Emergence @ The Underbelly

A mix of live song and pop music, indulgent childhood memories, upsetting reminiscences of deaths, and theatrical 'interpretetive dance', The Pachamamas present a mother-daughter history via an awkward and earnest funeral director who tends to burst into song.

This funeral director, billed as a dusty cabaret singer, discusses heartbeats, risk-taking, how family is always with us as she welcomes a grieving daughter. Her gently probing questions and strangely inappropriate jokes glean the daughter's relationship with her mother.

Through a series of flashbacks reveal the mother-daughter relationship. Unfortunately, it takes most of the show to get to the heart of their conflict, and the build up lacks tension.  In this climax, Agnes Brekke finally flourishes as the abandoned daughter with no time left, Lindsay Gear as the mother embodies the bewildered woman in her now empty nest.

Despite using elements of dance effectively, especially the spectacular running, leaping and catching sequences, the use of laboured props prevents the story from escaping a rather literal telling. The central character of the funeral director, who manipulates the daughter's confrontation with her feelings, is caught in some stereotypical dramatic mannerisms: this distracts from the energy of the central family conflict and prevents complete emotional engagement.

There are certainly positives in the production - the influence of dance, the attempt to trace the contours of the mother-daughter dynamic, and a clear structure. Unfortunately, it is undermined by clumsy pacing and an awkward balance of characterisations.