Presented by Fruit Box Theatre. Performed and written by Aliyah Knight. Directed by Bernadette Fam.
Poetic and layered, ‘Snakeface’ is a visual feast that delves into Greek Mythology for stylised storytelling
Reviewed by Justin Clarke
Belvoir St Theatre, Downstairs
Until 27th April, 2025
Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/snakeface/
Type: One Person Show, New Work, Explorative
If You Liked: Nayika: A Dancing Girl, Iphigenia in Splott, Contemporary Greek Mythology
*Content Warning: This review discusses sexual assault and abuse
For most who grew up on Disneyfied, watered down content of Greek Mythology, you’d be forgiven for believing that the tale of Medusa was solidified in her being a villainous monster. It wasn’t until Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023, that my entire view of the snake-haired gorgon with the stony gaze was turned on its head when Beautiful Evil Things came into my life.
Here was Medusa’s story told from a much more brutal, and in essence truer perspective. One of rape, betrayal, and condemnation from the Gods. Her abuse and violence done onto her became the violence and death erupting from her famous glare that turned her victims to solid stone. Writer and performer Aliyah Knight continues this feminist reclamation of Medusa’s story by placing this inspiration in the body of a Black, queer woman, rewriting the narrative one has with their bodies as they heal from trauma.
Written by and performed by Knight, with dramaturgy and direction by Bernadette Fam, we are presented with the story of Snakeface, who we eventually know as Maddie, a trained clay-worker who confronts her sexual and emotional abuse done to her in youth. Knight’s work is consistently and beautifully poetic, making for a harder watch than other one-person shows this year such as Cruise or Iphigenia in Splott whose narratives are more direct.
This isn’t to say however that Snakeface is any less riveting. The intertextuality of Medusa’s story is both literal and metaphysical in nature as Knight’s work intricately layers simile and metaphor – an English teacher’s dream – to create a slow, yet steady exploration of control and, ultimately, violence.
Set design by Keerthi Subramanyam aids this through poetic projection of language that begins as blackout poetry and eventually reveals its true nature. So too does this take shape in the large block of clay that sits in the middle of the stage – it’s a lesson in intricate simplicity. As Maddie’s story becomes darker, the clay is clawed and scraped away, a metaphor of the abuse that’s been done to Snakeface’s body. The clay that eventually cakes itself onto Knight’s body is symbolic of the stoney curse inflicted on Medusa by the Gods. Here, the Gods are replaced with an anology for the war on Black bodies – “historically they have become vessels for rape through systemic racism, and commodification” (Bernadette Fam).
Physicality and movement by Fetu Taku has snakelike motions as Marco Cher-Gibard‘s sound design takes us into rave clubs and uncomfortable silences. Expressive lighting by Rachel Lee impressively transports us through time and space, creating shadows and spotlights, catching the sharp hues of colour on the shredded fabrics that hang from the theatre’s roof. In comparison to the elegate simplicity of the set, the lighting is grandiose in its creation of intimacy within Snakeface’s story.
…a sensory feast of visuals and poetry as it delves into rage and trauma
Through the poetry, we’re presented with the notion of violence and whether violence in response to it is ever justified. These are large conversations that Snakeface deals with, and the headspace of its audience needs to be aptly prepared to delve into it. The poetic nature of the piece, whilst beautiful to the ear, can sometimes struggle to effectively convey its true essence as it becomes disorientating in its changing of time and space, but it is nonetheless a striking piece of storytelling.
Fruit Box Theatre’s second production in a year of one-person performances continues to yield fruitful results in Snakeface. As a new piece of work, Snakeface is a sensory feast of visuals and poetry – that could do with some linguistical decluttering – as it delves into rage and trauma through the lens of existing within a marginalised body.
Theatre Thought: Greek Mythology continues to yield excellent results for theatrical storytelling. What else can it help us to explore in our modern times?
CAST
ALIYAH KNIGHT
CREATIVES
ALIYAH KNIGHT – WRITER & PERFORMER
BERNADETTE FAM – DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG
MADELEINE GANDHI – PRODUCER
KEERTHI SUBRAMANYAM – SET & PROPS DESIGNER
RACHEL LEE – LIGHTING AND VIDEO SYSTEMS DESIGNER
MARCO CHER-GIBARD – SOUND DESIGNER
WANYIKA MSHILA – COSTUME DESIGNER
FETU TAKU MOVEMENT – DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER
WENDY YU -PROJECTION DESIGNER
RACHEL SEETO – ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
LAURA FARRELL – VOCAL & DIALECT COACH
ERICA LOVELL – VOCAL & DIALECT COACH
JUSTICE GEORGOPOULOS – STAGE MANAGER
SEAN LANDIS – MARKETING MANAGER
KELLY DEZART-SMITH – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT LEAD
SHONDELLE PRATT – WELLBEING CONSULTANT
TENIOLA KOMOLAFE – PHOTOGRAPHER
MIA SCHIRMER – CINEMATOGRAPHER
FLETCHER SCULLY – ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
