Anna Burnside reviews 'a tremendous piece of work'.
Natalie Palamides staggers on to the stage, pulling herself. It takes a moment to process what, exactly, is happening. She is dressed in a hybrid costume: flannel shirt dude on one side, sparkly jeans babe on the other. As she turns each side to the audience, she assumes the male, then the female character.
That is where the similarity to The Ladyboys of Bangkok stops. Weer is a one-woman odyssey through a high stakes relationship. These two have jeopardy as their love language.
It starts at a new year’s party at the turn of the millennium then flips back to their origin story. The set is chaotic and messy; everything looks lo-fi and haphazard but there is method in all the madness. No visual joke is left unmade.
Palamides is a clown in the best sense of the word, combining an acute sense of the absurd with impressive physical skills. She has sex with herself several times, none of them with Vaseline on the lens. The shower scenes use a set-up straight out of the cheapest backpacking hostel in Bangkok.
There are even a couple of honking air horns, a cute reference to the more traditional version of clowning. No big shoes though.
Weer is a tremendous piece of work, deceptively shambolic, unsettlingly funny. Palamides’ commitment is extraordinary. She leaves nothing behind but her rancid wringing wet his’n’hers costumes.
Natalie Palamides: Weer performs at the Traverse Theatre until August 25, 2024. For specific performance times, go to the theatre’s website.
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