Pieces Of, which I saw at the 2023 Victoria Fringe Fest, is an interdisciplinary work that incorporates video, 360-degree surround sound, interpretive dance, and fragmented stories. It’s an immersive journey through one woman’s memories of drug abuse, sex work, homelessness, and friendships.
This experimental performance executed by Chandler McMurray-Ives (who is also the creator and writer) is both entertaining and intensely moving. The elements of the production work together to set the mood and make me feel like I’m a part of the woman’s journey as she reflects on her tortured past, but it also leaves me wanting more. After experiencing several of this woman’s memories the thoughts simply disappear, and the audience is left to piece the memories together.
The use of 360-degree surround sound creates an illusion of being inside the woman’s head at times, and during some stories reverb is added, causing an uncomfortable and confusing feeling as it’s difficult to fully understand what’s being said. At the same time, the pain and struggles of the woman are captured through dance and video.
The stories are a rollercoaster of emotions, from heartbreaking to heartwarming to triumph. Loved ones are lost, others change, and there are personal struggles and hard choices along the way. Pieces Of beautifully and thought-provokingly captures what it might be like to be homeless and to struggle with, or to have loved ones struggle with, addiction.
One story felt like the woman was plagued by painful thoughts of a friend lost to toxic drugs; she tries to piece together what happened to no avail. It reminded me of the loved ones lost over the past few years due to relapses no one knew were happening.
Pieces Of worked even though it doesn’t have the typical beginning, middle, and end structure. It’s more like racing thoughts that, when put all together, contain a central theme of being homeless. The main goal was to give the audience the experience of being in the woman’s head; they succeeded at that.
Pieces Of leaves an appreciation for the little things in life. I have food and shelter and my life is free from chaos. There’s an uncomfortable truth that there are people on the street struggling to survive each day. It’s a truth that is rarely discussed but one that McMurray-Ives has managed to tell through a balance of visual interest and immersive sound.
The Victoria Fringe Fest runs until Sunday, September 3.