Love: A Multiple Choice Question - Short and Bald Productions - SBW Stables Theatre - 26/03/05

Ethan Switch - Sunday, 27 March, 2005 - Print Version

With a self-inflicted map in the back pocket of a sweaty palm, locating the Stables Theatre on Nimrod Street might prove to be a challenge. The neon lights of Kings Cross blind the eyes and ears in every direction. Street signs pointing here and there momentarily match up with the scrawls to line a clear trail up behind a steep incline. Up the hill and around a side street, converted stables and a window right into the bedroom of someone's home. They would already be asleep if only the person standing outside would just move along.

Red wood lines the nostrils of the box office foyer. A lone man with meticulous facial stylings handles the ticket sales. Tickets which are nothing more than simple raffle stubs stamped with the date—valid only on the night of performance. Take two, ever in the light of everybody disappearing for family gatherings on a day between a strike of public holidays thanks in large part to the undead. All without notice. Strange.

Steps up to the staging area are an eventful climb, the sheer rise making hard work of subtle lighting. Depth perception is nowhere to be seen as feet that hit the landing do so aghast at the absolutely trickery in distance. Troughs for feet and braces for seats angle at a section to invert a triangle along the expected spotlight corner. Proving uncomfortable for a head on viewing, backs are slightly twisted as the eyes and heads focus on the main man delighting the floorboards.

Love: A Multiple Choice Question stars the brain and vocal chords of Jamie Jackson with accompanying ivory tapping by SoHee Youn. There is no one else on the stage area, and beyond a frame and shaver, no props to speak of.

Jamie Jackson is a man with a beautiful and strong singing voice, a well sculptured skull and dynamic presence. Slamming the contents of his mind and subconscious onto the floor, it's quite a feast to behold. Characters and personalities live and breathe easily within the confines of Jackson's skin. It's like a possession or psychiatric session with an addictive sing-a-long. Lyrically enthralling, this sensation of not wanting the song to end marks a frequent occurrence throughout the tight 75 minutes from start to finish. Captivation is certainly a master skill on display here.

Hiding behind the black drapes of the upright piano, in a corner from the view is SoHee Youn. Adding a soft score to the performance, the tinkling of the keys proves a steady subliminal undercurrent to the musical. Whimsical and light-footed, far from dark and depressing, though not without the ability to touch the deeper points in the performance.

Love: A Multiple Choice Question dives head long into the preconceptions and perceptions of love and beings in its state. Jackson takes the audience on fun trip from a bathroom in Manhattan, New York all the way to a place called Wallagalong, somewhere in outback Australia. Effortlessly transforming himself over the course of a dozen or so personalities, each individual stands alone in their thoughts and idiosyncrasies.

Perfectly given to expect a singular presentation of singing relatives, Jackson manages to bring out each of their voices in each of their songs adding a rich lasagna of a meal. The songs and lyrics span the gauntlet of emotional space in relationships. Moments of hilarity follow sombre, respective points in key and without so much as hard jarring snaps of the neck. From power ballads to introspective laments, the tunes encompass the mood as the unravelling of the mind takes its toll toward the inevitable end.

Essentially standing still, this dances about a dream.