Circle Song, Theatre
Venue: Victoria Theatre
Next performance: Saturday 05 July 18:00
Review
By Sayuri Persotham
Upon entry, I see the room is bathed in darkness. A soft circular glow illuminates the stage, defined by chalk markings and a few scattered props. It is within these boundaries that Ashley Dowds enacts the poignant work of Circle Song. Dowds relives his life’s memories on stage, evoking a sense of shared humanity. Sharing a deeply personal and heartfelt performance, Dowds elicits laughs, tears, and an overwhelming nostalgia through his production of remembrance.
Photo credit: supplied by artist
Circle Song is rich in nuance, beginning with a reimagined past of migration and English-Irish ancestry. Dowds delves into the crux of his existence through the arrival of Irish settlers on South African soil. From there, the play transitions seamlessly into the re-enactment of his most intimate memories. These recollections grow increasingly personal as Dowds explores his Catholic upbringing and later, his family’s struggles with his mother’s health. Dowds’ mother suffered multiple brain aneurysms before her passing, during which she reverted to the turbulent mind of her fifteen-year-old self.
One can only imagine how painful it must be to render such memories through theatre. On this, Dowds speaks to his ability to objectify the performance: “Circle Song had to be a piece of theatre that stood on its own, and it becomes a universal retelling that people can relate to.” Hours of research were conducted with medical professionals and family members to bring the portrayal to life. Song becomes a tool for theatrical flair, woven amidst Dowd’s multifaceted use of simple, everyday props. Together, these elements translate everyday experiences into the artistic realm of the stage.
Photo credit: supplied by artist
When questioned on the creative process behind Circle Song, Dowds answers, “When you remember, you’re literally managing all the pieces. You are remembering, piecing together the fragmented memories. And it’s a creative act in itself.” He goes on to explain the process of condensing one’s life into a narrative flow of beginning, middle, and end: “I know that there are elements I’ve had to create that are fictional. But the essence of those moments comes from truth.”
One must ask: why the circle? Director Caroline Calburn is the visionary behind the interlinking concepts of circularity and memory. She says, “I approached the story from the standpoint of remaining true to each fragment of memory and where we could place it in a circle that would heighten the overarching narrative.” Essentially, the performance of Circle Song is based on the interconnectedness of space and meaning. Each memory unfolds in a space that is representative of that experience – all frozen in the circularity of time.
Circle Song is a theatrical amalgamation of art and autobiography, blurring the lines of reality and imagination, past and present. The layering of this performance and its flawless execution showcase the best of the craft.
