[2015163] We may have to choose
Emma Hall @ Tuxedo Cat – Rivers Studio
7:15pm, Sat 14 Mar 2015
Emma Hall stands in front of a half-full room of people and holds up some cards in the style of Dylan: they define the contract between herself and the audience. I’m initially annoyed – of course I’m not going to speak! Why would you even need to tell me that? – but I calm myself; it’s always good to make sure everyone’s on the same page, and Hall is making it as clear as possible.
The cards also show some humour: apparently, her roommate thinks that We may have to choose is “experimental”.
But when her supply of cards runs out, she launches into a monologue that is more like a rehearsed stream-of-consciousness. She espouses her opinions – 641 of them, apparently – in an order that appears random, yet facilitates callbacks; her presentation is passionate, without being pointed.
The opinions are a real mish-mash of ideas: there’s the obvious expressions that no-one would disagree with (of course the smart phone has changed my life!), there’s more personal and abstract preferences, there’s broader manifesto statements that quickly define Hall in our minds, and there’s ephemera… but most are forgotten as the seemingly never-ending torrent of Hall’s ideas washes over us.
Even though it’s difficult to remember much of the detail from We may have to choose, I most certainly do remember the feeling of surfing that wave of ideas. It was truly exhilarating, heady stuff.
(163) We may have to choose: Amazing torrent of provoking ideas. Love love love. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 14, 2015