Last year, Gemma Wilcox performed an “in-progress” show titled The Wallaby Way. Well, my review for that performance (http://brothermarc7theatre.tumblr.com/post/141229320992/rogue-review-the-wallaby-way-show-538) was anything but accepting of that descriptor because it felt like a complete script with a remarkable performance by Miss Wilcox. However, upon seeing its return to Fresno’s Rogue Festival this year, I understand what Miss Wilcox was referring to last year. Everything that was strong and tightly knit together, woven if you will (it makes sense if you see the show), is still there. But the passion she gives this finalized script is quite palpable, and the show has a pulse to it that was missing before.
Miss Wilcox delivers a tighter, more emotionally-driven performance this year. She utilizes her uncanny ability to convey humans of any age and animals from all walks of life with unrivaled commitment and physicality. Her various methods of demonstrating her travels through Tanzania, London and elsewhere are efficient and effective, ranging from a whiteboard to red yarn everywhere, a bench, and even her stomach where a hand drawn labyrinth camps out mid-show. Miss Wilcox has found the right dose of new to add to her already illuminating piece of theatre, a play you will want to hop over, as any wallaby would, to experience for yourself.
Well, Gemma Wilcox has done it again. Her world premiere run of The Wallaby Way made its debut in Fresno, and I was fortunate enough to catch its closing Rogue performance. Though it was billed as “in progress,” in typical Gemma fashion, I don’t see where her performance or script needs to be polished. The Wallaby Way is a passionate, intimate, emotionally-charged show that leaves Wilcox artistically naked on stage, baring all the feelings and pain that her script exudes.
The Wallaby Way takes the audience on Wilcox’s most recent journey to Tanzania and along the way it explores her last relationship, the effects of losing her mother, and what fleeing the North American distractions resulted for her. All this culminates in the riskiest performance I have ever seen Gemma Wilcox give (this is my third different title seeing her perform). There’s nothing left to emote after her impactful performance concludes with a more-than-deserved bow. Wilcox’s portrayals bounce between a well-nuanced narrator, a slew of characters she meets along her Tanzanian journey, and a wallaby with an ebb and flow that matches the pacing of her tenacious script. Wilcox delivered a remarkable performance that included the lovely use of a long red string that acted as a metaphor for being trapped, and also had practical uses, such as hanging clothes. The mask/costume for the wallaby is exquisitely crafted, aiding Wilcox’s various turns as the hopping marsupial. The wallaby, we cleverly see, is the omnipresent force, nature’s tour guide for Wilcox as she ventures through thick and thin to find clarity, closure, and peace with the tragedy that has clouded her mind and life.
I sing Miss Wilcox’s praises every time I see her perform, and this show only solidifies my opinion that she is a gift to solo theatre. Like many of the fringe artists I have highlighted, she is active on Twitter, Facebook, etc. She tours everywhere and has several one-woman shows in her canon that are sure-fire hits, so make every effort to support Miss Wilcox and her journey through the world, one show at a time.
