tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13359354979018895812024-03-21T05:27:31.240+11:00thespellofwakinghoursAn ongoing review of theatre in Sydney since 2012. Plus books, films, and music where applicable.Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-63569632691773288552019-08-23T22:54:00.000+10:002019-08-23T22:54:26.383+10:00STATUS UPDATE<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately thespellofwakinghours – the blog, as much as my practice as a critic – is on hiatus while I figure out the most appropriate and sustainable way for it to continue into the future.<br /><br />Thank you to all the artists – mainstage and independent alike – who have invited me to your shows, who have taken the time out to share your thoughts and knowledge, and who have got in touch for one reason or another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to all the artists who are brave enough to bare their souls to make work, to put new work on stage, and to tell stories that need to be told. Please keep doing what you are doing, now moreso than ever, and don't stop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- GS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2017, 2019</span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-55538198238748202652017-01-01T09:30:00.000+11:002017-01-01T09:30:06.113+11:00The best of thespellofwakinghours (2010 – 2016) - IN PICTURES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-2092062543385927712017-01-01T09:00:00.000+11:002017-01-01T09:00:05.235+11:00The best of thespellofwakinghours (2010 – 2016)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over the past
seven years, I’ve had the pleasure and fortune to see over
three-hundred-and-twenty productions in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Sydney</st1:city></st1:place>
and interstate, across various mainstage, independent, and underground venues,
by a variety of artists and companies with diverse resources, and the results
contained within this blog speak for themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I write this,
the future of this blog is uncertain – new adventures await, and I am putting
it on hold until I can figure out the best way to continue it in the future. It
will stay here as a record and a resource for theatre-makers and theatre-lovers
alike.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you to all
the artists – mainstage and independent alike – who have invited me to your
shows, who have taken the time out to share your thoughts and knowledge, and
who have got in touch for one reason or another.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sometimes you see
a show that sticks with you for whatever reason hours, days, weeks, months –
even years – later, and it is in honour of these shows that I have compiled the
following list, celebrating the rich and wonderful hours of adventures I’ve
spent in theatres over the past seven years. So, in a roughly chronological
order, here are the brain-wormy experiences that comprise the spell of waking hours.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best in Show<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Twelfth Night – </i><st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city> Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream – </i>Opera <st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rocket Boy – </i>Dramac<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As You Like It</i> – Belvoir<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Faustus </i>– <st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place>
Shakespeare <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Julius Caesar </i>– <st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place>
Shakespeare<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Food </i>– Belvoir<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Babyteeth </i>– Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Peter Pan</i> – Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Bull, The Moon and the Coronet of Stars</i> – <st1:place w:st="on">Griffin</st1:place>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Seagull </i>– STCSA, <st1:city w:st="on">Adelaide</st1:city>
Festival<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Henry V </i>– <st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place>
Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>William Shakespeare’s
Reservoir Dogs </i>– Russall S. Beattie at The Vanguard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Children of the Sun</i> – Sydney Theatre
Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ukchuk-ga: Pansori
Mother Courage</i> – Sydney Festival<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Tempest</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> </span><i>– </i><st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place> Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>What Rhymes with Cars
and Girls –</i> MTC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s
Dream – </i>Shakespeare’s Globe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Golem –</i> 1927, presented by STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Golden Age – </i>STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Fase,</i><i> four
movements to the music of Steve Reich – </i>A<span lang="EN-US">nne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Sydney Festival</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s
Dream</i>
– Theatre for A New Audience<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Honourable Mention<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Animals and Children Took To The Streets – </i>1927, Sydney Opera House<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Candide – </i>Opera Australia/Sydney Festival<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The
Duchess of Malfi </i>– <st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city> Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Angels
in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>
</i>– Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Summertime
in the Garden of Eden</i> –
Sisters Grimm & <st1:place w:st="on">Griffin</st1:place>
Independent</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i>Switzerland</i></st1:place></st1:country-region> – Sydney
Theatre Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jump
for Jordan</i> – Griffin Theatre
Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Streetcar Named Desire</i> – Young Vic (NTLive)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Manic Pixie Dream World</span></i> – SUDS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Man of <st1:place w:st="on">La Mancha</st1:place>
</i><i>– </i>Squabbalogic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A View from the Bridge –</i> Young Vic (NT Live)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Orlando </span></i>– Sydney Theatre Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Thomas Murray
and the <st1:placename w:st="on">Upside</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Down</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></span></i><i> – </i>Stone Soup & <st1:city w:st="on">Griffin</st1:city> Independent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Disgraced</i><b><span lang="EN-US">;</span></b><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i><i>The Hanging<span lang="EN-US"> –</span></i> STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Inner Voices<span lang="EN-US"> –</span></i> Don’t Look Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Literati –</span></i> Bell Shakespeare
& Griffin Theatre Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Babes in the
Woods –</span></i> Don’t Look Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best New (Australian) Plays<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rocket Boy</i>, Kendall Feaver<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Food</i>, Steve Rodgers<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Babyteeth</i>, Rita Kalnejais<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The
Bull, The Moon and the Coronet of Stars</i>, Van Badham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Vere
(Faith)</i>, John Doyle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jump
for Jordan</i>, Donna Abela<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Procne
& Tereus</i>, Saro
Lusty-Cavallari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>What Rhymes with Cars and Girls</i>, Aidan Fennessy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Manic Pixie Dream World</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Tansy Gardam</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Skylab</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Melodie Reynolds-Diarra (National Play Festival)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Thomas Murray and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Upside</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Down</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place></span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Reg Cribb</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Turquoise Elephant</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Stephen Carleton</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Picnic
at Hanging Rock</i>, <span lang="EN-US">Tom Wright, after Joan Lindsay</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dishonourable
Mentions</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Seagull</i> – Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Every Breath</i> – Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Hedda Gabler</i> – Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Tabac Rouge</i><i> – </i>Sydney Festival<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">She Only Barks at Night</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i>– Living Room Theatre<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Jumpy</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i>– STC/MTC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Mother Courage and Her Children</span></i><b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b>– Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Blind Giant is Dancing – </i>Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Great Fire –</i> Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Twelfth Night – </i>Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Power Plays</i> – STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> – STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakesproud<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream – </i>Opera <st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place>, dir. Baz Luhrmann<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Faustus </i>– <st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place>
Shakespeare, dir. Michael Gow<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As You Like It</i> – Belvoir, dir. Eamon Flack<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Julius Caesar</i> – <st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city>
Shakespeare, dir. Peter Evans<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Henry 4 </i>– <st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city> Shakespeare, dir. John <st1:place w:st="on">Bell</st1:place> and Damien Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Henry
V </i>– <st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city> Shakespeare, dir. Damien Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>William Shakespeare’s Reservoir Dogs</i><i> </i>– The Vanguard, dir. Steven Hopley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>All’s Well That Ends Well</i> – Sport for Jove, dir. Damien Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Tempest</span></i> – <st1:city w:st="on">Bell</st1:city>
Shakespeare, dir. John Bell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Hamlet</span></i> – Montague Basement, dir. Saro Lusty-Cavallari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i> – Sport for Jove, dir. Damien Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> – Theatre for a New Audience (filmed), dir.
Julie Taymor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream </i>– Shakespeare’s Globe (live web-stream), dir.
Emma Rice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i>Antony</i></st1:city></st1:place><i> &
Cleopatra</i> – Sport for Jove,
dir. Damien Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah Blasko<i> – As Day Follows Night tour<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They Will Have Their Way: The Songs of Tim
& Neil Finn</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Symphony in The Domain: Midsummer Shakespeare<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah Blasko – <i>I Awake – Live at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:city> Opera House</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Compassion: Songs with Orchestra</i> – Lior & Nigel Westlake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nils Frahm, <st1:city w:st="on">Sydney</st1:city> Opera House (The Studio)</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -9pt;">Sarah Blasko – </span><i style="text-indent: -9pt;">Eternal Return</i><span style="text-indent: -9pt;"> (GRAPHIC Festival, 2015)</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-66013314619104693862016-12-31T09:30:00.000+11:002016-12-31T11:50:13.326+11:00The Playlist: 2016 at the theatre<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As with <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/playlist">previous
years</a>, ‘The Playlist’ is a musical summary of the year’s theatre-going. The
rule is (mostly) simple: find a piece of music that encapsulates either the
production or my response to it, or both as the case often is. The only catch
is I cannot re-use a piece from a previous year, even if it is the same text
(return seasons of a production are excused).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thus follows The Playlist for 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/jasper-jones.html">Jasper
Jones</a>: </b><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i>Oranges</i></st1:city></st1:place>, Cezary Skubiszewski<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Fase, four
movements to the music of Steve Reich:</b> <i>Clapping
Music</i>, Steve Reich *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/the-fantasticks.html">The
Fantasticks</a>: </b><i>Soon It’s Gonna Rain</i>, Harvey Schmidt *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Rabbits: </b><i>Where?, from The Rabbits</i>, Kate Miller-Heidke *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/thomas-murray.html">Thomas
Murray and the Upside Down River</a>:</b> <i>Deciso, from Sonata for Strings No. 3</i>, Peter Sculthorpe *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>6.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/golden-age.html">The
Golden Age</a>: </b><i>Kanangra</i>, Nigel Westlake</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>7.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Barber of <st1:city w:st="on">Seville</st1:city>:
</b><i>Overture from The Barber of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seville</st1:city></st1:place></i>, Gioachino Rossini*<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>8.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/arcadia.html">Arcadia</a>:
</b><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i>Arcadia</i></st1:city></st1:place>, Adrian Johnston</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>9.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/blind-giant.html">The
Blind Giant is Dancing</a>: </b><i>Fanfare from Miss Julie</i>, THE SWEATS<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>10.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Ladies Day: </b><i>Rough Sex</i>, Decoder Ring<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>11.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/year-of-family.html">Year
of the Family</a>: </b><i>The Family</i>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Nick</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Cave</st1:placename></st1:place> & Warren Ellis<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>12.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/little-shop-of-horrors.html">Little
Shop of Horrors</a>: </b><i>Prologue / Little Shop of Horrors</i>, Alan Menken & Howard Ashman *<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>13.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/romeo-juliet.html">Romeo
and Juliet</a>:</b> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i>Canterbury</i></st1:city></st1:place>, Christopher Gordon</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>14.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/picnic-at-hanging-rock.html">Picnic
at Hanging Rock</a>: </b><i>Climbing the
Rock</i>, Bruce Smeaton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>15.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Lungs: </b><i>Between Two Lungs</i>, <st1:place w:st="on">Florence</st1:place>
+ The Machine</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>16.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/machu-picchu.html">Machu
Picchu</a>: </b><i>I Carry You With Me</i>,
Dustin O’Halloran</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>17.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Golem:
</b><i>Rooftop Chase</i>, Daniel
Pemberton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>18.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/unfinished-works.html">Unfinished
Works</a>: </b><i>Goodbye</i>, Kevin Shields<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>19.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/the-great-fire.html">The
Great Fire</a>: </b><i>Bushfire</i>, Bryony Marks<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>20.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/bard-to-the-bone.html">Bard
to the Bone</a>: </b><i>Brush Up Your
Shakespeare</i>, Cole Porter<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>21.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/king-charles-iii.html">King
Charles III</a>: </b><i>Coronation, from King Charles III</i>, Jocelyn Pook * </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>22.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/disgraced.html">Disgraced</a>:
</b><i>Love</i>, Joseph Tawadros</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>23.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Cherry Orchard: </b><i>The Trees</i>, Max Richter<b><s><span style="font-size: 7.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></s></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>24.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><b>Belleville</b></st1:city></st1:place><b>: </b><i>Journey 2</i>, Max Richter</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>25.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.html">Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead</a>: </b><i>More Court Music</i>, Bernard Hughes<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>26.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/telescope.html">Telescope</a>:
</b><i>The End of the World</i>,
Skeeter <st1:place w:st="on">Davis</st1:place> *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>27.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Events: </b><i>We're All Here, from The Events
(Instrumental)</i>, John Browne *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>28.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Taming of the Shrew: </b><i>Silent
Rumble</i>, Ludovic Bource<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>29.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Bartholomew Fair:</b><i> Overture / <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city></st1:place>, from The Life and Adventures of
Nicholas Nickleby</i>, Stephen
Oliver<b><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>30.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/things-i-know-to-be-true.html">Things
I Know To Be True</a>: </b><i>More</i>, Nils Frahm *<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>31.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Literati: </b><i>Symphony – Canzona, from The Fairy Queen</i>, Henry Purcell</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>32.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/all-my-sons.html">All
My Sons</a>: </b><i>Prospectors Arrive</i>,
Jonny <st1:place w:st="on">Greenwood</st1:place></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>33.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Scorched:<span style="color: red;"> </span></b><i>Daresh,</i> Grégoire Hetzel<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>34.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Olympians:</b><i> Olympians [High Contrast
Remix]</i>, F.Buttons</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>35.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/hamlet-prince-of-skidmark.html">Hamlet:
Prince of Skidmark</a>: </b><i>Fanfare, from
Hamlet [Edited]</i>, William Walton<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>36.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/back-at-the-dojo.html">Back
at the Dojo</a>: </b><i>Land</i>, Patti Smith *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>37.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/inner-voices.html">Inner
Voices</a>: </b><i>Pilgrim’s Chorus, from Tannhäuser</i>, Richard Wagner *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>38.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07away.html">Away</a>: </b><i>Finale,
from A Midsummer Night’s Dream [Edited]</i>, Felix Mendelssohn *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>39.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Carmen: </b><i>Prélude, from Carmen Suite No.
1</i>, Georges Bizet *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>40.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/history-of-falling-things.html">A
History of Falling Things</a>:</b> <i>Childhood</i>, Alexandre Desplat<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>41.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/twelfth-night.html">Twelfth
Night</a>: </b><i>Theme from Twelfth Night</i>, Giya Kancheli<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>42.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/a-midsummer-nights-dream.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a>: </b><i>Mad Ole Titus</i>, Elliot Goldenthal</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>43.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Edward
II:</b> <i>Cocktail Party Blues</i>, Simon Fisher Turner</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>44.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Three Sisters:</b> <i>Masha’s Song</i>, Dario Marianelli</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>45.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/the-hanging.html">The
Hanging</a>: </b><i>Through the Pines</i>,
Flynn Wheeler & Christopher O’Young</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>46.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><b>Beirut</b></st1:city></st1:place><b>
Adrenaline:</b> <i>Like Spinning Plates</i>, Radiohead</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>47.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Look
Back in Anger: </b><i>Oh! Darling</i>, The Beatles</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>48.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Spring
Awakening: </b><i>Fuck Me</i>, Mary and the
Boy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>49.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Dancing at Lughnasa:</b> <i>Dancing at Lughnasa</i>, Bill Whelan</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>50.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-globe.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a>:</b> <i>Over
Hill Over Dale</i>, Stu Barker *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>51.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/metamorphoses.html">Metamorphoses:</a>
</b><i>Movement I, from Mythodea</i>,
Vangelis </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>52.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Drover’s Wife: </b><i>Native Funeral</i>, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>53.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-stc.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a>: </b><i>Overture: Atmospheres</i>, György Ligeti * </span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>54.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Power
Plays: </b><i>No Church In the Wild</i>,
JAY Z & Kanye West *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>55.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com/2016/10/turquoise-elephant.html">The
Turquoise Elephant</a>: </b><i>It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And
I Feel Fine)</i>, R.E.M.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>56.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Cymbeline – RSC Live in Cinemas: </b><i>Prologue</i>, Dave Price *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>57.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Faith Healer: </b><i>No Thought of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region></st1:place></i>, Alexandre Desplat<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>58.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/switzerland.html">Switzerland</a>:
</b><i>The Murderer Awaits</i>, Daniel
Pemberton (rpt)<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>59.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Othello:</b> <i>Armory</i>, Daft Punk</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>60.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>A
Flea in Her Ear: </b><i>Bees and Cake</i>, Patrick Doyle</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>61.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/girl-asleep.html">Girl
Asleep</a>: </b><i>Dreamer</i>, Supertramp *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>62.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Taming of the Shrew:</b> <i>I've
Come to Wive it Wealthily In Padua</i>, Cole Porter</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>63.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Macbeth:</b> <i>Drumming, Part I</i>, Steve Reich *<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>64.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b><!--[endif]--><b><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/babes-in-the-woods.html">Babes
in the Woods</a>: </b><i>A Slice of Pudding</i>, The Magic Pudding Band<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 27.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 18.0pt; text-indent: -27.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>65.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></b></span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -27pt;">Antony & Cleopatra:</b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -27pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -27pt;">Boundless</i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -27pt;">, Joseph Tawadros</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> INDICATES
TRACKS THAT WERE FEATURED IN THE PRODUCTION.</span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-19448325929854372082016-12-31T09:00:00.000+11:002016-12-31T11:50:33.189+11:002016, the verdict<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">THEATRE<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 480;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 115.2pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td colspan="2" style="height: 115.2pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 437.4pt;" valign="top" width="583"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Event(s) of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-globe.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a> – </i>Shakespeare’s Globe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Golem –</i> 1927, presented by STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/golden-age.html">The
Golden Age</a> – </i>STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Fase,</i><i> four movements to the music of
Steve Reich – </i>A<span lang="EN-US">nne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Sydney Festival</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/a-midsummer-nights-dream.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></i> – Theatre for A New Audience<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr style="height: 66.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td colspan="2" style="height: 66.55pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 437.4pt;" valign="top" width="583"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Honourable
Mention<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/thomas-murray.html">Thomas
Murray and the Upside Down River</a></span></i><i> – </i>Stone Soup & <st1:place w:st="on">Griffin</st1:place> Independent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/disgraced.html">Disgraced</a></i><b><span lang="EN-US">;</span></b><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/the-hanging.html">The
Hanging</a><span lang="EN-US"> –</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> </span>STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/inner-voices.html">Inner
Voices</a><span lang="EN-US"> –</span></i> Don’t Look Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">The Literati
–</span></i>
Bell Shakespeare & Griffin Theatre Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/babes-in-the-woods.html">Babes
in the Woods</a> –</span></i> Don’t Look Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 68.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td colspan="2" style="height: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 437.4pt;" valign="top" width="583"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dishonourable Mention (or The Shovel)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/blind-giant.html">The
Blind Giant is Dancing</a> – </i>Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/the-great-fire.html">The
Great Fire</a> –</i> Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/twelfth-night.html">Twelfth
Night</a> – </i>Belvoir<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Power Plays</i> – STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-stc.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></i> – STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 68.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td colspan="2" style="height: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 437.4pt;" valign="top" width="583"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Best (New Australian)
Play</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Skylab</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Melodie Reynolds-Diarra (National Play Festival)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/thomas-murray.html">Thomas
Murray and the Upside Down River</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Reg Cribb</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9.0pt; text-indent: -9.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/turquoise-elephant.html">The
Turquoise Elephant</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Stephen Carleton</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/picnic-at-hanging-rock.html">Picnic
at Hanging Rock</a></i>, <span lang="EN-US">Tom Wright, after Joan Lindsay</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; tab-stops: 132.8pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 68.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td colspan="2" style="height: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 437.4pt;" valign="top" width="583"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Best
Design (Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound, Other)</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">David Fleischer (set & costume) –<i> </i></span><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/golden-age.html">The
Golden Age</a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dann Barber (set)<i> – </i><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/thomas-murray.html">Thomas
Murray and the Upside Down River</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: -72.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1927 (projections/lighting/set) – <i>Golem<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: -72.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andrew Bailey (‘set’) – <i>Lungs<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: -72.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Zjarie Paige-Butterworth (costumes) – </span><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.html">Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern Are Dead</a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: -72.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Gabriella Tylesova (set & costume) – </span><i>A Flea in Her Ear<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: -72.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Luke Smiles (motion
laboratories) (soundtrack) – <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/girl-asleep.html">Girl
Asleep</a><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 68.9pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 218.7pt;" valign="top" width="292"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakesproud<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-globe.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a> – </i>Shakespeare’s Globe (live web-stream)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/a-midsummer-nights-dream.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></i> – Theatre for A New Audience (filmed)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 68.9pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 218.7pt;" valign="top" width="292"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
‘Room Temperature’ Award<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/arcadia.html">Arcadia</a>
– </i>STC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/things-i-know-to-be-true.html">Things
I Know To Be True</a> –</i>
STCSA & Frantic Assembly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">FILMS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 480;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="295"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Film(s) of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3922816/">The
Daughter</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4698684/">Hunt
for the Wilderpeople</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3955894/">Girl
Asleep</a> </i>(SFF)<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="295"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Honourable Mention<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3994676/">What’s
Between Us</a></i> (MGFF)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4302938/">Kubo
and the Two Strings</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/">Arrival</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660/">Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 221.4pt;" valign="top" width="295"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Empty Shell award<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Carol<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Hateful Eight<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hail, Caesar<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Burn Burn Burn<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finding Dory<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Swiss Army Man<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">BOOKS</span></b></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 480;">
<tbody>
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<td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 442.8pt;" valign="top" width="590"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Book(s) of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>How to be both</i><b>;</b> <i>Girl
Meets Boy</i><b>;</b><i> There but for the</i><b>;</b><i> Artful</i>, Ali Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Good People</i>, Hannah Kent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><st1:place w:st="on"><i>Gotham</i></st1:place><i>
(Wisdom Tree #1)</i>, Nick Earls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Blindness</i>, José Saramago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Melbourne</i>, Sophie Cunningham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Islanders</i>, Christopher Priest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Chimerica</i><b>;</b><i> The Children (plays)</i></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Lucy Kirkwood<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sea-Hearts</i>, Margo Lanagan</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 442.8pt;" valign="top" width="590"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Honourable Mention<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Freya</i>, Anthony Quinn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Tattooed Map</i>, Barbara Hodgson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Code Name Verity</i>, Elizabeth Wein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Like</i><b>;</b><i>
Autumn</i>, Ali Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We Are All Completely Beside
Ourselves</i>, Karen Jay Fowler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 8.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border: none; height: 8.7pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 442.8pt;" valign="top" width="590"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Almost Award<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Flamethrowers</i>, Rachel Kushner<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 20.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border: none; height: 20.15pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 442.8pt;" valign="top" width="590"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘Book-Running’ (or
Potter-moreplease)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child (play)</i>, J.K. Rowling,
John Tiffany, & Jack Thorne<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 49.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border: none; height: 49.5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 442.8pt;" valign="top" width="590"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; tab-stops: 9.0pt 18.0pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dishonourable Mention<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; tab-stops: 9.0pt 18.0pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Here at the End of the World, We Learn to Dance</i>, Lloyd Jones<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 12.6pt; tab-stops: 9.0pt 18.0pt; text-indent: -12.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius</i>, Dave Eggers<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-89479347710645289952016-12-16T14:24:00.001+11:002017-12-04T10:13:33.409+11:00Highly emusing: Don’t Look Away’s Babes in the Woods<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An
edited version of this piece was published on <a href="http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/glenn-saunders/babes-in-the-woods-252883">artsHub</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/33062">First produced in 2003 by
Melbourne’s Playbox</a> theatre company (now Malthouse), <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Tom%20Wright">Tom
Wright</a>’s <i><a href="https://www.redlineproductions.com.au/babes-in-the-woods">Babes in the
Wood</a></i> was a twenty-first century take on the colonial pantomime
tradition, spiralling out of control into a hallucinogenic cornucopia of
disreputability. Now, thirteen years later, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Don%27t%20Look%20Away">Don’t
Look Away</a> – the company responsible for <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/inner-voices.html">Inner
Voices</a></i> and <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/king-omalley.html">The
Legend of King O’Malley</a></i> – have returned to the woods of the <a href="http://www.oldfitztheatre.com/">Old Fitz</a>, and have brought us
something approximating a sequel but also a more contemporary reinterpretation
of the panto tradition and an interrogation of the milieu from which the
Australian pantomime tradition sprang in the nineteenth century, as well as our
own 2016 context. And even though it might look like it’s raided a Christmas
warehouse for its set in the best possible way imaginable, it still packs a
satirical punch and leaves you doubled over in laughter, appropriately heckling
the performers and throwing cabbage. What’s not to love?</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Theatre in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> at
the end of the nineteenth century was often performed in large venues filled –
in <a href="http://www.currency.com.au/product_detail.aspx?productid=1872&ReturnUrl=/search.aspx?q=belonging">John
McCallum’s words</a> – with “sensations, pageants, choruses, ballets,
orchestras, comedy, sex, violence and passion – things we all still want… On
the nineteenth century stage, the whole world [and a few others besides] were
dragged kicking and screaming into the theatre.” While melodrama in Australia
outlasted its British and American counterparts well into the twentieth century
(and, some might argue, into the twenty-first century as well), the traditions
of pantomime and music hall became vaudeville acts and survived well into the
1950s; and, as McCallum notes, pantomime’s traditions have been inherited by
Tonight shows, as well as variety shows like <i>Australian Idol</i> et al. It is out of this context – of varied comedy
acts and putting their world on the stage that the Australian pantomime
tradition grew. While our current perception of pantomime as a limp-wristed and
Cockneyed vapid tradition dates from the 1960s, colonial pantomime was much
rougher and, in <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/stage-bawdy-fun-and-endless-tinsel-in-babes-in-the-wood-20161207-gt5rbu.html">the
words of director Phil Rouse</a>, </span><span lang="EN-US">more “political,
transgressive, titillating, irrational and magical.” </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enter <i>Babes in the Woods</i>
at the Old Fitz. The<i> </i>story follows orphaned
twins Ruby and Robbie who arrive on their wicked aunt Avericia’s doorstep with
a fortune in their name and little else; a fortune that is theirs, unless
something should befall them, and then it becomes Avericia’s. Following in the
footsteps of Hansel and Gretel, the twins are taken into the woods where all
manner of fates await them until good old bush justice can be meted out.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tiny
eighty-seat theatre is decked to the walls with red, gold, and silver tinsel
(almost a kilometre of the stuff, we are told), and a rough-hewn nativity
featuring toy koalas and assorted Australiana, while a musician sits on the
stage decked out in sunglasses, fez, and dressing gown; Martelle Hunt’s set may
seem simple, but it becomes an appropriately dazzling backdrop for her costumes
– a mashup of period crinolines and ringlets with plaid, short-shorts,
leiderhosen, mullets, and Merv Hughes moustaches. And a gloriously thick-witted
emu called Flapgherkin. Sian James-Holland’s lighting is richly coloured,
merrily joining in the festive atmosphere, but also gently guides the audience
to their appropriate reactions (Applause; Boo/Hiss; It’s Behind You!; Get on
With It!), and uses spotlights, footlights, and several clever effects to great
use. Phillipe Klaus’ compositions keep the action moving with nods to more than
a couple of popular musicals and songs, but also nodding further back to the
music-hall and pantomime roots of the piece; while the songs are all strong
musically and lyrically, the accompaniment is perhaps a little too loud for the
small space and drowns out the clever and barbed lyrics on occasions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rouse’s cast of six are all
more than adept at the panto genre, and play with gusto and barely contained
delight, almost on the verge of corpsing on one occasion. As the grand panto
dame, Annie Byron’s Aunt Avericia (a woman playing a man playing a woman) is
marvelously overthetop in the mode of a good old booable villain, and she seems
to be having too much fun. Alex Malone and Ildiko Susany’s Ruby and Robbie are
hilariously naïve, but there’s also some of every audience member in them that
makes their characters funnier but also more pointed. Gabriel Farncourt’s
Phyllis is (initially) the picture of a nineteenth century maiden, in auburn
ringlets and cream longsleeved dress, but when she meets her paramour, the
drover’s son Jack (played with ditzy panache by Sean Hawkins), well, we meet
another side of her entirely. But perhaps the scene-stealer here is Eliza
Reilly, in her roles as Avericia’s emu-sidekick Flapgherkin (one of the
simplest but goofiest puppets I’ve seen, and one that would give Garry
Ginivan’s a run for its money) and the Angel of White Privilege, deployed with
more than a nod to <a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/angels-in-america-part-one-millenium-approaches/">Belvoir’s
own <i>Angels</i></a> from three years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Written by director <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Phil%20Rouse">Phil
Rouse</a> from the play by Tom Wright (it’s interesting to compare the two, and
see what has been adapted, cut, changed, or kept; even though I miss
Flapgherkin’s colleague-in-crime Boingle, the demented wallaby, the Old Fitz is
too small for two forward-moving animals), there are some subtle and
notsosubtle digs at our current societal attitudes and behaviours towards
refugees, immigration, white privilege, critically-acclaimed theatre (<i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-secret-river.html">The
Secret River</a></i> is the butt of a somewhat complicated and extended joke
which ties itself in knots but plays right into Sydney’s lap), cultural cringe
(the 2000 Olympics mascots get a look in at one point), and every kind of
innuendo and panto gag you could wish for. It’s a bit messy, a bit scrappy, but
there’s also a point to it all: the idea that ‘if you’re white you’ll be
alright’ is as outdated as the beer languishing in the door of my grandmother’s
fridge (sixteen years and counting, if you're playing along at home). In the preface to his original script, Wright suggests that where the
villains of the traditional panto were the monsters, the adults, in the
Australian tradition, the villain was more often than not the bush, the
untameable landscape we found ourselves transplanted into, half a world away,
and the ramifications of that are still being felt on all sides. In his own
version, Rouse implies that we, the (predominantly white middle-class) audience
are the villains with our complacency, white-guilt, bystander syndrome, and all
kinds of complexes you can imagine; there are several occasions where the
fourth wall doesn’t just break but shatters into six billion pieces and
counting, and we laugh because the point has been made but because sometimes
laughter is the only way we can learn how screwed the system inherently is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">After a year of
political upheaval and turbulence on numerous fronts, and heavy
thought-provoking stories in the news, around us, and on our stages, Rouse and
his co-conspirators (with a bit of help from Tom Wright) follow in the model of
the Wharf Revue and give us a good old fashioned panto, the likes of which we
haven’t really seen this side of… well, I can’t remember the last time I saw a
dose of pantomime this good, this raucous, this well-aimed. And even though it
is the silly season, and even though you do get to throw cabbage (at least they
didn’t throw cucumbers, as Cervantes once said), it’s still worth taking note
of what the angel here says, and trying to be a better person. Until then, boo
the villains, swoon at the steamy romance, and applaud wildly as rhyme triumphs
over reason. Or, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">as
Rouse simply says in his director’s note, “Have fun. Don’t be a wanker.”</span></span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-59474476685449518652016-12-09T23:34:00.000+11:002016-12-09T23:37:52.173+11:00Dreamer: Windmill's Girl Asleep<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the Adelaide
Festival in 2014, a new play by <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Matthew%20Whittet">Matthew
Whittet</a><b> </b>was premiered. Forming
the third part in a trilogy for <a href="http://windmill.org.au/">Windmill
Theatre Co.</a> (what is now known as the <a href="http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2014/booking_guide/2014AdelaideFestivalBookingGuide.pdf">The
Windmill Trilogy</a>), the play was the story of fourteen year old Greta
Driscoll, her dreaded fifteenth birthday party, and everything that happened on
that night. The play was <i><a href="http://windmill.org.au/show/girl-asleep-2/">Girl Asleep</a></i>, and it
went on to become an <a href="file:///H:/My%20Writings/My%20blog%20-%20thespellofwakinghours/2016/girlasleepfilm.com">internationally successful
film</a>. When it premiered in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Adelaide</st1:city></st1:place>,
playing in rep with the rest of the trilogy, I missed it due to <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/seagull-adelaide-festival.html">Hilary
Bell’s gorgeous version of <i>The Seagull</i></a>,
and the first instalment of the trilogy, <i><a href="http://windmill.org.au/show/fugitive/">Fugitive</a></i>. But
two-and-a-half years and numerous successful film festival campaigns later, <i>Girl Asleep</i> rocks onto <a href="http://www.belvoir.com.au/">Belvoir</a>’s corner stage in all its 1970s
glory, but I can’t help but wonder if it suffers from Whittet’s tendency to
wallow in a conceit without properly exploring and/or developing its structure
and the full extent of the world.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Set on <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Jonathon%20Oxlade">Jonathon
Oxlade</a>’s wallpapered and ingeniously disguise-filled set, the play starts
with Greta telling us about the night everything changed. The first half hour sets
up the story and the world, switching between scenes and Greta’s direct address
to the audience, but the focus suffers as a result – is this framing of the
story necessary, is there another way to do it, and why doesn’t it continue
throughout the play, or return at the end? As Greta’s birthday kicks into gear,
and the play shifts into the extended dream sequence – itself a series of
vignettes loosely-connected with strands of dream-logic – the story gains
momentum but not too much focus, until we land back in the real world with a
scream and the bass from the party pulsing through the floor. It’s then only a
quick change to the end of the play, but the ending feels unresolved, a little
too neat and unearned, the final image a little too cute and clunky. Director <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Rosemary%20Myers">Rosemary
Myers</a> (who also directed the film), keeps the play moving with <a href="https://vimeo.com/95938272">enough chutzpah, whimsy, and energy to sustain
an entire trilogy</a>, but sometimes it’s not enough to disguise the unfinished
feeling of the story. The other key player in Myers’ production is Luke Smiles’
soundtrack, courtesy of his professional moniker, motion laboratories. Filled
with tracks by Serge Gainsbourg, Fleetwood Mac, Brian Eno, Supertramp, The
Sweet, and Donna Summer, we are placed firmly in the 1970s world of Greta, and
it is an absolute joy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you’re paying
attention at the beginning, everything in the dream sequence is referenced at
least once – if not by directly by name, then in spirit or by association – but
sometimes it feels as though the parallels are too neat, a little too obvious,
and not developed enough once we enter Greta’s subconscious. Greta’s family
appear in altered forms – her sister becomes a smart-mouthed firebird (and
firebrand), her father a farting goblin, her mother a distant ice-queen – while
her best friend Elliott appears ala Serge Gainsbourg, and the school bullies
Jane and Umber are ferocious dogs (get it?). Greta’s penchant for plastic
horses is also checked, as is her Finnish pen-friend Greta, and some of these
associations are more successful than others (Firebird, horse, and dogs in
particular). It’s interesting to see how little character development and/or
contrast there is between her mother and the ice queen, and her father and the
goblin – they both feel like and read very much as the same characters in two
different locations, rather than one being an exaggeration of the other as you
would find in Grimm’s fairytales. The only terrifying aspect of this sequence
is the Elliott-Serge Gainsbourg association, and the resulting scene has a
menace to it which I don’t think is fully explored, or rather could be explored
more; is the association in Greta’s head only, or is there something in Elliott
himself which makes this link obvious to her, why is the link made (other than
her sister’s obsession with the music, and an instance with Elliott near the
beginning), and how could its impact be felt more keenly? At the end of the
dream sequence, the fight with the dogs is well-handled, and dramatically
necessary, but there isn’t enough physical contact or interaction between Greta
and the ‘dogs’ for the fight to be entirely credible and/or dramatically
satisfying. As for the ‘Maiden with the Tiny Hands,’ who kicks off the whole
dream sequence, I wonder why she isn’t made more of, why she doesn’t appear
more than at the end of the play, as a kind of benevolent force, a kind of
coda?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Myers’ cast are
all adept at the art of the quick-change, and their characters are as wacky as
the story itself, but there’s also heart to the story, even if it is sometimes
a little misplaced. Ellen Steele’s Greta is awkward and shy, but there’s an
unchecked fierceness and volatility to her which, when unleashed, is worth
waiting for, and hers is perhaps the most fully-formed character in the piece,
but also the most elusive – we only really learn about her once we leave the
theatre, when we look at ourselves at age fourteen or fifteen. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Dylan%20Young">Dylan
Young</a>’s Elliott is the geeky best friend, as socially awkward as Greta
herself is, and there’s something touchingly naïve about his character which
works nicely with Steele’s Greta; Young’s Gainsbourg is very much the dark
mirror to his Elliott, but this could be played with in more depth. Sheridan
Harbridge’s Genevieve, Greta’s older sister, is "a <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=jean+seberg+breathless&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=672&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD0ZTCiufQAhXKabwKHav0DUgQ_AUIBigB">Jean
Seberg-esque</a> figure who will more than likely punch you if you speak to
her"; she has a very fine line in fast-mouthed comebacks which puts her in good
stead as the beaky Firebird, while her bully Jade is frighteningly silent and
aloof. Whittet’s portrayal of Greta’s father Conrad is "a vision of 1970s beige," and has a terribly corny line in (bad) dad jokes, while his Goblin reads like a
PG-rated version of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LZo9ugJTWQ">Old
Gregg from <i>The Mighty Boosh</i></a>. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Amber%20McMahon">Amber
McMahon</a>’s flawless comic timing puts her in good stead for her smorgasbord
of roles: Greta’s mother Janet (a snappy vision in purple and auburn beehive
hairdo); Ice Queen (a frosted mirror to Janet); Umber, a similarly aloof mirror
twin to Harbirdge’s Jade; a batty crazy-eyed classmate of Greta’s; and a
veritably bonkers Finnish-Greta. Oxlade’s costumes are spot-on, capturing the
right mixture of period detail, childhood whimsy, and unchecked dreams, and the
cast play with them to pitch-perfect effect, particularly in the party sequence
where McMahon, Whittet, Young, and Harbridge become a who’s who of Greta’s
year, and every 1970s school stereotype you could imagine (even if the
necessity of the quick-change does draw this sequence out a bit). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wouldn’t
normally do this, compare two different versions of the same story, but with
the film of <i><a href="file:///H:/My%20Writings/My%20blog%20-%20thespellofwakinghours/2016/girlasleepfilm.com">Girl
Asleep</a></i> now widely available, it’s interesting to look at how the play
was shaped into the film. When the play premiered in 2014, Myers, Whittet and
the Windmill team knew they would be making the film, so a lot of the design
and structural narrative decisions were made with one eye on the stage version
and another on the film version, and how they could be changed and adapted to
suit the different mediums. With the production and sound designed by Oxlade
and Smiles respectively, directed by Myers, and written by Whittet, with
Whittet and McMahon reprising their roles from the play, the film is in
incredibly safe and assured hands, considering this is Myers’ debut feature
film. It’s theatrical roots are apparent, a little too visible at times, but
they are embraced with gusto, along with the limitations of budget, scale, and
length of the shoot, and it actually works to the film’s overall advantage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The film still
suffers from the structural problems inherited from the play – overlong setup,
slightly disjointed dream-sequence, slightly-too-neat ending – but in many
cases, the film actually makes a tad more narrative sense. Yes, Greta’s
subconscious associations are still checked, but here they are visual rather
than established through dialogue. The horse still remains, but it really is a
plastic horse that they are riding, and the Goblin is even more Old Gregg-like
than on stage. Gone is the Firebird version of Greta’s sister, but in her place
we get the Huldra, a powerful Scandinavian warrior (in mythology, the Huldra
are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulder">Scandinavian forest-dwelling
nymphs</a> or mermaids, but there is a Germanic version – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frau_Holle">Frau Holle</a> – who resembles
the film incarnation more closely), who helps Greta fight the dogs, keeps watch
over her, and rescues her from the various demons when they start to overpower
her. The fight with the ‘dogs’ at the end of the dream sequence is visceral and
empowering, a masterstroke of foley, choreography, and editing, and the Serge
Gainsbourg element is well-handled. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part of these
improvements are due to the nature of the filmic medium – you can cut to
different locations and points of view in an instant, can juxtapose images and
sounds and moods visually in a heartbeat, and can use the camera itself as a
character or a point of view as much as those of the characters themselves. But
part of it is also due to Oxlade’s designs, Andrew Commis’ cinematography, and
Karryn de Cinque’s editing, which give the film a <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/moonrise-kingdom-variations-and-fugue.html">Wes
Anderson</a>-David Lynch vibe, with a dash of <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/oh-you-pretty-things-puberty-blues.html">Puberty
Blues</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3955894/">Girl Asleep</a></i> is perhaps not
as narratively strong as <i><a href="http://windmill.org.au/show/school-dance/">School Dance</a></i> (which
starred Whittet, Oxlade, and Smiles as themselves, alongside McMahon <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/we-can-dance-if-we-want-to-stcs-school.html">as
nearly everyone else</a>), nor as adrenaline-fuelled as <i>Fugitive</i>, it is a welcomely feminine and emotional addition to the
Windmill Trilogy, and a clear evolution of the Windmill style, a development of
a particular (and inventive) theatrical voice which has found a strong foothold
in the Australian theatre scene. As a piece of theatre, <i>Girl Asleep</i> could benefit from a sharper dramaturgical eye on the
script, a filleting down of the story’s set-up and dream-sequence, along with a
stronger ending, but as an experience and as a trip back to the 1970s, complete
with flairs, killer tunes, and outrageous wallpaper, it is almost unbeatable. Alongside
Wes Anderson’s gorgeous <i>Moonrise Kingdom</i>,
both incarnations of Whittet-and-Myers’ <i>Girl
Asleep</i> serve to remind us that teenage-ness and growing up are not new, nor
is the psychological and physical bullying and violence that often accompany
them, but rather something we all share. It also serves in a way as a
corrective to Kip Williams’ recent <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/a-midsummer-nights-dream-stc.html">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></i>, where – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/26/girl-asleep-first-look-review-the-magical-realism-of-being-a-teenager">in
Jane Howard’s words</a> – the liminal space of dreams and the subconscious is a
dark place, even for children who grow up in nurturing families and comfortable
suburbs; fathers are always embarrassing and perhaps overbearing, while mothers
are tough; the schoolyard is a battleground, and romantic relationships are
equal parts dreamy and full of dread. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Teenage-ness is terrifying, but
it’s also a time for discovering who you are. </span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even if it means wearing someone
else’s clothes.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-73884470284366307992016-10-23T09:00:00.000+11:002016-10-23T09:00:18.572+11:00Matías Piñeiro and the Shakespeareada<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About a month ago,
I <a href="http://fourthreefilm.com/2016/08/hermia-helena/">came across a
review</a> from the Locarno Film Festival about a film called <i>Helena & Hermia</i>. Loosely based on
the eponymous characters in <i>A Midsummer
Night’s Dream</i>, it was directed by Argentinean filmmaker <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1446111/">Matías Piñeiro</a>, and forms a
continuation of his ‘Shakespeareada’ – an ongoing interrogation and
recontextualising of stories taken out of Shakespeare’s plays (so far, only his
Comedies), and placed in the suburban environments of Buenos Aires.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To date, Piñeiro’s
‘Shakespeareada’ consists of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1863365/">Rosalinda</a></i> (2011), <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379418/">Viola</a></i> (2012), <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3904754/">The Princess of France</a></i>
(2014), and the just-released <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5880296/">Helena & Hermia</a></i> (2016).
In both <i>Viola</i> and <i>The Princess of France</i>, the two of his
films more readily available, the structure is essentially similar, albeit in
slightly different augmentations: there is an extended sequence of material
from the respective Shakespearean source-plays (in order, <i>As You Like It</i>; <i>Twelfth Night</i>;
<i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i>; and <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>), followed by
a series of riffs, loops, fugues, and rhapsodies upon the material – both seen
and unseen – by the characters.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With each running
barely more than sixty minutes in duration, these films pack a lot in but it
never feels like there is not enough development of the ideas or themes. And
while a sometimes more-than-basic knowledge of the plays will help you unravel
some of the knottier manifestations of Piñeiro’s fugues, what is intoxicating
is how he twists Shakespeare’s play to suit his own ends; the ‘Shakespeareada’
are not slavish reproductions of their sources, but free rhapsodies upon their
themes and characters, and this freeness is utterly delicious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are elements
of Arthur Schnitzler’s play <i>La Ronde</i>
here, in the way characters cross in and out of shots and sequences, in the
looping motifs of playing one scenario several times over with barely a change
in dialogue, as well as a kind of Steve Reich-like fascination with a scene or
portion of dialogue. Indeed, in the way characters – or character-types – cross
from one film to the next, in a rather Shakespearean fashion. This continuity
helps to establish the notion of the ‘Shakespeareada,’ even if it was not
originally conceived of as thus. Aside from drawing upon the same pool of
actors (they are all Piñeiro’s friends), characters start to blur together; but
there’s also another intriguing and more clever link at play here; I think
‘play’ is the appropriate word in every sense. In <i>Viola</i>, we see a play in action – an actual play Piñeiro created out
of lines and scenes and fragments from half a dozen or so of Shakespeare’s
plays (again, mostly Comedies), and which was recorded (you can find it on the
DVD of <i>Viola</i>); in <i>The Princess of France</i>, the same
characters-playing-actors assemble to record the play for radio, alongside
portions of <i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i>, and
we realise that the latter film takes place approximately one year after the
events in <i>Viola</i>, a move which is
entirely in keeping with the plot of Shakespeare’s <i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i>, where the four women tell the four men to not
declare their love so readily, but to wait a year and a day, and then see how
they feel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You get the
feeling here that for Piñeiro, the space within Shakespeare’s plots are just as
important as that which is spoken or seen. And in many respects, <i>Viola</i> and <i>The Princess of France</i> are two of the most inventive adaptations of
Shakespeare’s plays for the cinema, as it uses (and sometimes exploits) the
audio-visual language of cinema to full intoxicating effect; the same sort of
effect you might get in a theatrical performance when every element of the
production is singing from the same page. It’s beautiful, intoxicating, and a
little bit mindbending, and I love it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-21365284158312423622016-10-22T13:30:00.000+11:002017-12-04T10:13:43.783+11:00The elephant in the room: Griffin’s The Turquoise Elephant<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An edited version of this piece originally appeared on <a href="http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/glenn-saunders/the-turquoise-elephant-252450">artsHub</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the first
productions I saw at <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Griffin%20Theatre%20Company">Griffin</a>
was Ian Meadows’ <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/in-too-deep-griffins-between-two-waves.html">Between
Two Waves</a></i>, a finely-wrought and emotional play about the personal toll
of climate change. Four years later, <a href="http://australianplays.org/playwright/PL-5">Stephen Carleton</a>’s
Griffin-award-winning <i><a href="http://www.griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/the-turquoise-elephant/">The
Turquoise Elephant</a></i>, is a play about climate change, egos, and running
out of time; it explodes onto Griffin’s tiny stage with as much verve, farce,
panache and delicious wickedness as it can muster, and it is in may ways both
the antithesis and dark mirror of Meadows’ play, as well as being a darkly comic
piece of absurdist mastery in the vein of Ionesco.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Carleton’s play
revolves around the Macquarie family, a dynasty you could presume has gloriously
and triumphantly descended from the fifth governor of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New South Wales</st1:state></st1:place>. Holed up in their
triple-glazed hermetically-sealed imposingly fortified compound (with harbour
views, naturally), they are the self-styled ‘last bastion of civilisation’ in a
world where it’s topping on hundred degrees in the shade, and melting icecaps
have become tourist hot-spots. Matriarch <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Augusta</st1:place></st1:city>
is a formidable opponent to climate change, fiercely denying its existence and
vehemently promoting the reliance on fossil fuels to get us through this
environmental disaster. Aunt Olympia, recently returned from Greenland, brings
eccentricity to a new level, determined to eat every endangered species to
extinction; meanwhile, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Basra</st1:place></st1:city>,
their granddaughter, blogs and vlogs her way through every political and
environmental upheaval, hoping to make a difference. Until Visi arrives. And
this enclave is suddenly in the thick of it. </span><span style="background: white;">And</span><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">covered in shit.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Directed by <a href="https://opera.org.au/aboutus/our_artists/creative_teams/gale_edwards">Gale
Edwards</a>, this production is an exuberant and riotous political farce,
decked out in glorious hallucinogenic technicolour. Perhaps better known for
her work of scale – think <i><a href="https://opera.org.au/whatson/events/carmen-on-sydney-harbour">Carmen</a></i>
and <i><a href="https://opera.org.au/aboutus/past_events/2015/aida-sydney">Aida</a></i>
on the Harbour, Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and Cameron Mackintosh productions
and, more recently, <a href="http://saopera.sa.gov.au/cloudstreet/"><i>Cloudstreet</i>, the opera</a> – Edwards
uses this predilection to great effect, and creates a larger-than-life and
quite OTT world in which these characters seem right at home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brian Thomson’s
set – while relatively minimalist – carries us from place to place with ease
and deftness, and provides a canvas for Verity Hampson’s saturated and
colourful lighting and projections. Emma Vine’s costumes (particularly those of
<st1:city w:st="on">Augusta</st1:city> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Olympia</st1:city></st1:place>) are pushed well past the boundaries
of sane and into the realms of the sublime, and look magnificent, a postmodern
Baroque kaleidoscope ala Jenny Kee. Jeremy Silver’s sound design – including a
memorable gale-force wind and door-slam for every entrance into the Macquaries’
fortress – glues everything together, while Xanon Murphy’s <a href="https://vimeo.com/187123260">video segments featuring iOTA</a> are
hilariously pitch-perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Edwards’ cast are
tremendous too. Maggie Dence’s fierce and (mostly) single-minded ex-governor
general Augusta is a force to be reckoned with, and she sets the production’s
tone very high with her first entrance. Belinda Giblin’s batty globe-trotting <st1:city w:st="on">Olympia</st1:city>, with her obscenity-filtering hearing aid and
penchant for the gastronomical delights of the critically endangered, is as
colourful as she is eccentric, and provides a sometimes off-kilter
counterweight to Dence’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Augusta; in many respects, Dence and Giblin seem like the perfect <i>Ab Fab</i>-esque double act, deliciously skewering climate change denialists in the process. </st1:city></st1:place>Olivia Rose’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Basra</st1:city></st1:place>
is initially a voice of reason amongst the single-minded ideological
whack-jobs, but we soon begin to see her for the scared agoraphobe she might
actually be. Catherine Davies’ Visi comically offsets the hard-wired obstinacy
with a dry wit and sharp tongue, while her character’s twist is gloriously
played. Julian Garner’s charlatan Jeff is an idealistic futurist who, like so
many of the others, is only really in it for himself and what he can get out of
it. Garner, like all of them, hams it up deliciously but it never detracts from
Carleton’s script or Edwards’ production but only enhances and amplifies it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In many ways, this
<i>Elephant</i> feels like it wants to burst
out of Griffin’s tiny one-hundred seat theatre and explode onto a larger stage;
rather than being a detraction, this actually works to play’s and production’s
credit, in that it should be seen, heard, and confronted by as many people as
possible. It’s a clarion call to action, a reaction to the ennui emanating from
our political quagmire, an Absurdist outpouring of the exasperation surrounding
every kind of denial the people in charge seem to peddle on a twice-daily
basis. Citing worsening bushfires, droughts, storm-cells and temperatures,
Carleton says “rather than galvanising us into action, we just seem to do more
and more nothing. We do nothing on a grander and grander scale.” So why not
make theatre about this on a scale to match and see what happens?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With a healthy
indebtedness to Ionesco (Rhinoceroses are back on the menu, I think) and the
late Dario Fo’s anarchic political farces, Carleton’s play is gifted with a
sharp tongue and an ear for the barbed one-liner. Liberally peppered with puns
and nods to everything from Fo to Monty Python, The Goons, and <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Q89JK2aU4">War of the Worlds</a></i>,
Carleton sucks us into this world of decadence, privilege, and moral blindness
and then twists his knife a couple of times to make sure it’s well and truly
skewered. There’s always a danger with zeitgeisty issues-based theatre that the
necessary drama and humanness will get bogged down in scientific detail or
technical jargon, and this is perhaps why it is so hard to get it right, why so
many topical plays ultimately fall short of their mark. But both Ian Meadows
and Stephen Carleton have done their research and homework, and it shows: where
<i>Between Two Waves</i> used hard facts and
emotion to gain its impact, Carleton’s <i>Elephant</i>
uses farce and a sense of humour like a blowtorch to hit its targets, and has a
huge amount of fun doing so, and to great effect.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While there were a
few opening night stutters on lines, and the play’s pacing has yet to fully hit
its sweet spot, come the end of November, this production will be singing and
rampaging about the tiny <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Griffin</st1:place></st1:city>
stage like an elephant in a china-shop. The outside world might be destroying
itself in a powder-keg of over-reaching ambition and collective idiocy, but
this is one of the most pertinent and audacious (new) plays you could see this
year, and certainly one of the most outrageous nights you’ll have at the
theatre. Do yourself a favour and catch it, before it becomes the stuff of
legend.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-45825050243906050752016-09-24T21:11:00.001+10:002016-11-27T21:25:44.564+11:00No dreams here: STC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;"><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2016/a-midsummer-nights-dream">A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</a></span></i><span style="background: white;"> is my favourite of all Shakespeare’s plays. You can
read me bang on about it on <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/A%20Midsummer%20Night%27s%20Dream">numerous
occasions</a> on this blog. This will not be another one of them. This is the
fourth <i>Dream</i> I’ve seen this year, and
it was also the most eagerly awaited, and certainly one of the most anticipated
shows of this year. But as is often the case, the greater the expectations, the
harder the fall, and the more painful it is when it doesn’t work. And so it is
with <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Kip%20Williams">Kip
Williams</a>’ production for <a href="http://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/">Sydney
Theatre Company</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This production
seems to owe a passing debt to <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=peter+brook+midsummer+night%27s+dream&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=672&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWuJrI7KfPAhUClJQKHc8yCtsQ_AUIBigB">Peter
Brook’s seminal 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production</a> which toured the
world (you know the one I mean). But where Brook was rebelling – and quite
rightly – against the accumulated gossamer and Romantic notion of the <i>Dream</i> that had built up in theatrical
tradition since the 1800s, this production almost seems to want to shock us. In
seeking to draw out the darkness within Shakespeare’s play and to serve, in
some respects, as a corrective to the accumulated detritus around <i>The</i> <i>Dream</i>
both locally and abroad, Williams and his team create a psycho-sexual space for
the play to sit in and in doing so, impose a stark and austere world of lumpy
fairies, hooded figures, and semi-Lynchian images upon the text without too
much consideration for the textual engine at work beneath it. In doing so,
Williams removes the ability of the audience to dream, and thereby denies the
production its power; by being all intellectual and deliberate and calculated
about it, it can only come of as quite superficial.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The darkness in
the <i>Dream</i> is there in the text; I am
not disputing that. But part of the marvellousness of the <i>Dream</i> in production is how you treat that darkness – do you make it
physical, visible, apparent, in part or whole, or do you leave it to the
shadows, to the half-seens and might-have-glimpseds, the implications. In some
respects, it’s like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/">Kubrick’s <i>A Clockwork Orange</i></a> – by making the
violence physical, almost a parody of itself, you deny it its power, and it
loses its impact; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange">Anthony
Burgess’ novel</a> knew this (and works much better for it) in this regard, as your
imagination fills in the blanks and makes it as violent (or not) as you can
stomach. So too in the theatre – the best productions are like colouring-in
books, in that they give you the outlines, maybe even the pencils if they’re
being generous, but they then “upon your imaginary forces work” and allow –
necessitate; require; need – you to fill in the gaps and complete the picture.
Thus it is with the <i>Dream</i> – the
darkness and sexual violence and skin-crawling unsettlingness is all there in
the text; it’s up to the production how they handle it or not. Some of the best
productions I’ve seen of the <i>Dream</i>
look the darkness in the eye, stare it down, and then overlay it with a
lightness that lets it shine through so it is all the more horrifying and
eldritch; it’s like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063385/">Carol Reed’s
film of Lionel Bart’s musical <i>Oliver!</i></a>
– all the dance sequences, jaunty music, and frivolous Technicolour only serve
to make the story, the music, more depressing and soul-crushing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In trying to piece
together my thoughts on this production, I began looking at recent <i>Dreams</i> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and lighted upon <a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/a_midsummer_nights_dream_04/">Benedict
Andrews’ 2004 <i>Dream</i> for Company B
Belvoir</a>. And while I was too young to have seen Andrews’ production, I am
aware of it in a critical sense, and it seems to me that what Williams is
trying to do in his production now, is remarkably similar to what Andrews was
trying to achieve twelve years earlier. Kate Flaherty in her book <i><a href="http://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/ours-as-we-play-it-australia-plays-shakespeare">Ours
As We Play It</a></i> has an eloquent account of Andrews’ production, and I
can’t help but echo her thinking with regards to this, Kip Williams’
production.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While we largely
have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_Shakespeare">Charles and
Mary Lamb</a> to thank for the <i>Dream</i>’s
appeal to children, we similarly have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Kott">Jan Kott</a>’s seminal essay
‘Titania and the Ass’s Head’ to thank
for a lot of the dramaturgical thinking on <i>A
Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> from the latter part of the twentieth century
onwards. Benedict Andrews drew on this in envisioning his fairies at Belvoir,
in creating a darker and more sexually-charged <i>Dream</i> than we had hitherto seen, and so too it seems Williams has
imbibed of the same content, albeit with more than a dash of Andrews’ own production.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Robert%20Cousins">Robert
Cousins</a>’ set strips the Drama Theatre back to its bare walls, and paints a
5-foot-high band of white from the floor up, leaving the rest of it black. A
scrim with a similar effect covers the front of the stage, and the first
half-hour is played behind this. Not only does it place the action too far back
in the space, but it distances us – the audience – from the very beginning,
physically and emotionally. And in the Drama Theatre, which is absurdly long
and deep, this is not so much of a good thing. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Alice%20Babidge">Alice
Babidge</a>’s costumes, while grounded in reality for everyone by the fairies,
create a sense of discombobulation from the outset. The intended menace is
present in the court (all are men) wearing black hoods, while Hippolyta – in a
white wedding gown – has her hands tied, a bouquet to hide the fact. The
Mechanicals are all dressed in contemporary street clothes, while the fairies
are dressed in lumpy body suits, with stockinged faces, and brightly coloured
wigs; pustular and penile protrusions bursting from their bodies, in more than
a nod to Kott’s essay, via Andrews’ production. They seem to be the literal
evocation of Kott when he says “I imagine Titania’s court consisting of old men
and women, toothless and shaking, their mouths wet with saliva, who
sniggeringly procure a monster for their mistress.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Damien%20Cooper">Damien
Cooper</a>’s lighting keeps the drama in stark fluorescence, all except for several
moments – the opening, with Puck singing Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ deep in the
space, caught between flashes of bright crackling light; Titania and Bottom’s
coupling in vibrant pulsing red, and the lovers’ resolution in the same – and
it has a deeply alienating effect. Chris Williams’ score, and Nate Edmondson’s
sound design are almost always present, and bombard us with drones, pulses,
heart-tripping beats, and snatches of Ligeti. Effective in small doses, but not
so much when it’s always <i>there</i>; it’s
a very literal one-note reading of the play with little or no variation in
tone, colour, style, or brightness. If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were
still very much in <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/king-lear.html">King
Lear</a></i> territory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Shakespeare can withstand a lot
of radical and/or misguided interpretations and maintain the clarity of
storytelling. But sometimes there comes a production which throws a tonne of
stuff at the text, warranted or otherwise, and the text just throws up its
hands and refuses to let it stick. And so it is with this <i>Dream</i>. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/process-kip-williams.html">I
know what Williams is trying to do here</a>, I do, I really honestly do, yet as
much as I want to admire his boldness and forthrightness in flipping almost
every popular preconception of the <i>Dream</i>
on its head and taking it for a spin, I can’t, because I didn’t feel a thing in
watching it. Theatre that makes you not feel, or even feel nothing, is
dangerous. Even Brecht with his <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/mother-courage.html">Verfremdungseffekt</a></i>
– the distancing effect – makes us feel something, although at an intellectual
remove. Where Brecht was deliberately “making strange” (the Russian origin of
his term) in order to make us see things afresh, with new eyes, here Williams’
weirding feels superficial, too clinical,</span><span lang="EN-US"> too
intellectual; too calculated; too deliberate to be truly affecting. It seems to
echo Kate Flaherty when she says “Andrews’ production performed a </span>muting effect upon both forms of the play’s
magic. The characters, rather than actively driving the plot, became elaborate
spectacles of abjection.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakespeare’s text
is dark. You can’t ignore that, no matter how much you might want to. When you
actually look closely at the text, it’s most definitely not a dream: Theseus
has won Hippolyta in battle after defeating the Amazons (a trophy bride in a
very literal sense); Theseus is quite certainly having an affair with Titania,
queen of the fairies (perhaps even the other way around), as well as with
“amorous Phyllida”; Oberon and Titania are at war with each other, and Oberon
might also be dallying with mortal women. Oberon and Titania’s discord creates
chaos in the natural order of things, so it’s little wonder then that the lovers
are no less prone to their own troubles. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hermia’s father
demands she marry Demetrius but Hermia is in love with Lysander; if Hermia
disobeys her father (she is, essentially, his property after all), then she
risks death or a becoming a nun (Theseus’ idea). Upon eloping and entering the
forest, Helena, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius all have the love potion
squeezed into their eyes by Puck and/or Oberon causing no end of confusion and
lustful desire for the wrong person, but while the others get their ‘true
sight’ restored by Oberon and Puck at the end, Demetrius never does. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Helena</st1:place></st1:city> asks to be used
“as your spaniel” – “the more you beat me, the more I fawn on you.” Later,
Hermia tears into <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Helena</st1:place></st1:city>
for being called a “puppet” (there is no end of name-calling here). These are
brutal, masochistic metaphors which clang with inappropriateness today, but I
think there is a point to them – the brutality and violence of
affection-gone-sour, the dark side to love and relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even the
Mechanicals suffer the cruel fate of transformation as Bottom gets a donkey’s
head planted upon his own by Puck. While this derives from Greek mythology
(making it no less strange or excusable an occurrence), Oberon then bewitches
Titania’s sleep so she ‘wakes when some vile thing is near,’ sees Bottom with
his donkey’s head and they go to bed together, with all the attendant overtones
and realities of bestiality, rape, and god knows what. All of this is in the
text. How can you not see this as truly terrifying?!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But as I said earlier,
it is the lightness of touch in Shakespeare’s own verbal magic, and the balm of
the Mechanicals’ humanity that somewhat tempers the darkness. You can’t have
dark without light, sunshine without moonlight, Rosencrantz without
Guildernstern (no, wait, wrong play). Disrupt the seasons too much (through
directorial vision) and you get chaos in the world, as Oberon and Titania find
out very quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am not disputing
the darkness of the <i>Dream</i>. What I do
take issue with is when the balance of darkness and lightness is out of concord
at the expense of the text, all for the sake of a bold directorial vision. Some
of the best productions I’ve seen of the <i>Dream</i>
look the darkness in the eye, stare it down, and then overlay it with a
lightness that lets it shine through so it is all the more horrifying and
eldritch; just look at <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/a-midsummer-nights-dream.html">Julie
Taymor’s production</a><i> </i>if you want a
truly beguiling and terrifying <i>Dream</i>
that does not overstay its welcome. Trust Shakespeare to work his magic, and he
will trust you to not get in his way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flaherty again: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;">In this
manifestation of director’s theatre, the intellectual project was the thing –
played, as it were, on what was (mis) understood as the flat platform of the
play. Such an intellectual project is a bad fit for </span></i><span style="background: white;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream<i> </i></span><i><span style="background: white;">– a
play that is sprung with its own sophisticated mechanisms of estrangement… the
frame imposed by Andrews’ approach re-instated a dynamic which smothered the
self-reflexive energies of the play, turning a vitally challenging and
multi-voiced work into a titillating spectacle.</span></i><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Williams is a strongly visual
director and storyteller, known for the use of poetic space in his productions
to open up truths and meaning within texts, but here I feel this backfires as
there is too much physical open space, and too much is imposed upon a play
which doesn’t need imposing upon. And while I admire Williams’ stagecraft and a
lot of his productions, I feel this is his most auteur-y vision to date, and
consequently his least successful production, as the emotional connectivity his
use of space normally opens up within an audience’s imagination is now
completely prescribed; there is no room for interpretation in this forest.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet what of the rest of the
production, the actual playing of it? The results are alarmingly uneven,
especially under Williams’ normally steady and clear-sighted directorial hand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Williams uses the
by-now-customary doubling of Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania, yet we never
feel they are separate characters but rather one that exists in two spaces.
Robert Menzies’ Theseus seems toothless, while <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Paula%20Arundell">Paula
Arundell</a>’s Hippolyta seems helpless; Oberon is quietly dangerous, while
Titania is fierce and alluring, yet strangely passive and without the sexual
voracity she has in the text; a lot of her “forgeries of jealousy” speech is
lost through the lack of emotion in her delivery, though this is not a fault of
Arundell’s performance but rather the direction. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Matthew%20Backer">Matthew
Backer</a>’s Puck is played like a darker version of the MC from <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068327/">Cabaret</a></i>, and is incredibly
strong, mercurial, and dangerous; you truly would not like to cross him in a
forest on a dark night. Backer’s performance in hot-pants and stockings with
gaudy red lipsticked mouth, eyes, and chest, is neither a send-up nor a
caricature, but a creature all of his own, and is all the stronger for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The lovers – Rob Collins’
Lysander, Honey Debelle’s Helena, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Brandon%20McClelland">Brandon
McClelland</a>’s Demetrius, and <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Rose%20Riley">Rose
Riley</a>’s Hermia – are mostly good, and seem like something out of a David
Lynch film, almost like the kids in <st1:place w:st="on"><i>Twin Peaks</i></st1:place>. While their puffy white prom dresses seem
out of place, their descent into the forest elicits confusion and terror as
they bolt at full speed from one corner of the stage to another, up and down
and across and back (sometimes pursued by Puck), but their fighting and descent
into the psychological pinball of the forest is too emotionless and disaffected
for us to care; that is, they seem to be running on pure instinct (albeit acted
instinct), and there is not much feeling under their performances; the closest
we get is in Hermia’s attack on Helena late in Act Four, where she takes her to
task for calling her “a puppet.” Yet during the same scene, </span><span lang="EN-US">Lysander and Demetrius’ wrestling pulls focus from Helena and Hermia’s
argument, from the power and emotion of the scene. (And having Puck and Oberon
in the background doesn’t help things either, as they are both so passive (and
bored looking).)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Mechanicals, normally the lightness and humanity in the <i>Dream</i> are here turned into a bunch of amateur
actors who try to imitate Williams-and-Andrews’ form of spectacle and fail. Not
so much because of their characters, but because their antics are forced and
each gimmick laboured and pushed further than it should reasonably be. Susan
Prior’s Peta Quince marshals everyone to their parts, and has some fun with it
too, but her charges aren’t quite as loveable or bumbling as they could (or
perhaps should) be; their production of <i>Pyramus
and Thisbe </i>is too calculated and cold, and possibly the least funny or
moving I have seen. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Josh%20McConville">Josh
McConville</a>’s Bottom is perhaps the least-egocentric performance I’ve seen
from him to date, but there is a disaffected wonder to his whole
transformation, a sense that he is only acting wonderment and not actually
feeling it or being it. His transformation, scored to Ligeti’s ‘Atmospheres’
and a sputtering of lights is chilling, but is also too laboured – the donkey’s
head is brought on by Puck, and while it looks incredibly realistic and filled
with blood which pours down McConville’s head and chest, it is also
disaffecting to see him hold the head at chest height while he brays (perhaps
coming too) and interacts with Titania and the fairies; the head is a seemingly
separate entity to the bodily character of Bottom, though both represent the
same thing, and this is disquieting but not always in a good way. His coupling
with Titania, rather than happening centre-stage, happens against the furthest
back wall of the stage, saturated in a red void, pulsing with nightclub music,
as he penetrates her from behind; she cries out, understandably, yet the only
thing seemingly missing from this scene is him braying. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fairies’ roundel song, while beautiful and reminiscent of
something <a href="http://abardthing.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/a-midsummer-nights-dream10.html">Benjamin
Britten might have written for his opera</a>, does not fit tonally or otherwise
with this production, and thus draws attention to itself. Conversely, Titania’s
glamoured awakening – to the strains of Elvis Presley’s ‘Only You’ – works a
treat, not least because Paula Arundell’s rich voice and her shimming gold gown
seem to be one and the same, and work in conjunction with the lyrics to enhance
the moment.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“What a <i>Dream</i> is here,”
Hermia says in Act Four, and I’m inclined to believe her. But perhaps not as
Shakespeare or Williams meant it. Setting out to investigate the thrill and
terror of sexual awakening – <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com/2015/11/process-kip-williams.html">in
Williams’ book</a>, as for many others’, they are two sides of the same coin –
Williams, like Benedict Andrews before him, strives to “elicit astonishment and
in doing so [somewhat heightens] the spectacle, but [dilutes] the affective
complexity of the play.” In undercutting the play’s inbuilt textual engine –
the poetic lightness which tempers the psychological darkness – Williams seems
to be wanting to rescue “a play that doesn’t need rescuing, while the play’s
textual strengths and emotions are made remote and uneven […] by flashy
‘look-at-me’ directorial interventions.” True, nights and dreams need darkness,
but true darkness is often in the mind of the audience, the other vital
ingredient in theatre and without whom you wouldn’t have theatre at all; for
all Williams’ tricks and affects, he seems to alienate or, at worst, forget
about the audience, and this is ultimately to the production’s detriment.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Flaherty wrote (and I’m paraphrasing slightly here), magic in the
<i>Dream</i> should not be imposed by a
director, but should be organically generated from [the] Bottom up. Unfortunately
this isn’t the case here.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where’s Robin when you need him to restore amends?</span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-45474963397483100902016-09-14T21:25:00.001+10:002016-09-14T21:25:54.417+10:00Geeks bearing myths: Montague Basement’s Metamorphoses<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">After going from
strength to strength in their first two years, Sydney-based collective <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Montague%20Basement">Montague
Basement</a> have decided to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">speak of ‘forms changed into new entities.’ In their
adaptation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses">Ovid’s <i>Metamorphoses</i></a>, they have taken the fifteen
books of epic Roman poetry and condensed them into seventy minutes of smart
deconstructions and reversals; a smorgasbord of transformations and
transgressions, a riot of godly shenanigans. </span><span style="background: white;">“With sincere apologies to Ovid,” the
disclaimer reads; you can almost see the “Not really” written in small letters underneath
it. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">And while it
works (and when it really does fly, it is marvelous), a lot of the references
and parallels – the cleverness and intertextuality – comes from a familiarity
with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovid">Ovid</a>’s stories, something
I don’t think we quite have as much of today as we’d like to think we do.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ovid’s stories feature
gods and mortals getting into mischief in almost every way you can imagine. And
then some. There are people turning into animals (and gods to animals) and vice
versa; plants and stones becoming human; and all manner of sexual partnering,
switching, coupling, rape (<a href="http://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-ovids-metamorphoses-and-reading-rape-65316">again
and again</a>; you don’t realise how much rape there is in Greek mythology
until it is pointed out), lust, and general dicking around; the gods can’t seem
to keep it in their pants for all that long. Add to this “a mishmash of
historical references and assumed knowledge, in-jokes and political satire,
poignant poetry and crude quips,” as well as an examination of the monster and
the monstrous, the hunter and the hunted, and two-thousand (plus) years of violence,
sex, and lust, and you start to get an idea of just what a formidable task
these young collaborators had taken on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Devised by Imogen
Gardam, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Saro%20Lusty-Cavallari">Saro
Lusty-Cavallari</a>, and <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Lulu%20Howes">Lulu
Howes</a>, <i>Metamorphoses</i> is performed by Lusty-Cavallari and
Howes as they switch in an out of gods, genders, costumes, and stories,
sometimes right in front of us, and draw attention to their rambunctious and
honest intentions, and are aware of their limitations and perhaps our own in
understanding these two-millennia old stories. They might be young, but these
theatre-makers are consistently punching above their weight, and are creating
intelligent, insightful, and assured pieces of theatre which make you think
about the world we live in for days afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">With theatre-maker,
actor, and librettist Pierce Wilcox engaged as dramaturg, this <i>Metamorphoses</i> resembles something of a
Classical-literature-nerd’s version of The Chaser rather than Monty Python, or
perhaps like “<a href="http://www.broadwayworld.com/sydney/article/Ovids-METAMORPHOSES-Crashes-Into-the-Present-at-Sydney-Fringe-20160822">a
<span lang="EN-US">2 a.m. binge across the
darkest corners of Wikipedia.</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">” (And it is dark. And funny. But also
dark. Very dark.)</span><span style="background: white;"> Wilcox certainly lends the production are more focused energy, a more
political and social commentary aspect, but I wonder if something of Ovid’s protean
and fertile imagination is lost in translation; like their <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/hamlet.html">Hamlet</a></i>
last year, I wonder if these metamorphoses could have been bolder, more wild,
more free and frivolous; a little bit more, well, insane. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However. If you
look at what Ovid himself was doing – that is, taking existing stories and
selecting the bits he liked while getting rid of the rest; running riot with
them, reorganising them into new forms, refocusing their narratives around
different characters; leaving off (and picking up again) the narrative thread
on a whim – then the structure and end result of this experimentation with
these two-thousand-year-old stories is remarkably similar to what Ovid himself
was doing. So this <i>Metamorphoses</i>
become less about the <u>what</u> of the stories, and more about the <u>how</u>
of their retelling – the process of metamorphosing or adapting these stories
into a modern context for twenty-first century <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens
during the process of adaptation? What happens to the source material, to the
end result? How slavish or free should you be in your process? What was the
original trying to say; what are you trying to say; where is the common ground;
what can you make more potent and relevant? These are all questions these
collaborators have asked themselves in the process of creating this production,
and although the result is perhaps too specific in its audience, the brio and
gutso with which this show has been mounted is more than admirable. Like <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Sisters%20Grimm">Sisters
Grimm</a>’s <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/la-traviata.html">La
Traviata</a></i> last year, there is an undercurrent – as there is in Ovid’s
original epic poems – of railing against censure and censorship, new empires, the
very real threats to cultural diversity and plurality, and the celebration of
efficiency and order.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all the
quick-changes, cleverness, and godly shenanigans, I think Aeneid to brush up on
my Greek mythology. For all the prior knowledge Ovid (and perhaps Montague
Basement) assume of you in their retellings, this <i>Metamorphoses</i> is
for people who know and can appreciate their Ovid from their Kafka, yet it is
still a hoot, still an entertaining and stimulating seventy minutes of
well-made theatre, even if it does (and quite rightly) give you pause for
thought at numerous points along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really want to see that Olympian
franchise now.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-44100848861820027392016-09-12T23:32:00.000+10:002016-09-13T10:11:28.933+10:00Rock this ground: Shakespeare’s Globe’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 81.0pt; margin-right: 90.0pt; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;">This is
celebrating Shakespeare in the truest possible way: come in, drink beer, shout
at the stage, come and go as you please and get involved.</span></i><span style="background: white;"><br />
– Emma Rice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This morning I
realised I’ve seen a dozen or so versions of <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> in the past thirteen years, either on
stage, on video, or in a cinema. Without a doubt it is Shakespeare’s most
evergreen play, in that its magic, beauty, strangeness and wonder never fades,
and can withstand whatever a production throws at it. When Emma Rice was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/may/01/shakespeares-globe-emma-rice-new-artistic-director">announced
as the third artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe</a> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city></st1:place> last year, I was immediately excited
to see what she would produce. Now, eighteen months later, as her first
production at the Globe comes to a close, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ehw2mb/live/cw8g9r">BBC decided to
live-stream</a> the final performance of Rice’s Dream to all and sundry;
playing at 6.30pm BST, I pulled an all-nighter and sat up in bed watching it at
3am Australian-time, watching the darkness encroach around the Globe as the sky
grew light outside my window. If her first <i>Dream</i>
is any indication, under Rice’s leadership the Globe is set to transcend the
heavens of invention, if it hasn’t already done so straight off the bat.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Rice’s production
of <i>Cymbeline</i> – for <a href="https://kneehighcookbook.co.uk/">Kneehigh</a> and the Royal Shakespeare
Company in 2006 – was described variously as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/sep/22/theatre1">coarsely
reductive</a>” and “most inventive”, and warned anyone expecting the see
Shakespeare’s play to be “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/sep/24/theatre1">in for a rude
shock</a>.” Her other productions such as <i>The
Red Shoes</i> brought an anarchic sense of play to the fore, while <i>Brief Encounter</i> married live performance
with filmed inserts to beguiling effect. With her <i>Dream</i>, Rice returns to the terrain she ploughed with <i>Cymbeline</i>, and creates a vision of the
play which enchants, unsettles, and warms in equal measure, and takes a welcome
blowtorch to the Globe’s set-up and practices, and delivers a production which
is a <i>Dream</i> in every sense you can
imagine. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/ng-interactive/2016/may/05/emma-rice-a-midsummer-nights-dream-globe-shakespeare-in-pictures?CMP=twt_a-stage_b-gdnstage">design
for Rice’s production was revealed</a> earlier in the year, purists had a
field-day bemoaning the presence of balloons, a visible lighting rig (rather
than a warm unchangeable wash of light), amplified sound, and other ‘unsightly
presences.’ The Globe – as a theatre and a building first and foremost – <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Shakespeares-Globe-Christie-Carson-Farah-Karim-Cooper/9780521701662">has
always been designed as a space to experiment</a> with theatrical practices and
styles, a willful deliberate working anachronism, from the Elizabethan original
practices experiments which <a href="http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/shop/product/2012-season-shakespeares-globe-twelfth-night-dvd/1346">Mark
Rylance advocated</a>, to the freer and <a href="http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/shop/product/2011-season-shakespeares-globe-doctor-faustus-dvd/1110">more
diverse rhapsodies on a theme of Jacobethan theatre</a> from <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Will-and-Me-Dominic-Dromgoole/9780141020075">Dominic
Dromgoole</a>’s tenure. Under Rice’s artistic directorship, it seems only fair
that those boundaries should be redefined and renegotiated – ‘rock this
ground,’ indeed. Rice seems to be asking, as indeed she should be, what is the
Globe capable of? How much technology and machinery can you bring into the
space before it starts to detract from the essential humanity of the bare
stage? How can you take the lessons already learned in the Globe’s first
nineteen years and extended them, use them in new ways to new effect? How might
those lessons be renegotiated with new technologies and ideas? As Rita Quince
says in her opening OH&S speech, “We’re all for original practices at the
Globe, [but] please refrain from public urination and spreading syphilis.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And so we come to Rice’s <i>Dream</i>. Taking her cue, <a href="http://abardthing.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/a-midsummer-nights-dream10.html">like
so many other productions</a>, from Shakespeare’s text, Rice and her team of
designers have envisioned a world with a heavy Indian-influenced aesthetic. But
rather than try to find parallels within this context for each group of
characters in their production (fairies, lovers, royalty, Mechanicals), they
have cleverly used a wide-ranging pool of influences and styles to bring their
collective <i>Dream</i> to its fullest, most
intoxicating life. Theseus and Hippolyta drip money. Egeus is a hectoring pedant
in a wheelchair, while the four lovers are modern <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> teenagers. Oberon, in an unlaced
doublet patterned like an ocelot, is the grounded opposite to Titania’s leggy
burlesquing Elizabeth I. <a href="https://www.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Shakespeares-Globe-172.jpg">Puck,
positively rocks</a> a doublet, ruff, gold hotpants, and light-up trainers,
while <a href="https://www.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Shakespeares-Globe-269.jpg">the
fairies are earthy punk-grunge creatures</a> in tattered skirts, singlets, and
teased hair (‘they’re four hundred years old,’ Rice says during her interval
interview, ‘they’ve done everything, they’re absolutely <i>wrecked</i>!). The Mechanicals – our entrance point to the story and,
in some respects, our guides through it – are dressed as Globe Stewards in
t-shirts, aprons, and chinos. Above the stage in the heavens, a four-piece band
sit, playing sitars, keyboards, drums, woodwinds, guitars, bass, and everything
in between. In some respects, it almost shouldn’t work; but it’s this very
logic that Shakespeare-via-Rice are defying, and by god it works a treat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">There’s a verve, a palpable
swagger with which this production moves that it’s all you can do at times not
to grin like a lunatic, a lover, or a poet. From the moment Rita Quince lets
forth with ‘O for a muse of fire’ before launching into a garbled health-and-safety
announcement, you know Rice is onto something. But it’s notuntil Hermia and Helenus let forth with a burst of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p047mj48">Beyoncé’s ‘SingleLadies’ in the style of an Indian raga</a> that your doubts are truly assuaged. With
the help of dramaturg Tanika Gupta,
Rice has changed references in the play to suit her <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> audience, to further make the play a
Dream for us, here, now. </span><span style="background: white;"><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12082858/Noisy-audiences-magical-forests-and-more-women-in-new-look-Shakespeares-Globe.html">In
an interview</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">, Rice stated </span><span style="background: white;">“there’s no way that every line can
still be relevant, in my opinion… There is a great case to be made for great
editing, making the plays a little bit shorter and punching through the
language that has stood the test of time and we do understand.” But these
changes don’t just work because of topicality; they also work because they
maintain the iambic pentameter of the verse, no small feat. References to Athens
become ‘Bankside,’ the lovers are frequently referred to as ‘Hoxton hipsters,’
and Starveling makes a dig at Theseus’ very-literal reading of her performance
of ‘Moonshine’ in the Mechanicals’ play: ‘Come on, mate. It’s a visual concept.
How hard is it to understand? Why is everyone so obsessed with text?!’ By
changing little lines (and changing Helena to Helenus), Rice and Gupta’s
changes have created a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s play which doesn’t so
much seem modern as positively Shakespearean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can’t enunciate
adequately enough in words just how much this production made me sing. It’s
rare to see a production this joyous and anarchic, this full of mayhem and
wonder and, well, magic, that when it unfolds in front of you – even if it is
on your laptop screen at four a.m. in the morning – it renders you unable to
look away. Börkur Jónsson’s set is
festooned with exotic marigold curtains over the doorways, while the stage is
kept relatively clear; tables extend into the pit, making the audience guests
at the wedding, an active and integral part of the proceedings. Moritz Junge’s
costumes are a joyous riot of styles and influences, and seem reminiscent at
times of Sandy Powell’s work crossed with something of the straight-up
irreverent and seemingly-walked-off-the-street. Stu Barker’s music cascades and
ripples through the wooden O, full of raga-inspired rhythms and motifs,
improvised jams and structured full-bloodied melodies. Etta Murfitt & Emma
Rice’s choreography brings out some gorgeous similarities between Elizabethan
pavannes and Indian dance styles with wild hedonistic abandon. Victoria Brennan
& Malcolm Rippeth’s <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jCm26kNtCWEqF48zrggxxk8Gtk7tqmoSARGR5JspvS_wZQ6wQ-9gHTjrtpRCy8ZWlRtsT9qvaNR3bngRq8ty4V7Gs8QZ4CVbK1UID2Kby7AWOkGKQZ_QMCIe0ZV7jxuHjviXDtsopC8/s1600/AMidsummerNightsDreamGlobe2016cast.jpg">lighting</a>
is rich, warm, and vibrant, and has more than a little touch of magic up its
sleeve.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cast are all
fantastic in their roles, some doubling fairies and Mechanicals, and there is a
shambolic sense of camaraderie here; a tangible spirit of adventure which
mirrors the Mechanicals’ own sense of seriousness and play. Special mention to
Katy Owens’ livewire Puck – she has so much energy you feel exhausted just
watching her run around the stage, jumping off pillars, yelling and demanding
the audience “clap me!”, making out with others, squirting some with her water
pistol, or half-eating a banana and throwing the rest into the audience,
applauding a catch; I don’t think there is a single moment in which Owens’ Puck
is ever truly still. Tibu Fortes’ harp-playing eunuch on roller-skates glides
silently onto the stage in a blink-and-you-won’t-register-it deviation from his
fairy role. But it is <a href="http://assets.lovetheatre.com/assets/224/3237/gallery/8-A-Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Shakespeares-Globe.jpg">Meow
Meow’s Titania</a> that charms the pants off Bottom (almost literally), and
their banjo shoe-shuffle cabaret number in her bower is a gleeful giggling stroke
of wonderment. This Titania is irreverent, sexy, and hypnotic, but she can also
be vicious and snarky as the occasion arises; I’d love to see her take on that
other Shakespearean beacon, Cleopatra, perhaps with Rice also at the helm of
the barge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There has been
some critical backlash against the forcefulness of Rice’s joyfulness in this
production, but for someone who apparently says she doesn’t know all that much
about Shakespeare, you cannot fault the way she makes everything count here,
nor the abandon with which she rifles through her toolbox of theatrical tricks.
Yet even though the play is four hundred-years-old, and even though we know it
inside-out-backwards-upside-down, this production makes it seem totally fresh,
totally new, as though four hundred years have passed in the time it takes Puck
to put a girdle round the Earth. It might not be as dark (literally, and
metaphorically) as <a href="https://vimeo.com/103802510">Julie Taymor’s <i>Dream</i></a>, or as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3zBAXGPnE">crash-wallopingly-gloriously
OTT</a> as <a href="http://blogtorwho.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/10781590-high_res-a-midsummer-nights-dream.jpg">Russell
T Davies’ recent version for the BBC</a>, but it is as joyous and as raucous –
as anarchic and bonkers – as it should be, and it is the first production I’ve
seen from the Globe, in person or otherwise, where I understood every single
thing that was going on. Maybe it was the fact this is my favourite play just
about ever (certainly of Shakespeare’s), or maybe it was the thirteen year old
nerd in me doing cartwheels, trying to keep up with Puck’s capricious
giddiness, but I fucking loved it, every single streaming minute of it, and
would happily watch it again tomorrow if I could.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘Rock this ground,’
indeed.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-29475090756792179542016-08-07T23:32:00.001+10:002016-08-07T23:34:14.773+10:00The secret history: STC’s The Hanging<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 54.0pt; margin-right: 54.0pt; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;">People disappear
all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist…
Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances,
after all, have explanations. Usually.<br />
</span></i><span style="background: white;"> – Diana Gabaldon, <i>Cross Stitch<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since it first
appeared in Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel, the story of <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073540/">Picnic at Hanging Rock</a></i>
has been seared into our cultural conscience. Following <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/picnic-at-hanging-rock.html">Malthouse’s
production</a> earlier in the year – an adaptation of Lindsay’s novel, rather
than of Peter Weir’s film – <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Sarah%20Goodes">Sarah
Goodes</a> brings us <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Angela%20Betzien">Angela
Betzien</a>’s <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2016/the-hanging">The
Hanging</a></i>, a contemporary take on the missing child story that has
haunted us since the earliest days of white settlement. You can see it in the
paintings of <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=frederick+mccubbin+lost&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=633&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS0fPj1qvOAhUIupQKHVgkCOAQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=frederick+mccubbin">Frederick
McCubbin</a>, the claustrophobic vision of the untamed bush all around us, the
impossibly high horizons and tiniest glimmers of sky too far away; you can see
it in <i>Picnic at Hanging Rock</i>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Lake">Top of the Lake</a></i>,
and <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kettering_Incident">The Kettering
Incident</a></i>; in Hilary Bell’s <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/wolf-lullaby.html">Wolf
Lullaby</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/magazine/posts/2012/june/qa-sarah-goodes">The
Splinter</a></i>, in <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/jasper-jones.html">Jasper
Jones</a></i>, <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-2413">When The Rain Stops Falling</a></i>;
in the disappearances of the Beaumont children, Azaria Chamberlain and, more
recently, Madeleine McCann. And while these events are in no way connected,
they each capture our imaginations, and fuel our insecurities about possession,
sexuality, colonialism, and our (lack of) control over nature. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Betzien’s play
follows her recent plays <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/mortido.html">Mortido</a></i>
and <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/PL-57">The Dark Room</a></i> in the
crime genre, and <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-135">Children of the Black Skirt</a></i>
in her exploration of the Australian Gothic trope, and manages to combine the
two genres within the frame of a crime thriller which owes several obvious
debts to <i>Picnic at Hanging Rock</i>, as
well as <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Virgin-Suicides-Jeffrey-Eugenides/9780007524303">The
Virgin Suicides</a></i>, <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110005">Heavenly Creatures</a></i>, <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Secret-History/9780140167771">The
Secret History</a></i>, and <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Catcher-in-the-Rye/9780316769488">The
Catcher in the Rye</a></i>. These nods do not detract from the story, nor the
revelations and their ramifications, but act as a series of refracting mirrors,
to bounce ideas and references off each other to create a new work that ripples
with secrets, latent sexuality and its potency, as well as capitalising on the
eeriness and terror of the Australian bush that has haunted our national psyche
for centuries.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Betzien’s <i>The Hanging</i> is the story of a fourteen
year old girl, Iris, who returned from the bush without the two friends she
disappeared with six days ago. Interviewing her is Detective Sergeant Flint, a
specialist in missing persons cases pertaining to children. Not wanting to talk
to the detective, Iris nominates her English teacher, Ms Corrossi, as her
support person, and soon a perplexing web of secrets, lies, half-truths,
shadows, and cover-ups is exposed along with their dangerous consequences.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A taut three-hander, Goodes’
production unfolds upon a little shard of a room, barely big enough for a desk,
two chairs, and a doorway, let alone three headstrong characters who oppose and
mirror each other in surprising ways. Bisecting this tiny room, is a high
sandstone wall, atop which the bush can be seen looming, silent, dark, brooding,
waiting to swallow us up. Designer Elizabeth Gadsby has created a world which
straddles the intersection between the real and the imagined, the common and
the private, and uncovers the menace and vulnerabilities that haunt both the
physical and mental worlds of these three characters. Nicholas Rayment’s
lighting creates interrogational brightness and crepuscular gloom in equal
measure, and the subtle modulation of both focuses our attention but also lets
our imaginations run wild with ‘what ifs’ and ‘what happeneds’ right up until
the final moments. Steve Francis’ sound design uses the sounds of the bush to
create an enveloping menace which barely intrudes but never subsides; like the
bush, it is always present, even if we are not looking at it or anywhere near
it; it is still there. Francis’ brief pockets of music serve to craft the
tension and the mood, and add menace and an eldritch foreboding which slips
under your skin and doesn’t let go too easily. David Bergman’s video
projections are perhaps the most direct visual nod to Weir's <i>Picnic at Hanging Rock</i>,
as the three girls are seen wandering through the bush, their dresses and long
hair drifting in a vaguely Pre Raphaelite manner; and while you could say these
sequences are unnecessary – perhaps all that is needed is the bush itself,
unmediated, and the birds to give us the sense of what happened – there is
something unsettling about watching the girls get swallowed up by the bigness
of the bush, and it brings Iris and Ms Corrossi’s fears to bear in chilling
detail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ashleigh Cummings’ Iris is in
one sense a naïve fourteen year old, but she is also discovering the power of
her youth and sexuality, the power secrets and fragments of truth can have over
others, people much older than her, and she relishes this. While Cummings seems
at times too old for her fourteen-year-old character, she slips into Iris’
privileged world and mindset with a disarming ease, and her performance shifts
and changes over the course of the play’s taut eighty minutes, and by the end of
it we are hanging on her every word as we realise Iris perhaps holds the
answers to the play’s conundrum.<br />
Luke Carroll’s Detective Sergeant Flint is persistent and steely determined but
never grandstands, and his restraint in some key scenes nicely undercuts the
frustration and urgency of his enquiries and the story’s events. Like him, we
are constantly parsing Iris and Ms Corrossi’s words to try to work out the true
nature of what happened that day, what might have contributed to the girls’
disappearance, which – or whose – version of the truth is more ‘correct’.<br />
Genevieve Lemon’s Ms Corrossi, the English teacher who unknowingly starts this
devastating juggernaut on its unwavering course, is at first particularly
passionate about language, but as the mood and power-balance in the
interrogation room begins to shift, so too does Corrossi’s focus, and Lemon’s
performance grows exponentially; by the conclusion she, like Flint, is at a
loss as to what happened or how things might have been prevented or at least
rectified. Underneath Corrossi’s prickly exterior is a warmth and generosity
which the girls prey upon, a willingness that eventually has fatal
consequences; yet, while Corrossi wields power as the teacher, it is her
students who have a not-inconsiderable measure of power over her, and it is
frightening and delicious in a single instance to see this played with by both
Lemon and Cummings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a production – a play –
which is constructed like a series of concentric circles, like the solar
system, in that each character is a planet, and as the cosmic mechanism of the
play swings into motion, some move faster than others (Iris, particularly),
while others start off slowly only to gather pace as they begin to piece it
together (Ms Corrossi perhaps), and others occasionally synchronise their
orbits with others, locking onto the gravitational pull of one or more planets
and gaining a kind of clarity (Flint, and Ms Corrossi in equal measure). Like
Joanna Murray-Smith’s <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/switzerland.html">Switzerland</a></i>
two years ago, which Goodes also directed (and is remounting at <a href="http://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/season-2016/switzerland/">MTC in
a month’s time</a>), there is a delicious cat-and-mouse game at play here, and
it is edge-of-your-seat stuff trying to keep up with the unraveling of secrets
and information, as Betzien drip-feeds us clues and snippets of truths; as
Lemon, Carroll, and Cummings enter into each others’ orbits in turn. And
although it is never really made explicitly clear, the date of Iris’
interrogation is crucial; being 19th February, if this is the sixth day
following the girls’ disappearance, it means they went into the bush on 14th –
St Valentine’s Day; the same day as that fateful day in 1900 that Joan
Lindsay’s schoolgirls supposedly disappeared on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Part of the attraction and
indeed magneticism here is the way in which we want to know what happens – what
happened, rather – at the same time as not wanting to; the mystery is
everything. And I think this applies to Sarah Goodes’ work during her time as
Resident Director with Sydney Theatre Company. Having spent the last six years
directing new writing – in their world or Australian premiere productions –
Goodes’ work has matured and deepened, and it has been a privilege to watch it
grow and expand in front of our eyes. Starting rehearsals with a script which
may or may not stay relatively intact come opening night is something which
many directors would probably be apprehensive about. For Goodes it is “a chance
to develop a close relationship with a writer and to work with them in refining
the play for its first performance… The discoveries we make in the rehearsal
room and in conversations about the text evolve in an organic, collaborative
way that I find particularly exciting.” In short, the mystery of whether or not
a play will work is everything. It’s the ‘leap of faith’ that Goodes <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com/2015/11/process-sarah-goodes.html">talked
about when I met her last year</a>: </span><span lang="EN-US">“you don’t have a
sure thing on your hands that you can then do what you want with; it’s a huge
leap – if it’s going to work on stage, I don’t know – but that is the core of all
theatre; that should be the core of where everyone’s at on the first day of
rehearsal. ‘Is this going to work?’ ‘Who knows?’ It’s a leap of faith, and it’s
got to have that in it for the magic to happen.”<span style="background: white;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Ralph%20Myers">Ralph
Myers</a> directed <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/tonight-we-fly-belvoirs-peter-pan.html">Peter
Pan</a></i> for Belvoir a few years ago, he said how J.M. Barrie’s play “could
secretly be a play about Australia – a world off on its own, full of oddities,
constantly trying to leave its past behind. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, like Peter, has a
wonderful and annoying determination never to grow up.” Part of me believes
this is why we are so fascinated by the ‘missing child’ trope in our national
art, literature, theatre, cinema; why stories like <i>The Hanging</i> keep being written. Our nation is the result of white
Eurocentric ideas forced upon an unfamiliar (and quite often unforgiving)
landscape, without a moment’s pause to consider the practicalities of our
actions, or their ramifications on its traditional custodians. Yet, as old as
the continent is, our nation is still quite young. There’s something harrowing
and chilling in the way Betzien’s character of Iris almost comes to stand in for
our country’s conscience – the fourteen-year-old girl, standing on the
precipice of adulthood – especially considering Diderot’s comment in a letter
to his young mistress, “You all die at 15.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">As in Lindsay’s
novel, Betzien’s script makes reference to the Rock dreaming in millions of
years, rather than decades or centuries like our own societal records. “In the
Rock’s terms, 1900 and 2016 are the same… It is hanging – in time, in space.”
In this sense, the Rock in both texts is a portal, a gateway, a liminal place –
to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Hanging_Rock">another
dimension perhaps</a>, to another time, to sacred and spiritual places we can
barely fathom; it is also an emotional force, our emotional past from which we
cannot hide. By extension, in Betzien’s script as in Goodes’ production, the
Rock and bush could be read as metaphors for teenage sexuality – full of unseen
cracks and holes, deep dark secrets, mysterious energies and emotional forces
beyond our control. These references – while perhaps slightly too obvious when
you’re in the moment of the play – act as signposts, signifiers, mental
triggers that serve </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">to
remind us just how truly unsettling and horrifying a story it is, how
uncontrollable and untamable the landscape is around us, how powerless we are
to comprehend it or stop it in any way.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Goodes’ final production as a Resident Director at Sydney Theatre
Company, <i>The Hanging</i> is an incredibly
strong note to finish on. Betzien’s script is perhaps her strongest to date,
and Goodes’ direction is not only clear and gentle as we have come to expect
from her work, but it is incredibly strong and finely-tuned to the nuances of
Betzien’s script, the world of the play, as well as the maintaining of
suspense, thought, and action throughout, and this strength is mirrored in the
three central performances. There is a robust and thrilling mind at work here,
both in the writing and in the staging, and the production not only matches it
but extends it, amplifies it, until it fills the Wharf 1 theatre with all the
menace and power of the bush. It has been a pleasure watching Goodes’ work over
the past four years and certainly one of the joys of keeping this blog, and as
she takes up the position of <a href="https://dailyreview.com.au/melbourne-theatre-company-appoints-new-associate-directors/41104/">Associate
Director at the Melbourne Theatre Company next year</a>, you can be sure that
her future projects will be </span><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">like Woolf’s <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Orlando</st1:place></st1:city> – “filled with
life – exquisitely… bursting with it.” </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-38003854104451848412016-07-31T12:10:00.000+10:002016-07-31T12:10:50.085+10:00A dream Dream: Theatre for A New Audience’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</span></i><span style="background: white;"> is perhaps
Shakespeare’s most perennially evergreen play, in that its magic, beauty,
strangeness and wonder never fades, but grows richer and deeper and more
strange with every consecutive production. While it was</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"> the first Shakespeare play I studied at
school, it is still the one play of Shakespeare’s that I love wholeheartedly
and completely, and this production not only proves why, but is perhaps the
most mercurial, effervescent, and beguiling <i>Dream</i>
I have seen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This production, first staged
at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>’s
<a href="http://www.tfana.org/">Theatre for A New Audience</a><i> </i>in <a href="http://www.tfana.org/season-2014/midsummer-nights-dream/overview">2014</a>,
is directed by <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Julie%20Taymor">Julie
Taymor</a>, perhaps most well known for <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/lion-king.html">The
Lion King</a></i> musical as much as for the circumstances surrounding her
Spider-Man musical, <i>Turn Off The Dark</i>.
Known for her wild inventiveness, kaleidoscopic approach to style and design,
and her reluctance to conform to expectations, this <i>Dream</i> lives up to its name and positively flies. Towards the end of
the production’s season, Taymor and her collaborators were given money through
Ealing Studios to film the production and create a cinematic <i>Dream</i> which brought its stage
incarnation to even more beguiling life. Enlisting the help of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006509/">Rodrigo Prieto</a> (who previously
shot Taymor’s film <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120679/">Frida</a></i>), Taymor filmed four
performances from four angles each, then spent the intervening days filming
pick-up shots – close-ups, cutaways, shots you wouldn’t necessarily be able to
achieve with an audience during a performance. Working with some eighty hours
of footage, Taymor and editor Barbara Tulliver spent several months creating
this cinematic <i>Dream</i>, drawing us
further into the world of fairies, dark magic, shadows, and desire.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jutting into the audience, the
stage seeks to bring us, the audience, into the world of the play as much as it
can, and on Es Devlin’s set – what looks at first like a black floor and wall –
proves to be as versatile as the dream-like logic of our sleep-fuelled imaginations.
Panels slide open in the floor and wall, elements and actors fly upwards
through the space, and actors appear seemingly from nowhere to great (and
magical) effect. When the play – the film – starts, we see a white bed
centre-stage. A small figure in grey trousers and white shirt and braces
appears, yawns, curls on the bed asleep… and it rises. Up up up in the middle
of the stage, held aloft by a tangle of thorny branches. Workers (the
Mechanicals, as we later discover) enter, begin to prepare the stage, and
proceed to cut the branches. Hooks are attached to the edges of the bed sheets
and on a given signal, the sheets are pulled out from the bed to create a giant
white canopy, and the <i>Dream</i> begins. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sheets are Taymor’s
ideograph in this <i>Dream</i>, just as <i>The Lion King</i>’s ideograph was the
circle, and her ideograph in <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120866/">Titus</a></i> was a hand. Taymor
uses the ideograph across all her work to unify the disparate creative and
visual elements in each separate production. Simply put, the ideograph is the
two or three most essential brushstrokes needed to express the essence of an
idea. Its clearest instance is in <i>The Lion King</i>, where the device of the
circle can be observed throughout the work in the costumes, sets, music,
lighting, choreography and puppetry, as well as playing out in the musical’s
narrative structure. You can see it in the musical’s opening number, ‘The
Circle of Life,’ and again in the final reprise as the story climaxes, what is
essentially a refashioning of the opening scene; the story itself has come full
circle. In <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>,
Taymor uses the idea of the bedsheet to signal dreaming and sleep, but also
what comes from dreaming – the ideas, the dreams, the nightmares, the manifestations
of our subconscious – and plays with it to marvelous effect. When coupled with <a href="http://www.worldstage.com/news/julie-taymors-a-midsummer-nights-dream-opens-polonsky-shakespear-center-the-new-brooklyn-home-of-theatre-for-a-new-audience-with-projection-support-from-worldstag/">Sven
Ortel</a>’s mesmerising projections, the set seems to expand to fill more than
just the theatre, and enters our heads (and cinemas) to enhance, tantalize, and
intoxicate with almost pure-magic. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coupled with Constance Hoffman’s
costumes – themselves firmly rooted in Taymor’s trademark predilection for kaleidoscopic
anachronism – this <i>Dream</i> gives us
Mechanicals in denim, plaid, and various shades of grey; the lovers in a
vaguely 1950s style with long coats and dresses harking back to earlier times;
Elizabethan approximations for the Athenian court; and a wondrous concoction of
light, shade, and iridescence for the fairies, Titania and Oberon in
particular. In many ways, Hoffman’s costumes – and the production in general – are
refractions of Taymor’s work to date: there are echoes of the court from <i><a href="http://abardthing.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/tempest.html">The Tempest</a></i>,
her pattern-based work in <i><a href="https://opera.org.au/aboutus/past_events/2016/the-magic-flute-sydney">The
Magic Flute</a></i>, the commedia del’arte roots of <i>The Green Bird</i>, an animatronic donkey’s head for Bottom, and a
glorious low-fi parody of Mufasa from <i>The
Lion King</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the best things about
this production is that the sublime imagination are slammed right up alongside the
darkness and scariness that is so often overlooked in Shakespeare’s text, so
often missing in other productions of the <i>Dream</i>.
Taymor embraces the confusion and the horror, the disorientating sense of the forest
that continually changes upon us like in a dream, and uses projections on cloth
to create a series of ever-changing landscapes. Taymor also makes use of an
ensemble of younger actors whom she dubs ‘Rude Elementals’ to stand in for the
physicality of the forest, the spirits, Titania’s fairie attendants, animals,
and a very real sense of danger and menace. It’s wonderfully simple, yet also
incredibly effective, and is only heightened by Elliot Goldenthal’s music,
every bit as ethereal and kaleidoscopic as Taymor’s theatrical vision. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While this film of Julie Taymor’s
<i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> might not
be getting a wide release (yet), I hope it gains an eventual release on home
media or via digital download, as it deserves to be seen by as wide an audience
as possible – students, children, theatre-nerds, and purists alike. As a first
introduction to the play, and the world of theatre, it’s as dark (literally and
in implication) as it is magical and light-infused; as a re-acquaintance with
an old friend, it’s pretty close to perfection as I could hope for, and it
reminds me just why I love the play, why I love a robust Shakespeare production
– why I love theatre – in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A <i>Dream</i>
indeed.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-42534481703864419122016-07-29T08:00:00.000+10:002016-11-23T20:39:28.575+11:00Copping Flack: Belvoir’s Twelfth Night<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shakespeare’s
festive comedies – <i>A Midsummer Night’s
Dream</i>, <i>As You Like It</i>, and <i>Twelfth Night</i> – are bound within a
series of strict societal rules, rules which govern behaviours, moods, actions
and reactions, as well as language and plot. They also perform a very specific
function, namely allowing the society’s capacity for anarchy or misrule to find
a full expression in an environment where mischief-making can be corrected,
apologised for, and in some cases, released. Punning on the notion of ‘will’ – the
idea of desire and love (and/or lust), as much as autonomy, as well as being a
euphemism for penis – Shakespeare somehow manages to create a play which, like
Rosalind at the end of <i>As You Like It</i>,
asks us to cherish what pleases us and forgive the rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Eamon Flack’s <i><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/as-you-like-it/">As You Like It</a></i>,
seen at Belvoir in 2011, took Shakespeare’s play and infused it with a wit,
warmth, and fullness of life and expression that barely seemed to be contained
within the two walls of the Belvoir stage, and later spilled over into the
street outside. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/process-eamon-flack.html">In
creating that production</a>, Flack and his collaborators “gave [themselves]
the same task Shakespeare gave himself and his company” – that is, to
(re)create the kind of experience that Shakespeare might have written to be
performed on Shrove Tuesday at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Richmond</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Palace</st1:placetype></st1:place> in 1599, in the
presence of Queen Elizabeth I. In that instance, </span><i><span lang="EN-US">As
You Like It </span></i><span lang="EN-US">became<i>
</i></span><span lang="EN-US">“a show about a bunch of city people visiting a
pastoral realm of bucolic contemplation, performed for a bunch of city people
visiting a pastoral realm of bucolic contemplation,” that is to say the
theatre. I mention all this in prologue to ground Flack’s latest production of
Shakespeare’s last great festive comedy – <i><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/twelfth-night/">Twelfth Night, or What
you will</a></i> – also perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest, within a kind of self-critical
feedback mirror.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In his director’s
notes for <i>Twelfth Night</i>, Flack writes
about the holy days and feast days when controlled anarchy (such as pageants
and rough-theatre) was permitted. He also says that for <i>Twelfth Night</i>, he and his collaborators set themselves the task of
“performing the play almost entirely as written[,] partly as a boast and partly
as a warning, because some of the play is now archaic nonsense… [We] have taken
the play on its own terms and plunged headlong into its strange poetry because
the archaic oddity of the play is what makes it glorious.” Except that it’s
not. Not really. Not much at all.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Set vaguely within
a “Renaissance of our own making,” Flack’s production is bound by a gold wall,
a deep azure wall, and partitioned by a six-foot tall orange wall, all shades
you would find in countless Renaissance paintings. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Michael%20Hankin">Michael
Hankin</a>’s set plays with this idea of the Renaissance, but nowhere near enough,
or to the degree you might expect from Flack’s previous work or considering the
fact that inspiration was taken from the work of Bosch, Giotto, and Botticelli.
<a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Stephen%20Curtis">Stephen
Curtis</a>’ costumes – a veritable cornucopia of Renaissance and
early-modern-period styles (keyword being ‘period’) – are a riot of colours and
character types, but never seem to feel an intrinsic part of the world of the
play. They feel like they are stuck in a kind of purgatory which, considering
Shakespeare’s plot and the ideas within the play itself, seems vaguely apt, but
this is never built upon nor made clear in any way, and there is precious
little to look at besides bodies in plush velvet and bright motley (and enough
lean and slipper’d pantaloons to last seven times seven ages). <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Nick%20Schlieper">Nick
Schlieper</a>’s lighting brings a Renaissance quality to Flack’s stage
pictures, but the production never really shines nor radiates any holy chaotic
light of its own to match or enhance this. Alan John’s music, alongside Cailtin
Porter’s sound design, brings the on-stage musician trick so memorably deployed
in <i><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-diary-of-a-madman/">The Diary of a
Madman</a></i>, and combines it with snatches of Gershwin and a catalogue of
Renaissance-sounding whims and confections, and it is quite delicious, if a
trifle incongruous with the lack of life elsewhere on stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part of the
problem with this <i>Twelfth Night</i> is
its textual fidelity as much as its staging. Setting yourself the task of
“performing the play almost entirely as written” can work, but only so long as
you find ways to make it work. When tackling Shakespeare or any one of the
other Renaissance/Early-Modern writers like Marlowe, Webster, or Jonson, part
of any contemporary production’s job is to find within the standard text one of
your own; if it means <a href="http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/matthew-luttons-edward-ii-king-kink">cutting
everything except the plot and dramatic beats</a>, fine; if it means trimming
the text to a more manageable length to highlight an issue, that’s fine too.
But staging the complete text ‘because we could’ is dangerous, and Flack’s
production is hoisted by its own petard – it falls victim to its own warning,
and serves to show that there is a reason the complete text is very rarely
performed. Yes, some of the play is archaic nonsense, but we have seen
instances in the last five or six years where Shakespeare’s jokes have been
made hilarious by a talented cast and/or clever substituting of modern idioms
for those that have fallen out of currency. In fact, it is exactly what Flack
did in his production of <i>As You Like It</i>
in 2011 on the same stage, by giving Charlie Garber’s Touchstone Fool the
licence to remove the bits of comic business that didn’t work in a contemporary
context and replace them with his own. In that instance, every addition or subtraction
to the text was made with a very particular and firm intention and structure, and
was not a decision made lightly, no matter how spontaneous, free, or anarchic
it looked in performance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here though, the
lack of rigour and grounding looks indulgent, and the production suffers as a
result of a languorous pacing and many pockets of dead-wood in which large
swathes of text pass almost unintelligibly. In many cases, this is not the
fault of the actors, many of whom are skilled and more-than-capable performers
of Shakespearean text, but rather the dramaturgical grit, reason, and motive
behind each line and exchange. Flack’s staging is also curious, as it was in
parts of <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/angels-in-america.html">Angels
in America</a></i>, in that a lot of the action – and many crucial moments and
lines – are played deep in the corner of the space, or are lost by not facing
out towards the auditorium. In some cases this works, but at other times it
looks like poor direction, something that could have been rectified without too
much reworking of entrances, exits, exchanges, and with almost no meaning lost
but rather meaning and potency gained. There are rare moments – the opening moment
with the white-face-and-clothed chorus echoing Orsino’s movements, the
shipwreck scene which is filled with a joyous abandon which masks yet amplifies
the reality of the moment, the wheelchair cavalcade, and the overhearing of
Malvolio scenes – which all hum and buzz with a wit and effervescence which
disappears all-too-quickly. These moments, all featuring the ensemble, are rare
flashes of Flack’s theatrical wit and ingenuity which I used to admire, but
here they seem buried or lost among the “archaic oddity” of the play and its “strange
poetry.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flack’s <st1:place w:st="on">Illyria</st1:place> is peopled with a motley crew of ratbags,
puritans, lovers, and knavish rogues that only Shakespeare could write, and his
cast do their best to grapple with the language as best they can, with varying
degrees of success. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Nikki%20Shiels">Nikki
Shiels</a>’ Viola is at first a full-blooded young woman distraught by the
disappearance of her twin brother, while her alter-ego Cesario is boyish yet
strangely emotionally distant. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Damien%20Ryan">Damien
Ryan</a>’s Orsino, resplendent in maroon velvet doublet and pantaloons and
boots, is a lovesick count who seems to see through Cesario’s disguise from the
beginning. While Orsino’s passion seems muted, Ryan’s passion and dexterity
with the language does not, and it is a joy (as it always is) to watch and hear
the words drip from his tongue with clarity, honesty, and full-coloured life
that you are never in any doubt as to their meaning. Anita Hegh’s Olivia is
relatively straight-laced in her dark bottle-green gown and veil, but there is
a passion underneath her skin which rarely gets the chance to burst forth.
Lucia Mastrantone’s Maria, Olivia’s maid, in a similarly coloured dress, bursts
forth with wit and clamour, not afraid to twist words and scenarios around her
finger, nor is she scared to dispense revenge with a cruel streak; the gulling
of Malvolio, at her insistence, is both uproarious and vicious, yet we never
lose sight of the human cost of the actions. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Peter%20Carroll">Peter
Carroll</a>’s Malvolio, the po-faced Puritan, is a menacing ascetic figure who
stalks the stage like a shadow, disproving of indulgence in all its forms; his
reaction to the contents of Maria’s letter is a burst of technicolor as if from
a shattered stained-glass window, and his smile will make you shudder; like
Ryan, Carroll’s dexterity with the language is clear, and his performance (and
dance) is something to behold. Keith Robinson’s Feste is a cantankerous old
Fool who, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/twelfth-20160718-gq83if.html">even
though he is wheelchair-bound</a>, seems more full of life than some of the
other characters. Robinson’s face is expressive not just with words, but with
(sometimes malicious) intent, cunning, and good-humour, and his deconstruction
of a number of lines and songs is particularly clever (even if it is lifted straight from <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2017/the-popular-mechanicals">The Popular Mechanicals</a></i> which Robinson devised with Tony Taylor and William Shakespeare, and premiered at Company B Belvoir in 1987). <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Amber%20McMahon">Amber
McMahon</a>’s Sebastian is an effective mirror to Shiels’ Viola though suffers
from a lack of stage-time, but her Fabian is particularly memorable in her
(in)ability to climb the wall and baiting of Malvolio, and she proves (yet
again) that she is as skilled at comic roles as she is at straighter roles. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/John%20Howard">John
Howard</a> and Anthony Phelan as the pair of larger than life scoundrels Sir
Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek respectively, are marvellously full of
bluster, swagger, and seem the very essence of their commedia del’arte
counterparts; Howard delivers his lines at times towards the floor which makes
some moments undecipherable, while Phelan loses some of his through their
rapidity, but their eccentricity and colourfulness compensate. Emily Uguvale’s
Antonio suffers from a lack of stage-time and a particularly flat character
whose only purpose seems to be to assist Sebastian find lodgings before being
arrested by the Illyrian militia; her songs however are magical, and her voice
fills the theatre with a sweetness otherwise largely missing from the
production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flack’s first
season as artistic director of Belvoir seems to be nostalgia-tripping the light
not-so-fantastic; of the six productions Upstairs so far, only one (<i><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-events/">The Events</a></i>) has
truly compelled, even if one beat within it clanged with dramaturgical
insensitivity. Part of the problem with this <i>Twelfth Night</i> is the lack of rigour in which it sits – from its
concept to its direction and execution. Part of the problem lies in its in
insistence on textual fidelity – in performing the text whole, I am unsure of
what the story Flack is trying to tell in this production; why has this play
been done now, what does it say about us now, why should we care about it now?
Where other productions have highlighted <a href="http://abardthing.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/twelfth-night10.html">the
sorrow and darkness</a> or the <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/twelfth-night.html">cast-adrift-ness
and selflessness</a> in the play, Flack’s production highlights the… His
directors notes propose the play is about love and grief, and how “they’re two
sides of the same coin, inevitably [leading] to each other.” But all I feel a
couple of days later is a hollowness and emptiness which is only exacerbated by
the luscious colours and emptiness of Hankin’s set. Also a grief – that this
particular bunch of actors have been given seemingly little (and simultaneously
too much) to play with so have created a kind of perfectly adequate production
you might perhaps see at a university or drama school but nothing truly
stand-out that we have come to expect from Belvoir and Flack. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ending of
Flack’s production is rather anticlimactic. While downplaying the
wonder-upon-wonder tendency of the text (whereby Cesario is revealed to be Viola;
Sebastian and Viola are reunited; Olivia ‘gets’ Sebastian, and Orsino ‘gets’
Viola because they ‘knew’ all along, no matter how weird the truth of that
actually is), Flack has denied us of the final release from the darkness of
Shakespeare’s play; we are still trapped within the Malvolio-like bitterness
that mars the apparent-arcadia of Illyria. Is the production a fantasy enacted
by mad people as suggested by the cast’s on-stage appearance at the start of
the show in white faces and clothes, suggested by the frequent describing of
people as ‘mad’ or ‘madmen’? Is it a Renaissance tableau come to life, in all
its chaotic Boschian glory – but if so, where is the true chaos and madness,
the nightmarish visions, the hellfire and damnation? Or is it, taking a leaf
from Shakespeare’s setting for <i>Coriolanus</i>,
“a place calling itself the Renaissance,” whereby it is "a time of overthrow, when
shitty, vain, splendid humanity [replaces] the saints and angels as the glory
of creation. No more halos, just hangovers.” If so, where is the grit, where is
the justification, where is the exploration of this idea, the nuance of it, the
light and shade, the colour and gradation; the sense of death and rebirth, the
renewal and the cessation; the chiaroscuro, the tempera; the plastered and the
cracked, the angels and demons; the heavenward aspirations and the earthbound
fall of realisation – where are they in Flack’s Renaissance-inspired conception
of Illyria? Where is the rigour?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Even though this
is the sixth or seventh <i>Twelfth Night</i>
I’ve seen in as many years, I still maintain that Lee Lewis’ production for Bell
Shakespeare remains the high-bar that any future production needs to clear. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Not only was it theatrically
playful and embracing of the capacity for imagination to complete the rest of
the illusion, but it was grounded in a tangible and very real sense of loss and
grief (the aftermath of the 2010 Victorian bushfires); the joy and aliveness were
never far away from the sorrow and heartbreak at the core of all Shakespearean
tragedy. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">For all Flack’s gimmicks and
indulgences, his </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Twelfth Night</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> was
more what he will than what you will.</span>Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-53809191154151886952016-07-14T20:53:00.000+10:002017-12-04T10:13:55.476+11:00Fallen from the sky: Ensemble’s A History of Falling Things<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">This
piece was originally </span>written for <a href="http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/glenn-saunders/a-history-of-falling-things-251739">artsHub</a>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A romantic-co</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">medy
about two keraunothnetophobes, James Graham’s <i>A History of Falling Things</i> is a gentle, humorous and ultimately
moving play about overcoming your fears and venturing outside of your comfort
zone (literally, in this case). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Robin and Jacqui
are both keraunothnetophobes – that is, they both suffer the fear of things
falling from the sky. When they both meet online in a chatroom for others like
themselves, they find each other reaching out across the space between them,
through their screens, and ultimately facing their fears.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Directed by Nicole
Buffoni, Graham’s play unfolds on a split-stage: one half, stage right, is
Robin’s room; the other half, stage-left, is Jacqui’s room. Where a larger
theatre might have made more use of space, Buffoni and her designer, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Anna%20Gardiner">Anna Gardiner</a>, have created a tiny
world – almost as small as that of Robin and Jacqui – and the play bubbles and
hums inside it, before spilling over with its infectious life. Along the rear
of the stage is a tall wall, with doors, windows, and cupboards ingeniously set
into it, concealing everything from changes of clothes to food and telephones,
and Buffoni and her cast use this to its full (and beautiful) extent. The only
downside here is the way the wall doubles as a projector screen (with Tim
Hope’s simple but never simplistic projections) – some moments are lost by the
people sitting on the far edges of the audience, though the on-stage action is
never obscured. Christopher Page’s lighting is simple, clearly and cleverly
marking Robin and Jacqui’s worlds side-by-side, as well as opening out moments
with bursts of golden and coloured light. Alistair Wallace’s sound design is
rich and textured, and uses existing music to simple and eloquent effect.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eric Beecroft’s
Robin – a children’s book author – is shyly geeky, a bumbling young man who
speaks in bits and bursts, but his heart is big; there is an honesty to
Beecroft’s performance which is instantly endearing and by the end of the play
you’ll find yourself cheering for him, just as much as for Jacqui. Played by
Sophie Hensser, there is a similarly endearing quality to Jacqui which makes it
very hard not to instantly like her. But there is also a poignant side to Jacqui
which makes her struggle to overcome her keraunothnetophobia all the more
engaging.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The supporting
cast – Merridy Eastman as Robin’s talkative mum, Lesley; Brian Meegan as
Jacqui’s well-meaning dad, Reece; Sam O’Sullivan as the enabling courier Jimmy –
are all honestly played, and there is a moving sense of compassion between them
towards and about Robin and Jacuqi’s fears, as well as in their own outlook on
the world. They, like Graham, don’t judge the others, but try to help them as
best they can.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only other
quibble with Buffoni’s production are the phone conversations between Robin and
his psychologist John, which are played in almost-darkness, punctuated only by
animations on the rear wall. While the conversations are a largely-essential
part of Graham’s play, their staging is a little clumsy and peppers the
otherwise swift-moving production with curious pockets of inactivity; perhaps
if we saw Robin and/or Jacqui going about their daily lives in theatrical
half-light the dip in momentum would not seem so prominent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Graham’s play is a
little slow to kick into gear, especially for the first twenty minutes as he
sets up the story and circumstances surrounding his characters, but once we are
invested in the story, right there alongside Robin and Jacqui, Lesley, Reece,
and Jimmy, the play ticks over at a gently brisk pace, and we never really want
it to end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While <i>A History of Falling Things</i> is a story
of boy-meets-girl, but it’s also more than that – it’s about families and
parents, plans which don’t always go as planned, about stories and Pluto, the
kindness of strangers, and the courage to reach out to someone you barely know.
And while the ending, when it comes, is foreshadowed almost right from the
start, it’s hard not to grin with all the giddiness of being in love yourself,
and it makes for a gently sweet and entertaining ninety minutes, and proves
that sometimes the best love stories do happen in full glorious Technicolor.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-3334264386743438462016-07-01T22:35:00.001+10:002016-07-01T22:35:44.727+10:00Sport for Jove's Away<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://australianplays.org/playwright/CP-gowhig">Michael Gow</a>’s <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-102">Away</a></i> is something of a
mainstay on the high school syllabus, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a
student who hasn’t studied it (or at the very least, heard of it), sometime in
the past fifteen years or so. Set in the late 1960s, it is a coming-of-age
story on both a personal level as well as a cultural and societal level; the
Vietnam War is in full-force, conscription is very much a reality, Indigenous Australians
were constitutionally recognised, and the women’s rights movement was swiftly gaining
momentum. Produced by <a href="http://www.sportforjove.com.au/">Sport for Jove</a>
in the play’s thirtieth-anniversary year, Gow’s <i><a href="http://www.sportforjove.com.au/theatre-play/away">Away</a></i>
here feels old, starts to show its age and, despite some nuanced moments, ultimately
fails to live up to its status as a classic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Essentially a
series of vignettes – although there is a narrative progression which runs
throughout – Gow’s play follows three families over their Christmas holidays, and
details in soft-focus their fears, loves, losses, dreams, and the hurdles they
must overcome. Performed in the <a href="http://www.seymourcentre.com/">Seymour
Centre</a>’s vast York Theatre, something of Gow’s intimacy is lost even if the
humanity at the heart of the story remains.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But memory is a
strange thing, as are expectations. Having studied the play at school quite a
few years ago, I remembered it as being one of the few texts we studied that I liked
outside of the classroom. Thus seeing it on stage (and having sizable
expectations of it), I realised it’s a kind of Super 8mm sort of play – that
is, we might remember it fondly in hindsight, but its colours were a bit faded,
the movements jerky, it’s not as clear or smooth as it was in our memory, and
it didn’t hang together that well at all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s a kind of
amateurish quality to the production, though I am more than certain it is a
deliberate choice by directors <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Damien%20Ryan">Damien
Ryan</a> and Samantha Young. Staged on Lucilla Smith’s wooden beach set, there
is very much a community theatre feel to the production, from the stiffness of
the acting, to the slightly forced nature of some of the performances, to the movement
sequences which bordered on interpretive dance. Jonathan Hindmarsh’s costumes firmly
locate us in the ‘long summer’ of the late-1960s, while Ben Brockman’s lighting
saturates the stage in blue and amber, and perfectly captures the golden
Australian sunshine (as well as cleverly simulating the glow of a beach-side
bonfire), and Steve Francis’ sound design blends the obligatory Mendelssohn
with electric guitars, lush strings, ukulele, and a dash of Holst for the storm
sequence. The combined result looks period and feels mostly right (and there
are a couple of moments of theatrical magic, such as the storm sequence), but the
emotional heart of the play (or the performances) never elevates the play off
the page and into the kind of magic we would expect from the company and the
playwright.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Bell brings
a goofy teenager-ness to Tom, which nicely plays off Georgia Scott’s strong and
sure Meg; there’s a scene late in the play where Tom, embodying a very male
point of view he perhaps doesn’t entirely believe, clashes with the fiery
defiance of Meg’s ‘modern’ mindset. While the moment jars in the context of the
play, it ultimately works to show the changing attitudes between sexes,
characters, and times that we still haven’t fully come to terms with yet,
fifty-odd years later. Danielle King and Michael Cullen bring a protective
fierceness to their portrayal of Tom’s parents, and though they might not have
much, there is still a generosity to them which plays in stark contrast to Meg’s
parents, particularly her mother Gwen. Berynn Schwerdt’s Jim (Meg’s father) is
compassionate if a little gently-spoken, but there’s a fire in him that is not
diminished by his continual acquiescence to Gwen’s shrill and too-forceful opinion
that what she says is (and must be) right. Angela Bauer’s Coral doesn’t seem
terribly real – that is, her characters’ grief is not well defined, or at least
its source isn’t made clear – though that is also something I’ve always found rather
elliptical in Gow’s play (we know she’s lost a son, and eventually we discover
how, but the development and integration of it does the character a disservice).
Christopher Tomkinson’s <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Roy</st1:place></st1:city>
is avuncular, but there’s also something tender underneath the jocular exterior,
though his treatment of his wife Coral is another sore point (or rather it is a
product of the play’s setting and context).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Producing the play
now also throws into light onto the references made within it, and also the context
in which the play is set and that in which Gow was writing. The references to
the schoolchildren-cum-actors being like ‘the next Chips Rafferty’ feel forced,
as though it’s the only point of reference for these characters, and it perhaps
highlights the small-mindedness of the characters but also of Australia to that
point. It also brings to harsh light the casually sexist and racist remarks
which are delivered by the characters without too much of a second thought; it’s
chilling to realise that even though we’d like to think we’re different to how
we were fifty years ago, we haven’t really changed at all. The sequence where
the other long-standing holidayers make their grievances heard reeks of
parochialism and seems to confirm the belief in the White Australia Policy
which was still very much enforced in the 1960s. It also throws an ugly light
on our current treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers, and it’s a bleak truth
to realise that those sentiments are still very much alive and kicking in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place>
today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the
production is timely, and a welcome chance to see this ‘classic’ text revived
on its anniversary, it does feel a little older than it should, and while I am
certain it is a deliberate choice to play it as though it is by an amateur
company (something Sport for Jove are anything but), it ultimately lets the
production down and it doesn’t quite recover or sit right. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-65965549122913997702016-06-26T17:03:00.000+10:002016-06-26T17:03:48.774+10:00Nowra or never: Don’t Look Away’s Inner Voices<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First produced in
1977 at the Nimrod (now Belvoir) Downstairs theatre, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Louis%20Nowra">Louis
Nowra</a>’s <i><a href="http://www.oldfitztheatre.com/inner-voices">Inner Voices</a></i> was
written in the middle of the ‘New Wave’ period of Australian playwriting.
Loosely defined as the late-1960s to the early-1980s, the ‘New Wave’ had
similar flourishes in all other sectors of the performing arts and society,
including film, literature, and music, and sought to bring a distinctly
Australian sensibility to their work, as well as an experimentalism borrowed
from European theatre, in a bid to distinguish themselves from the inherent
Britishness that had been previously maintained. By the late 1970s, “the
visionary enthusiasm and common sense of purpose that had characterised the New
Wave were wearing off,” as John McCallum writes in <i><a href="http://www.currency.com.au/product_detail.aspx?productid=1872&ReturnUrl=/theatre-books.aspx">Belonging</a></i>.
Out of the growing sense of disillusionment with the lack of unifying
cohesiveness amongst their output, came Stephen Sewell and Louis Nowra, whose
work was more political, less noticeably Australian, and “more cinematic in
dramaturgy.” It is from this context, that <i>Inner
Voices</i> springs, and Nowra’s interests and influences are as eclectic as his
exploitation of genre and style. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we may now
be open to the definition of what constitutes an Australian play, in the early
1980s it was still a point of contention that a play set overseas was not inherently
Australian. Looking at Nowra’s <i>Inner
Voices</i> today – forty years after it first appeared, in something of a
mainstage revival – we can see that it is very much an Australian play,
irrespective of the fact it is set in eighteenth century <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. “The
first of Nowra’s plays to attract wide attention,” <i>Inner Voices</i> is the story of a young prince, Ivan, who has been
locked away in a prison for years, knowing only his name. Following the death
of his mother Catherine the Great, Ivan is installed as a puppet-tsar by
opportunistic advisers who want power for themselves. But as Ivan’s taste for
power and savagery grows, so too do the troubles enveloping his kingdom, until
Ivan achieves a savage retribution and comes into his own world.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Nowra,
“national history is a distinctly post-colonial one,” writes <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Theatre-of-Louis-Nowr-Veronic-Kelly/9780868195728?ref=grid-view">Veronica
Kelly</a>, “where tragedy, romance and face […] collide in magic realist mode;
where the inarticulate and marginalised possess strengths inaccessible to their
oppressors; and where the traumas of the past erupt in the present to be
rehearsed, replayed and refigured.” <i>Inner
Voices</i> seems like the perfect example of this concept, and it is thrilling
to see it brought to such vivid and intoxicating life in the hands of <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Phil%20Rouse">Phil
Rouse</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dontlookawaytc/">Don’t Look
Away</a>. Playing at the <a href="http://www.oldfitztheatre.com/">Old Fitz
theatre</a>, a theatre much the same size as the Nimrod Downstairs theatre
where it was first produced, there is something magnetic about this play, about
Nowra’s writing, and Rouse’s production, and it makes for a thrilling
ninety-minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rouse gives us a
vision of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
which is cold, dark, and foreboding, haunted by hidden (omniscient) voices and
ruthless thuggish soldiers. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Anna%20Gardiner">Anna
Gardiner</a> and Martelle Hunt’s set is a series of platforms and ladders, as
grey and dark as the walls of the theatre, constantly changing from cell to
guardhouse to tower, inside and out. There’s a kind of punk sensibility to
their costumes, combining everything from eighteenth-century-ish finery,
jackets and shirts, to sequined dresses, jackboots, berets and sweaters, and
sharp suits, and it’s a kaleidoscope of styles which do not seem out of place
alongside one another. Sian James-Holland’s lighting is a rhapsody in blue,
cold whites, and purples, and is eerie and disconcerting without overstating
its simplicity, while Katelyn Shaw’s sound design is both subtle and
inyourface, cleverly mixing Ivan’s inner voices with those from the loudspeakers,
along with the sounds of the prison, and an eclecticism in music choices that
does not seem anachronistic at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rouse’s cast are
incredibly strong. Annie Byron’s long-suffering Peter is wickedly funny and
subversively vicious, all without barely so much as a sentence passing from her
lips. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Julian%20Garner">Julian
Garner</a>, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Francesca%20Savige">Francesca
Savige</a>, and Nicholas Papademetriou bring individuality to their multiple
roles, and imbue their disembodied voices with a disturbing warmth, a hypnotic
sense of the familiar even though we know they are pulling Ivan’s strings for
someone else’s purpose. Emily Goddard’s Princess and Baby Face, while two very
different characters, feel like two halves of the same coin, and there’s a nice
juxtaposition in her characters and the way they interact with Ivan. Anthony
Gooley’s Mirovich (in a fat-suit half-way to resembling Mr Creosote) is an
opportunistic officer who likes nothing more than delegating, eating, drinking,
and sleeping, and there’s a dangerous tyranny in his keeping Ivan in the dark,
metaphorically and literally, and it’s no surprise when he gets his due. Damien
Strouthos’ Ivan is at first like a petulant child, but as Mirovich’s influence
takes hold, Ivan becomes violent, brutal, despotic, until he returns to a
savage childishness, delighting in the ways he can cause pain; it’s both
engrossing and harrowing in a heartbeat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veronica Kelly
writes that “Nowra’s plays maintain the outsider’s compassion, dark comedy,
violence, irony and questioning political vision. ‘Australian culture’ in
Nowra’s theatre is a dynamic and richly-textured hybrid of competing stories
and styles. The visions of the marginalised, the damaged and the survivor
assume disruptive and questioning agency; acting as metamorphic and comic
forces in the theatrical transactions between social power and imaginative
transformation.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like his contemporary Stephen Sewell, Nowra’s writing is impassioned,
eclectic, and political, though his critique and commentary is not as blunt as
Sewell’s. In Nowra’s plays, he examines what it means to be Australian in every
form, as well as “what influences and conditions [affect] life [here],” as John
McCallum writes. Like many of his early plays, <i>Inner Voices</i> is a political allegory, about power, influence,
brutality, conditioning, and “the effects of dreams, teachings and impositions
of power on blank, but always alarmingly-receptive, minds.” It’s timely, and certainly
compelling, and though he rhapsodies upon this theme in his later plays, <i>Inner Voices</i>’ youthfulness and dark exuberance
is still bewitching and it quickly gets under your skin and fixes you to your
seat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s something
of <a href="https://vimeo.com/56128054">Derek Jarman’s wildness and anger</a> in
Rouse’s production – in Nowra’s writing as much as in the design, direction and
performances – and it is absolutely mesmerising. As government funding and
support for the arts in almost every form continues to be cut, it’s in
productions like this – that are small in scale, but large in impact – that show
just how effective money, time and talent can be used to get the most from
limited resources. It seems entirely and urgently appropriate then, that this production
is produced by Don’t Look Away. Because it is tsar and away one of the best
productions you’ll see this year, and you really shouldn’t miss it at all.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-1177423293400078752016-06-24T01:00:00.000+10:002016-06-24T01:00:27.435+10:00The karate kid: Belvoir & Stuck Pigs Squealing’s Back at the Dojo<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world
according to Lally Katz is one populated with fortune tellers, Hungarian
neighbours, golems, forgotten vaudeville troupes, the Apocalypse Bear, and the
Hope Dolphin. It’s a world of magic, where things are not quite what they seem,
where everything is a story in one way or another, and characters often find
themselves returning to Earth sooner or later. After the success of <i><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/neighbourhood-watch/">Neighbourhood
Watch</a></i> and <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/stories-i-want-to-tell-you-in-person.html">Stories
I Want To Tell You In Person</a></i>, and having read a number of her previous
plays, the promise of a new play by Lally Katz was tantalising, and came with
more than a few expectations. But even though the story is drawn from her own
family mythology and features a character based on her father as a young man,
it doesn’t quite feel like the play it should be, the play it wants to be, and
as a result feels a little bit hollow, though not without heart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background: white;"><a href="http://belvoir.com.au/productions/back-at-the-dojo/">Back at the Dojo</a></span></i><span style="background: white;"> – a co-production
with <a href="http://belvoir.com.au/">Belvoir</a> and Melbourne company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StuckPigsSquealing">Stuck Pigs Squealing</a>,
Katz’s former co-conspirators – is inspired by the story of her parents’ meeting.
Drifting through 1960s <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region>,
Danny stumbles across a karate dojo in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
Jersey</st1:place></st1:state> and, like the other members of the dojo, finds
his way again with the help of the strict but not unbending sensei, and a young
woman called Lois. Set against this, in something of a stark contrast, is the
other end of the story, that of Dan and Lois (now older and in contemporary
suburban <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>),
and their granddaughter who has decided to become </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Patti Smith. It’s a seemingly gloriously
Katzian collage, drawn from real life, chance meetings, and the talents of her
collaborators, but something is missing in both the script in a very basic
narrative way, and in the production.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Mel%20Page">Mel
Page</a>’s set puts us firmly in the hospital where Lois lies. While the
hospital room is depicted in all its clinical detail, there are one or two
surprises which work their magic, and the space doubles as the karate dojo with
nothing more than a change in lighting. While much of the hospital scenes are
set around the upstage edges of the space, the dojo fills the downstage void
with precision and rigour, but it is not enough the alleviate the ‘empty’
feeling at the heart of this production. Page’s costumes – naturalistic and/or
exuberant as the scene dictates – are functional and convey the nuances and
character without being obtrusive or impacting upon the actors’ performances.
Richard Vabre’s lighting is at times stark (such as in the dojo), deceptively warm
(in the hospital), and mesmerisingly colourful as Danny crosses the
(imaginary?) <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place>
of his youth. There are some lovely touches in Vabre’s design, in the
transitions between scenes and in the way characters are caught in the side or
edges of light, shards of memories from years long past but no less potent.
Jethro Woodward’s sound design is subtle, evoking the precision of the dojo,
the sterility of the hospital, and the wildness of imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director Chris Kohn, a
long-time collaborator of Katz’, keeps the story moving, but there is a weirdly
languid pace to the production which doesn’t do its running time many favours.
Part of this elongated rhythm stems from Katz’ play – scenes pass without too
much happening, and incidents don’t feel as dramatic or significant as they
should be. Part of the languidness also stems from the use of the space – too
many scenes, especially the hospital scenes, and the early scenes between Danny
and his father, or Lois and her family, are played too far upstage, towards the
rear of the set. In the Belvoir corner, where magic frequently happens on the
lip of the downstage area, right in the audience’s lap, back in the dojo we
feel alienated, too far away from the action, as though we’re intruding on
something, someone else’s memories, things we perhaps aren’t meant to be
seeing. Kohn’s – and Katz’ – decision to include a real karate sensei, Natsuko
Mineghishi, in the play, to bring the outside world into the theatre, is a bold
choice which pays dividends; she brings with her a rigour, structure,
discipline, and a magnetic sense of honour, respect, and perseverance which is
humbling and lifts the play out of its laguidity into a methodical and logical
state of being where actions have dimension, where there is no failure but
small-mindedness and the inability to see beyond limitations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kohn’s cast are all strong
actors, but we sometimes don’t get the clarity and purpose we need in their
performance and/or dramatic function. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Luke%20Mullins">Luke
Mullins</a> cuts a distinctively noticeable silhouette as Patti, but even
though he looks the part, too much of his performance is played upstage, away
from the audience, or with his back to the audience. While Mullins is a strong actor,
we don’t see anywhere near enough of his range and versatility here; the only concession
to this is the break-out moment at the end of the play where Patti Smith’s ‘Land’
plays and, well, let’s just say the pay off is gloriously full-blooded and alive,
the kind of life the rest of the play could have used a little of.<br />
<a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Brian%20Lipson">Brian
Lipson</a><b> </b>and<b> </b>Harry Greenwood play the older and younger
Danny’s respectively; as (Old) Dan, Lipson is somewhat muted and muffled,
though not without his own kind of grace and focus. As younger Dan – Danny, if
you will – <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Greenwood</st1:place></st1:city>
is magnetic, and there’s a charm and compassion to his performance which you
cannot deny, but also a strength and a conviction to keep going and make a
better life for himself. <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Greenwood</st1:place></st1:city>’s
scenes with Lois, played by Catherine
Davies, are beautifully played, and there’s an easy kind of friendship and
sense of companionship between them. Davies’ Lois is determined but not blindly
so; there is a sense of old hurt but also youthfulness, a need to build her
wings in her own space that is beautiful to watch. I just wish we could have seen
more of these two together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But even though the central performances
are reasonably strong (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Greenwood</st1:city></st1:place>
and Davies’ in particular), Katz’ script still feels undercooked, and this seems
strange considered there were two dramaturges working on the production (Louise
Gough, and Anthea Williams), and the play has been in development for the
better part of five or six years. Part of this stems from the two halves of the
story as it has been conceived – they feel as if they come from two different
plays, like two-thirds of two different plays which have been joined together
to create a new one because by themselves they aren’t quite enough to sustain a
play in its entirety. Part of the problem also stems from the rhythm of the
play, of the scenes – not enough happens dramatically in the scenes, and
incidents don’t feel as dramatic or significant as they should, and thus the
stakes aren’t quite present or high enough for us to invest totally in the
characters; we already know how the story will end from the very beginning of
the play. Knowing that a lot of what Katz writes – and indeed very much the way
she writes – is drawn from her life and/or those around her, I wonder if there could
have been a way for her to take more license with the characters and
situations, to stretch the truth of the situations further and make them more
dramatic, raise the stakes more through invention. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right from Patti’s entrance,
Dan suspects she is having a ‘bad trip’; and although this is set up at the
beginning and then reiterated several times in quick succession, and once or
twice throughout, it is not developed or explored further throughout the rest
of the play. What might a ‘bad trip’ consist of for Patti, what might it
trigger in Dan, how might the two collide and play off each other? (I could
suggest that the whole play is essentially Patti’s ‘bad trip’, but that would
be disingenuous to the emotional tug of the later scenes with Danny and Lois,
and would detract from a lot of the dojo scenes and the sense of purpose
several of the characters find towards the end of the play.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other problem with the play
is the idea that is it, by and large, a play about memory and experience; where
the former is fallible, the latter is relatively concrete, and there are some
nice moments in <i>Back at the Dojo</i>
where the two collide and sit beside each other in gentle juxtaposition. But
the curious conceit remains, in which Patti
is an on-stage witness to everything that happens; I’m not sure if it’s as effective
as it was meant to be, as her presence is for the most part obtrusive, and her
inaction is all-too-noticeable at times. I wonder if there could be a way in
which Patti shapes, plays with – or perhaps even outright rewriting – Danny’s
memories, based on the stories that she herself knows from what Dan, Lois, and
her own mother have told her; could there be more tension here as the ‘real’
Danny and Lois (i.e. the characters in the 1960s part of the play) try to keep
it relatively truthful-to-life, and try to wrest back control from Patti? We
get an eversotiny glimpse of this at the end when Patti finds herself in the
dojo with Danny, but it is a tiny moment, barely more than a look and a few
lines, although it does hint at a nice theatrical conceit which could be
explored further.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with a lot of Lally
Katz’ work, there is a lot in <i>Back at the
Dojo</i> which could be explored further or made more of, but to do so would
take another play or perhaps a substantially different one. Despite its
shortcomings, there are enough moments of rigour and tenderness in here to keep
us going over the play’s two-and-a-half hour duration, though ultimately, for a
play about love, karate, Patti Smith, and memory, it’s not quite as memorable
as it should be.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-16376577894733625372016-06-20T16:16:00.000+10:002017-12-04T10:14:04.570+11:00Shakespeare Make U LOL: The Listies & STC’s The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background: white;">This
is a revised version of a piece </span></b><b>written for <a href="http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/glenn-saunders/hamlet-prince-of-skidmark-251559">artsHub</a>.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I was twelve,
my parents took me to see <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmfrqAVeK0">The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare (Abridged)</a></i>, and even though I didn’t get all the
jokes and references, I fell in love with the craziness, the silliness, and the
sheer fun that the show revelled in and celebrated. To this day, I still
maintain that your first serious exposure to Shakespeare (sometimes as a child)
is how you see him and his work throughout life. Over the past number of years,
there have been various productions which have come close to embracing the same
sort of silliness and irreverence which the Reduced Shakespeare Company ushered
in, and it is always a delight to revel in each production’s new take on the
Bard. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While the rest of
the world tries to out-do each other in the Most Reverent Homage To
Shakespeare’s Legacy award to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th death-day, <a href="http://www.thelisties.com/">The Listies</a> – along with
their friends at <a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/">Sydney Theatre
Company</a> – have mounted a production entitled <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2016/hamlet-prince-of-skidmark">Hamlet:
Prince of Skidmark</a></i> no less, which somehow manages to embrace
Shakespeare’s play (and all its variants) and the kind of mindset often found
in children aged five to ten, and pulls it off with enough fart jokes and
theatrical magic (as well as a healthy dose of chaos) to make you feel like a
kid again.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">The Listies – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Richard
Higgins & Matt Kelly – are a formidable duo of clowns and goofballs. While
Higgins plays the straight-man, the purist intent on performing <i>Hamlet</i> as it was written, Kelly is
hell-bent on derailing that plan and seizes every opportunity for mayhem with
relish and almost-too-much delight. We first see them as ushers, in blue and
gold uniforms, chaotically directing people to their seats before ushering each
other onto the stage, where it is revealed the cast of the intended production
of <i>Hamlet</i> have got food-poisoning
from a four-hundred year old block of mouldy cheese, and it is up to them (and
to the delight of the younger members of the audience) to save the day. Higgins
plays Hamlet, while Kelly plays almost everyone else, with the help of
quick-change costumes (at one point he wears a dress around his neck, with the
coat hanger still attached)!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cavorting
around <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Ren%C3%A9e%20Mulder">Renée
Mulder</a>’s cardboard-box-esque set with costumes that traverse everything
from Elizabethan doublet-and-hose to fluoro plastic ponchos and fake beards,
director <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Declan%20Greene">Declan
Greene</a> (of <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Sisters%20Grimm">Sisters
Grimm</a></i> fame) keeps the drama and the humour developing in a suitably
Shakespearean fashion, and makes sure the production is more than simply a set
of loosely connected sketches. Enlisting the help of the formidable Olga
Miller, the (now) trio set off through Shakespeare’s <i>Hamlet</i> cutting it up into the big speeches and big moments, cutting
out the minor characters (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are relegated to a brief
appearance as croissants), and cutting straight to the audience participation,
big laughs, and even bigger messes. Yet, despite the silliness, there are still
enough poignant moments here so you don’t truly miss the Shakespearean
original, even if they are (ever-so-slightly) undermined by Egyptian cotton
sheets and dry-ice cannons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If
you’ve ever wished <i>Hamlet</i> – and
indeed Shakespeare – had more ninjas, zombies, Nunjas (ninja-nuns),
space-pirates, exploding ears, fart and poo jokes, intergalactic adventures,
and dinosaurs; if you’ve ever wished Ophelia had more to do and say; if you’ve
ever wished Shakespeare’s plays made sense in the way a ten-year-old’s mind
does, then this is most certainly the play for you. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before too long,
the stage is covered in goo, silly-string, aliens, fluorescent vomit, and all
manner of chaos, and the some of the audience have to be prevented from joining
in on-stage. Adults will find it hard not to laugh; kids will find it hard not
to laugh; the actors find it hard not to laugh. In short, if you’re not
laughing, you soon will be. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reminiscent at
times of <a href="http://www.andygriffiths.com.au/">Andy Griffiths</a>’ <i><a href="https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/whats-on/past-productions/just-macbeth/">Just
Macbeth!</a></i> for Bell Shakespeare in 2010, this is <i>Hamlet</i> with everything you could have wanted and more, and it’s the
perfect way to introduce a young person to the magic and chaos of theatre, as
well as to the work of Shakespeare. Perhaps the next generation of
theatre-chaoticians are sitting in these audiences waiting for that lightbulb
moment…</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-18393627114332356022016-06-11T15:22:00.000+10:002016-07-31T10:58:01.556+10:00STC's All My Sons<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Written when he was thirty, as a last attempt at playwriting after a string of plays failed to
garner attention from producers or directors, <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2016/all-my-sons">All
My Sons</a></i> is the first of Arthur Millers’ four big plays (the others
being <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/fighting-american-dream-belvoirs-death.html">Death
of a Salesman</a></i>, <i>The Crucible</i>,
and <i><a href="http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout16-a-view-from-the-bridge">A
View from the Bridge</a></i>, which were all written consecutively). In it, we
can see the seeds of what he would continue to explore in increasing depth and
nuance throughout his career. And although you could perhaps pass <i>All My Sons</i> off as an ‘Ibsenesque’ play,
it is in fact just as devastatingly meaty and dread-full as all his others, and
grapples with issues of morality and ethics, consequences, responsibility,
denial, guilt, and profiteering. And it seems just as relevant now as it did
almost seventy years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Directed by <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Kip%20Williams">Kip
Williams</a> for <a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/">Sydney Theatre
Company</a>, and staged within the cavernous Roslyn Packer Theatre, <i>All My Sons</i> is the story of the Keller
family as they wait for their son Larry, currently Missing In Action after
WWII, to come home. But as relationships form, old unhealed wounds and barely-suppressed
secrets are torn open, and the lie under the floorboards of the Kellers’
stability and wealth is laid bare for all to see.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s an epic
kind of scale to Williams’ production, but it never overlooks the humanness at
the story’s heart. Miller’s story is operatic in scope – both in terms of
scale, and the ways the voices, characters, and story fit together – and <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Alice%20Babidge">Alice
Babidge</a>’s design of the family house is overwhelming and dominating. A
large black minimalist silhouette of the rear of the house, as seen from the
back yard, is a gestural nod to the American Dream (which Miller would later
unpick in <i>Death of a Salesman</i>). When
the play opens, we are right there, almost up against the house, and we can’t
see it until our perspective changes and the house begins ever-so-subtly to
recede into the depths of the stage. Windows and doors appear, lighted squares
in the darkness, and the family – the house –comes alive. As the play
continues, and Miller’s play kicks into gear, ratcheting the tension and drama
continually upwards (though never gratuitously), so too does Babidge’s set
continue to recede, until the dream is no longer attainable. Her costumes too,
are simple but not simplistic, and create character-types in our heads in an
instant; as we get to know them, we realise that the surface does not always
show what’s underneath. Nick Schlieper’s lighting is similarly simple, but
there is also an elegance, a precise focus achieved through simple lighting
which focuses the drama even more acutely. Max Lyandvert’s subtle sound design
and deceptively naïve-sounding score add a poignant touch to this world, and
although it is briefly heard in scene-changes, the haunting elegance of the
tune hints at something darker, larger, and more dread-full than we’d like to
acknowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Williams’ cast are
a fine-tuned group, and although some characters appear for a fraction of a
scene, they are not small parts, nor small actors, and each character feels
lived-in, real, as though they have happened to find their lives being played
out upon this stage. There’s a blustering sense of self-conviction to John
Howard’s Joe Keller, and his early scenes set up a character for whom there is
only one way out. His bluster and gruff pride are moving, but we get a glimmer
of the way he seems to be trying to convince everyone else (just as much as
himself) that there is nothing to worry about, that everything will work itself
out, even though he knows he’s backed himself into a corner; his growing
realisation is both moving and harrowing. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Robyn%20Nevin">Robyn
Nevin</a>’s Kate Keller is fiercely defiant of the truth, and tries to hold
onto the shred of hope that her son isn’t dead, that everything is fine and
always has been, and there is something reminiscent of her </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Violet Venable from Williams’<i> <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/suddenly-last-summer.html">Suddenly
Last Summer</a></i> that makes this play, and her character, more harrowing to
watch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Chris%20Ryan">Chris
Ryan</a>’s Chris Keller is passionate about what he believes in, but we see him
struggle with the truth as much as the rest of his family. When he returns at
the end, his mind made up, he is the catalyst for the Kellers’ ultimate
downfall, and the result of his revelations is terrible as much as it
dramatically thrilling. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Eryn%20Jean%20Norvill">Eryn
Jean Norvill</a>’s Ann Deever, Chris’ fiancée and previously Larry’s, is
iron-willed, but as the daughter of Joe’s disgraced former business partner,
she finds herself conflicted in her desires and actions, caught in the
headlights of the approaching tragedy. Her grace under pressure, and her
resolve are incredibly </span><span style="background: white;">affecting and, like Nevin, there are shades of her
Catherine from <i>Suddenly Last Summer</i>
here which make her performance all the more powerful. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Josh%20McConville">Josh
McConville</a>, as Ann’s older brother George, gives a performance which is
devoid of his usual tics and neurotic mannerisms, and there is a rawness to his
despair, a conviction to expose the truth which is powerfully affecting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In each of Kip
Williams’ productions, he investigates the use of the theatrical space and its
relation to the text. And as this conceit crystalises for each play, he gives
us a poetic tour de force of theatricality which is often breathtaking, and in
some cases magical. You might remember the tomb-like rows of white beds in <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> or the rotating
mansion; the fog-filled theatre in <i>Macbeth</i>;
the conservatorium (and its cinematic mediation) in <i>Suddenly Last Summer</i>; the abstracted house, and the fire in <i>Children of the Sun</i>; the museum, and the
final scene in Love and Information; the pile of earth in <i>The Golden Age</i>… Each gesture comes to bear strongly upon his
exploration of the themes and ideas within each play. Here, we wait on the edge
of our seats, hearts in mouth, for the terrible conclusion we know is coming.
And as the family reaches the tipping point, as the ultimate tragedy unfolds
itself, as Joe Keller goes inside to retrieve his coat, Williams presents us
with his final poetic gesture: the house laid bare, in skeletal form, before
us, using the full height of the theatre to full effect. And in this one simple
moment, the whole play comes hurtling into focus, and we see Miller’s
devastating conclusion, spotlight and unavoidable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the program,
Miller explains the misconception of tragedy, illustrating how important
optimism is to the successful portrayal of tragedy. The more optimistic the
characters’ outlook, the more devastating the tragedy when it finally unfolds
itself upon their doorstep. In <i>All My
Sons</i>, just as in <i>Death of a Salesman</i>
which seems very much a deeper exploration of similar concerns, the Kellers’
belief that they have done nothing wrong, that everything will work out, that
there is nothing to worry about is their ultimate downfall as they have to face
the truth they have tried so hard to deny. This is where the play gains its
power from, where Williams’ production shifts into precise focus, where
Miller’s interests come into the cold hard light. And it is every inch as
thrilling as it is devastating.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part of what makes
this production so thrilling, such a joy to watch, is its robust handling of
Miller’s style. At the time <i>All My Sons</i>
was written, Tennessee Williams – the other mid-twentieth century American
powerhouse of a playwright – was writing <i>A
Streetcar Named Desire</i> and <i>The Glass
Menagerie</i>. Both playwrights, while interesting in navigating the notion of
truth, did so quite differently: Tennessee Williams was working in the
“subjective landscape of the soul,” to <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/100-Essays-I-Dont-Have-Time-Write-Sarah-Ruhl/9780374535674">quote
playwright Sarah Ruhl</a>, and was writing plays about personal truth; Miller,
on the other hand, built “buildings [to see] whether they stood up,” and was
concerned with “philosophical truth – idealism versus pragmatism,” as Kip
Williams says. In <i>All My Sons</i>, we get
the cold hard light of Joe’s truth in his line, late in Act Three, when he
realises the scale of his actions. “They were all my sons,” he says, and in
that one line, the entirety of Millers’ play suddenly coalesces into one
crystalline line, one moment, and we get the full force of the moral weight of
the play right there.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-12009858688021506562016-05-29T13:46:00.000+10:002016-05-29T13:46:27.302+10:00The price we pay: STCSA’s Things I Know To Be True<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alone on a <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state> train station,
dumped by a boy she thought she loved, nineteen-year-old Rosie Price makes a
list. A list of all the things she knows to be true. It surprises her how short
the list is. And she knows that she has to go home, sooner rather than later.
And this is where our story starts. With a phone call in the middle of the
night – every parent’s nightmare – and also every child’s: who’s calling, who
needs my help? With a body seemingly suspended in the inky black space of the
theatre. With a bleary sleep-croaked ‘Hello?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the course of
the play, we meet the Price family (the name is significant, I think) – father
Bob, mother Fran, and the (now adult) children Pip, Mark, Ben, and Rosie – who
live on a property in Hallett Cove. As we get to know the family and their
relationships with each other, so too their backyard grows – from the fence, to
the paddocks and trees, the flower beds, rose bushes, and the ubiquitous shed –
and something ordinary is created in front of our eyes in sometimes beautiful
and extraordinary ways. Directed by <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Geordie%20Brookman">Geordie
Brookman</a> and Scott Graham, <i><a href="http://www.statetheatrecompany.com.au/home/whatson/shows2016/thingsiknowtobetrue/">Things
I Know To Be True</a></i> is the latest play from acclaimed playwright <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Andrew%20Bovell">Andrew
Bovell</a>, and marks the first international co-production by <a href="http://www.statetheatrecompany.com.au/">State Theatre Company of South
Australia</a>, in this case with UK-based movement company <a href="http://www.franticassembly.co.uk/">Frantic Assembly</a>. It’s a story
about a family, about loving and letting go; about growing and discovering
yourself, finding out who you are; about grieving and saying goodbye; about the
very particular and universal rhythms of family, and how one family grows over the
course of a year.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a neat
conceit, at times at little too neat on Bovell’s part, but there is heart here,
sometimes buried beneath the surface of the text like the roots of the rose
bushes, and sometimes worn on its very sleeve like Rosie’s emotions, but it
never feels gratuitous or overstayed. And while some will argue that the scope
of the play is nowhere near as broad or fascinating as Bovell’s other work
(like <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-2413">When The Rain Stops Falling</a></i>,
<i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-246">Holy Day</a></i>, or <i><a href="http://australianplays.org/script/CP-2201">Speaking In Tongues</a></i>),
I would argue that whereas in those plays he was looking outwards, at the
effects actions and thoughts have on others in society as well as within the
family unit, here Bovell is specifically looking within the family, is looking
inward at how family’s work, at the way secrets and lies, truths and
half-truths shift and change within a family, at the way families love and keep
going, how they survive during times of crisis and stress. And some might argue
it isn’t as rewarding as his other works, this is a play which benefits from
going into the theatre with open arms, an open mind, and an open heart, and letting
it work itself out within you. Bovell himself has said <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/andrew-bovells-things-i-know-to-be-true-explores-dynamics-of-suburbia/news-story/17e933266803809951f243430fcc7182">on
a number of occasions</a> in the lead-up to the play’s premiere that it is very
much inspired by events in his own life, although he is very clear to say it is
in no way autobiography, and it shows. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a very
tangible sense of who these characters are, regardless of whether you like them
or not, and they feel real, if a little exaggerated (though sometimes not
always in the best way). The cast, the six members of the Price family, find
integrity in their roles and give their characters dignity, though I’m not sure
if they’re all as pitch-perfect as the play needs. Paul Blackwell as Bob, the
head of the family, is avuncular and warm, the rock around which the family
gravitates, and his warmth, patience, and tolerance permeates most crises the
family finds themselves in, even if he doesn’t quite understand them in their
entirety. It’s a touching counterpoint to Eugenia Fragos’ Fran, who seems too
shrill, too cruel, too tough on her family, especially Pip the eldest. We later
discover this is in part because she loves them, because Pip reminds her of
herself but with more passion, but it’s not quite enough to warrant the ending
when it comes, which comes out of nowhere (as those events always do) and
doesn’t quite affect us as it should. It feels as if Fragos is in a slightly
different play to the rest of the family, a harsher, meaner one where
tough-love is dispensed like water, and it is in part her performance but also
Bovell’s writing for and about her, that doesn’t quite sit within the rest of
the world he has created.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pip, the eldest
child, played by Georgia Adamson, bears the brunt of Fran’s disdain, but it
perhaps isn’t always intended to hurt as much as it does – to Pip, and to us,
the audience. Adamson’s performance is filled with steel and determination,
passion for a career that will take her away from her (young) family, and there
is something fierce in her defence of her actions which is affecting, even if
Fran doesn’t quite allow us to quite feel its full power. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Tim%20Walter">Tim
Walter</a>’s Mark, the eldest son, is touching in his search for identity, for
somewhere to fit in, his struggle and anguish in living as someone who he is
not, and lying to himself and his family, the people he loves. There’s also
something moving in his relationship with his younger sister Rosie, and we
watch this grow in a number of instances, and it is perhaps Rosie who sees
through the physical shell of his being and sees him for who he is, when no one
else in the family can; their exchange of watches is beautifully executed, and
the story of their trip to the airport is gentle and fierce, and hints at something
deeper which Bovell’s play doesn’t quite articulate. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Nathan%20O%27Keefe">Nathan
O’Keefe</a>’s Ben is something of the rebel, desperately wanting to fit in with
people in a vastly different world to him; but there is also something tender
to his character which we get glimpses of, glimpses which hint at someone who
is still not comfortable with the life he leads, someone who really is just a
scared little kid when you peel away the veneer of the high-flying playboy, and
it is Rosie who once again bears witness to this. Rosie, played by Tilda
Cobham-Hervey is the youngest child, apparently ‘un-planned,’ but she is also
the lens through which we see much of the play, the one who brings the whole
play into being by her abrupt and all-too-soon return from overseas. There’s a
youthfulness to Cobham-Hervey’s Rosie, as well as a maturity beyond her years,
but she is again at once neither a child nor an adult but somewhere in between,
and as the play grows so too does Rosie until she is ready to spread her wings
and leave the family nest and venture into the world on her own. Her emotions
are our own, and her eagerness and heartbreaking emotional rawness are
beguiling.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brookman and
Graham’s production is handsome, and is directed with clearness and verve.
Graham’s sensibility with Frantic Assembly is not imposed upon Bovell’s text,
but instead finds spaces within it to open out and bring an elegance, a
fluidity that is deceptively simple and more than a little bit magical. Bodies
are lifted, turned, tumbled; hands caress and hold, brush past others; gestures
and actions are hinted at, and furniture is pushed across the stage with
astonishing accuracy – chairs and tables hurtle across the stage to arrive
beneath their occupant at precisely the right moment – and it is thrilling. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Geoff%20Cobham">Geoff
Cobham</a>’s set goes someway to enhancing this fluidity, this magic, and his
design is perhaps influenced by <a href="http://www.gagosian.com/artists/gregory-crewdson">Gregory Crewdson</a>’s
work, minutely detailed scenarios which hint at something extraordinary within
the mundane, and Cobham creates a backyard out of its essential elements, a
garden which is at once specific and recognisable, a garden which becomes a
house, a world, a private universe. Cobham’s lighting amplifies his set with
angular spotlights, hundreds of floating lights suspended above the stage, rich
golds and thin blues, purples and greens, which add texture, warmth, and depth
to the otherwise abstracted staging. Ailsa Paterson’s costumes are acutely
tuned to the family’s characteristics, to the world that is being created, and add
nuance to the ordinariness of the Price family. The music, all existing
compositions by German composer <a href="http://www.nilsfrahm.com/">Nils Frahm</a>,
ripple and sparkle through the space, cascading rhythmically like time moving,
days weeks passing, shifting but propelled at a constant pace, and when coupled
with Graham’s wordless movement sequences there is a beautiful eloquence which
is achieved, of bodies in space in motion, of words and emotions writ large
within the space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite all the
magic of this production, Bovell’s play feels overwritten at times, as though
he is ticking boxes of topical issues, that these issues do not intrinsically
spring from the world he has created but rather seem to be foisted upon it.
‘Issues’ such as Pip’s marital fidelity early in the first half form a mirror
with Fran’s revelations late in the second half, but there is also a lack of
nuance and understanding on Fran’s part when it comes to her daughter’s
situation and feelings; Fran’s reaction feels too loud, too harsh, too
malicious this early in the play, even if you can understand where she is
coming from. Other issues, like Mark’s transitioning to Mia, and Ben’s
embezzlement of others’ money don’t quite feel natural to these characters, to
Bovell’s world, and although they are explored with heart and relative compassion,
they still feel clunky, as though they are present to fulfil the conceit of
four children, four seasons, four crises. The thing that carries us through, as
with the rest of the play, is how Rosie reacts to these situations, but as
important as this is, I don’t feel like this is explored enough – if Rosie <i>is</i> the lens through which the play is
focused, the one who kicks it off and through whom we see the family’s
struggles, why do we not really get much of her growth until the very end, why
does she stay mostly silent throughout her siblings’ Big Scenes? Why does she
not play more of an active role in the play rather than being a largely-silent
witness?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosie’s reaction
to Mark’s revelation that his is transgender is shock, she doesn’t know what to
say, but their parents – rather than trying to understand Mark’s feelings, his
own personal crisis – blunder on through it, offending him and putting more
than their foot in it on more than one occasion; while this is recognisable as
something parents do, and do well, there is still a lack of nuance here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bob and Fran’s
private crises, of life fulfilment and finding meaning as everything changes,
are well handled and form a searching counterpoint amongst the chaos of the
family’s year. It is also mirrored in Rosie’s own journey, her maturation and
growing in confidence, in her spreading her wings, and it forms a kind of
grace-note towards the end of the play. Part of the Bovell’s exploration is
also the generational differences between parents and their children, particularly
the baby-boomer generation and Generations X and Y. It’s about decisions which
may be black and white, but which are shaded with nuances in every gradation of
grey in between; it is about changing values and expectations, about
acknowledging this and understanding this, about accepting change and growing
from it, but I don’t think it is quite explored enough. We get more than enough
of Fran bemoaning her children’s lack of consideration for the others around
them, but she herself doesn’t take her own advice and causes rifts in
relationships which aren’t mended (or at least not in what we see on stage).
And it is here that the ending feels unearned, like it isn’t quite as moving as
it could (and should) be; I don’t feel like we are able to love Fran enough –
based on what we see and hear, and what we are told of her – in order for the
ending to be truly affecting. (And by the time we get to the end, of Bob
suspended in the black void of 3 a.m., I wonder if it isn’t a full-circle play
– that the phone call we open with is actually that which we hear at the end;
that Rosie’s return isn’t a full twelve months before that phone call…)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as much as I
try to fathom the play’s neatness, the almost too-perfect conceit of Bovell’s
structure, I cannot help but admire the play, admire the bigness of it, the
stagecraft of the production, and the ideas it tackles however successfully. It
feels, in many ways, like what <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/the-great-fire.html">The
Great Fire</a></i> at Belvoir was trying to be – a family, one house, four
children, generational conflict, working out how to go on when everything
around you changes – but I don’t think this play is quite there yet. It feels
as though there are two or three things being juggled, rather than the single
one which will keep us focused, which will maintain our focus through the story
with clarity. And part of this, I think, comes down to whose story is being
told in the first place: is it Bob’s, and his search for meaning and
fulfilment? Is it Fran’s, and her desire for her children to be better people
than she and Bob were, for them to be more than they could be? Is it Pip’s, and
her search for something more than what she has, something that will make her
happy? Or is it Rosie’s, and her journey from child to adult, from heartbroken
and alone to a mature young woman trying to find her niche in the world; a
young woman who watches her family shift and change around her, and in doing so
finds herself and her own strength to be herself? There can be more than one
subplot to the play, but only one central plot – and I don’t know if this play
has quite got them in the right configuration, the right balance yet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a co-production
between State Theatre Company of <st1:state w:st="on">South Australia</st1:state>
and Frantic Assembly, once this production closes in <st1:city w:st="on">Adelaide</st1:city>,
Brookman and Graham will remount the production with an entirely British cast
on a <a href="http://franticassembly.co.uk/productions/things-i-know-be-true-uk-tour/">UK
regional tour</a> from September to December. And while I won’t be able to see
that incarnation of the production, it will be interesting to see how a
different cast and a different country, how different audiences, will change
the play and the production. And indeed it will be interesting, in years to
come, to see a different production – new director, new team, new cast – and
how a new approach changes and/or tackles, makes sense of the play in their own
way, how it would work. <i>Would</i> it
work? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At its core, <i>Things I Know To Be True</i> is about love,
families, and continuing. How do we love in the twenty-first century? Do we not
love enough? Do we love too much? How do we show it (or not)? How do we say the
things that need to be said without truly hurting those around us? How do we
say goodbye if we’re not ready to do so, if it comes all too soon? What price do
we pay for following our hearts, our dreams, our desires, and how do we live
with that? How do we settle for the things that might be true and right, but
which might not be the things we truly want or desire? How do we know what
matters to us, truly, deeply? How do we know ourselves when everything around
us is in flux, in doubt? How do we Be – ourselves, the best we can be, the
people we need to be to the people who need us most? Simply, how do we love,
and at what price does that come?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not an easy question, but it’s one
worth asking. This is one thing I know to be true.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-76992399893978508042016-05-13T16:16:00.001+10:002016-05-13T16:17:12.208+10:00As the world falls down: Montague Basement’s Telescope<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Following their
production of <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/hamlet.html">Hamlet</a></i>
at the end of last year, I wrote that it had </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">been “a pleasure to watch <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Montague%20Basement">Montague
Basement</a> go from strength to strength in their productions, gaining
confidence (and audacity), finding and sharpening their voice.” With 2016
already well-underway, this uncompromising collective are expanding the scale
of their productions and drawing new collaborators into their fold. Following
his well-received <i>Kaleidoscope</i> at the
Mardi Gras festival in February, Charles O’Grady spreads his wings to bring <i><a href="http://www.montaguebasement.com/telescope/">Telescope</a></i> to the
Sight & Sound arts program in Leichhardt, and the result is a disarming and
thoughtful production which asks questions we should be asking, and does not
pretend to have all the answers.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Telescope </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">is the story of “two good Aussie parents,” Joss and Vic. </span><span style="background: white;">When Jem, their eldest
child, comes out as a transgender man, Joss and Vic can’t help but deny it. As
Jem moves out and they fail to fit this new piece of information into the
puzzle of parenthood, cracks begin to show in the structure of their sturdy
nuclear family. O’Grady’s script is heartfelt and resounds with a large amount
of truthfulness and honesty, and depicts the struggle to comprehend something
outside of the parents’ circle of comfort. Some scenes feel drawn out longer
than they should or need to be, while one or two others seem superfluous or not
entirely crucial to the play’s unfolding. This is by no means a bad thing, but
with a little bit of editing, streamlining, and seeing if there are any scenes
that could be started later or left earlier, might help it become stronger,
sharper, tighter. There is humour here, as well as heartbreak and uncomprehension,
as well as overtones of transphobia, homophobia, fear, and a sense of failing,
and it makes for rewarding if slightly uncomfortable viewing.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">O’Grady’s script
is performed by Caillin McKay and Shevvi Barrett-Brown, who alternate
the roles of Joss and Vic over the two weeks of the show’s run; that is, the characters’
gender changes, while the performers’ stays the same. It’s a brave if slightly
daunting move for a young writer/director and his two actors, and there were a
few opening night nerves where lines were slipped or repeated, but the ultimate
end result is rewarding, and by the end of the run should be smooth and
well-worn. There is a stubbornness to McKay’s Joss, a determination to get
things right from the start, even if it leads to further estrangement. Barret-Brown’s
Vic is earnest and hard-working, desperately trying to keep an even keel on the
turbulent seas of this marriage and the heretofore unchartered relationship
with their son Jem. There are lies and half-truths which ripple through the
play, deeper resonances which could be explored further without losing the
heart that is already there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Staged in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Leichhardt</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Town Hall</st1:placetype></st1:place>, the stage is transformed into
a domestic living room – dining table, couch, shelves, lamps – which seems innocuous
until you realise that maybe it is in fact a prison for their marriage and relationships.
Walls and floors have ears, windows remain open, and you can only hide so much
before you are discovered, before the walls come tumbling down and you have to
rebuild it brick by brick. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the second work
in a cycle, <i>Telescope</i> is a work of
honesty and insight, charm and integrity, and it will be a pleasure to watch it
continue and expand. Already it shows a writer developing their voice,
wrestling with big ideas and important questions, and with a little bit of
editing, ruthlessness, and dramatic shaping, this is the beginning of a voice worth
taking notice of. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-77329708784825315232016-05-13T12:58:00.002+10:002016-05-13T16:17:24.577+10:00Uncertainty is the normal state: Furies’ Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom Stoppard’s
reputation for virtuosic displays of linguistic and intellectual gymnastics has
held its ground for the past fifty-odd years, and one of his earliest plays – <i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/498305467043316/">Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead</a></i> – is perhaps the first time we see his talent on
display. Described variously as ‘Beckettian,’ ‘absurdist,’ or ‘absurdist
existentialism,’ the play takes place in the wings of <i>Hamlet</i>, and asks what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (those
relatively minor and interchangeable characters) are doing throughout the
course of the play while they’re not on stage. By turns funny, strange, witty,
and head-scratchingly dense, the play has become one of Stoppard’s enduring crowd-favourites,
and is presented here by independent company <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Furies">Furies</a>
in a sparse-but-not-empty production.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Staged in the tiny
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/bloodmoontheatre/">Blood Moon Theatre</a> in The
World Bar, director <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Chris%20McKay">Chris
McKay</a> makes light work of Stoppard’s dense text, and gives us a world that
is stripped back to the bare essentials needed to tell this story; anything
else would detract from the circuitous holding pattern Shakespeare’s two auxiliary
characters find themselves in. All McKay has at his disposal are the actors,
Stoppard’s words (they are, after all, all they have to go on), a storage
trunk, and Zjarie Paige-Butterworth’s rich Elizabethan-inspired costumes, and
he uses these to great effect, involving the audience as much as possible – if
not directly, then allowing us into an understanding that we are in fact
supporting players in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s story, just as they are in
Hamlet’s. One of McKay’s clever decisions in this production, borne partly out
of a necessity, is to invert the genders of the characters, commenting (subtly,
directly, or somewhere in between) on the lack of gender parity in theatre,
and/or in a historical context. There are some lovely moments as a result of
this (Leofric Kingsford Smith’s Gertrude, Logan McArthur’s Ophelia), as well as
an incredibly strong dynamic between Krystiann Dingas’ Rosencrantz, Emilia
Stubbs-Grigoriou’s Guildenstern, and Amanda Maple-Brown’s Player, thus
reconfirming my belief that this play is not a two-hander as its title would
have you believe, but rather a three-hander. McKay’s other deft stroke is to
incorporate moments of existential quandary – the opening coin-tossing sequence
(“it’ll take some beating, I imagine”), for instance – with flurries of furious
energy, music, and obligatory displays of gratuitous (and often violent)
deaths. While some of the quieter, stiller moments seem to extend longer than
they perhaps actually do, the balance between stillness and movement makes up
for this, and more often than not the Player and her entourage are never too
far away. </span><span style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">The costumes
designed and made by Zjarie Paige-Butterworth are sumptuous creations in
velvet, brocade, beads, trim, and detail. Like </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">Melanie Liertz</span><span style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">’s costumes for
Sport for Jove’s <i>Love’s Labour’s Lost</i>
last December, there is a something rather refreshing about seeing this level
of detail and attention to building a cohesive world on stage, especially with
such a tight budget.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The performances
here are strong, and help to make sense and often light work of some of
Stoppard’s thornier passages. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Krystiann%20Dingas">Krystiann
Dingas</a> and <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Emilia%20Stubbs%20Grigoriou">Emilia
Stubbs-Grigoriou</a> are bemused, confused, defiant, resolved, hapless,
determined, and occasionally resigned to their obscure role and fate within the
larger scheme of things, but there is always the good-humoured camaraderie of
old friends between them that keeps their more existential moments from
descending into a truly <i>Godot</i>-esque
homage. Amanda Maple-Brown’s Player is exuberant and forthright, her commanding
presence stealing the show from Ros. and Guil., and only returning it in the
final moments; underneath this whirlwind exterior though, is a desperation to
please, a vital need to perform, as though her very life depends upon being
able to present “tragedy, death and disclosures, universal and particular,
dénouements both unexpected and inexorable, transvestite melodrama on all
levels including the suggestive,” with a side helping of “blood, love, and
rhetoric.” Special mention also to Lauren Crew’s Tragedian, who subtly
underplays a role which could very easily become caricature, and very nearly
steals the scene from the Player.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your brain might
hurt as you try to keep up with Stoppard’s rapid-fire tangents and
non-sequiturs (a bit like trying to keep up with a tennis game whose ball you
cannot quite catch sight of, nor whose rules you don’t always understand), but
in the end all you can do is trust in the words and hope they are enough to
provide you with all the questions, clues, and occasionally answers that you
need. They are, after all, all you have to go on. Most of the time.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1335935497901889581.post-87010933712791577072016-04-29T23:04:00.000+10:002016-04-29T23:04:55.930+10:00Extremely loud and incredibly close: STC’s Disgraced<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First produced in
2012, <a href="http://ayadakhtar.com/">Ayad Akhtar</a>’s <i><a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2016/disgraced">Disgraced</a></i>
has the distinction of being <a href="http://www.americantheatre.org/2015/09/16/the-top-10-most-produced-plays-of-the-2015-16-season/">the
most produced play in the United States</a> in the 2015-2016 theatre year. Set
on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Akhtar’s
play is the story of Amir, a high-flying lawyer at the top of his game who
wants to be a partner in his prestigious firm. When he agrees to support an
Imam accused on charges of funding terrorism, he finds his world and
assumptions challenged, and rapidly slipping away from him. Following a long
line of dinner-party plays where arguments and battle-lines are drawn,
territories staked, and relationships forged, broken, destroyed, Akhtar is
clear to demarcate his characters’ points of view, but it lacks the spark which
would make this play a fierce critique of our current socio-political
attitudes.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Staged in the
Wharf 1 theatre, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Sarah%20Goodes">Sarah
Goodes</a>’ production for <a href="https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/">Sydney
Theatre Company</a> is sleek and crisp, and moves with clarity and efficiency,
building up its arsenal before unleashing the full force of the play’s
arguments upon the characters and us, the audience. Handsomely supported by STC
Resident Designer Elizabeth Gadsby, we find ourselves in a modern and spacious
apartment on <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>’s <st1:place w:st="on">Upper
East Side</st1:place> – a long row of windows opens out to a small balcony,
while its interior is comfortably well-off, and speaks of wealth and security
many of us can only dream of. But this is part of Akhtar’s – <i>Disgraced</i>’s – point – the comfortability
and security of complacency, ingrained prejudices which go unchecked until they
erupt and cause real damage. Cleverly, Gadsby’s set pulls our focus from the
couches and windows upstage, to the dining table downstage, almost in the
audience’s lap, putting them – and us – in a crucible, like water to boiling
oil, to see how they react. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Damien%20Cooper">Damien
Cooper</a>’s lighting is deftly used to convey passing time in the interludes
between scenes, while his interiors are crisply lit, flooded with bright white
light. Steve Francis’ sound design and composition echoes the passions and
thrust of Akhtar’s characters, and grounds the play with a tangible sense of
identity or heritage. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Goodes’ cast all
rise to the challenge Akhtar has laid in front of them with relish. As Amir, Sachin
Joab brings an air of cool sophistication to his lawyer, but his reluctance to
help the Imam as well as his nephew, and his views on religion and specifically
Islam upon which he has turned his back following a strict adherence during his
childhood, cast him in a very different light at the end of the play to how we
saw him at the beginning. As his wife Emily, <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/what-rhymes-cars-girls.html">Sophie
Ross</a> is charming and strong-willed, but there is perhaps a underdeveloped vein
to her character which means she doesn’t quite fare so well in Akhtar’s
plotting. As Abe, Amir’s nephew, Shiv Palekar has a small but crucial role, and
he plays it with a mix of surety and naivety, grounding him in a very real
world where he isn’t quite sure how much to say or who to trust. Glenn
Hazeldine’s art curator Isaac is very much Amir’s counterpoint, but also
directly challenges Emily’s assumptions and ideas, and he plays the character
without much of his usual mannerisms and performance tics, giving one of his
strongest and most grounded performances in recent years. <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Paula%20Arundell">Paula
Arundell</a>’s Jory, Isaac’s wife and colleague of Amir’s, is perhaps Emily’s
opposite, but is also a direct antagonist to Amir; her bluntness and audacity
to speak what is on her mind is refreshing, but it doesn’t absolve her from her
the remarks she makes at the dinner table. There are some who will argue that
the distinctly American accents and locations are not important, that it might
as well be set in contemporary Australia, but I do think the location, the
accents, the time-frame and specific reference to the tenth anniversary of the
September 11 attacks make this a distinctly American play which has
reverberations and resonances – perhaps even repercussions – throughout our
current socio-political landscape, and it is stronger for being so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Akhtar’s play pays
homage to a long and established line of plays revolving around dinner parties
of one form or another. Plays like Tracy Letts’ <i>August: Osage County</i>, Edward Albee’s <i>Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf</i>, Yasmina Reza’s <i><a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/god-of-carnage.html">God
of Carnage</a></i>, and almost anything by <a href="http://thespellofwakinghours.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Tennessee%20Williams">Tennessee
Williams</a> are exemplars in this regard, and <i>Disgraced</i> fits right in. What these plays recognise and play upon
is the notion that once you gather a group of four (or more) people in one
place, you are necessitating each person having a different point of view, and
also the possibility of them supporting one of the other characters, regardless
of whether or not they are part of the same couple. Here, Akhtar uses this
format to problematise and unpack a raft of (potentially incendiary) ideas such
as the plurality or duality of identity or culture, and the potential
incompatibilities which may arise; is it possible to attain (and maintain) the
American Dream in post-9/11 America; latent or ingrained racial prejudices
which have become naturalised by time and complacency; cultural appropriation,
discrimination, and ignorance, with a side-helping of Orientalism. These are
not light-weight issues, and are ones we should be addressing on-stage and off.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">But Akhtar’s play
doesn’t quite delve into them in the detail – or give them the full attention –
they deserve, and it makes for a strangely disaffecting play at times. Emily’s
frequent claims of Islam being founded on wisdom and beauty without
acknowledging the darker and more problematic aspects of the faith are only
briefly supported with references to the <a href="http://previews.123rf.com/images/akulamatiau/akulamatiau1212/akulamatiau121200698/17025667-Columns-archers-and-pillars-of-the-Great-Mosque-Cathedral-of-Cordoba-Spain--Stock-Photo.jpg">Great
Mosque of Córdoba</a>, Islamic tiling traditions, and passing references to the
Quran. When Isaac levels the charge of orientalism against her when he sees her
portrait of Amir styled after Velázquez’s ‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;">Portrait of Juan de Pareja’, she retorts
with a classically-defiant ‘fuck you,’ but the charge isn’t raised again nor is
it problematised any further, which seems troubling when you consider her
entire artistic practice is based in cultural (mis)appropriation, or selective
cultural appropriation, taking the bits and images and ideas of Islam that
appeal to her and her aesthetic sensibility without acknowledging the rest of
the iceberg. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Akhtar also levels his gaze at
cultural plurality or duality, and asks if it is possible to attain (and/or
maintain) the American Dream in a post-9/11 world. Yet, as far as the play goes
in trying to enunciate the problems at the heart of contemporary twenty-first
century America, it doesn’t go far enough, nor does it really dig deep enough
either. Much of the argument made in <i>Disgraced</i>
to this end revolves around the Quran, and how literally it should be
interpreted. At one point Amir says that the reality of the Quran can be found
in the desert communities of the seventh century AD, and that if the Quran is
to make any real sense, that context is to be recreated. While interpretation
is debated – a case of ‘to beat’ stemming from the same root verb as ‘to leave’
when talking about what to do when your wife doesn’t listen – Jory makes the
point that sometimes intolerance is a way forwards (her example being <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s stance
on Islamic traditions). And from there it’s a slippery slope to discussing the
preference for justice or order when faced with the choice, with special
attention to the 9/11 attacks. And I think this scene – the entirety of Scene
3, and especially the later half – is where Akhtar’s play could really be
expanded, made more of. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The questions and points he
raises are ugly, and certainly not for audiences who like theatre to be
comfortable, and it is all the stronger for being so. But Akhtar has a habit of
sticking the knife into a subject without moving it around; he doesn’t use his
metaphorical knife to agitate, to put much actual pressure or difficulties in a
character’s way, but rather to sting or aggravate. Another example of this can
be seen at the end of the play. Scene 3 ends strongly with an ugly consequence
of the discussion, but Scene 4 picks up six months later, as Amir and Emily are
estranged but still speaking with a degree of familiarity, even if it is pained
and coloured with a sense of finality. Scene 4 feels redundant and superfluous,
a weaker ending than what we were left with at the end of Scene 3. Some of the
content of Scene 4 is interesting, and is worth including – perhaps in an
earlier scene, even if to do so might counter the taut thrust of Akhtar’s play
– but the ending feels wrong, or less strong than what was intended. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is not a fault of Goodes’
production, but rather the play itself, as are much of my criticisms with this
play. Goodes’ production works through the arguments in the play with a robust
intellect and a sense of grappling with something much larger than we are able
to comprehend, but the play still leaves us wanting <i>more</i>. And maybe that’s the point in the end – that our current
attitudes and actions towards racial and cultural tolerance and inclusivity
(among so many other pertinent issues) leave a lot to be desired, so we have to
put our faith in something else. Something bigger than governments and laws and
physical borders. Something that makes (more) sense than what we can see…</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Glenn Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013362381745808523noreply@blogger.com0