Underbelly Bristo Square
Jul 31 – Aug 26 ( 14:35)

Script:  Performance:
Stagecraft: S.O.D: 

The makeshift hut that was the Buttercup at Underbelly offered an intimate setting for Diana Dinerman to take us on a journey into self-discovery and expansion, where changing your mind was the whole point. She started out dressed for office work in smart suit and glasses, waxing rhetorical about all aspects of this style of work contains. But just as we started to think the show would be about the importance of such responsibilities she threw off said glasses. This was an immediate act of liberation.

She then began to share with us the effect it had had on her when she realised that life was bigger than eternally trying to please her bosses by doing anything but being herself. That her bigger job was the task of finding out who she was. She also compelled us to join her both in her quite spectacular story but to try and start some real ones of our own, inspiring us to think about our own lives as much as hers.

This was a powerful, beautifully conceived piece, with Dinerman dancing through her brilliant script with grace and ease, laying out before us the evidence of the life-changing but more importantly life-enhancing experiences that she would undertake to find her true path. In one scene she used a screen to address a dead man, asking his advice; she talked to herself, to an imaginary friend, to a lover right through the show. When she kicked off it wasn’t in anger but rather with wonder and enthusiasm. We could see her before our very eyes, bright and alive, charming and beautiful – surely evidence of the peace to be found in such a journey.

We smiled, we laughed, we were enthralled as we took the life journey with her; we came along as she visited spiritual lodges in South America where groups whose quest to become healers and gain insight into human concerns were enhanced by the use of plant drugs. She had started by looking like a tiny typist, but ended up nothing short of a shaman sitting in the lotus position meditating and answering questions about life. I can’t tell you just how inspirational and powerful an effect this show has on you – you’ll just have to go along and experience it for yourself.

Daniel Donnelly