My Sister, My Angel is a family story concerning the death, many years ago, of performer Carran Waterfield's three-week old sister. 'Don't go too near the edge!' Carran was warned when, as a child, she stepped dangerously near to water. 'I'll be all right,' she insisted and continued to play. My Sister, My Angel charts dangerous territory, but Waterfield showed the audience how to be 'all right' with the sometimes painful material.
Waterfield played out her memories with the telling duality of the adult-child. As child, she confided in the audience, innocently taking them into moments of profound suffering, but delighting them too. The piece also re-told personal history as myth. Thus, a mythical mother gave birth to a stone-baby. Her motherhood is challenged by the tree-mother who sets her impossible tasks. In showing the many relentless efforts for her baby Waterfield recreated the emotions surrounding the birth of a child who was loved and lost by her family. The final silent image of a woman carrying the stone on her back was haunting. The settings of home, navy-club and church were interwoven with ease. Bible stories, images of the sea, the church and navy congregations provided powerful symbols.
I particularly remember the mother's lament. Pulled from deep within, evoking the sense of womb-loss. Throughout the piece, the verbal and emotional intensity moved into wordlessness, a finely scored visual text and soundtrack. Points of transition were marked with slide projections of family snapshots which melted into close-ups of sand, water, tree and earth.