Shown @ The Arches, Glasgow on Thu 13 Nov @ 19:30
Nic Green‘s dance and spoken word-based piece Fatherland is short and sweet, exploring the sole meeting the performer had with her Scottish father, aged sixteen. A revival of one half of her 2012 diptych and ‘ethnographic experiment’, Green offers a take on Scottish identity, gaining newfound relevance in the wake of the independence referendum.
Accompanied on stage by a drummer and a piper, and dressed in a quirky three-piece suit, Green offers up a verbal and visual poem built on themes of homeland, paternity and Highland dancing (with the image of a deer running throughout). The audience (sipping whisky supplied at the start) are invited to speak in unison for the absent father, performing the majority of the dialogue in the piece. Green herself responds to the rhythmical drum beat, first pacing out a large chalk circle, then stripping off to perform a kind of primal Highland dance in nothing but tartan-tailed knickers and a pair of trainers.
Although we are playing her father when we answer Green’s question ‘are you Scottish?’, for a moment it feels as though we are questioning our own identity as an audience. We all answer ‘yes’ even though this may not be strictly accurate for many people watching. Instead, we consider what a shared experience of the referendum process means for us, our place in modern Scotland and how to come to terms with the ‘tartan cringe’ which is unavoidable in Green’s performance. She is unashamed in her own embrace of the ethereal heathery image of an imagined Scotland.
Suddenly and unexpectedly it’s over, although it feels like the right place to finish. It’s an interesting piece which stimulates a lot of discussion despite being so short. The semi-nude dancing is engrossing to watch and Green finishes the piece off with some beautiful snatches of a classic Gaelic song which feels like a catharsis of her outpouring.