There is a plethora of influences and pressures on the modern-day woman. She will be bombarded by advertising, which can be subtly and iteratively undermining. Pretty much any website she uses, either through necessity or choice, demands acceptance of terms and conditions. There is societal conformity with its myriad of forms: education, housing, religion etc. We especially encounter gender expectations, against the prevalent backdrop of patriarchal dominance. Women are still expected to dress for men, wear make-up and even sometimes be obedient. They still battle for equality and to are compelled to fight to pierce glass ceilings. Not to mention, of course, sexual consent. Women, by necessity, find themselves compelled to develop defence mechanisms to navigate all of this and more; they need to be able to say “no”.
Intense, urgent and visceral. It is a prescient piece for our times and not to be missed
Analissa Limardi is the creator and performer of NO. She gives an insight into the range and scale of the deluge of daily requests to which she may be subjected. These, if not successfully handled, can lead to frustration, under-confidence, self-doubt, mental illness and ultimately abuse, which can manifest itself in very different guises.
Entering the proscenium staged Zo theatre, part of the charming Catania Fringe, Limardi is already on stage, back to audience and performing a series of physical breathing exercises, emanating guttural sounds; what appears initally to be a theatrical warm-up, it is instead suggestive of a coping mechanism. She takes us on her journey of requests or demands for acquiescence and the innate difficulties encountered in attempting to define and then adhere to boundaries. The only prop used in the performance is a microphone, being the physical embodiment of the variety of entities requiring her attention, including the manifestation of a penis. The microphone is relentlessly demanding, invading her physical and mental space, at times symbolically being a leash constraining, ensnaring and entangling her. Limardi is visibly tormented by these incessant demands for consent, until eventually finding the fortitude and resilience to push back and assert control.
The performance is nothing less than spellbinding. Limardi’s physicality is outstanding, as she weaves, twists, acquiesces and strikes out. Her visible exhaustion is allegorical to her mental turmoil. The rhythmic disco beat pounding out encapsulates the plethora of pressures to which she is subjected. The fluidity of her movement is striking and her timing perfection.
This production is intense, urgent and visceral. It is a prescient piece for our times and not to be missed.
