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Submerged
Elise Robertson: Imagining Rachel (online)
Available to watch online at
www.cvenues.com
and live in person at the Edinburgh Festival, from 20- 26th August
by Gareth K Vile
Rachel Carson,marine biologist and environmentalist born in 1907, and Elise Robertson, modern theatre maker, writer, director and animator, may on the surface have little in common, but in Robertson's compelling film, there are overlaps- not least, certain assumptions based on gender and class background. In both portraying Carson , and telling her own story, Robertson reinforces how far women have yet to come, in spite of great leaps forward.
Robertson's conversational style of monologue is low-key,intimate and warm, like a bedtime story read by a cool aunt or big sister.She's the teacher we all wish we had at school- erudite, frank and wry. This is a slow-burning performance, which takes its time to unfurl like a flower, augmented by Robertson's own lovely stop motion animation. There are dolls, a journey underwater, a vintage hair salon and the simple pleasures of childhood trips into the woods. But there are sharp edges to Robertson's writing, infused with the duality of nature- both tender and savage.
Both Robertson and Carson are trailblazers: Robertson worked in the Environmental Protection Agency, as Carson investigated the massive damage done by pesticides. Robertson was a painter on Tim Burton's magical Nightmare Before Christmas; Carson wrote the hugely influential environmental book Silent Spring. These achievements are hard-won, and not without struggle.As herself, Robertson acknowledges the tendency in women to be submerged in limiting roles as martyrs and to internalise criticism and misogyny. Carson herself never married, but ended up raising two nieces when her sister died; while Robertson unflinchingly details her own romantic relationships and difficult pregnancy.
Above all, Robertson suggests, it's not DDT or similarly dangerous chemicals that can destroy us, but rather, our own DNA, with all of its toxicity, self-sabotage and familial expectations."These patterns repeat endlessly, like the tide'', she says. Imagining Rachel is moving and insightful, yet politically engaged. Robertson advocates for self-actualization and kindness, arguing that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.
