FRESH VOICES Review - KIMONO

Guest blogger: Elizabeth Beck (Senior, RMU)

          Let me just say this: I am not a dancer. My dance abilities top off at the chicken dance. I have almost zero coordination when it comes to choreographed movement. Needless to say, activities like ballet are not in the cards for me.

            That said, I am absolutely enthralled by those who can dance, and even more by those who dance professionally. To me, it’s amazing that people can do things with their bodies to convey stories. I love to watch any kind of professional dance and movement, because it is so beyond my scope of ability. I think my obsession with dance performances is what truly led me to enjoy Off the Wall’s latest production, Kimono.

Moriah Ella Mason - Mark Thompson - Photo by Heather Mull

            Kimono is a powerful story told through bodily movement, miming and dance that gives voice to one of the most tabooed topics in America—sexual assault. Without much dialogue or narration, this production manages to say a whole lot more than a highly dialogued play or musical ever could.

            When I was told what this performance was about, I have to say I was apprehensive. Art is oftentimes an expression of deep, painful innermost experiences—that’s what makes it so cathartic. Kimono—we may put ourselves at risk. But it’s things like this that we must see and experience, simply for the fact that we must be reminded of the ugly, twisted side of humanity. It reminds us of the utterly screwed up things that humans are capable of doing to one another, of those things of which we do not like to be reminded.

We are better people for what we create, for what we express and for what we see. But it’s also difficult to watch something that is such an outward expression of such a private emotion, and it’s even harder to do that in a public setting. Carnegie Stage is a tiny, intimate theatre. Watching a production like this in a venue like that is uncomfortable. Sexual assault is something we don’t like to talk about, as if by speaking about it, as if by confronting it—as audiences will when watching

            For this very reason, Kimono is an absolute triumph. Written and led by Mark C. Thompson, the performance is less a show and more an experience for the audience. It takes the unspoken occurrence of sexual assault and places it at center stage. It gives voice to the very things we like to pretend do not exist—by hardly speaking at all. The actors involved make use of their bodies in ways that I’ll never be able to fathom, and I say that not only because I am fascinated by dancers, but because it’s true. The four performers in this show are truly incredible, and I left feeling as if I understood the cycle of suffering and healing just a little bit more. Though I’ll never be able to fully realize the pain conveyed in this show, I feel as if I at least respect the need for shows like this. It’s vital that we talk about these things we do not voice, and it’s even more important for us to confront those things we fear. I do not believe I have ever experienced anything like it, and likely never will again. And, I mean that in a good way. Kimono is truly unique, and it’s definitely worth taking the sixty-five minutes to witness it.