Re: Cardigan

The town - it is remote, isn't it?

And provincial, don't you think?

And everything so brown, the streets, the fields, the river even . . .

of course, there is the castle . . . the ruined castle. 

Some Thoughts on Children of War [*]

(Source: Facebook)

I found this in my drafts so I thought I might as well post it.

My thoughts on The Danger Ensemble's Children of War are about as messy as the piece itself. Performed by an impressive team of young actors, the piece is packed with potential and has moments of brilliance, but on a whole it's too ambitious. It tries to explore too many issues and agendas, the script doesn't allow focus on characters enough to develop a connection with them, and the design just isn't cohesive enough to cater for the entire production.

The actors are uniformly good, but none of them are really featured prominently since the cast is so big, and it feels like everyone is being given time in the spotlight but don't get enough to create a connection. Eva Rae Smith is magnificent as the tactical and graceful Iphigenia - she's also probably the only actor who can project properly - and Elle Mickel's performance of Polyxena was my favourite, as a cynical and ridiculously impractical character who has some of the best sassy lines. Hats off to Sam Barnett and Taryn Allen, who have a little bit of stage time, but then spend about an hour of stage time just looking blankly at projection screens.

Who are the characters talking to? It seems as though they're telling us a story, but there's no consistency in who we are in relation to them.

The issue with the show is that it tries to explore WAY too many things, and despite the show clocking in at a devestating 130 minutes, its exploration and comments are too basic to have any real impact. The piece is replete with xenophobic, self image and homosexual connotations (to name a few), but they're only lightly explored in one or two character, and since it cuts between eight different stories, focus is very quickly lost and facts are forgotten almost as quickly as they're thrown at you. The text demands the audience to have a lot of prior knowledge, and if you don't have it, you feel really stupid. There is such a barrage of information delivered in the first acts including who is who, but it wasn't until a second viewing that I could really follow who was who and what their agenda was. There's also so much contradiction, mostly found in Iphigenia. I like the smell of gasoline - maybe this is a dream and we're still on the airoplane (I don't know!). She wallows on about how she hates war and is against violence and hates being used as a device of her father. But then she turns out to be a suicide bomber, killing many of her peers. What exactly does that achieve? Where did that come from!?

The timeline is frustratingly hard to follow. The characters act like children in the first half and then act like adults, although they are still in school and are concerned about the formal. When did the War start? They don't appear to have changed appearance or age since Agamemmnon announced the beginning.

Visuals are the director's forte, but there are so many bizarre symbolic portrayals in the piece and its quite esoteric. It seems like there's initially symbolism to be found in the colour of hair. The cast half have either blonde or brown hair; Helen has a mixture of both shades. There's apparently no significance. I didn't know what 'It Get's Better' was - and thought it was an integral part to understand Patroclus - but it turns out it's just a minor detail. I feel like the only reason Briseis walks around mouthing opera lyrics was so she could have some more stage time, because it felt unnecessary and if you took it out, not much would change. One example is there is a small amount of grass 'beyond the wall', which one actor enters into by running backstage and then emerging on to it through a specific entrance. Okay, it's established that characters, who haven't entered this space previously, can't enter this area of grass unless they take the route back stage. Then, irritatingly, a bunch of characters just step directly into it. It's little things like this that drive the audience crazy, because it's irritating to see the characters make rules in this universe and then break them almost immediately.

The media is okay, occasionally brilliant (the opening, the burning reveal of Iphigenia), occasionally looking like it was shot for ABC kids (Ascanius destroying Helen). I didn't understand the video footage of The Sims and custard being poured onto naked women. The music is big and powerful, industrial and gothic themed movements pop up all over the place, but its tie to the emotion and action of the piece is pretty shallow. The set design is frustratingly bare and not used very well throughout the piece. Initially, it's presented as if it's a playground - there is a slide that does very little, except obstruct part of the projections, and is used a grand total of twice in the first act before it disappears completely. There's also a swing which characters sit on, but it's unidentified where it actually sits in the world and what the significance of it is. It feels like there is a lot of potential and significance to be found in the playground theme, but it's not explored or utilised deeply enough.

Yes, there a moments of brilliance. The opening montage is propels your interest with the perfect mixture of video, sound and dialogue, there are some awesome lines ("History may not remember me, but I was fucking fabulous", or something similar), and a dress literally evaporates in front of your eyes. But it's not enough to save interest or provide anything compelling or engaging overall. A really ambitious project that is stretched too thin.

Adventures Elsewhere

Last week I spent a bit of time up in London, and I wanted to share some happenings.

While we did eat out at a few different places, most of the food in London were delicious sandwiches  from the eighty thousand supermarket chains, usually Tesco or Marks and Spensers. The best place that we came across was a place called Damson Café, which was a really lovely café on St Giles High St. The staff are super friendly without being annoyingly pandering and in addition to delicious coffee, tea and beer selection they serve some great unusual food. Dad and I both had an awesome larger which I've forgotten the name of, but we all had a bowl of the celeriac soup, which was awesome. My grandma tried a carrot cake which was also made with potato - I think I remember reading that potato helps to make the mixture denser and keeping it moister (hehe), and it tasted great.  We were so impressed we went back for a after-breakfast coffee the next day, and I really hope it does well since it was such a nice place, and in terms of pricing compared to Australia it seemed very reasonably priced.

On the note of cakes though, I have to say that the vanilla baked cheesecake (the greatest of all cakes in the world) at Foyles (a staple visit for our family everytime we get to London) was incredible!! It was like a mixture between cheesecake deliciousness and the texture of a chiffon cupcake, impossibly light and very moreish. I want it every minute of my life - it was the most fuck-off incredible cake ever.

Panicking camel. 

Dad and I stopped off at the British Museum to take a look at some of the new exhibits, the feature exhibit that we saw this time were the use of Chinese seals, and their significance and history throughout existence. I really enjoy Oriental artwork and the precision and craft of the works are exquisite. We also walked around and saw the usual Egyptian exhibits, which still amaze me that we're in the same room as something that's 3000 years old - and it's in such good shape. My favourite thing was an exhibit in the Asia region, where we found a perplexing statue of what looked like a distressed camel. Super talent, yo!

I didn't manage to see a lot of theatre, but there isn't much on in London that I was interested in seeing this time. I did manage to go and see In the Republic of Happiness at the Royal Court Theatre, which was really fascinating. I wrote about it at some length here, but the piece is a surreal discussion on the nature of happiness. I managed to run into David at the same performance! I insisted on trying to get a photo since I looked very spiffy and was wearing a tie, but the lighting wasn't so great and the photo turned out with no facial features, and I have no proof that I was actually there with him. The play was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the music so much I went ahead and ordered a CD of songs from the show. I was going to try and see Uncle Vanya the next night but instead I got caught up buying some new business shirts (to go with my skinnys. Hah. Viva la revolution). When we get back to London next month we're going to see Cirque du Soleil's Kooza (a marginally better production than Ovo), and hopefully another piece (Slava's Snow Show?).

We also went to a lot of music events and concerts. We went to see the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican Theatre play the sixth and seventh symphonies by Sibelius, which also included his violin concerto performed with Leonidas Kavakos. The music was striking, very emotive and interesting but I was almost screaming at how tired I was and it was pretty distressing to be sitting down in a cramped position for so long. Someone came up and told me that I was sitting in their seats and all I could do was wail at them until they realised they had the wrong row. On my Dad's birthday we went to a lunchtime concert at Wigmore Hall to see Barry Douglas play some pieces by Brahms. Although he played beautifully and with a lot of feeling, I found it really difficult to enjoy any of the pieces since I was so unfamiliar with them, which was a problem that I also had with an organ recital which we went to in St. Paul's Cathedral. I was glad to go in and see it, because it meant that we got to go into St. Paul's without paying and I'd never been inside, but I found it difficult to engage with.

At the 'conclusion' of Wigmore Hall recital, the audience applauded excessively and Douglas took three bows before sitting down and playing an encore. After which, people clapped while others left, which implies at these sorts of events people pretty much expect an encore, which makes me think that the whole practise is irrelevant and a bit of an oxymoron. In my rage I vowed to myself that if I ever help create a theatre collective/group/company/whatever, I would call it 'Bow Once Theatre', and we would only ever bow once. VIVA LA REVOLUTION.

Me, looking adorable.

While it's not exactly in London, my Mum and I took a trip to Leavesden, where  is where the The Making of Harry Potter Tour at Warner Bros. Studio. Leavesden Studios was (were?) the principal shooting location for the Harry Potters films for over 10 different years, and now, after the incredibly hard task of managing to get to the studios - it took us about three hours to get there - you can now see the sets, costumes and props of the series up close and in their original arrangements. There are a few surprises to be experienced and there is a heap of information on how they manage to film and create certain scenes, including how Quidditch works, which effects are used to create spells, and explaining which scenes and scenery of the films are actually real or rendered. There's also a bunch of other fun things you can do, like walking through Privet Drive, Diagon Alley, and see a scaled down model of Hogwarts Castle. You can also try some 'authentic' Butterbeer, which was very nice but it was chilled, and on such a freezing day I would have preferred it hot (like mine). Although I fell out of love with the Harry Potter films, I used to love them like everyone I know, and I felt extremely nostlagic trotting around scenes from my childhood. Lots of things put me off the films to the extent that I didn't even bother seeing a few cinemas, like trashy hairstyles, bad acting, horrible plot cuts and generally being stupid - but regardless, I did really enjoy the tour overall. It's great value for Harry Potter fans, and you can take as long or short time to go around the studio as you like. Photo opportunities are such a novelty too!

I'm now down in Cardigan with my grandma, where we will celebrate Christmas, New Year and then her 90th birthday. It's a sleepy town, but very relaxing and the days are going surprisingly quickly.

Thoughts In the Republic of Happiness

Promotional artwork for In the Republic of Happiness. (Source: Royal Court Theatre)

Martin Crimp's new piece In the Republic of Happiness is a fascinating and surreal discussion on happiness, exploring what it is and what it has the potential to become. With a fantastic cast, inspired concept, and a score of unexpected songs, the play presents the audience with a play in three phrases - happiness as it is when influenced by environment, how people personally perceive their happiness, and how happiness is dictated by other people.

I should probably preface this with two things, one being the show was still in previews (though unlikely it will change much, as the script is already published and being sold in the lobby). The other being that I was heavily jelagged, and I'd gone to bed about 4pm the previous day, so seeing a show at 7:30pm that ran to 9:30pm was devastating.

Crimp's idiosyncratic writing style is exactly what you'd expect from his plays, with reoccurring motifs, actions and subjects being shared by characters in a script that makes even the most mundane phrase have a sense of significance behind, while it's also crammed full of striking phrases ("I suddenly appeared.", "It's more than that/It doesn't go deep enough.", "I don't think you understand how happy you are."). Both are apparent in the premise of the piece, a slice of life realism and naturalism which quickly descends into the surreal when a bland Christmas dinner becomes propelled by uncomfortable and cracking tension through the arrival of the estranged uncle.

The ensemble during one of the brilliant musical breakdowns
(Source: The Independent). 

The second section abruptly segues the petite house into a sterile talk-show setting, and has the characters transform into representations of their respective age brackets - there's the young, old, middle aged, and 'about 30' year old personalities. Their commentary on achieving the five foundations of happiness is (obviously) reflective of the postmodern zeitgeist, and influenced by politics it's packed with consumerism and self satisfaction. Although the segment eventually loses momentum due to the barrage of repetitive political statements of freedom and happiness, it's a dazzling moment since it manages to be both profoundly uncomfortable but also an intriguing and somehow relatable experience. It's all topped off with bizarre karaoke interjections composed by Roald Van Oosten which are hilarious. The final segment returns to Uncle Bob and Madeleine in another sterile white room, which hints Bob being lost with dementia in a dystopian society. It's the quietest and most perplexing section in the production, and after the conclusion of 'The Happy Song' we're left in darkness to ponder what exactly there was to be happy about.

The ensemble cast, including Anna Calder-Marshall, Michelle Fielding, Seline Hizli, Ellie Kendrick, Stuart McQuarrie,  and Peter Wight, are all just fantastic, perfectly portraying their characters in correlation to their age and political identities with . In particular, Paul Ready as the sinister Uncle Bob is so compelling to watch, and his appearance and presence totally flips the style and mood of the piece. Michelle Terry, playing his wife Madeline, is also just as stunning, furthering the disruption of balance on stage and pushing the family into a deeper level of distress - her sudden break into singing was just hilarious and I adored and wanted to watch the scene over and over again.

In the Republic of Happiness is an intriguing and compelling production which examines happiness in a way unlike I've ever seen before. It's not Crimp's strongest work in that, compared to Attempts on her Life or The Country, it didn't manage to engage me for the whole duration, most notably in the middle which seems to meander too long on too many political issues. However attention is maintained through the excellent songs, and the opening scene is Crimp's typically brilliant style of hybridised naturalism with surrealism with many intelligent and humorous lines, and the pensive and unsettling ending leaves a profound impact in that is just baffling. I still maintain that Crimp is one of Britain's best postmodern playwrights, and although it's not easy to sit through it some times I recommend this piece just as much as any other of his previous works. It's poetic, brooding and compelling, and will leave you considering it for days.

Tickets for Martin Crimp's In the Republic of Happiness are £10 - £28, and is showing at Royal Court Theatre until January 17th. Duration of approximately 110 minutes. Book by visiting Royal Court Theatre's Official Website.

World Theatre Festival 2013 Launch

World Theatre Festival Launch at Brisbane Powerhouse (Source: Facebook).

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the 2013 World Theatre Festival at Brisbane Powerhouse. In February next year, eight countries (Australia, Belgium, Iran, Ireland, Germany, Malaysia, UK and the USA) will be represented in the line-up of over 30 items over 11 days.

I've no knowledge of any of the theatre companies represented in the main program, and with not much to go off I'm not exactly feeling any urgency to see any of the productions. A lot of people murmured in approval when Gob Squad's Kitchen was announced, which will be a bizarre adaptation of Andy Warhol's film of the same name. A Doll House by Ireland's Pan Pan Collective is potentially a good choice, but given what a certain other company did with an Ibsen text this year, it's probably wise to approach this work with extreme caution. The festival staples such as the controversial stuff to make the audience feel challenged (The Economist by MKA) and the theatre of the oppressed (White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour) are also here. The one that really piqued my interest is The Last Supper by Reckless Sleepers. The collective, comprised of artists from the UK and Belgium, will present an intermedial dinner party where the audience join figures experiencing their last dinner. The final moments and sentiments of figures ranging from condemned prisoners to Beethoven will be represented.

What I'm most looking forward to is the Scratch program. Scratch gives creatives a chance to trial their work, simultaneously allowing them to develop their work, receive constructive feedback for the final product, and also make a much needed profit. While last year the program unfortunately included one of the worst things to appear at Brisbane Powerhouse ever (Disappearing Acts by Kelly Ryall & Martyn Coutts), it also featured some incredible gems including A Spectacular of Sorts and Murder. Those pieces that gleamed with potential and delivered so well - this time the lineup includes Horrendo's Curse by Imaginary Theatre will feature the wonderful Lucas Stibbard and Neridah Waters as their leading actors - I don't care if it's created for kids, I'll be there. Robert Davidson and Topology (the best thing about The Lady from the Sea), return with a new work that fuses together melodies with recorded voices of the worlds leading thinkers in a piece titled Nature/Nurture. Oedipus Schmoedipus by Post also looks like it could be a good one considering the company's history. The best thing about Scratch is that all the tickets are $10, so that's what I'll be attending most of the time in the festival.

There are also a couple in-conversations, workshops and music events to attend, many of which are free. The one that I'm dreaming most about is the in-conversation and four day masterclass with Richard Schechner, a renown theorist and practitoner who actually wrote a good number of text books that I've studied with. Unfortuantely the cost is extortionate for a student, and his talk has already filled up on reservations. I imagine it would certainly be a worthwhile and invaluable experience to do - if you can afford it!

It's a few months before the festival, but it was a great evening to preview what would be featured at Brisbane Powerhouse next February. I'm looking forward to attending many Scratch works and a few of the mainstage shows - onward and upward!

Brisbane Powerhouse's World Theatre Festival 2013 will be running from 13-24 February 2013. The complete program can be viewed online at the World Theatre Festival Official Website.