Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
One of the last shows I’ve seen during the Fringe Festival is NO, written and performed by Annalisa Limardi, who came from Milan Italy to compete among hundred’s of shows on this theatre festival. She took us into the world of self-discovery, the true spiritual nature of who she is, exploring the first steps to self mastery as Soul. With the sense of excitement and anticipation ‘she explores the difficulty of defining personal boundaries, the gult we carry that compels us to be obidient in order to be accepted, the desire to connect with others, and the need to first establish that connection with ourselves.’
Like a doll on the string, she is awakening to a new world removing slowly the blind spots that are bounding her to stay who she is, and not step into her potential, where a new world awaits her. The invisible chatter in her head, the subconscious mind is fighting her really hard through the use of the hanging microphone, by static or tapping lights signals when she approaches, which she conquers eventually by the use of single syllables. The chatter in her head and emptiness within her is so strongly emphasized.
By using her dance training technique, her flexible body does a great workout, by letting it go through a series of movements, including a skipping rope. She finaly gets to the point where mic talks to her by asking many questions, like; Do you like being helpful? Do you love me? Do you love yourself? Do you want to be kind? Would you play with me? On most of the questions the answer is, NO.
Her two year dance training in Milan and her two year training in theatre arts in Florence is giving her enough to let the spark within her go and her talents flourish in creating an interesting, very unique and quite exceptional solo-play. The chatter in her head and emptiness within her is so strongly emphasized.
Technical design/the sound master Saverology, created perfect sound effects and Penelope Morout, an advisor and her external eyes, help her develop this play into a perfection of physical theatre expression. Her talents and enthusiasm are her strong assets, taking her on a journey of self discovery and stardom. Keep up the good work.
On July 1st, she went back to Italy to perform for her Italian peers. If I would have a chance, I would like to see this play again. Great job Annalisa Limardi!
The show has been performed at Eastwood Performing Arts Center (main space), 1089 N. Oxford Ave. in Hollywood on 22 @1:00pm, 27 @5:30pm, 29 @4:30pm.