seen from Uzbekistan
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Bangladesh
seen from Aruba
seen from Netherlands
seen from Uzbekistan
seen from Ukraine
seen from Austria
seen from Iraq
seen from Malaysia
seen from India
seen from United States
After hours of wrapping this in layers and layers of paper, it took him 10 min (and a bit of cheating) to get it opened. #dupa #polishdad (at Stratford, Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/Br0ksy0lfwd_1J2l_sfYnShp8ePEppjUlZ-21Y0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qkxbvkun5vum
Willem Richards in Polish Tennis Dad
As I walked into the dark room, at Tuxedo Cat La Trobe street Melbourne, I had to pull aside a red curtain. In the room it was dimly lit and kind of spooky but that all changed once Willem Richards greeted us with a plate of oranges and an extremely convincing Polish accent. I was convinced he was Polish from the start but that all changed. Everyone seated eating their quarter of an orange. With Willem being in character from the get-go it set the scene for a performance that, although was giggle worthy, had a lesson to be learned: Follow your own dreams.
The stage was set up with a tennis net, racket, shopping trolley basket with balls, trophies and clothes stand, for quick costume changes. Willem had set numerous characters up throughout the performance with help from the audience, including me. The performance was based around his relationship with his father who was stuck on his son becoming a professional tennis player. His son had other plans.
The first part of his child-hood story, an audience member had to pretend to be Willem as a child, and Willem was his father who was easily recognizable in his red coaching jacket. They swapped roles which helped identify the struggle most of us have with having “intense parents”.
All Willem wanted to do, was find something that wasn’t tennis related. Most boys play with G.I Joes and Tonker trucks, Willem found joy with his sisters Barbie and Ken and Barbies folded Fun house. The Barbie and Ken (who he named Mickel) scenario allowed for Willem to bring to light his creative romanticist side. Spanish Mickel, played by Willem, tangoed down to the audience, and plucked me out to dance our way back on stage. The stage light was extremely bright but that didn’t stop Mickel admitting his undying love for me as he also explored his love for a past woman, named Maria. I played myself and reassured him, as he broke down crying. This scenario opened the idea that although toys can be gender related, they are appropriate in allowing a child to express themselves.
The use of sounds and music allowed for an easy transition over to the next representation of his childhood, making friends. I am sure we can all relate to having our first friend over from school and trying to impress them. This was comfortably established with Willem being embarrassed by playing Barbies with his sister and having his friend over. His friend turned his nose up at the idea, and Willem, eager to impress, also did too. This showed a clear counterattack to not wanting to impress his dad, but to impress his outer world.
Switching back to Willem’s dad, a child was chosen out of the audience and played a young preteen Willem. Willem swapped from both his dad, and his former self, offering the child advice “Tell him to piss off, say Piss off Dad”. So, as the child continued to hit the continually thrown tennis balls back to the audience and around stage, he eventually grew the courage and yelled out “Dad, piss off”. Willem kept referring to his father to being passionate but from an audience’s point of view I would say that his dad was more passionately intense. This can be seen through his dad’s pressure and obsession with Tennis. It was clear his dad was lacking something and trying to bestow it onto his son. Like those parents that we have seen that pushes their kids into stardom.
The performance was greatly transcendent at showing both sides of an intense relationship with a father and son. One memorable scene was when Willem’s father broke down and runs through the emotion’s men don’t usually share. It was introduced by Fleetwood Macs – Dreams, with a baby doll used for a baby Willem. The scene was emotionally touching as it dived into the father’s perspective of his own version of his relationship with his son.
Other scenes captivated Willem growing up, through self-discovery, as he sat in a chair with a wig and meditated about staples. His dad still tried to bond with Willem by buying his son a dodgy car, with a hidden agenda to make it a “father son project”.
The performance was a great family one, especially if you’re a parent, as you can relate to it through the trials and errors of parenting. It was also relate-able in that, we all were once children, and in one way or other parents wanted the best for us.
“You know why I pushed you so hard? Son, it’s because you can get out of any situation. So. I wanted you to learn to focus.” – Willem’s Polish Dad.
Monday 26 September 2016
Tuxedo Cat – The Alley Cat
293 - 299 La Trobe Street
Melbourne
https://www.theaustraliatimes.com/profile/coral-reeve/
