Gargoyles, a dance theater piece by Anne Welenc, premieres on 3 November 2024 at Ballhaus Ost and offers new perspectives on familiar villainesses.
On a Sunday evening shortly after Halloween, I find myself on the stage at Ballhaus Ost, while the performers sit in the stands normally filled with ascending rows of chairs for audience members. Today’s topic is wickedness (which is graffitied on a small partition wall in the stands). More specifically, it’s about villains, female ones. Two literary villainesses are presented to us in the form of gargoyles. Everyone who, like me, does not know what or who a gargoyle is, gets a gradual introduction: gothic water spouts, grotesque petrified creatures, sometimes human, sometimes animal, sometimes, mythical. Mostly terrifying, they keep watch over the facades of old buildings, while simultaneously serving the practical purpose of diverting rain water. The evening’s performers, Samia Chancrin and Renae Shadler, also take on many forms. They pose with grimaces, open mouths, jester-like, crawling on all fours, heads raised high, creepy, sad, on the different levels of the stands. They examine me, us, closely. From up above, looking down. There’s no doubt about it, these figures are up to no good.
A play transports the Gargoyles into their respective forms: Medea and Macbeth. Medea finds herself pregnant outside the city limits of Corinth, with a vague premonition that something is wrong. She is waiting for her lover, calling for him, sending him voice messages. Is he hiding in a club with his new flame? Excerpts from literary works are recited and sometimes reinterpreted. In interviews, the figures are asked about their true views, beyond the male gaze of the authors. Between scenes, the performers take on more human roles, chatting with each other and with us as with friends.
These intimate scenes make way for moments of different dimensions. Medea fills nearly the entire stage space, with her enormous dress, her snake hair represented by dancing arms. The situation strikes me as threatening, sublime, and funny all at once. These playful elements recur again and again throughout the piece. Macbeth’s portrayal is also exaggerated. Performing in an evening gown, she assumes the blame for everyone. The unambiguousness of wickedness is fractured and nuanced. The characters are empowered by the imposed narratives and use them “to sound more edgy”. In the end, the roles of the evildoers are also a matter of opinion and it is apparent that gargoyles can also be “full body rain goddesses”.
I leave the Ballhaus with the earworm: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me”. Taylor Swift’s Antihero accompanied the end of the piece, leaving me to wonder who the culprits in my narrative are. Contrary to what I expected, I didn’t see any invincible, undisputed villainesses tonight. Instead, I saw destigmatized, nuanced characters who defy their male creators and societal narratives.English translation by Melissa Maldonado
Gargoyles by Anne Welenc premiered on 3 November 2024 at Ballhaus Ost.
