UNTITLED NO. 7 by Telia Nevile. At St. Vladimir Institute. July 6 at 6:15 pm, July 7 at 2:45 pm, July 9 at 10:15 pm, July 11 at 8 pm, July 12 at 2:15 pm, July 14 at 5 pm. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Most fairytales provide tidy morals and happy endings. But life is rarely like that, which is why Melbournes Telia Neville wrote her own with dramaturgist Ash Flanders and song composer Andrew Callaghan in the form of a solo show that is a refreshing rebuttal to stories were told as children: believe in yourself and you can do anything.
Originally staged in Australia, Untitled No. 7 is about Little Darling, a girl who is told by a family friend that has potential and that potential becomes a curse. Nevile talks of pixies like hope and belief and trolls like anger and depression, while responding to uplifting quotes by actor Dax Shepard and slogans by brands like Nike with deceptively cheery song and dance numbers.
Despite debunking so many trite sayings and simplistic life lessons, Nevile does occasionally offer some of her own. Some of the strongest moments are when she breaks her upbeat demeanour, like a punk number that rages against Walt Disney. And late in the show, she drops the Little Darling framing entirely and tells us about her own personal struggle with coming to terms with different definitions of success as an actor.
After a few false endings, including an interpretive dance routine built around the word penis, Nevile spells out her intentions: shes offering honesty, not catharsis.
