Friday Five: But Wait, There's More Theatre

Lima Prichard as Ste and Nick Dyball as Jamie in Beautiful Thing

1. Beautiful Thing - Everyman Theatre, ACT Hub: The coming-of-age exploration of sexual orientation drama is sensitively directed by Jarrad West although some of the class issues and geo-political context is lacking. Sandra (Amy Kowalczuk) is a single mother in 80s Britain (southeast London, and the accent ain't bad) with all the social connotations that implies. Dressed in short leather skirts, chain-smoking and both seducing and repelling her latest hippie lover, Tony (played with cringe-worthy 'think-of-me-as-your-mate' pseudo cool by Colin Giles), Sandra is desperately concerned with appearances while pretending she doesn't care what the neighbours think. Her world order is challenged when her son Jamie (Nick Dyball, who does some great work when he isn't shouting to portray emotion) develops feelings for Ste, the heartthrob next-door. Liam Prichard has remarkable confidence in the role, delivering a subtle performance full of troubled teen vulnerability. Liv Boddington plays Leah, the drug-taking, Mama Cass-loving expelled adolescent with peculiar naivety rather than as an ASBO waiting to happen, in keeping with the sanitisation of the whole. Some of the blocking and sight-lines are questionable as the traverse set is problematic depending on where the audience member sits, but on the whole this is a heartfelt and touching production. 
2. Cyrano - Melbourne Theatre Company, Southbank Theatre: The production directed by Sarah Goodes is original and immediate, switching genders, updating language, and consolidating characters to make this a story for our times rather than an historic piece. Playwright and performer, Virginia Gay writes, "The stories that we tell have enormous importance... I don't think entertainment and fighting for something more are mutually exclusive; if you can do them both at once, then that is the sweet spot." This is smart and sexy, with many a self-aware wry comment on the nature of theatricality - often directly to the audience - enhanced by a plain, back-stage set. Gay is superb as the titular character with all the best lines and the nuanced personal development, Tuuli Narkle works hard with limited material as Roxanne, and Claude Jabbour brings the buff in contrast to the brains as the alternate love interest. The supporting chorus (Holly Austin, Robin Goldsworthy, Milo Hartill) guide us through the story with music, humour and theatrics, as they have heard it many times before, but the interpretation makes it feel fresh to our eyes and ears. 

3. Murder on the Nile - Tempo Theatre, Belconnen Community Theatre: Jon Elphick directs another Agatha Christie for Tempo Theatre - this is the eleventh time that he has done so, and it's pretty solid with no frills. First performed in 1946, Murder on the Nile is the play of the novel (and subsequent film versions) of the film, Death on the Nile. The staging here is all on a boat - mainly portrayed by a couple of port holes in the set - on the Nile - a missed opportunity for some dramatic lighting to portray the vivid sunsets mentioned in the script. Regular stalwarts of the company, Garry Robinson, Marian Fitzgerald, Paul Jackson and Kim Wilson return to play a variety of roles they've played before. If you've seen one Tempo production of an Agatha Christie play; you've seen them all - this isn't a bad thing because it makes Christie comfortable and familiar and sometimes that's just what's required from a night at the theatre. 
4. Come Alive Festival of Museum Theatre - The National Library of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, NPG: Come Alive is a student festival that gains its inspiration from the exhibits and collections of the National Library of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, creating  theatre performances that have drawn on characters, events, objects and items in the two galleries' vast collections. Peter Wilkins, artistic director of Come Alive, works with teachers and students to create the original and inspired performances in which students pursue their passion for the performing arts and engage with their nation's cultural heritage. Over a week, eleven groups presented fourteen performance through theatre, movement and music, as well as visual media. I saw St Clare's College perform Clowning Around (an abstract exploration of the association between clowns and mental disorders through movement and masks) and Colour My World inspired by the sculpture of Dr John Wu and his drive to create spaces for young patients that brought light into a world of darkness. I also saw a surreal and fascinating short piece by St Edmund's College called Life is Like a Box of Chocolates and inspired by a tin box of chocolates sent by Queen Victoria to her troops serving in South Africa in 1899. Nigel Palfreman is the teacher behind this memorable work which ranges from Buckingham Palace to the soldiers on the front line, and incorporates the legend of Banjo Patterson. Ashleigh Nguyen performed a dance piece based on the portrait and story of Anna May Wong, who 'reshaped the way Asian roles in American cinema could be conceived and created.' The bold work combines dance, text and video all choreographed and curated by Nguyen herself to confront stereotypes and challenge expectations. This is an excellent festival which should be encouraged and supported by all who care about engaging young people with their history and culture in original and exciting ways.
5. Sunshine Super Girl - Performing Lines, The Q - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre: I remember watching the Wimbledon Women’s final in 1980 and knowing I was watching something special. Written and directed by Andrea James, Sunshine Super Girl follows the life, challenges and achievements of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, acted with a well-judged blend of charm and grit by Ella Ferris. All the other players in her story from her family to her coaches to coaches, competitors and journalists are given vibrant life and interpretation by the spectacular skills of the ensemble (Sermash Bin Saad, Jacqueline Compton, Lincoln Elliott, Katina Olsen). Katine Olsen is also credited as the movement director, and she has created an almost balletic interpretation of the drama of sport. Moments of humour and pathos are given equal weight as the highs and lows reflect the parrying back and forth of the ball over the net and into the angles of the court. The set, designed by Romaine Harper suits the purpose superbly as it represents the physical court, with movable fixtures, an umpire's chair, and metal benches representing everything from the family car to a hotel bed to a trophy cabinet. It would have been even more appealing if this were performed in the traverse setting as that would enhance the audience engagement and experience of the ebb and flow of the game(play). Sunshine Super Girl at The Q is a spectacular production of a play about a remarkable woman, and I’m all out of superlatives.

Ella Ferris as Evonne Goolagong Cawley in Sunshine Super Girl

Friday Five: Another Round of Theatre

1. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Free-Rain Theatre Company, ACT HUB: If you’ve ever been to one of those parties which go on too long and you should have left hours ago but somehow you just can’t and it turns into a metaphorical self-flagellation and everyone is ugly, mean and cruel, you will recognise this scenario. Cate Clelland directs Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with an almost uncomfortable intimacy as we come literally face to face with couples falling and tearing each other apart. Albee wrote, "There was a time when people believed in deities. And then revolutions came—industrial, French, Freudian, Marxist. God and absolutes vanished. Individuals find this very difficult and uncomfortable. All they have left is fantasy or the examination of the self." The four actors (Andrea Close; Michael Sparks; Karina Hudson; Josh Wiseman) do an outstanding job of examining themselves for three hours, hiding behind games and illusions because their reality is empty and brutal. Watch this play with absolute admiration; then find someone you love, hold them close, and tell them how much you value them, because the alternative is unbearable.
2. Art - The Street, Street One: Directed by Shelley Higgs and designed by Imogen Keen, this production is outstanding. It deconstructs language and theatre itself and builds it back into something cohesive as three men argue over a painting that remains concealed for a good part of the play. Serge (Shane Dundas) has bought it; Marc (Christopher Carroll) thinks it is ridiculous and Yvan (Craig Alexander) attempts to placate both sides without being forced into expressing an opinion. Of course, we take from art what we bring to it, and the men project their feelings, emotions, resentments and frustrations onto the canvas, just as the audience projects theirs onto the stage. The physical comedy is ramped up to match the witty script by Yasmina Reza, translated from French into English by Christopher Hampton, and they combine to make a fast-paced entertaining night out that also gives the audience something to think about.  



Christopher Carroll, Craig Alexander and Shane Dundas in Art at The Street Theatre

3. Bakkhai - NUTS, Kambri Cultural Centre: Playwright Anne Carson adapted this Greek tragedy from Euripides, claiming that it is his most subversive play, "telling the story of a man who cannot admit he would rather live in the skin of a woman, and a god who seems to combine all sexualities into a single ruinous demand for adoration." Director Kieran Knox has found plenty to exploit in the work, giving roles to a multitude of actors (some much better than others) in this student production. While it may miss many of the subtleties of civic duty and personal insecurity and identification, it succumbs to the trans and queer narrative that the cast and crew so clearly want to give it. Played in the round, the audience are up close and personal to way too much shrieking and the sombre moments risk being laughable, but the ensemble has a lot of fun with lots of anger, gore, shouting, violence, death, exile, filicide and madness - typical fun Greek tragedy. Moral of the story: don’t mock the gods; they’ve not got a great sense of humour or humility. Definitely worth watching if you like that sort of thing.
4. Soul Trading - Canberra Youth Theatre, Courtyard Studio: Kate Walder has written an intriguing new work set in the future (2079) where every child has an educational robot to help them learn and their lives are strictly regulated in every department. Jerry (Ted Abraham) is slightly different from the other kids and his 3-D-printed robot, Elon (Orlando Dove), is even more so. Thematic elements of  human interaction, environmental concerns and the morality of genetic selection add engaging layers to the witty production directed by Jena Prince. Production values of set, costume (Phoenix Mae), sound (Patrick Haesler) and lights (Antony Hateley) are extremely high and contribute to the atmosphere of the performance, which is both slick and charming. Although projection and diction from the cast is frequently questionable, the movement of the young actors which differentiate the sharp efficiency of the AI bots from their more languid and emotive human companions is highly commendable from this promising ensemble.
5. The Velveteen Rabbit - Child Players ACT, Belconnen Community Theatre: This theatrical adaptation of a childhood classic is utterly adorable and perfectly pitched at the young audience. Simple and effective set, props and costumes are all innovative for the obviously limited budget. It is a good decision to have an adult actor (Janine O' Dwyer) play Nana - the older audience loved her long-suffering actions and eye rolls - and child actors for all the rest; the toys who come alive by emerging from the toy-box are clear and easy to understand. The blocking in a couple of scenes means that sight-lines are challenged and focus is lost, but on the whole it is well-delineated with separate spaces for action - inside/ outside - and the calendar marking the passage of time is inspired and beautifully illustrated. As the Velveteen Rabbit, Asha Ellis displays a  delightfully mature approach for such a young performer with clear physical movements and facial expressions, great comedy timing, a sense of innocent wonder, and sympathetic interactions with the other characters. All the cast members get moments to highlight their abilities (the choreography of the real rabbits dance is charming), pleasing the family audience and the actors themselves. There is nothing too fancy or distracting, with nice moments of differentiation between the characters and explanation of the story, which makes for a wonderful first theatre outing.

Lily Welling and Asha Ellis in The Velveteen Rabbit by Child Players ACT

Ahead of the Tide: To Calais, in Ordinary Time

To Calais in Ordinary Time by James Meek

Cannongate

Pp. 389

Mixing elements of The Canterbury Tales and Shakespearean comedy, this story takes place in South-West England in 1348 as a group of bowmen (led by a man called Hayne) travel through the country from Outen Green in Gloucestershire to Calais to fight the French, as the plague is advancing steadily towards them. As the novel was published in 2019 all the reviewers drew contemporary parallels with Brexit and the existentialist threat of the climate crisis, but anyone now would automatically think of the Covid pandemic.

The novel is narrated from three different people’s perspectives, all with a clearly different voice. Will Quate is a serf who is bound to work the land of a nobleman, and he is betrothed to local beauty, Ness, but he sees a better future in proving himself an archer and buying his freedom through his service. The Lady Bernadine is the daughter of the aforementioned nobleman and betrothed to his friend in a deal done between them which favours the old men and not their promised daughters. Seduced by romantic notions inspired by a French novel, Le Roman de La Rose, she believes herself in love with a young knight, Laurence Haket who happens to be the owner of the troop of archers. Lastly, Thomas Pitkerro is a proctor or clerical administrator from Avignon on secondment to Malmesbury Abbey, who just wants to go home. He provides a record of the journey and acts as a substitute priest to the travellers.

The bowmen are earthy and brutal: with the exception of Quate, who has joined them later, they are rough men who kill, kidnap and rape. There are stories of fights and people being put in the stocks; there are set pieces of violent battles and startling frank sex scenes. Lady Bernadine thinks she is in love with Laurence Haket, but he has failed in her ideas of courtly love and has got a country woman, Ness, pregnant. While she steals away from her father, she disguises herself as Madlen, who is pretending to be Lady Bernadine, but Madlen is actually Hab – a rough young serf, pretending to be his sister, Madlen, wearing a dress he stole from Bernadine. Will Quate has agreed to marry Ness, but he falls for Madlen, while knowing she is an incarnation of Hab. It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world indeed; one could almost call that a Shakespearean plot.

Some of the etymology is intriguing in itself: a river full of fish is ‘fishous’; once a woman is pregnant, she becomes the responsibility of the man who impregnated her – she must marry him and become his burden/ burd/ bird. The language is part French and part old English: the common-folk do not understand the words of the nobles and vice versa. The adventures and exploits will end at the sea, but for some, it ended when they left their village. “Only in Merioneth are there true things. Only there is the world true and forever. Here, or in France, everything is a tale. All shifts. Everything haps once, no more, and then it’s gone, out-take that some bard like me minds it.” If stories aren’t remembered, they might as well never have occurred. James Meek suggests that we need a common language to understand them.

Due Care and Attention

Due Care and Attention

I lead an active life

But I’m very clumsy

And I bruise easily,

like when I give blood,

or bump into furniture,

or trip over uneven paths.

He always comes with me

And waits while I’m treated,

like when I fell off my bike

and smashed my front teeth,

or skied into a tree

and fractured my arm,

or tipped over the roast pan

and burned the skin off my hand.

Today I played netball,

collided with a player,

and broke my nose.

The nurse looks at me

and at him, waiting,

and she asks, quietly,

“Is that netball?”

I say yes. Out loud.

For the first time ever.

What happens

Now?

Friday Five: The Latest Theatre

1. This Changes Everything - Echo Youth, The Q: In a dystopian future, a group of young adults try to set up their own society, called The Community, on a platform out in the sea - the set with hierarchical levels and isolated pods works well for symbolism and lighting opportunities (Direction by Jordan Best; Lighting design by Jacob Aquilina). Written by Joel Horwood, it's not necessarily a novel idea (I wouldn't be the first to call it Animal Farm meets Lord of the Flies) and many of the motifs of a disingenuous leadership model are familiar - rules written on the wall are altered to suit and the founder of the group mysteriously vanishes, said to have fled and abandoned the remainers. As a British viewer, it's impossible not to think of Brexit, but there are many other issues and themes ('the negatives of Capitalism; the inequalities bred by exponential growth; a culture failing to engage with causes or impact of climate change') which are all generally well-handled, although the 'abuse trope' seems glib and unnecessary. The play also explores the fine line between Socialism (in which each works according to their talents) and Communism ruled by a totalitarian dictator, in which the level of violence and oppression are well-pitched at an adolescence; they can all be aware and concerned, but not still safe and not traumatised. Jade Breen has solid conviction as the Stalinist overlord, Maja; Tara Rose Blake as Kim, the one who switches sides to become the enforcer is believable and nuanced, and Will Best also stands out as Basic Jane, the cynical one trying to keep their head down and avoid being noticed (Animal Farm's Benjamin, if you will). There are the usual awkward moments and projection issues seen in junior casts, but generally this is a respectable piece of theatre that should be encouraged. 
2. First Seen: Barren Ground by Helen Machalias - The Street, Street Theatre: Helen Machalias is such a great talent and I was intrigued to see what she would do next. This rehearsed read did not disappoint. I loved the exploration of the liminal spaces between life and death; myth and relaity; advertising dreams and political realities. Refugee's stories at an off-shore detention centre (on Christmas Island between 2010 and the closure of the centre in 2018) are told against a supporting framework of The Tempest where 'brave new world' poetry collides with 'stop the boats' rhetoric. When this returns as a full production, I will be first in line.

3. Hand to God - Everyman Theatre, ACT HUB: I've not seen this play before, but I read that it won the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play and received five Tony Award nominations in 2015, although it closed early when it transferred to London and didn't garner such glowing reviews. I'm not surprised. It's crude, crass, blindingly obvious, and, according to the original playbill, an 'irreverent puppet comedy... about a possessed Christian-ministry puppet'. The widowed Margery (Steph Roberts) runs a Bible-promoting puppet-class attended by her son Jason (Michael Cooper), the sleazy teenager Tim (Joshua Wiseman), and quirky girl next-door, Jessica (Holly Ross). Men expect respect for no apparent reason, and women exist to give it to them - Steph Roberts deserves better than the demeaning cougar-seduction role she's given. Sure, she does it well - she does everything well - but this borders on hot-for-teacher-soft-porn fantasy.  To make this message more palatable (and supposedly satirical), Jason becomes fused with his demonic puppet, Tyrone, and Pastor Greg (Jarrad West filling in for Arran McKenna) has to perform an exorcism, while also trying to woo Margery despite the fact that her husband has only just died. Michael Cooper is quite brilliant at physical comedy and the combination of his acting skills and Jarrad West's slick slapstick direction make this less than just a repulsive piece of low-brow misogyny (mocking organised religion is hardly cutting-edge). In its favour, at least the entitled incel released his toxic masculinity with his hand up a puppet, not on a gun.  
4. Romeo and Juliet - Canberra Repertory Society, Theatre 3: Co-directors Kelly Roberts and Chris Zuber use a young cast who display energy and enthusiasm, although many lost the poetry with the pace of their delivery, rushing the words and trying too hard to put their own stamp on this classic. Annabelle Hanson plays Juliet as a determined teenager who decides what she wants and goes for it, although it appears to be more independence from her parents (Richard Manning and Crystal Mahon) rather than love for Romeo (Pippin Carroll).Through her strong stance, balled fists and rigid posture, she radiates power and poetry with no need of any love interest - indeed she convinces more in her individual scenes than in those with Romeo, which lack chemistry or passion - this is not helped by the setting of their intimate scenes (the meeting; the balcony scene the bed scene) on distant parts of the stage. Carroll works hard on diction and projection but sacrifices passion and feeling, leaving the audience to rather engage with Mercutio (a fine performance by Anneka van der Velde whose restless movements imply there are hidden depths to the character hidden behind a facade of bravado) and the Nurse (Tracy Noble), who both bring the necessary energy and choric interpretation. 
5. Ngadjung - Belco Arts, Belconnen Arts Centre: If you get a chance to see any work by Dylan Van Den Berg, see it. He is an original and incredible young talent who makes theatre that moves, inspires, connects, provokes and questions. In his director's notes, Van Den Berg explains that 'Ngadjung emerged from an original provocation to write a play about water - First Nations connection to water, human connection to water.' His play casts two women in a futuristic (and dry) environment, controlled by corporations who have privatised, monetised and politicised water to make it a commodity to which only the wealthy have ready access. Lisa Maza plays Flick, the elder who is desperately trying to maintain her connection to Country in a landscape that is irrevocably changing, and Kylah Day is Cass, the young interloper who stumbles across her patch, hiding from pursuers determined to repossess the secrets she stole. The relationship between these two actors is superb as their stories collide, mingle and separate like tributaries in a river. Production standards are also outstanding from the evocative set (designed by Imogen Keen) to the sound (Peter Bailey) and lighting (Linda Buck) design which create tension and atmosphere. In an extraordinary coup, Belco Arts commissioned this work from Van Den Berg, and it can only serve to enhance the significant reputations of all concerned. As with the inherent call to action against ignorance of climate change, this is one that demands to be seen and heard. 

Kylah Day and Lisa Maza in Ngadjung

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby: The Music Shop

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

(Black Swan)

Pp.354

Frank owns a music shop which only sells vinyl, and he has the gift of being able to find the right music to soothe a person’s soul or mend their marriage. One day a beautiful woman, Ilse Brauchmann (manic pixie dream girl in a pea-green coat), faints outside his shop and they have a relationship. She says she doesn’t listen to music so he teaches her how to hear it. It turns out she was a highly proficient violinist but now has arthritis and can no longer play. And she is engaged to someone else. Of course she cares for him, but the author introduces deliberate (and illogical) stumbling blocks to draw out the story. Frank is not actually all that nice but he’s got lots of friends who encourage him in his romance (Richard Curtis style) including Maud, the tattooist, a woman who has always been inexplicably in love with him, and Kit, an incapable but passionate assistant. It’s very light and fluffy and employs every trope known to rom com, and yet the added appeal comes from the music and nostalgia.

Frank’s finest characteristic is his sense of community with the other shopkeepers. “Here they were, living together on Unity Street, trying to make a difference in the world, knowing they couldn’t, but still doing it anyway.” Ilse is supposedly cute, but immensely irritating. They meet for the lessons about music, in a café called The Singing Teapot, and the waitress becomes involved in their story too, which is charming, delightful, twee and completely unrealistic. Meanwhile, the author tells us everything so there is no room for mystery or suspense.

Music has magical properties, and listening to it can release oxytocin – books are written like this about cookery all the time; all the chapters are named after songs and there is an accompanying soundtrack. The novel contains frequent time shifts as we are cast back to Frank’s relationship with his mother, Peg, who taught him how to really appreciate music. This rapport is more interesting than that with the girl.

Music, especially vinyl, is part of the nostalgic focus of the novel, and it should be enjoyed as an experience. He uses the difference between CDs and records as a metaphor for life (God only knows what he’d make of music-streaming services), refusing to accept that he and his music shop are out of date although several reps and customers stop calling. He maintains that vinyl is messy and fragile, and therefore, more human.

The novel is Notting Hill meets Black Books; it is obviously written with one eye on the film rights, but it will doubtless be taken over by an American company who will change the setting and ruin it (see High Fidelity). Music is closely aligned with memory because it stimulates emotions, and that is what matters. Ilse remembers Frank because, “You didn’t talk about the technique of music. You told me how it felt when you listened.” Love may tear us apart, but music is best experienced together.

My Newest Favourite Thing: Galeanthropy

Penelope pretending to be a cat

I have learned a new word, which I absolutely love.

Galeanthropy: A mental condition of thinking that one has become a cat, usually manifest in the adoption of feline mannerisms and habits.

I think Penelope may have it. That is all.