An Audience with Adrienne

Yesterday I thought I’d try and brighten the social vacuum that is January by popping along for a belated Cosy Rosy Christmas Come Down in the company of Adrienne – alter ego of performance artist Adrian Howells - at the Drill Hall.

It was a curious event. The small theatre space had been converted into a faux living room complete with flock wallpaper, framed pictures and trinkets. Adrienne, dressed in a frumpy jumper and sequined mini-skirt, welcomed in each of her guests personally and invited them to settle down on one of her slightly clapped out couches.

Having plied us all with mulled wine and mince pies, she then set about entertaining us with a selection of home movies and stories from her past. There were clips of Adrian’s parents talking about how he behaved as a child and how they feel about having an effeminate, cross-dressing son. Then we heard stories about him being picked on by bullies and swapping sexual fantasies with a platonic crush. Later there were more serious topics like Adrian’s brother’s response to him coming out and attempting suicide at a younger age. He then talked about his two nervous breakdowns and his problems with his own self-image.

While the stories were interesting and a lot of the topics were bold and revealing, I couldn’t help but feel I was observing somebody else’s two-hour therapy session. Aside from the soul-searching and the audience being invited to share their own experiences, we even had displacement activities like playing a game and getting involved in a craft project. They were all good clean fun, though, and I quite enjoyed spinning a dice for the chance to win Christmas presents and decorating a paper plate with cotton wool and press cuttings.

Adrienne’s strength is in creating a relaxed atmosphere and removing the barrier that generally exists between the audience and the performer (breaking down the third wall, I believe the theatricals call it) and there was a real feeling of being a part of a family get together. However, the part I liked best was when she danced the slosh, reminiscing about trips to Pontins as a child and entering a talent contest. Here, for a few moments, the audience was left behind as she retreated into her own world and lived through the memories, this gave her a chance to put on a much more moving performance when she wasn’t worrying so much about the audience and trying to be our friend.

Though heavily self-indulgent, it was an interesting piece of theatre and a revealing glimpse into somebody else’s world.