Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lesson learned: Lynette Wallworth serenely reflects on HOW TO LIVE (AFTER YOU DIE)

• By drediman
• December 8, 2023
• No Comments

Last night at BAM Fisher, I took in the the latest offering of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s storied Next Wave Festival – Lyette Walworth’s solo show HOW TO LIVE (after you die). In her thoughtful, introspective autobiographical monologue, the Australian artist and filmmaker serenely looks back and reflects upon a time when as a young woman she was caught up in and entangled in the toxic web cast by a Pentecostal Christian cult in Sydney.

Above all, HOW TO LIVE (after you die) is a meditation on individualism and self-determination – and by extension, storytelling itself. The show also implores us to celebrate and bask in the wonders of human existence, a lesson learned hard won from her difficult time with the cult. Although the 90-minute piece admittedly lacks dramatic tension, it’s nonetheless a wonderfully literate and literary piece of writing in which Wallworth subtly and cleverly weaves motifs together to create a harmonious tapestry. Indeed, if anything, experiencing the show is akin to listening to a calming audiobook.

The production is as unassuming as they come. Armed only with a podium and a screen for projections, Wallworth gently launches into her monologue in a soothing, almost lulling manner – conveying her story with patience and breathy articulation. Accompanying her storytelling are a portfolio of mesmerizing projected images that provide much needed visual texture to the proceedings. In summary, although HOW TO LIVE (after you die) breaks no new ground in terms of insights, it’s all nonetheless eloquently conceived and delivered.

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HOW TO LIVE (AFTER YOU DIE)
Off-Broadway, Play
Brooklyn Academy of Music
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 9