This Time Will be Different

• Flora Gosling
• 15 August 2019

This article is from 2019

Provocative performance installation that gets lost in translation

There is an undeniable bravery in bringing an international show to the Fringe, particularly one steeped in the history of its native country. In Emilie Monnet and Lara Kramer's This Time Will be Different performance art is used to communicate the suffering of the indigenous people of Canada as a result of colonialism, and the failure of the Canadian government to properly address it.

The performance begins with a spiel of background information; dates, names, institutions, and in particular the Truth and Reconciliation commission. This opens a ritualistic collection of movements and acts performed a group of performers spanning three generations of indigenous Canadian people.

Some of these visual metaphors are easy to understand; the red handprints on the ripped pages of the commission's findings, the generational gaps symbolising the seemingly eternal plea to be heard. Unfortunately, the subtleties of the performance are lost on the majority of its Scottish audience. Without an in-depth knowledge on Canadian history, it is difficult to connect with such an abstract piece of art. The preceding speech and overlaid recordings from interviews do not do enough to inform or move the audience on their own, and the performance is not universal enough to be understood on its own.

Summerhall, until 18 Aug, 4pm, £10 (£8).