An exploration of sisterhood and friendship at the knife’s edge of tragedy
How do you cope when the inevitable approaches all too soon?
Knives and Forks, a new work by Danielle James, hits the stage at the Gilded Ballroom Patter House, presented by Band of Sisters Theatre. Exploring the relationship of two best friends as tragedy begins to loom its ugly head, this play directed by Hannah Calascione investigates the intricacies of friendship.
Iris, played by Ianthe Bathurst, is diagnosed with an undisclosed illness that feels like its terminal, but her real struggle is how her best friend and room mate Thalia, played by Thea Mayeux, deals with it – or doesn’t. Splashed across recent time, their relationship unfolds in the form of a beautiful tableaux, scattering the highs and lows in scenes that are punctuated with abrupt music transitions.
But this is not the only form in which the play explores the intertwined lives of these two girls. Two movement artists, Chien-Hui Yen and India Walton, embody the elemental alter egos of the two leads. Ever present on stage, their inclusion adds another world onto the story, conveying the emotions and feelings in a visceral way that is endlessly appealing to watch.
The stage is also the canvas of their emotions in even more ways. From the start, Yen and Walton paint, scrawl and adorn the back wall of the stage to denote time, but more often to abstractly convey the mindsets of Iris and Thalia. All of these elements combined together makes for thoroughly engaging theatre.
Knives and Forks is a triumphant rumination on friendship, platonic love and how we deal with tragedy when there is nothing we can do.