Figuring out who you are and being comfortable with this is a lengthy journey, an aspect of the human experience that feeds into the everyday. Being at peace with your sexuality something that weighs heavy for many. An exploration of queerness and the complexities within this, Bold Mellon present Belinda, a unique, quirky production that speaks to today.
Two flatmates drawn closer by their love of Astrology and Tarot reading, they navigate the past, present and future through tarot symbols and the alignments of the planets, Amy-Rose (Amy-Rose Edlyn) and Emilia (Emilia Nurmkhamtova) preoccupied with the staging of a show and how best to promote it. On first glance, Belinda is an ordinary experience, but once you delve deeper is an enjoyably nuanced watch. A recurrent dream alluding to questioning sexuality a fascinating element of the show, the topic of queer-baiting and using this as a tool to further ambitions another aspect vital to examine.
Edlyn and Nurmkhamtova cultivate an atmosphere of mysticism, spatial video projections mellowing the mood, mesmeric, we take in the calmness of the evening. The duo want to share with us their creative journey thus far and are determined to include us within the conversation. Belinda enjoying its unconventional structure as we go from a hypothetical, performed reality to a more realistic one where the pair deconstruct their own show and the theatre experience of us watching it. The show is fearless in its ambition to experiment, and explore queerness further, but just needs refining when it comes to particular ideas as the world created here, in their flat, is a quietly powerful one. One where, if crafted right, could really resonate even more so on an emotional level.
Written by Lucy Basaba.
Belinda is currently showing until Sunday 12th March 2023 at The Flairground @ The Forge as part of this year’s Vault Festival. To find out more about the production, visit here…
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