Small Talk is a solo performance made by choreographer Wendy Houston for performer Antonia Grove, the premise of which is an actress auditioning for a B-Movie.

The performance is carried by a recording of a self-help tape teaching assertiveness. A soft voice talks us through how we can be anything we want, how we can make ourselves into whatever we want; this voice punctuates the show frequently. Antonia presents a series of female characters by switching wigs and shoes, transforming herself on stage at a dressing up table. In these moments she is relaxed, switching definitely between performance modes, as she looks at the technician and says, ‘Now’. Within her characterisations, she sits in a chair and talks about movies. Her voice is broken in places and she slurs her speech, the disjointed delivery making it clear that these aren’t her own words. She is constantly plugged in to an ipod, and so we ask, is she listening the tape we can hear, or just music, or the words that she is uttering?

Her speeches are teamed with stuttering choreography that builds in speed, abstract gestures accompanied with familiar movements from music videos – typical actions of ‘sexy’ women. Over the course of the show, she becomes a prom queen, a funny woman, a drunk, a dancing-all-night woman, and finally a country singer.

Each performance feels slightly off-key as she appears dishonest or upset or desperate in each character. Her performance itself is the focus and it is mesmerising, particularly the dance sections, which are extremely vigorous and performed full-throttle. Although I did feel lost at times within the content, the complexity of her auditioning / performing / being real left me disorientated and exhilarated.