is simultaneously heart shattering and hopeful. Bryony Kimmings performance resonates for long after the show has ended. It is only playing across four dates in the Sydney Festival but then it transfers to Perth Festival for a week. It would be well worth the air fare to experience this production in Perth, it would even be worth the airfare to the UK.
We trust you Bryony, thank you for changing the way we see the world.
Fiona Hallenan-Barker, Theatre Now
14 – 17 Jan 2020
Venue: SOH: Drama Theatre
Theatre Company: Co-commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
Duration: Approx. 80 min
Ticket Prices:
$49 – $59 + BF
plus booking fee
Tue 14 Jan at 8.00pm
Wed 15 Jan at 2.00pm
Wed 15 Jan at 8.00pm
Thu 16 Jan at 8.00pm
Fri 17 Jan at 8.00pm
Bryony Kimmings
Bryony Kimmings’ offbeat, deeply funny and sharply heartbreaking feminist musical about the worst year of her life, when she lost her mind, her partner, her house and nearly lost her child.
Never one to shy away from big, scary topics, Kimmings’ processes her postnatal depression and the collapse of her personal life through the medium of witty and wacky songs, horror movie shtick, cleverly detailed set design and epic film projections.
Multi-platform artist Kimmings is renowned for provocative and personal work centred around social experiments. In 2010 hit Sex Idiot, Kimmings retraced her sexual and romantic history onstage to uncover the partner that gave her an STI. In 2011 work 7 Day Drunk she collaborated with scientists to explore the impact of alcohol on her creativity, staying intoxicated (in a controlled environment) for seven days straight.
Arriving in Sydney after critically acclaimed runs at Battersea Arts Centre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I’m A Phoenix, Bitch asks how we turn trauma into power; how we learn to fly from tragedy, not drown
Cast & Creatives
Conceived, written and performed by Bryony Kimmings
Directed by Kirsty Housley and Bryony Kimmings
Produced by Philippa Barr
Creative team
Art Direction by David Curtis-Ring
Projection Design by Will Duke
Projection Design Associate: Hayley Egan
Composer: Tom Parkinson
Sound Design by Lewis Gibson
Lighting Design by Johanne Jensen
Dramaturgical Support from Nina Steiger
Creative Associate Michal Keyamo
Choreography and Rehearsal Direction by Sarah Blanc
Makeup Design by Guy Common
Design Assistants: Katherine Millar, Alice Winzar, Abel Oberon and Ian Cy
Costume Assistant: Alan Meggs
Senior Producer Consultant: Judith Dimant
Production team
Production Manager: Helen Mugridge
Technical Stage Manager/Video and Sound Operator: Froud
Additional Video and Sound operation: Mike Bignell
Assistant Producer: Becky Plotnek
Additional Technical Support: Beth O’Leary
Lighting Operator: James Smellie
Lighting Programmer: Emma Henderson
Co-commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and supported by Latitude Festival. Supported by the British Council, and supported by Arts Council England using public funding. In association with Avalon.
