Review: CATASTROPHES at PICA

Navigating the world, navigating parenthood and navigating friendships are difficult enough tasks. Friends Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington found so much in their shared journeys they condensed years of messages into a chaotically brilliant and brilliantly chaotic one hour show that will strike a chord with many.
 

What quickly becomes recognizable in the exchanges between Newman and Hetherington- besides the fact they are friends in life and in drama- is the format of their discussion. Many people who were stuck messaging their best friends in the recent years will understand that a conversation is not a linear thing, and CATASTROPHES captures that perfectly. Topics change quickly, questions seem to go unanswered only to be answered later on, and thought threads are tugged on only to quickly unravel. Thus, the tone for the show is set. A guided tour through the last few years. Some moments hit because they happened to us, some moments hit because they struck the collective conscience at the time, and the rest hit because Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington can’t help but be raw and honest.

The stage is bare for the performance, different styles of chairs provide a border that is moved throughout the show, just as the performers and their own chairs move- between moments of friendly chat to friendly interrogation. In the natural and effortless flow of conversation, the audience becomes party to two friends being their most vulnerable, comfortable in only the way friends can be. Their deepest secrets are exposed, but with no more pause or ceremony than their jokes or comments made in passing.

The entire performance takes place under a great white sheet that harks to the whimsy of a children’s fort but also sits like a specter hanging over the two. Scenographer Mark Haslam ensures the space has a homely feel, yet doesn’t allow it to relent during the less comfortable moments of the piece.

CATASTROPHES is uncompromising in how honest it is. Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington make it very clear that this comes from a place of honesty, bringing all the good and bad along with it. Indeed, it paints life as joy punctuated by these catastrophes, finding memories of disasters from personal to national. There are parts that are funny in their familiarity, but parts that are uncomfortable. But, overall, you arrive to see two performers and leave as if you’ve just spent an hour with friends.

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