Demolition | Polytoxic
The warm and familiar tones of Jimmy Barnes’s ‘You’re the Voice’ welcomed me into the theatre and set the scene beautifully for Demolition's explosive critique of traditional Australian masculinity.
The cast were dressed in high vis, hauling around cones, climbing scaffolding and welcoming us onto the work site with a megaphone. The audience interaction and set design was very immersive and created an excellent sense of excitement as I waited for the show to begin. We were guided through safety protocol by the site safety officers Jackhammer (Ghenoa Gela) and Danger Zone (Lilikoi Kaos) and then the show moved through a big variety of musical numbers, aerial, dance, pole and theatre pieces. There was major enthusiasm from the audience, including myself, with pockets of whooping and applause happening even when not called on by the cast.
Everything about the set-up of the show said ‘we are badasses’ and I was very easily caught up in that, nodding my head along with the pumping music and laughing at the over the top parodies of masculinity. I was welcomed in with iconography that was very recognisable but not at all relatable (the work site, high vis, Jimmy Barnes), and then I was shown the world that I actually live in, where women’s safety is not guaranteed and intersectional solidarity is everything.
The show speaks on the over the top lengths that women have to go through to feel safe in public spaces. I definitely related to the hyper-vigilance displayed by some of the characters, as well as the kind of ridiculous feeling you get when you realise the guy across the road was definitely not following you. But I was also reminded of why that hyper-vigilance exists in the first place as a montage of news audios played, referencing acts of violence against women and the horrible reactions the media had to that violence. It left an angry scowl on my face and it was that feeling that the cast channelled into their demolition, of the patriarchy and of all colonial systems. The show emphasised that that kind of destruction couldn’t be accomplished alone, and the cast worked together to pull each other through the sometimes scary and threatening scenes.
The importance of solidarity really stuck with me and I felt like I was being shown an inclusive version of sisterhood that I could really relate to. This was no highly sanitised mainstream girlboss sisterhood, but the kind of solidarity that can be difficult and gritty and requires you to show up for other people and do the work.
One scene that I think encapsulates this perfectly was when Ghenoa Gela was pulling a ute across the stage with ropes attached to its front. She was clearly struggling and every time she gave some slack, the ute moved backwards. Gela's performance as Jackhammer was incredible and she had everyone in the audience rooting for her, with one audience member yelling “You got this!” from the back row.
But instead of seeing empowerment this scene seemed entirely tragic to me. It was clear that Jack didn’t ‘have it’, and she shouldn’t have had to be pulling such a big weight in the first place. It showed me the incredible strength that women, particularly black women, have to exhibit to gain ground in structures that were explicitly made not to serve them. And sure enough the ute eventually slipped back to its starting position and Gela was left defeated, until some of the cast and then even some audience members came over to help pull the ute. This scene then transformed into a very celebratory dance party, with Gela dancing on the back of the ute as it was being pulled. I think this shift from struggle, to solidarity and then to celebration really showed what Demolition was all about.
Polytoxic have created a satire extravaganza that is both grounded and entertaining and I would highly recommend it to anyone who can grab tickets for the remaining shows in the season.
