THE SPLENDID ANOMALY - Theatre Review

WHAT: The Splendid Anomaly
WHEN: 27 - 31 August 2024
WHERE: Arts House (Main Hall)
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY: Ahmarnya Price
DIRECTION/DRAMATURGY BY: Susie Dee
COMPOSITION/SOUND DESIGN BY: Kelly Ryall
AV DESIGN BY: Rhian Hinkley
LIGHTING DESIGN BY: Richard Vabre
STAGE MANAGEMENT BY: Jo Leishman

Ahmarnya Price - Photo by Sarah Walker

Have you ever pondered the relationship between The Big Bang and childbirth? Neither had I until I saw The Splendid Anomaly at Arts House this week. I am not saying that Ahmarnya Price's play is about childbirth, but then again, maybe it is...

In a projected and live blend of Price's drawings, writings and performance skills, The Splendid Anomaly begins with The Big Bang, travels with Price to the emergency ward with an unexplained illness, barrels along through COVID-19, and emerges into a world gifted with a woman of incredible talent and potential. Along the way we meet her stoic and incredibly informed mother, and her brother's brilliant mixtapes.

We tend to see anomalies and differences in a negative light. This is why, as a society, we are so afraid of disability. The Splendid Anomaly doesn't speak to disability overtly, but instead explores perceived catastrophe and a variety of management plans. 

It begins with the biggest anomaly we can comprehend. The Big Bang changed everything, but the outcome of that high pressure explosion was the Universe, life as we know it, and US! Not a bad outcome indeed - so far at least. 

Along comes another anomaly - Price is born without a hand. The doctors introduce her carefully to her mum, listing all the things she will not be able to do without two hands. Luckily, she has her left hand so she will be able to wear a wedding ring... Price spends a jam-packed 40 minutes allowing us to explore uncertainty and unexpectedness with energy, humour and an outrageous variety of talents the two-handed amongst us would love to have. 

Life is full of challenges and Price has had a few. Mystery illness right before a global pandemic was most certainly one of them. She keeps leaking and is secreted into quarantine, undergoing a barrage of tests and examinations as this latest anomaly is interrogated. 

Luckily Price has a brother who has thoughtfully prepared the best mix-tape ever in the eventuality of complete catastrophe. Now seems the right time to hit play. Price also has a mother with the equanimity of a saint and the skill of spouting Galactic minutiae to the point of distraction. Most people count sheep. Price counts hot doctors, and anything else within her orbit as she is probed and scanned to explain this latest anomaly.

Amidst quips, quick-drawn sketches, and stream of consciousness continuity Price links The Milky Way to microbes. Nightclub vibes blend with unexpected excretions. The craziness that is Life and Humanity puts disability into a more relevant perspective. What is catastrophe? What kind of things should we worry about? What are we worrying about? And how are we going to write about it?

The creative team around Price have done well in supporting the work without making it about them. Rhian Hinkley's projection work, in particular, really cleverly integrates Price's live drawings whilst keeping the large black box of the theatre alive. Richard Vabre's lighting gives the space dimension and texture, and Kelly Ryall's sound punches in all the right places. Susie Dee has applied a light touch to the direction and dramaturgy, helping Price to keep her body and performance energised and visually integrated.

The Splendid Anomaly does not answer all the questions. It questions all the answers. It delves and dives and swoops and soars around questions bigger than mankind, yet as small as the quantum realm. It questions judgement of good and bad and shows us on so many levels that nothing is essentially either. It is what happens after each anomaly which will define those qualities. Price shows us that we are all our own stories to write, and we are all the stars in our own movie. What will people write about yours?

4.5 Stars