I have watched Heidi Hillier perform her circus skills several times before. So, I thought I had a good idea of her capabilities and what to expect – I thought she would do an exciting hula-hoop act at a loud and frenetic pace… oh, and with usual top-notch choice of costumes. In her one-woman show, Lost And Found: The Sugar Candy Show, Heidi shoved right past those expectations and showed herself capable of much more.
In an array of short-scenes, she plays a range of silent characters. Her multitude of costumes draw influences from Audrey Hepburn to burlesque fan dancers, from bell-hops to femme fatales. Each scene sets the mood with a musical sound-track, while Heidi remains silent, conveying her emotions only through movement and expression.
Extravagant lighting effects give an off-worldly feel. This is accentuated by the short and amusing interludes of shadow puppetry. The audience watched, rapt, as the story advanced on the silk screen: hidden but puppets show detailed boats sailing across wavy seas, and eagles and spaceships and even rotating worlds. The puppetry was deftly assisted by co-puppeteer, Amber Silk.
Director Ann Burbrook allowed Heidi the leisurely pace to properly explore her characters and their journey, and in particular each one’s reaction to a most unusual macguffin: the head of a mannequin doll.
A hula-hoop does appear in the first scene, and another scene has Heidi demonstrating her skills a vaudevillian magic tricks. However, it isn’t until late in the show that she finally lets a familiar hoop to twist around her hips.
Let’s be clear. This isn’t the sort of hula-hooping you did with your sister in the backyard when you were a kid. Heidi has been developing her hula-hooping act for many years, and it shows in the carefree manner in which she can spin and twirl one, two, three, four – at one point, five hoops – around her body and arms.
The conceit behind the story – an extra head that finally becomes part of the character of Sugar Candy – leads to Heidi’s double-headed hula-hoop act. This act continues to impress me with its exploration of the novel possibilities an extra neck and head provides.
Chatting to the opening-show audience before the doors opened, I discovered there were a number of Heidi’s avid fans who had travelled from their home town of Wollongong to see the show. It was an audience knowledgeable about the art of hula-hooping, and they recognised Heidi’s elite skill. They responded with whoops and applause. The show finished with a display of glowing hoops swishing through the air, which brought the opening-night audience to their feet.
The Lost And Found: The Sugar Candy Show gave the crowd what they wanted, and demonstrated Heidi Hillier’s accomplished talents. However, it also showed that she (and her team) are capable of stepping away from the props, and telling a poignant and emotional story through music and dance.
Lost And Found: The Sugar Candy Show
Sat, 11 Sep, 9:30pm
Sun, 12 Sep, 8:00pm
Wed, 15 Sep, 9:30pm
Thu, 16 Sep, 9:30pm
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[...] has already seen Lost and Found, and, as a hula-hoopist herself, particularly enjoyed the first and final scenes. “Some of [...]