Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Papermoon directed by Tony Turner at ANU Arts Centre, April 28 - May 13, 7.30pm. Bookings 6275 2700 or www.canberraticketing.com.au
This production leaves me in a quandary. Is it an intellectual representation of themes, or is it emotionally engaging theatre? Either intention is possible, but neither is successfully achieved.
Praise first, however. Ian Croker stood out as Enobarbus. In the difficult acoustics of the Arts Centre, his enunciation was clear and the character's emotions and understanding of the political and warfare manoeuvrings were plain to see. He held the play together. It was a mistake to ask him to also play the Clown who brings the asp to Cleopatra, but Croker managed even that transition very well.
Christa de Jager's Cleopatra became much more successful after Antony's death than before it. Shakespeare's poetry worked its wonder as it should in her final speeches.
But otherwise things fell short of good intentions. Mark Antony (Douglas Amarfio) was never "the crown o' the earth" as Cleopatra calls him, nor ever "my brother, my competitor in top of all design, my mate in empire" at whose death Octavius (Duncan Ley) weeps. Amarfio's vocal skills and presence on stage were just not up to the mark. Ley, too, despite strong performances in other plays, was constrained by a business suited Octavius - even at the height of battle - and could give no more than occasional flashes of the consummate strategist that he needed to be to defeat Pompey, then Antony and Cleopatra, and go on to become Augustus Caesar.
Costume design seemed to try to be thematic, but the mix of beautiful and erotic ancient Egyptian women among modern suits and army gear made Cleopatra look too much like a good time girl on the make in Bangkok instead of the powerful Queen of Egypt which de Jager did her best to play. If the Romans had also been dressed in their historically correct costumes, the setting would have been immediately established in a consistent style, allowing the play to tell its own story without problems like soldiers with modern guns committing suicide by falling on their swords. Otherwise go all modern, or timeless, but be consistent.
The result? "Take to you no hard thoughts" but don't expect too much.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Friday, 28 April 2006
Thursday, 20 April 2006
2006: Tartuffe by Moliere
Tartuffe by Moliere. Centrepiece Theatre directed by Jordan Best at The Street Theatre Studio, Wednesdays to Saturdays until May 6, 7.30pm. Matinees Sunday April 30 and Saturday May 6 at 2pm. Bookings: 6247 1223.
It really is satisfying to see a production done with assurance and wit. Jordan Best and her cast understand the style needed for Moliere's form of comedy and have the confidence to play with a genuine sense of fun. There is a special visual joke, which may be interpreted to be a reference to a certain recent political cartoon, during the curtain call which is worth waiting for.
The use of religious humbug for personal gain and power was as common in the 17th Century as it is today, so this play was banned from public performance for 5 years after it was written in 1664. Played with a light touch, as Centrepiece have done, it is the comedy which gives immediate enjoyment while the criticism of dastardly human behaviour pokes its satirical head up between the lines to add to the fun. I suspect, though, there are still countries where a ban would be in the offing.
Performances are very good throughout, with minor roles showing as much character as major roles. A tricky part to play is Dorine, the servant who survives in this household ruled by the delusional Orgon not by being submissive but by challenging and manipulating her employers. Erin Pugh played with the art of commedia very effectively, as Moliere intended. Matt Marshall, as "humble" but lecherous Tartuffe, and Veronica Merton, as Elmire (Orgon's wife who exposes Tartuffe's sexual predations) made an excellent oppositional pair, while Liz Bradley (Mme Pernelle - Orgon's peremptory mother) provided the strong framework in the first and last scenes which the play needs.
Particularly amusing was Carly Jacobs' very petulant Marianne, Orgon's daughter, paired well with the sincere if slightly goofy Valere (Jim Adamik), especially in their "domestic", rejecting each other when they actually are in love. Calm down, says Dorine - you can have this argument after you're married.
This is a good beginning to the second year of Centrepiece. May there be many more.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
It really is satisfying to see a production done with assurance and wit. Jordan Best and her cast understand the style needed for Moliere's form of comedy and have the confidence to play with a genuine sense of fun. There is a special visual joke, which may be interpreted to be a reference to a certain recent political cartoon, during the curtain call which is worth waiting for.
The use of religious humbug for personal gain and power was as common in the 17th Century as it is today, so this play was banned from public performance for 5 years after it was written in 1664. Played with a light touch, as Centrepiece have done, it is the comedy which gives immediate enjoyment while the criticism of dastardly human behaviour pokes its satirical head up between the lines to add to the fun. I suspect, though, there are still countries where a ban would be in the offing.
Performances are very good throughout, with minor roles showing as much character as major roles. A tricky part to play is Dorine, the servant who survives in this household ruled by the delusional Orgon not by being submissive but by challenging and manipulating her employers. Erin Pugh played with the art of commedia very effectively, as Moliere intended. Matt Marshall, as "humble" but lecherous Tartuffe, and Veronica Merton, as Elmire (Orgon's wife who exposes Tartuffe's sexual predations) made an excellent oppositional pair, while Liz Bradley (Mme Pernelle - Orgon's peremptory mother) provided the strong framework in the first and last scenes which the play needs.
Particularly amusing was Carly Jacobs' very petulant Marianne, Orgon's daughter, paired well with the sincere if slightly goofy Valere (Jim Adamik), especially in their "domestic", rejecting each other when they actually are in love. Calm down, says Dorine - you can have this argument after you're married.
This is a good beginning to the second year of Centrepiece. May there be many more.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Tuesday, 18 April 2006
2006: Kate Shearer: new artistic director for Jigsaw Theatre Co and Big Sister Little Brother. Feature article and preview.
Jigsaw Theatre Company has a new artistic director, Kate Shearer. What does this mean for the future of quality theatre for children and young people in Canberra? My expectation is that Jigsaw's reputation is safe and sound.
I have to admit my bias. 30 years ago, while I was briefly chair of Canberra Children's Theatre Committee which included the legal strong-arm of today's Public Prosecutor Richard Refshauge, the decision was made to formalise the structure of The Jigsaw Company as a professional organisation in its own right. This was a high point in the work of director Carol Woodrow, the driving force behind Jigsaw and Canberra Youth Theatre, both still essential elements in the ever-swirling flux that is Canberra theatre.
From the beginning Jigsaw has been unusual, if not unique, in being funded on the one hand as an independent theatre company by the Australia Council and on the other as a provider of children's theatre experience and professional development for teachers by the ACT government school system. In other places education department teams have come and gone as state government spending has fluctuated, while independent theatre-in-education companies have relied on beating ever-increasing competition - with many consequent demises.
Jigsaw is not completely immune, but Shearer is not only an experienced actor, teacher and director, but a successful theatre company administrator, well able to put up the quality grant applications and tender bids that the Australia Council and ACT Government expect. It is, first of all, her wide ranging background and ability to integrate, in the best Jigsaw tradition, the theatrical, educational and administrative aspects of her job that gives me confidence.
As the previous director, Greg Lissaman, has moved on after 7 years, budget tightening is necessary as grants are less forthcoming and the ACT undertakes its review of expenditure. Jigsaw began with an artistic director, an administrator, a team of 5 actors/tutors including a seconded teacher, and a part-time secretary. Peter Wilkins - now Narrabundah College teacher and Canberra Times reviewer - was able to maintain this structure when he directed Jigsaw from 1980 to 1985. There were various arrangements with more or less full time staff through the directorships of Rod Wilson and Steven Champion until Lyn Wallis, whose manual for independent theatre companies In Good Company was recently reviewed in Times 2, took the reins in 1995 and made Jigsaw into a leaner company, employing actors, tutors, technical staff and writers as needed for each project. Lissaman followed this structure with a staff of 4 - artistic director, administrative director, production manager and education officer.
Shearer has herself and the position of General Manager has been advertised. Her first production for 4 to 12 year olds, Big Sister Little Brother by Mike Kenny, opens with a special school holiday showing on Friday April 28 and goes on into primary schools for a 3 week season (there are still a couple of slots left for schools to book). Her next show for secondary schools is Shopping for Shoes, employing one actor and 30 pairs of shoes, designed to challenge young people's understanding of consumerism and their concepts of theatre. Then, with HealthPact support, we will see Smokefree Showpod, a new development from the successful Burning Boards program. Taking the pressure off teachers, Showpod will run out of school with students in a 10 week program working with theatre professionals, leading to non-competitive productions involving all the performing arts - "a celebration of excellence."
The school shows also include cross-curriculum resource kits for teachers, while The Teacher's Toolbox is a professional development program, particularly for primary teachers.
Can Kate Shearer cope? Her history says absolutely yes. A performer since the age of 4, whose mother directed and acted and whose father was a history teacher (and theatre technician), Shearer has a theatre degree and graduate diploma of education from Queensland University of Technology, worked through her twenties as an actor and drama teacher in Australia, teaching actor training in Britain where at 30 she was offered directing work, and has returned each year since 2002 to work on schools' touring productions and summer school drama programs. "Being an actor," she says, "has made me a much better director" because she knows how difficult, exhausting and complex the work of an actor is. In between employment, she set up her own company, learning the management details on the way. Having only one job with a contract which says she can only work outside with Jigsaw Committee's approval, is almost easing off for this energetic woman.
In her thirties she has discovered that directing is "what I was really meant to be doing with my life". She "loves the making" of theatre, working with each different actor, caring for them individually and facilitating them to find their way into the work. Like being a teacher, I suggest. Yes, she says, but I can be strong when I need to be. I realise it is her strength combined with her energy which makes her a survivor in the uncertain world of theatre, and it is her inclusive approach which is right for The Jigsaw Company - its original name - where theatre and education work as one.
Big Sister Little Brother
Jigsaw Theatre Company
Tuggeranong Arts Centre
Friday and Saturday April 28 - 29, 10.30am, 1pm and 3pm
Tickets: $8 concession, $10 adult, $30 family (2 adults, 2 children)
Bookings: Phone 6293 1443
© Frank McKone, Canberra
I have to admit my bias. 30 years ago, while I was briefly chair of Canberra Children's Theatre Committee which included the legal strong-arm of today's Public Prosecutor Richard Refshauge, the decision was made to formalise the structure of The Jigsaw Company as a professional organisation in its own right. This was a high point in the work of director Carol Woodrow, the driving force behind Jigsaw and Canberra Youth Theatre, both still essential elements in the ever-swirling flux that is Canberra theatre.
From the beginning Jigsaw has been unusual, if not unique, in being funded on the one hand as an independent theatre company by the Australia Council and on the other as a provider of children's theatre experience and professional development for teachers by the ACT government school system. In other places education department teams have come and gone as state government spending has fluctuated, while independent theatre-in-education companies have relied on beating ever-increasing competition - with many consequent demises.
Jigsaw is not completely immune, but Shearer is not only an experienced actor, teacher and director, but a successful theatre company administrator, well able to put up the quality grant applications and tender bids that the Australia Council and ACT Government expect. It is, first of all, her wide ranging background and ability to integrate, in the best Jigsaw tradition, the theatrical, educational and administrative aspects of her job that gives me confidence.
As the previous director, Greg Lissaman, has moved on after 7 years, budget tightening is necessary as grants are less forthcoming and the ACT undertakes its review of expenditure. Jigsaw began with an artistic director, an administrator, a team of 5 actors/tutors including a seconded teacher, and a part-time secretary. Peter Wilkins - now Narrabundah College teacher and Canberra Times reviewer - was able to maintain this structure when he directed Jigsaw from 1980 to 1985. There were various arrangements with more or less full time staff through the directorships of Rod Wilson and Steven Champion until Lyn Wallis, whose manual for independent theatre companies In Good Company was recently reviewed in Times 2, took the reins in 1995 and made Jigsaw into a leaner company, employing actors, tutors, technical staff and writers as needed for each project. Lissaman followed this structure with a staff of 4 - artistic director, administrative director, production manager and education officer.
Shearer has herself and the position of General Manager has been advertised. Her first production for 4 to 12 year olds, Big Sister Little Brother by Mike Kenny, opens with a special school holiday showing on Friday April 28 and goes on into primary schools for a 3 week season (there are still a couple of slots left for schools to book). Her next show for secondary schools is Shopping for Shoes, employing one actor and 30 pairs of shoes, designed to challenge young people's understanding of consumerism and their concepts of theatre. Then, with HealthPact support, we will see Smokefree Showpod, a new development from the successful Burning Boards program. Taking the pressure off teachers, Showpod will run out of school with students in a 10 week program working with theatre professionals, leading to non-competitive productions involving all the performing arts - "a celebration of excellence."
The school shows also include cross-curriculum resource kits for teachers, while The Teacher's Toolbox is a professional development program, particularly for primary teachers.
Can Kate Shearer cope? Her history says absolutely yes. A performer since the age of 4, whose mother directed and acted and whose father was a history teacher (and theatre technician), Shearer has a theatre degree and graduate diploma of education from Queensland University of Technology, worked through her twenties as an actor and drama teacher in Australia, teaching actor training in Britain where at 30 she was offered directing work, and has returned each year since 2002 to work on schools' touring productions and summer school drama programs. "Being an actor," she says, "has made me a much better director" because she knows how difficult, exhausting and complex the work of an actor is. In between employment, she set up her own company, learning the management details on the way. Having only one job with a contract which says she can only work outside with Jigsaw Committee's approval, is almost easing off for this energetic woman.
In her thirties she has discovered that directing is "what I was really meant to be doing with my life". She "loves the making" of theatre, working with each different actor, caring for them individually and facilitating them to find their way into the work. Like being a teacher, I suggest. Yes, she says, but I can be strong when I need to be. I realise it is her strength combined with her energy which makes her a survivor in the uncertain world of theatre, and it is her inclusive approach which is right for The Jigsaw Company - its original name - where theatre and education work as one.
Big Sister Little Brother
Jigsaw Theatre Company
Tuggeranong Arts Centre
Friday and Saturday April 28 - 29, 10.30am, 1pm and 3pm
Tickets: $8 concession, $10 adult, $30 family (2 adults, 2 children)
Bookings: Phone 6293 1443
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Wednesday, 5 April 2006
2006: Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Richard Alfieri
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Richard Alfieri. Sydney's Ensemble Theatre at The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, directed by Sandra Bates, starring Nancye Hayes and Todd McKenney. April 5 - 9, 8pm. Bookings: www.canberratheatre.org.au or Canberra Ticketing 6275 2700
With each dance lesson, widowed Lily Harrison buys more than she bargained for. Dance teacher Michael Minetti gives more than his due. Both are outspoken in this often very funny play, yet both hide much that can only be revealed when each learns to recognise honestly the other's situation. Their conflict is resolved in sad acceptance of their fates at last.
What might have been a too well-made play becomes a delight to watch as Hayes and McKenney bounce sparks and laughter off each other. Will you, won't you, will you, won't you take me to the dance - despite their mood swings, and phoned interruptions from Ida downstairs, they dance superbly in every lesson. As Minetti teaches the swing, the tango and Viennese waltz he begins to realise that old Mrs Harrison knows not only these but the foxtrot and the cha-cha as well as he does. And it takes her very little practice to find her feet in the twist and other "contemporary" dances, as she informs him that the Beach Boys split up at least 20 years ago.
As each exposes more of their life to the other, we see both the humour and the dreadful sides of their experiences. If there is a criticism of the play, it is that Alfieri uses his characters to make a point about too many issues, but Bates' tight directing and the actors' skills in raising and lowering the emotional temperature bring the play to life. The audience on Wednesday had no doubt that the result is thoroughly enjoyable on stage, while the issues are opened up for serious consideration.
Six Dance Lessons is here until Sunday, but if you miss it you can pick it up at the Theatre Royal in Sydney April 12 - 16.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
With each dance lesson, widowed Lily Harrison buys more than she bargained for. Dance teacher Michael Minetti gives more than his due. Both are outspoken in this often very funny play, yet both hide much that can only be revealed when each learns to recognise honestly the other's situation. Their conflict is resolved in sad acceptance of their fates at last.
What might have been a too well-made play becomes a delight to watch as Hayes and McKenney bounce sparks and laughter off each other. Will you, won't you, will you, won't you take me to the dance - despite their mood swings, and phoned interruptions from Ida downstairs, they dance superbly in every lesson. As Minetti teaches the swing, the tango and Viennese waltz he begins to realise that old Mrs Harrison knows not only these but the foxtrot and the cha-cha as well as he does. And it takes her very little practice to find her feet in the twist and other "contemporary" dances, as she informs him that the Beach Boys split up at least 20 years ago.
As each exposes more of their life to the other, we see both the humour and the dreadful sides of their experiences. If there is a criticism of the play, it is that Alfieri uses his characters to make a point about too many issues, but Bates' tight directing and the actors' skills in raising and lowering the emotional temperature bring the play to life. The audience on Wednesday had no doubt that the result is thoroughly enjoyable on stage, while the issues are opened up for serious consideration.
Six Dance Lessons is here until Sunday, but if you miss it you can pick it up at the Theatre Royal in Sydney April 12 - 16.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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