A reflection on “Deliverance” at the Adelaide Fringe, from Nell.

The first time that I encountered Deliverance was during the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2012.

I was at Queen’s Theatre when I overheard people talking about going and “getting some fruit for the Deliverance kids because I’m not sure if they have eaten yet today.” My friend Keaton and I were eager to find out what Deliverance was and we were told that it was a part of the Fringe Festival – that set up in Gluttony there was a marked rectangle of grass in which three people were living, only allowed to leave to use the toilet by following a single spray painted line from point A to B, at which point no outside contact was to be made. And the major ‘attraction’ to this project was that the three people walked into the barren space with absolutely nothing; they took off their clothes as they walked into the space and had only each other for company, no food, no clothes, no shelter other than a branch overhanging their rectangle. The people at the Queen’s Theatre had agreed to set up a live feed from the Deliverance space to be projected onto the outside wall. Of course, it was hard to see anything at night because there was no light. We were told that the people in Deliverance were relying on individuals to bring them whatever they thought the Deliverance space would need, and so if someone were to bring torches or a light source, the live feed would be visible at night.

“Thinking back to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Summer, is there anything that particularly stood out? Perhaps it was a comedy act, perhaps it was a theatre production…but what about the things that didn’t quite fit into a neat, high-production package? What about the quirky and the thought-provoking?

Gluttony in Rymill Park had something pretty special going on…

It was Deliverance – a durational piece where three performers entered and stayed in a 6 x 5 metre outdoor space for 10 days.

They initially were naked with absolutely no possessions.

So what happened over the 240 hour piece? Did passersby help them out?

William McBride speaks to Jennie Lenman about the experience and future plans.”

Radio Adelaide’s Arts Breakfast, Saturday 21 July, 2012.

Do you have enough water? / You’ve got someone to bring you water, right? 

How do you bathe? / I couldn’t survive without a hot shower!

But where do you go to the toilet? / You must go to the toilet?

Are you here the whole time? / You can’t step outside this square?! / Do you stay here overnight?

Do you sleep OK? / I bet you don’t get much sleep?

What do you need? / Is there anything you really want? / Can you ask for things?

How long did it take you to get clothes? / What was the first thing you were given? 

Were you really completely naked? / I could never be naked in front of so many strangers. / Aren’t you the naked people? Why aren’t you still naked?

Did you really start with nothing? / So none of this stuff was here when you started?

What’s going on? / What are you doing? / Is this a play?

Throughout the ten days of Deliverance at the Adelaide Fringe, the performers engaged in many hundreds of separate conversations with the people of Adelaide, answering many thousands of questions.

Unsurprisingly, certain queries kept coming up.

When people asked if we were sick of answering the same thing over and over we said, Yes, of course, and no, not at all! We said that it was part of our job and that returning to these themes again and again - the task of continuously re-articulating what we were doing - prompted many new thoughts for us and strengthened existing ones, and also helped us to forge an oral record of our project.

One question at a time over the coming weeks we will be posting a written record of that immense exchange. Once posted, you will be able to read all of the Frequently Asked Questions in the same place by going directly to: http://deliverance-art.tumblr.com/tagged/FAQ

Any questions?

A meaty interview with Penny and William on Festival Radio two days prior to the commencement of Deliverance at the 2012 Adelaide Fringe.