Venue: The Atherden (The Rocks NSW), Sep 12 – 28, 2024
Playwright: Aunty Jonny Hawkins
Director: Mikala Westall
Cast: Aunty Jonny Hawkins
Images by @anbintheframe
Theatre review
It has been quite a journey for Aunty Jonny who, as a young adult, had been on track to becoming a star minister in the evangelical church system, to now extolling the virtues of dance parties, clad in titillating lingerie. The one thing that remains the same, is Jonny’s passion for proselytising. As witnessed in Dancefloor Conversion Therapy, a tongue-in-cheek presentation in the style of a sermon, the artist speaks of first-hand experiences, in order that we may be convinced of a state of transcendental divination that they so fervently advocate.
Unlike Christianity however, Jonny’s proclamations are consciously and radically inclusive, informed by their personal journey as a queer person, emerging from a stridently heteronormative background. Now passionately embracing a new paradigm that is almost too neatly diametric in its opposition to their previous life, Jonny shares their love for something decidedly more chaotic and wild, as enthusiastic about debauchery as the old religion is about temperance and chastity.
Providing support on DJ decks and a lighting console is Mikala Westall, who as director of the piece, ensures that we encounter a highly endearing Aunty Jonny, in a show that is ceaselessly humorous, with a spiritual quality that is simultaneously ironic and authentic, that keeps us invested.
Jonny’s writing for Dancefloor Conversion Therapy is considered and clever, although not always rich or sufficiently complex in their personal expressions, from the perspective of someone who is evidently still in a tumultuous process of maturation and discovery. Amusingly analogous with sectarian leaders of all kinds, are not only Jonny’s commanding charisma as performer, but also their steely certainty about the topics they preach. Not to presently draw a false equivalence though, for it is the fundamental concept of liberation that forms the heart of what the artist wishes to convey, which is entirely different from teachings of monotheistic traditions.
One might be hard-pressed to dream up a party that excludes absolutely no one, but we must always believe that freedom can be a state of being made available to all. This means that we must find ways to conceive of our enemies as having the freedom to be who they authentically are, the same way we wish for them to simply let us be who we are. Harmony is key, and we must all insist on it.
Suzy Goes See 