WALK IN DIRT

Gender Bender

Walk In Dirt is on at The Blue Room Theatre from Tuesday, February 14, to Sunday, February 19. Bookings can be made through pica.org.au and
fringeworld.com.au

What do a prostitute, a dying man and a homeless woman all have in common? According to Stephen House they all have a message about what it is to be human. Oh… and he will be playing all three of them in his solo show Walk In Dirt as part of the Fringe World Festival.

Back in 2000, House was commissioned to write a monologue about what it’s like to be in his body. For inspiration he went to Australia’s capital of debauchery – King’s Cross, Sydney, or as he calls it, ‘The Cross’. His experiences from that one night have followed him for 12 years now, and Walk In Dirt has toured on-and-off nationally and internationally since its debut. The performance is known for polarizing audiences and containing challenging subject material, although most critics have given unanimous praise for its original form. House plays seven characters onstage, slipping in and out of costumes in front of audiences while spouting rhyming verse.

“I suppose it is an experimental, risky piece,” says House of the show. “A lot of my work strays into territory that we don’t often go into. It does slip into the urban underworld, those worlds that are a little more off limits to the mainstream.”     One of these worlds contains a transvestite showgirl named Sugar and audiences should prepare to be wowed by her feast-for-the-eyes costume. In fact, the original costuming and soundscape seem reason enough to see the show – the former of which was designed by an early audience member who came up to the thespian after his performance and said: ‘I love your show - it’s amazing. I hate your costumes. Let me make you a range’.

Walk In Dirt explores masculinity in a time when gender roles are in a state of continual flux and evolution. “Men’s roles were once very defined and I remember thinking when I was writing the piece, I think that definition of what a man’s role is in the world today is a lot more blurry… and I think that’s still valid.”

The performance merges elements of theatre, poetry and cabaret resulting in an experience that is playful, confronting and unusual. After the protagonist encounters a night’s worth of strange, underworld creatures he finally comes to meet himself - literally. And it leaves him with the ultimate question: what does it mean to be a man? It is a show that has been described as a touching observation of human kind and a performance that has garnered a wide range of responses – some laugh, others cry.

When asked of his thoughts of the play opening on Valentine’s Day, House agrees that perhaps it is due to his long-standing romance with the piece. “Well maybe it is that’s a very good metaphor! I have had a long romance with it, and I’m really looking forward to continuing the relationship with it.”

_KATE ENRIGHT