Homily | theatrePUNK co.
Homily is an intense confessional by young theatre-maker Ellie Waddingham that explores the challenges of growing up queer in the catholic church and their emancipation thereof.
If began with a fantastic moody start, and I cannot express how delightful i found it. As the audience entered there was a dimly lit person dancing on a stage, dancing like you do when you are coming down and its 4am and everyone else has left but you are not ready to sit yet. It was a beautiful authentic dance without artifice, without the over articulation of dancers with something to say, just a beautiful movement that went for quite a time. I actually almost started to wish that the show never grew from this, that the whole play would be acted out by dim light, with gentle movements carving a story we have to decipher… A nostalgic dreamscape for this jaded writer to sink into at its outset.
Image credit + cover image: Grace Campbell.
Then the main course kicked in. The piece is essentially a long and powerful monologue that circled back on occasion into Elizabethan-styled prose. A self-proclaimed wicked character, the storytelling was forceful, if a touch didactic for the extremes of character that swung between lecturing the audience and flirting with them. The rhythm of the character as it rose through its emotions in a cyclical rhythm is intriguing and could be developed further with great effect, making the experience for the audience a more undulating journey.
The tale of liberation is a not-uncommon story, certainly nothing new within the coming-out genre, yet told with great conviction and energy, and pulling the audience to its feet in a standing ovation at its conclusion. The painful journey of survival as young queer person in a distinctly hostile world is not one we can tire of hearing in all its variations, at least not until the damned trial of becoming ceases to be and our queer brethren can just live their lives as awkwardly and safely as everyone else. Cathartic for the performer one would hope, and certainly for the enthusiastic young fans in the theatre. Waddingham certainly held the stage and held their own for the duration of the piece, and future works are worth keeping an eye out for.
