Marisa Carnesky, The Girl from Nowhere

Review in Issue 15-3 | Autumn 2003

Onstage is one woman – and everywoman: madonna, whore, enchantress, priestess. A pack of tarot cards has come to life, animated by a master magician... Like a medium or spirit guide, the performer holds within her the voices of many others: refugees from persecution; a fairground sideshow freak; a gypsy fortune-teller.

The Girl from Nowhere is another episode on the artist's journey – a journey that started as a vibrant burst of self-revelation and investigation of Marisa Camesky in present time and space (as dancer, woman, artist, sexual being in her early one woman burlesque pieces), then circled outwards from the individual to embrace the cultural and political collective in her full length show Jewess Tattooess, and has now, in The Girl from Nowhere, moved further out in time and space to 'confront the voices of her ancestors'. This show is part of the creation process of Carnesky's Ghost Train, a large-scale production that will use a real ghost train ride to explore cultural heritage and shared mythologies.

Sitting between live art and theatre, Marisa Carnesky has given herself permission to create a body of work in which themes, ideas and images are transposed from one show to the next. I like this. There is a sense of continuity, yet space always to bring more and more material into the work. But let me not forget to tell you that in Camesky's work the artistic integrity goes hand-in-hand with an aesthetic that embraces the rich and luxurious imagery of the Symbolists, with an ongoing working relationship with leading magical illusionist Paul Kieve and direction/staging from the legendary Lumiere and Son's Hilary Westlake. Which adds up to an evening of many pleasures perfectly executed.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Jun 2003

This article in the magazine

Issue 15-3
p. 28