Review by Katrina Couzens of Life of a Tradie Wife presented by Isabella’s Aerial & Circus
First, I walked into an industrial warehouse. Then, I walked into a bedroom. Life of a Tradie Wife is wonderfully grounded, with cutting observational writing and perfect set design. Looking around the artfully arranged clutter of Isabella’s messy bedroom told a vivid story before a single word passed her lips. And the incorporation of the silks rig was so natural that for a while I was questioning whether I had come to an aerial circus show at all.
Isabella’s biographical story of time and identity feeling sucked away by routine and the demands of family life is highly relatable. In the short 40min, I heard a fair few mumbled “that’s so true”‘s from my spot in the middle of the audience. But while the writing and visual storytelling were on point, I found Isabella was lacking in stage presence, and gave a flat delivery of the show’s monologue. The moments where Isabella did shine were when the story was expressed through physicality—sitting on a chair for the first time in recent memory, taking on the role of a child playing chasie down the hall. These moments felt like they drew from Isabella’s circus background, and I would have loved to see more prop work or clowning to make better use of her strengths.
I would have liked to see the circus elements of the show more tightly integrated into the storytelling in general. The show’s final aerial act, though excellent and exciting, felt abrupt and discontinuous, like it had been developed entirely separate from the script. And while I felt compelled to clap and cheer Isabella’s dramatic drops, the anxious and flustered mood from the show preceding it caused me to repress those urges. The effect was discomfiting in a way that didn’t feel intentional. Incorporating less physically demanding circus elements earlier, inclusion of aerial work as a symbol within the script, and more thoughtful song choice could have helped tie the routine to the rest of the show and helped the audience understand how to engage with it.
Life of a Tradie Wife has so many great ingredients, and I’d love to see where it could end up with more development.
