Stones in her Mouth

Radar L.A., the international festival of contemporary theater (sponsored by Redcat, CalArts and Center Theatre Group), recently invited Lemi Ponifasio, artistic director of the New Zealand-based Mau company, to bring his latest work to Los Angeles.

Stones in her Mouth is still in its workshop stage (it will have its world premiere in December 2013), but its eerie power and beauty come across nonetheless.

A 10-member ensemble comprising Maori women, all of whom are cloaked in black and (mostly) hidden in shadows, give voice to a variety of songs, all of which were written by the performers. The singing, chanting and dancing, come across in an intense, impassioned way. All movement is lean and austere. The carefully controlled result is a work of hypnotic theatricality -- with occasional bursts of wild anger and fury.

"To Maori, the first human was woman. Women are te whare tangata, the house of humanity, and are respected for their ability to create life," says Stones program notes. "In the performance, the women's challenge is undisguised and is voiced through the Maori language, genealogy, spirituality, ceremony, family, nature, and they define themselves through a mythological authority. They communicate their adaptiveness, resiliency and rage against the apparatus of power, oppression and even Western-style feminism."

I have quoted the program at length only because the songs in Stones in her Mouth are delivered without subtitles or other translation from the Maori, making comprehension difficult. Only abstract and obvious emotions come across. Fortunately, they (and the staging) are strong enough to connect viscerally with the audience. Perhaps by the time Stones has its world premiere, that linguistic problem will be corrected. It would also help if the band of harsh, eye-hurting white light that underlines the company's otherwise darkened stage were modulated.

Much like the sound-and-light puppet show, Dogugaeshi, that I had seen the night before at Redcat, Stones in her Mouth is a somewhat mystifying but always mysterious and compelling theatrical event.