Review: I Hide in Bathrooms

A weeping widow. A dying lover. An internal critic. Astrid Pill embodies each of these in turn as she attempts to understand how to deal with life after love.

Pill is a talented physical performer – she dies again and again onstage in surprising ways. These somewhat random ‘attacks’ pop up out of nowhere and add to the whimsy and fluidity of the work. The use of space aids in differentiating between the selves represented.

She explores grief and love through various lenses but the conscious dissonance of the work results in a disjointed analysis of these human experiences. When no reality is posed as the true reality, the gravity of these themes is confused and diluted.

Perhaps this is the point though. In times of loss of a loved one, is there a correct way to grieve? Or a suitable period of time before one can take another lover? Who decides this? What if the love died before the corporeal form?

I Hide in Bathrooms uses humour and surrealism to validate the range of emotion involved in love and loss but ultimately sacrifices clarity and meaning in the process.

I Hide in Bathrooms, Vitalstatistix, Waterside Workers Hall, until 16 March