I AM: a dark and brooding nightmare

I AM

Created by Lemi Ponifasio

ASB Theatre

Aotea Centre

March 6

Who is the I in Lemi Ponifasio’s I AM? Is it the solitary figures who inhabit the stage? Is it Lemi Ponifasio himself? Is it all the other individuals on stage who are the nameless |everyman or is it each member of the audience.

This is one of the unanswered conundrums of I AM, which offers many enigmatic challenges. Ponifasio says in his preface to the programme that it is in part a commemoration of World War I but the work is much more complex and goes much deeper than many of the reflections on that Great War to end all wars

As Ponifasio notes:

"When I first decided to create I AM

I thought I would make a prayer for the living and the dead

Stage a ceremony

Compose a poem

Or scream an outrage."

What he has created is a multi-layered work combining all those things but it is also a reflection on the nature of man, a questioning of the notion of a benevolent god and a questioning of the existence of a god.

In a series of vignettes, he has assembled a series of disparate rituals that draw on the various concepts of various religions, the timeless myths of Europe, Asia and the Pacific. Out of these, he has created rituals which are mediations on the nature of life and death, on the tragedy of human conflict.

These vignettes are full of ritual and symbolism but the work is not some closed self-referential work – rather it is the individual audience members who develop their own allusions, commentaries, metaphors.

One of the most vivid of the sequences involves an albino-like woman clad in white, a red flower in her mouth, holding a rifle. At one point 12 blackclad figures take it in turn to approach and spit blood over her face and clothes. It is a primitive and unsettling display of aggression and animosity which hints at man’s unfeeling brutality.

In this scene, as in most of the work, we are shown individuals isolated, confronting the unknown or nameless others. In another one, an individual performer gives a version of a slap dance somewhere between the primitive and contemporary, which expresses inner and external turmoil. This figure is then joined by another and they engage in a wrestling match, a time-honoured way of settling disputes. The figure then spends time arranging the figures on the stage moving them about like some god, warden, prophet. madman or guide.

The set is a huge black wall slightly angled, creating the side of a vast trench, the walls of a prison or an insurmountable hill. On the wall is a projected image of Colin McCahon’s “Victory over Death and “I Have Applied my Mind”. Partway through the performance the wall tilts back so performers can walk on its still angled surface. This opening of the wall is a McCahon reference to his Gate series in which the opening of gates provides a way through troubles.

In the opening scene a solo performer delivers a karakia while behind him bowed figures push large black boxes – containers of memories of the dead. The line of figures are like Sisyphus endlessly repeating the same task.

Over the years Ponifasio’s notion of dance has become more and more abstract so that we become aware of all movement slight or elaborate, discreet or dramatic. We become aware of nuances, of the slowing down or speeding up of actions and the way in which movement gesture communicate emotions and relationships.

Accompanying the action on stage is a remarkable soundscape which combines electronic music, birdsong, sounds of thunder and gunshot and the sounds of a scratched record.

Accompanying the soundscape are karakia, karanga, chants and poems in 10 languages from Europe Asia and the Pacific. In the case of the McCahon works being projected they are accompanied by readings of the text of the paintings. It was unfortunate that the other texts used (and included in the programme booklet) were not projected as surtitles as it meant the audience were not able to connect with one of the important aspects of the performance, undermining the overall impact.

The lighting by Helen Todd was effectively used to enhance the drama, highlighting individual features – hands, faces, torsos. The combination of black and white set and clothing meant at times the stage looked like an early silent black white film recalling images from dystopian films such as Metropolis.

 The closing sequence featuring a downpour or huge waterfall (another McCahon image) also created by lighting added to the drama and pathos of the conclusion.

I AM is a majestic work, a dark and brooding nightmare in which there is no real conclusion or salvation.. The sacrifices of countless men and women are not heroic, the gods do not intervene, we are left alone screaming into the unknown.