parthenogenesis:
By Rebecca Goh
"Who loves me? Who loves me? Who loves me?"
The Substation Theatre, 2023-24
This interdisciplinary (n)one-woman performance aims to start a conversation about love and sex, and how society has hardwired us to believe that we are unable to be whole without either.
The performance draws upon raw testimony, found text and scientific research, interdisciplinary multimedia collaborations, site-responsive architectural excavation, museological experimentation (where artefact labels can be rewritten), and visual poetry – the fusion unfolding in a space underground where the journey is a descent from the outside. The production was designed to be immersive, intimate, introspective; a place where conversations happen in the dark. parthenogenesis: is as much a performance about absence as it is a plea for presence.
Further documentation of the show can be found here.
Performer: Alia Alkaff
Writer / director: Rebecca Goh
Multimedia designer: Angeline Glen Tomara
Photography: Thomas Brunning
Poster designer: Simran Hemnani
Reviews and Feedback
"My favourite production of the festival!"
"I loved the setting and the concept. The museum form was interesting, felt awkward (in a good way!) to subvert the conventions of performance + turn scrutiny into those who scrutinise."
"The visuals were an experience, at one point the ‘eyes’ were projected on me and I felt complicit in the negative perceptions and thoughts about asexual people. I did feel seen too, with the experiences being shared, like platonic relationships are very important even though most people don’t prioritise them as much."
"The visuals are so stunning and embodied the text perfectly. Well-researched and the impulses were emerging..."
"Love sitting in an intimate space with the performer. The ‘safe space’ was created with the light box and it works because all around us was dark. It was like performance art."
"Asexuality / aromanticism are subjects that few people (even within queer communities) know about - so this work would be an important milestone as an introduction to an even ‘more marginalised’ (or less known about at least) identity. So I think this work is important! Fantastic multimedia work!"
"parthenogenesis:, directed and developed by Rebecca Goh, founder of from (a)basement theatre collective, is experimental theatre at its best..."
"The use of visceral text, graphics and physicality to convey the struggles and conflict-fraught journey of the character..."
"The writing and performance were thought-provoking. Would love to see more shows like this."
"The visuals were amazing - it took me a while to get into it but by the end I was very absorbed. Also very enlightening about asexuality as well - thank you for sharing!"
"Very relieved to have caught the show. Really reminded me of theatre in the 90s where it was more experimental and subversive; the way this show was directed, written, and performed, is particularly reminiscent of The Substation’s programming of the past, where many pieces of raw theatre like this were produced. Glad to see young theatre-makers creating this kind of work again. This piece really pushed the form of the art... and is definitely something worth exploring further."
"I felt a lot of things - or resonated with a lot of the key messages and narratives. The intimacy of it all!"
"I think the usage of technology was interesting here - the virtual space, real but not actual, used to embody digital space and the nature of online discussion and how that applies to asexuality is definitely something very intriguing..."