Caught in Between - Show Review
Photo credit: Danielle Lim
Content warning: Domestic violence and themes of suicide
The experience of assimilation for migrants is a complex, nuanced, and socio-political identity battle. Danielle Lim uses a multi-disciplinary theatrical approach to tell the story of her Asian-Australian experience as a Malaysian-Australian person who grew up in Malaysia and migrated to Australia.
Using an immersive approach through digital video projection, storytelling, and dramatic sounds and movements, the audience traverses through various snippets of Lim’s personal significant memories. She takes us on a journey about her home, friendships, school, and dating experiences both in Malaysia and Australia.
A co-narrator voice appears throughout the performance, of what can only be described as Lim’s subconscious speaking to her in somewhat of a third person perspective. The ambiguity and anonymity of the identity of this mysterious co-narrator appears to be deliberate, as it appears and disappears all of a sudden during the segments.
The tension and push and pull of being caught in between dual cultural identities is one that is immensely dichotomous, which Lim expresses through a myriad of emotion and drama in this tale of the erasure of eastern culture in a westernised world.
Using sentimental items from her childhood, Lim scatters these throughout the audience to invoke audience interaction and participation during various segments of the show, accompanied by questions which have no one true answer. These seemed to work well, but would be dependent on the receptiveness of the audience to engage.
Intertwining the use of Malaysian, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English languages and references does indeed, convey the multitude of migrant identity battles. Bonus sentimental points here if you can understand such references (like por por and gong gong for me).
Lim’s emotional and physical fluid expressions do for the most part, flow and integrate with the immersive nature of the overall performance, albeit it being a challenge to feel the synergy between the digital background and the live action in front of the audience.
Ultimately closing out the show with a nostalgic reminder of living at her grandparent’s home, the overall show is highly intimate and personal. Lim has brought many of her vulnerabilities to the stage with Caught In Between, and it’s a well-written story which many migrants and Asian-Australian people will relate to.
Rating: ★★★1/2
Show details: Caught In Between
