It is no easy task to break through the rigidity of art, especially in the confines of a gallery space. However, A Middle Ground, a heartfelt mixed-media performance by Ry Russo-Young, breathes new life into the dreary walls of Fisher Hall. This performance refuses to depart from the realm of experience, and will leave you unexpectedly writhing in your seat. Combining theatrical monologues, live music, digital video and striking costumes, A Middle Ground twists the well known story of Little Red Riding hood into a modern, autobiographically based performance.
A Middle Ground makes a provocative comparison between fairy tales and autobiography, which can both be retold and adapted in a variety of different ways. “In some ways, we are all fairy tale characters” Russo-Young says. “We are all innocent and we all have to deal with fear and desire. Anyone’s story could be told through the vehicle of a fairy tale.”

Russo-Young wrote the script last summer, and since then has been researching the history of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, finally pulling the performance together this semester. Existing in both the past and the present, A Middle Ground addresses politics and issues of identity on very personal levels. The allure of adapting a fairy tale we all knew as children to unearth these issues comes with many possibilities. “Every fairy tale has been retold and adapted overtime,” Russo-Young explains. “This version places Little Red Riding Hood into a modern and personal context which calls for a variety of media.”

The performance is reliant on the interaction between these media. Film and theater no longer seem to occupy distinct categories, and even the lines between audience and performance are constantly blurred and distorted. An original score composed by Clara Latham, provides not only a beautiful continuity between the assortment of components but attaches an interesting tension to the entire experience.

As newscaster Bertha Coombs says in one of the digital video segments, “The issues at hand are delicate and volatile.” While recontextualizing a fairy tale can often reveal certain cultural ideologies, this is not used in A Middle Ground to pose a question but rather as a point of mutual identification. While the performance effectively establishes an expressive vocabulary riding between documentation and myth, Russo-Young’s retelling of her personal story is cathartic without being selfish. A Middle Ground is not afraid to depart from the autobiography and move towards a more general juxtaposition of identity against reality and fantasy.

The performance clearly comes from the heart and is so unapologetically honest that any notions of A Middle Ground being cliche should be quickly abandoned. This performance is raw and yet self-consciously ironic; it is open-mic night and soap-opera at once.