Week #17 : 'The Room' by Harold Pinter

”My first play was The Room, written when I was twenty-seven.  A friend of mine called Henry Woolf was a student in the drama department at Bristol University at the time when it was the only drama department in the country. He had the opportunity to direct a play, and as he was my oldest friend he knew I'd been writing, and he knew I had an idea for a play, though I hadn't written any of it. I was acting in rep at the time, and he told me he had to have the play the next week to meet his schedule.  I said this was ridiculous; he might get it in six months. And then I wrote it in four days.”  

Harold Pinter interview with The Paris Review Fall Edition 1966 #39

Influenced by Samuel Beckett (and not being introduced to Ionesco until he had written a few plays), Pinter attributes him and Franz Kafka as being the most captivating literary voices in his own world of writing.

The first play written by Harold Pinter was titled 'The Room'.  Taking only 4 days to write in 1957 when he was homeless, always on tour with a Repertory Stage Company performing in small dingy theatres around provincial cities and small out-of-the-way seaside villages.

'The Room' is One Act play set in a single room in the house of Bert Hudd and Rose.
Rose dominates the conversation whilst making breakfast (yet it seems to be dark out with stars present, making the audience wonder if it really is day or night) for Bert with very... small.... talk....
"It's very cold out, I can tell you.  It's murder."
"Just now I looked out of the window.  It was enough for me.  There wasn't a soul about.  Can you hear the wind?"
Rose discusses (single handedly) the new tenants that live in the basement of the house.  We are given no stage directions for Bert, but can safely assume that he sits at the kitchen table ignoring all that Rose is saying whilst reading his magazine.  She continues the one sided conversation musing about the people living downstairs and the prospect of Bert going outside in the cold weather to drive on the icy roads. And she talks... and talks..... and talks......
Suddenly there is a knock at the door.  Mr Kidd drops by to let them know that he has been looking at the pipes.  Rose chimes in about the weather (again!) and they have a pleasant chit-chat.  (So far, we can really see the influence of Beckett here and the start of the conversations that happen in the 'The Dumb Waiter' which I previously blogged about.)
As per Absurdist theatre techniques, there is frequent repetitions in the dialogue.  Rose continually says to Bert "I'll have some cocca on when you get back."  also "Don't go too fast" - in relation to his driving on the icy roads.
After some more dialogue from Rose and ignorance by Bert, we meet Mr and Mr Sands, the basement dwellers!  In this initial conversation Mrs. Sands repeats the phrase from Rose earlier on "It's murder out."  and again we are given another Absurdist technique of misheard lines.  There is a confusion as to who the landlord is : Kidd or Hudd.

After Mrs Sands finishing telling Rose about how they came to rent the room below... by walking into a dark room and hearing a voice telling them that the room was free, Rose states that Mr Kidd said earlier that all the rooms were taken.  Mrs Sands responds saying that the 'voice' told her and her husband that room seven was free.  "That's this room" Rose responds.
(It is all becoming very Ionesco's 'Bald Soprano' at this point in the script!) 
Just then Mr Kidd comes into the room and Rose accuses him of renting the room to the Sands.  
Mr Kidd tells Rose that there is a man in the basement that knows her and she must go and speak to him immediately.  This man refuses to talk to anyone but Rose.  Mr Kidd fetches him and we are introduced to a 'Blind Negro' - as it states in the script.  We soon learn his name is Riley and that he has a message for Rose - 'Your father wants you to come home."
Riley starts to call Rose - Sal .  At this moment Bert arrives home regaling Rose of his tales on the road driving 'her' back.  (This is never referenced again...)  
Bert sees Riley sitting on the chair at the table, he looks at him for a coupleof moments , and with his foot lifts the chair up dislodging Riley, whom falls to the floor.  "Mr. Hudd, your wife - " Riley begins to say, and to this Bert strikes him, knocking him down, kicks his head against the stove a couple of times and walks away.  
Rose closes the play yelling "Can't see.  I can't see.  I can't see."


Throughout the play we are surrounded by fear.  Fear of the outside, fear of other people, fear of losing others, fear of losing oneself.
We are also blurred by the elements.  It is cold and dark outside.  Rose is cooking up breakfast foods.  No one seems to want to stand near the fire to warm up, yet they eventually gravitate that way.  
Rose is seen to be the dominate character due to her dialogue at the beginning if the script.  She is making all the conversation, delivering food and making sure that her husband is well fed, warm and has a jacket to wear on his trip. No one seems to be in control in the middle section of the play - Rose does not know why Mr  Kidd has come to visit. Mr Kidd is dependent on Rose to get rid of the blind man downstairs. Mr and Mrs Sands are not sure whether they have come up or are going down stairs, not to mention that they don't even know who the landlord is. 

This is a perfect example of Absurdism at its greatest.  Limited character profiles, disjointed scenes, repetition of lines and no knowledge of their place in their world.


To sum up quite nicely, a word from Pinter on seeing his first play in it's first performance...

“It was the process of writing a play that had started me going. Then I went to see The Room, which was a remarkable experience. Since I'd never written a play before, I'd of course never seen one of mine performed, never had an audience sitting there. The only people who'd ever seen what I'd written had been a few friends and my wife. So to sit in the audience—well, I wanted to piss very badly throughout the whole thing, and at the end I dashed out behind the bicycle shed.” 

Harold Pinter (same interview)

Next Week: 'Falling Petals' by Ben Ellis

Week #15 : 'Love, Loss and What I Wore' by Nora and Delia Ephron

Five women dressed all in classic and well fitting black dresses sitting on a stage in front of music stands.  Doesn't really sound like an interesting play does it... but as the stories in 'Love, Loss and What I Wore' unfold, we hear from 20 different characters (and some others to help tell their story) about the importance of memory in clothing.  These characters deliver moving and hilarious monologues based on pieces of clothing from their past that have remained imprinted in their memory for one reason or another.

Each actor plays 5-7 characters telling their stories or love, loss, heartache and embarrassment (and one very torturous story about rape).  
The main character, kind of like a narrator (but kind of not, at the same time) 'Gingy' is the only character for that actress and is the centre of the plot who sets the tone for each section of the play (based on Ilene Beckerman and her book of the same name).  Her stories are numerous and she has a more detailed plot line than the rest of the characters.
Each of the other characters delivers a shortish 3-5 minute monologue about the importance of a specific piece of clothing, like a tuxedo or Eggplant coloured dress (my personal favourite story in the whole play!) or a pair of boots, a bathrobe that holds infinite memories or a pale blue and white chiffon prom dress.  

The stories are set out in semi tonal waves, each slightly pertaining and responding to 'Gingy's' last clothing story.

Cast from 2009: Tyne Daly, Rosie O’Donnell,
Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran and Natasha Lyonne.

The most hilarious tale is about the uselessness of the handbag - One item that every woman has and an item that every woman dreads, which is directly from Nora Ephron's collection of acerbic essays "I feel bad about my neck." - "I hate my purse.  I absolutely hate it.  If you're one of those women who think there's something great about purses, don't even bother listening because I have nothing to say to you."
The saddest is the tale of the olive green boots - "I thought my boots gave me a kind of mysterious, Bohemian charisma, tough but tender, rugged but sensuous, poetic but unself-conscious, like Joni Mitchell."
Some of the other tales encompass the decision to wear heels or be able to function properly in society - 'I started wearing heels again.  Oh the pain, I can't think.  but I look gorgeous.  I had to choose - heels or think.  I chose heels."
The blunders of fashion 'There was, for a very brief moment in time, the paper dress.  And I had one." 
The trials of finding the right clothes for your body shape - "My mother as the most competent human being alive but she gave up on me clothes-wise.  She would send me off alone in a taxi to a store called Jane Engel on the southeast corner of 79th and Madison, and they'd bring me clothes and I'd try them on.  There was a dressing room with three mirrors, and no matter which way I looked, there I was, as big as a house.  There has never been a good time to be fat, but this was a particularly bad time on account of Audrey Hepburn.".

The monologues are intermingled with 'clothesline' mini tales.  Each one about a poignant clothing moments in every females life: 'What my mother said', 'The Bra', 'Madonna', 'The dressing room', 'The closet' and the importance of 'Black'.

The 'Madonna Clothesline'

  However you see the monologues, there is going to be at least one tale that each woman can respond to in some way.  Be it just the memory of the way a particular dress made you feel, the memory of a non-descript outfit you were wearing when you heard elating (or devastating) news, or that all important choice of a wedding dress.
These all encompass happy, shocked or terrified moments in every woman's life.

Playwright Nora Ephron (and co-wrote by her sister Delia Ephron) bought us perfect romantic/comedy films as: 'When Harry Met Sally', 'You've Got Mail', 'Sleepless in Seattle' and 'Julie and Julia' (she also directed the last three on this list).  Also an accomplished Essayist, Nora Ephron wrote heartfelt female stories of love and loss and the ways in-between.  This play is no different. 

'Love, Loss and What I Wore'  was first officially staged at the Westside Theatre in  New York for Off-Broadway (there were numerous readings of the play on Off-Off Broadway at the D2 Theatre) in 2009, it has increased in popularity ever since.  

The cast consisted of Tyne Daly, Rosie O'Donnell, Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran and Natasha Lyonne.  It soon became a revolving cast including stars of stage and screen (and the comedy circuit): Joy Behar ('The View'), America Ferrera ('Ugly Betty'), Blyth Danner, Rita Wilson, Barbra Feldon (Agent 99 in 'Get Smart'), Kirsten Wiig (SNL and 'Bridsesmaids'), Kristin Chenoweth (Broadway star - Glinda in 'Wicked'),  Jane Lynch, Kathy Najimi (Sister Act 1 & 2), Janeane Gafofalo, Melissa Joan Hart ('Sabrina the Teenage Witch') and Rhea Perlman.

An interview with Nora and Delia Ephron about the play gives you an understanding into the creation of some of these stories.  There are real life stories from the playwrights themselves, stories from Ilene Beckerman's book as well as stories from friends and relatives of the author and playwrights.  We see glimpses of how Nora and Delia, in conjunction with Ilene Beckerman's book, designed the elements and the importance of the moments in the play - each punctuated by the 'closeline' moments.

Nora Ephron passed away in June of 2012 from pneumonia aggravated by myelodysplastic syndrome which is a pre-leukemic condition.  Only close friends and family knew of this and it was not made public until her death.

This play has something for every female in the world and also allows males to catch a fleeting glimpse of what it is like to be a female.  Hopefully this play will help men to understand why females can take so long to choose a dress/shoes/handbag for certain situations!!

Next Week : 'The Frogs' by Aristophanes

Week #13 : 'Hedda Gabler' by Henrik Ibsen

“I am mortally bored to be everlastingly in the company of one and the same person.”

Hedda Gabler, the belle within her social standing, has just returned from her honeymoon with her new husband George Tesman, a colourless and forever tedious lecturer, to their new ostentatious villa given to them (under great sufferance) by Hedda’s aunt.

Upon their return from their overseas honeymoon and Tesman’s research trip, they receive many visitors to congratulate their union.  Tesman’s Aunt Juliane brings news that his Aunt Rina is on her death bed.  Mrs Thea Elvsted secretly ruminates her love for her children’s tutor Ejlert Lovborg, whom has just written a book to rival Tesman’s lifelong work and has the chance at ruining his career.

Throughout all of these untimely visitors, Hedda is cruel and callous to those who deign to become her friends.  She is deliberately and viciously rude to Tesman’s Aunt.  She conspires to move Thea and Lovborg together, only to rip them apart again by giving Lovborg the ‘ammunition’ to destroy himself.  She destroys the only manuscript of Lovborg’s book and treats their housemaid with disdain and condescension.

All to what gain?  There are many reasons, the main one possibly is for Hedda's own personal gratification.

In 2004, Sydney Theatre Company produced Hedda Gabler with Cate Blanchett at the helm with Hugo Weaving as Judge Black. This traditional setting directed by Andrew Upton was probably one and the last that we have seen with Ibsen 1800s traditionalist costumes and set.

This year, Australia's most revered playwright Joanna Murray-Smith took it upon herself to reinvent this classic for the South Australian stage.  When I say 'reinventing' I don't mean in a 'Simon Stone-kind-of-way' (not that there is anything wrong with that!! I adore his adaptations); Murray-Smith stayed true to the plot line and importance of the main character and Ibsen's classic writings for strong female characters. She updated the script within a modern framework, whilst keeping the tradition of Ibsen's work alive, and added a few tongue-in-cheek references to liven up the script and bring it bouncing into 2013. 

 Taking the title role of Hedda was Alison Bell, best known for her work in ABC's series Laid and for Sydney Theatre Companies performance of Doubt.

Director Geordie Brookman opted for a non traditional set for his production making the text and it's translation speak entirely for itself. Again, the costumes were minimalistic allowing the actors portray at the characters all the more important because they didn't have the stereotypical 1800s costumes to hide behind to help viscerally adopt the seriousness of the content.

Ben Brooker of the blog Marginalia commented that "the most remarkable thing about Joanna Murray-Smith’s adaptation of Hedda Gabler – which replaces Henrik Ibsen’s hermetically-sealed world of the Norwegian bourgeoisie in the twilight of the 19^th century with a slice of contemporary upper middle class Australian suburbia – is how unremarkable it is. That is not to say it is bad, but that it is good for a curiously self-defeating reason: that it leaves so much intact. Whole lines of dialogue, and even several longer exchanges, come across from earlier English translations virtually unchanged in Murray-Smith’s one act version. Her most original contribution is her first-rate line in barbed humour which makes its way into a great deal of the dialogue."

Along with No Plain Jane (another Australian Arts blogger) who also commented that:

"Perhaps one of the dangers in adapting Hedda Gabler to a contemporary context is the way that women’s place in society has changed in 120 years. Ibsen’s women, his Hedda and his Nora in particular, were revolutionary in their portraits of middle-class women unhappy with their lives, questioning society, and, ultimately, taking control of their own destinies – in radically different fashions. It would be all too easy for a contemporary Hedda to not ring true: while women are still under many pressures and societal expectations, today’s women are, on the whole, more activated both inside and outside the home. Yet, Murray-Smith’s adaptation brings with it startling relevancy, none more so in the ever-prevailing expectation and tension on women to become mothers: here, this conversation feels shocking but in no way false."

Next year the new Director in Residence at Belvoir St Theatre Adena Jacobs will be tackling this text.  It will be interesting to see what take she will have on the play and female lead.  Jacobs has a flair for strong female characters and I think that this is an excellent choice for her to approach in her first appointment at Belvoir St.  Will she heavily adapt it, as per the state of theatre in Australia at the moment? Or will she subtly maneuver the text into the 21st Century as per Murray-Smith??

I certainly think there is a place for adaptation. There are those out there that think that this contemporary theatre practice is ruining the theatre for emerging artists. (Check out this scathing articlehttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/arts/the-local-voices-being-swept-off-the-stage/story-e6frg8n6-1226651624628?sv=4d4d97a3d6abaddf86efff684124e275)  There has been extensive research gone into this area, especially by Alison Croggon, Australia's most outspoken theatre spokesperson - and all for the triumphs and waves that new Australian theatre is bringing. Theatre is a burgeoning area that the needs of the many (and the few) are being indulged, but also bent treated with respect.

You can read Alison Croggon's views on Adaptations Vs New theatrical works here: http://m.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/hooked-on-classics/story-fn9n8gph-1226648616479

I also highly recommend you read the Andrew Upton (co-Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company) Phillip Parsons Memorial Lecture delivered on the 2/12/2012 at Belvoir St Theatre.  It is a stirring speech about Theatrical pursuits of the many and the few.  It made me triumphant and tearful all at the same time.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/theatre-is-a-place-of-here-now-and-destiny/story-e6frg8n6-1226528488602

(Sorry about the messy links.... I really with they would update the blogger app for the iPad to have the ability to embed links in posts.)

I LOVE Australian Theatre. It is such a small scope of what happens here, yet the Directors, Producers, Actors and blossoming major and indie companies are becoming more recognised for the passion that goes into the works and the tremendous output and brilliant productions that are happening across this land. I would not ask to be anywhere else right now.

I realise that this post is a week late, unfortunately due to some personal issues I had to delay this entry.

Next Week: 'EndGame' by Samuel Beckett

Week #12 : 'Philadelphia, Here I Come!' by Brian Friel

On the night before his departure to a new life in Philadelphia, Gareth (Gar) O’Donnell resists this huge change in his life and doubts his big move. 

Gar is a troubled mid 20-something living in a stagnant household alongside his elderly father S.B, without having a familial relationship.  They treat each other as if they were only ‘boss and employee’, working father in their little shop that contains a mish-mash of items, and not father and son.  Madge, the exasperated  housekeeper, is the only member of the household that creates any warmth or family love within the household, whilst still keeping to her employee status.  With her traditional ‘old Irish lady’ antics, Gar sees her as a motherly figure (but not as a replacement for his mother, who died 3 days after his birth.)

‘Philadelphia, Here I Come!’ is set during the dire times of the 1950s in Ireland dubbed the ‘doom and gloom’ time, the worst since the famine in the mid-1800s.  Agriculture was the mainstay of the Irish economy and in the 50s there was a huge decline in this area.  The state did not put in sufficient effort to develop new industries to help boost other areas, therefore as a consequence there was insufficient work available for the thousands of young males in Ireland.  Most young people knew the only way they were going to make a life for themselves was to immigrate to another country with more prospects – America was seen as the ‘land of opportunities’.  This is where we see our protagonist headed towards.

Throughout ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come!’ we are introduced to various encounters with:

Ex-girlfriend and daughter of a Senator - Kate

Sloppy and lazy friends - Ned, Tom and Joe  

Old school principal – Master Boyle

Local Parish Priest - Canon Mick O’Byrne  

Relatives in America who are sponsoring Gar’s travels and employment opportunities in the USA – Lizzy and Con Sweeny and their friend Ben Burton.

However, there is one character left to be mentioned….. that is Gar O’Donnell….. Yes, there are two of them – the public Gar and the private Gar whom only the public Gar can see and hear!  These are the two views of the protagonish.  The private Gar is the man within, the conscience and alter ego, the secret thoughts – The ID.

The female characters are the ones who spurn the content.  Maude in her constant packing frenzy getting Gar ready for his immigration, Kate (or Kathy as Gar often calls her) who the audience can see as more of a direction to wanting to be loved rather than Gar specifically loving her.  And Lizzie, the motherless Aunt, who is seeking a surrogate to love and adore as her own.  These women are the driving forces for Gar to move overseas for a life change.

The men, however, are the juxtaposition within the plot.  Gar and his father have no relationship to speak of.  His old school principal thinks gar is a no-hoper with no drive and smarts to find his way on the world.  The Parish priest who is not interested in helping Gar through his big change.

This is where the private Gar comes into his own – his wit and tenacity for belittling these older men and their penchant for drinking, sitting around and not living life to the fullest.  Private Gar mirrors S.B’s routine and mocks his monotonous and completely predictable existence.  Private Gar ridicules and belittles these older men and becomes increasingly frustrated towards their existence.  Private Gar especially demeans S.B and his nightly routine after work and before bed, following and mirroring his movements and commenting on his unchanging bedtime standard as a fashion walk.

It all comes to a head close to the end of the play when Private Gar speaks fluently and full of emotion cradling these deep-seated thoughts that Public Gar has always hidden in the recesses of his mind:

“Listen! Listen! Listen!  D’you hear it? D’you know what the music says? (to S.B) It says that once upon a time a boy and his father sat in a blue boat on a lake on an afternoon in May, and on that afternoon a great beauty happened, a beauty that has haunted the boy ever since, because he wonders now did it really take place or did he imagine it.  There are only the two of us, he says; each of us is all the other has; and why can we not even look at each other? Have pity on us, he says; have goddam pity on every goddam bloody man jack of us.  To hell with all the strong silent men!”

His friends are stuck in the same routine and rut that Gar is familiar with, yet wanting to change (even if it is a reluctant change).  These three young male friends vocalise the frustrations that the three older men embody.  This is important to understand as this is the one thing that both Public and Private Gar are trying to move away from and is crucial to understanding the predicament that Gar is in – Should he leave his comfortable life for a new adventure or stay behind and grow into a mundane existence so much like his fathers and the same direction where his friends are headed. 

Music plays an important part within this production.  The 'Public' Gar is often singing or humming in his bedroom, particularly 'California, Here I Come', interchanging 'California' with 'Philadelphia' (...for obvious reasons!) and some traditional Scottish ditties, to take himself away from the situations and abate his fears.  

In Act One he listens to the First movement of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

At the very start of the Second Act, we hear the Second movement of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which creates a slightly differing feel to the first.  The first movement is quite somber and filled with emergency, whereas the second movement is more uplifting and slightly more joyous but still in-keeping with the tone of the first.  We can feel the difference in the character though this music - We know that Gar is more determined to succeed in his new life path than earlier in the play.

Keeping in tone with the setting of 'Philadelphia, Here I Come!' is the traditional Irish Ceilidh band music which is completely uplifting and makes you want to do a jig around the bedroom!

All in all, a beautiful read on the matters of the heart versus the head and the strong pull that each of them have on our mundane existence.

Next Week: 'Hedda Gabbler' by Henrik Ibsen

Week #11 : 'The Laramie Project' by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project

“If you would have asked me before, I would have told you, Laramie is a beautiful town, secluded enough that you can have your own identity … A own with a strong sense of community – everyone knows everyone … A town with a personality that most larger cities are stripped of.  Now, after Matthew, I would say that Laramie is a town defined by an accident, a crime.  We’ve become Waco, we’ve become Jasper.  We’re a noun, a definition, a sign.  We may be able to get rid of that … but it will sure take a while.”  - JEBADIAH SCHULTZ

Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten within an inch of his life, tied to a pole in the middle of a field and left to die by two boys – Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. 

The reasoning for this crime – Matthew was gay. 

The Laramie Project was written by Moises Kaufman and the Members of the ‘Tectonic Theatre Project’.  It explores the hate/homosexual crime of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998.  8 Actors portray 67 Characters in this ruthless re-telling of the true crime that shocked not only a small town, but the entirety of the USA. 

Over a year and a half and six visits in 1998 and 1999, the members of the ‘Tectonic Theatre Project’ conducted over 200 interviews with people closely related to the crime and those who were living in Laramie at the time – whether they were long term residents or students at the University of Wyoming who knew Shepard. 

This allows an overall breakdown of the events leading up to the kidnapping and subsequent murder, the crime itself and the aftermath that was bought down onto the town and its inhabitants.

Broken down into ‘moments’ not scenes, Kaufman explains the reasoning behind this:

“When writing this play, we used a technique I developed called ‘moment work’.  It is a method to create and analyse theatre from a structuralist (or tectonic) perspective.  For that reason, there are no ‘scenes’ in this play only ‘moments’.  A ‘moment’ does not mean a change of locale, or an entrance or exit of actors or characters.  It is simply a unit of theatrical time, which is then juxtaposed with other units to convey meaning.”

All of the moments in the script allude to the content that will be delivered on the stage.  Moments such as:

·        Journal Entries (of the Tectonic Theatre Project)

·        Alison and Marge

·        The Word

·        The Essential Facts

·        E-mail

·        Medical Update

Allow the audience to easily grasp the situation and the types of ‘characters’ that are going to be on stage.  (I use ‘characters’ in this form as they are all real life people, recalling real life events) 

You could break down the events in the script even further and give sections ‘Chapters’ of meanings.  (I learnt this from Director Leticia Caceres as a good way to conduct rehearsals – You and the cast section out the script into these chapters and give them a simple title so everyone is on the same page when you are rehearsing a specific section and not have to use archaic phrases eg: “Today were going to work on pages 20-34.”  Instead you can create much more meaning into the phrase “Today we are going to be working on the Vigils.”)

The chapters that I have created for this play are as follows (This will give you a good breakdown of the structure of the play, which is very important to the flow of the production):

1.      Laramie

2.     Personality

3.     Religion

4.     Crime

5.     Realisation

6.     Deposition

7.     News reports

8.     Definitive Recognition and Repercussion

9.     Vigils

10.    Contrast

11.    Death

12.    Funeral

13.    Court (Henderson)

14.   After

15.   Court (McKinney)

16.   Statement

17.   Epilogue

Since each actor has to portray 6 to 12 ‘characters’ (and in the original staged production, portraying themselves in some instances) each character has to change on stage.  It is therefore specified in the script that the characters need only define themselves by a hat, shirt, a pair of glasses.  All costume items can either be left onstage so actors can remain onstage for the entirety of the production.

In a similar vein, the set needs only be quite minimal.  A couple of chairs, a table or two and the use of technology; is all you need to carry on a successful production.  It is one of those strong liturgical plays where the actors and dialogue completely speak for themselves.

“So how could it not be a town where this kind of thing happens?  Like, that’s just totally – like, it’s just totally like circular logic, like how can you even say that?  And we have to mourn this and we have to be sad that we live in a town, a state, a country where shit like this happens.  I mean, these are people trying to distance themselves from this crime.  And we need to own this crime.  I feel.  Everyone needs to own it.  We are like this.  We ARE like this.  WE are LIKE this.” – ZUBAIDA ULA

You can find out more about the show from the following websites:

http://www.laramieproject.org/

http://www.tectonictheaterproject.org/The_Laramie_Project.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1qiTmF0p4A

http://www.matthewshepard.org/our-works/lp-support

Next Week: 'Philadelphia, Here I Come!' by Brian Friel

Week #10 : 'The Comedy of Errors' by William Shakespeare

"Am I in earth, in Heaven, or in Hell?

Sleeping or waking, mad or well-advised?

Known unto these, and to myself disguised?

I'll say as they say, and persever so,

And in this mist at all adventure go."                    (Antipholus of Syracuse, Act 2: Scene 2)

24 Hours....

+   TWO sets of identical twins.....

+   Separation at birth from a shipwreck....

+   A port-side town of Ephesus.....

+   Mistaken identity....

+   A collision of family and friends.....

+   Far-fetched coincidences.....

= Chaotic hilarity unfolding!

Egeon, a merchant shipper of Syracuse has just been condemned to death in the town of Epheus for violating a serious ban against travelling between two rival cities.  As he is being lead to his execution Egeon tells the Duke Solinus that he was travelling to Syracuse to search for his long lost wife and twin son, who were lost in a shipwreak 25 years ago.  Egeon has one of the twins, Antipholus... of Syracuse (this will seem quite necessary in a minute, believe you me!) and a slave named Dromio... of Syracuse - whom is also a twin and has also lost his other half.  The Duke is so moved by this tale that he grants Egeon 24 hours to raise 1000 marks to save his life. 

In the meantime, and unknown to Egeon, Antipholus of Syracuse is also in the town Ephesus, with his slave, Dromio of Syracuse.
Unknown to both Egeon and Antipholus of Syracuse, the town has a prosperous citizen, known as...... Antipholus.... of Ephesus and his slave Dromio..... of Ephesus...... 

Confused yet???  Well, try to keep up for a sec...

Adriana, Antipholus of Ephesus' wife mistakes Antipholus of Syracuse for her husband and forces him home for dinner, whilst leaving Dromio of Syracuse at the door to stand guard.
Shortly following, Antipholus of Ephesus, along with his slave Dromio of Ephesus returns home and is refused entry.

In the meantime, Antipholus of Syracuse has fallen in love with Luciana, Adriana's sister, who in turn thinks that her brother-in-law is trying to seduce her.

Ok.... are you keeping up??

The hilarity and total confusion continues when a gold chain, that has been ordered by Antipholus of Ephesus is given to Antipholus of Syracuse.  Antipholus of Ephesus refuses to pay for the chain (and rightly so, it was never given to him) and is arrested for this debt.  Adriana decides that her husband has gone mad and orderes him to be bound in their cellar room.
At this point, Antipholus of Syracuse and Dromio of Syracuse try to escape the city immediately, yet only to be caught by the debt officer and Adriana......

Take a deep breath!!

Bell Shakespeare alongside the State Theatre Company of South Australia is currently producing this wonderfully absurd and highly physical comedy.  If you haven't had a chance to see it, you only have a few more chances to see it in Canberra (29 Oct - 9 Nov) and Sydney (12 Nov - 7 Dec).  There are a few regional dates upcoming in Tas (on RIGHT NOW!), Vic and NSW - Check the website for these dates and venues.

Director Imara Savage departs from her darker and torturous theatrical roots to direct a comedy for one of the first times.  She comments in an article to 'The Age' newspaper that "I didn't feel that I had to drag it kicking and screaming into the modern day.  It feels like it sits there quite comfortable.  That's a testament to Shakespeare, because comedy is something that can date quickly."

Savage takes the reigns of this hilarious Shakespearean comedy, updates the setting to a contemporary location with gaudy costumes and settings.  If the sold out season in Melbourne is anything to go by, this revisioning of this play has been a tremendous success.  The 'Hearld Sun' reviewer Byron Bache had nothing bad to say about the production at all, discussing that "Modern dress Shakespeare is so often over-inflated, confused, or downright pointless.  Here, director imama Savage has performed magic.  Her 'The Comedy of Errors' takes place is a twisted, hysterical King Street-cum-Carrum Downs hyper-reality.  Every line reading, every joke and every piece of physical comedy sings.
This is Shakespeare for the populace.  The text is intact and Savage's clever staging, full of tweaks and subversions, is redoubtable proof that the 'burn everything to the ground, throw away the text' school of adaptation that's currently in vogue brings far less to a work than the guiding hand of a capable and imaginative director with a little bit of trust in their playwright."

 

If Imara Savage likes the dark and disastrous plays then I can't wait to see her tackle another Shakespeare in this vein.... Titus Andronicus, for example??  or maybe a bloody Macbeth or Julius Caesar??  My vote is for Titus! (My favourite Shakespeare play!!)
Any production of hers will be a success if this production is anything to be counted upon.


The final, final word comes from Dromio of Ephesus:

"Nay, then thus,
We came into the world like brother and brother,
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another."



Next Week: 'The Laramie Project' by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project

Week #9 : 'The Prodigal Son' by Jack Hibberd

The Prodigal Son - A wayward son who squanders his inheritance, however he returns home to find that his father forgives him.  Luke 15:11-32

The parable of The Prodigal Son is reflected in the tale of Luke, Chapter 15, from the Bible. The characters in the parable are The Father, The Prodigal Son and The Elder Son.

The Father is a wealthy man with two sons - He is the reflection of divine love. Some say that the father is the representation of God, some prefer the suggestion that he is actually the symbol of Christ.

The Elder Son is a materialistic man whom desires no familial relationships. He is suggested to be the representation of The Pharisees who had religion and and righteousness in their heads, but not in their hearts. They did not believe in Christ nor forgiveness of sins.

The Prodigal Son is a young, wasteful and unmarried boy who is undisciplined in the ways of life. He is said to be the representation of a person living in rebellion without Christ in their life. The fable tells us that we sometimes need to hit rock-bottom before we can repent for our sins.

The basis of this parable from the Bible tells us that we, as the general human race, are wasteful and are too absorbed in our own wants, needs and desires to realise that we are living in sin. In this sinful life we hurt others around us, especially our fathers, and we need to repent and ask for forgiveness. In this, our fathers will always love us and grant us with patience, generosity and grace. All we need to do is awaken our hearts to the love of Christ and redeem ourselves in his eyes.

The premise of Hibberd's The Prodigal Son is in a similar vein of this Bible story, however modernised for a 90s post modern audience with the inclusion of a homosexual son, unforgiving parents and disconnected language. In Hibberd's version, we are witnessing the return of The Son to The Father and Mother (known only as Mr and Mrs in the playscript)

"The Son returns home 30 years after being rejected by his family on the suggestion that he is a homosexual. He returns home in the hope that he will be granted a reconciliation with his parents, only to be rejected again, specifically by a ruthless and monstrous mother." (Derived from Jack Hibberd's website)

In replacement of The Elder Son, Hibberd inserts the Mother character with all be same representations of this character - self righteous, pitiless and unforgiving.  The Father character is per the parable. He is loving and devoted parent. He cannot understand why his son has left nor why he has returned, he is only glad that he has come back and doesn't care for the why.

Mr:  I missed you, son. Dreadfully. Your absence has been like a hole in my -

Mrs:  Head

Mr:  Heart

On the other side The Mother is persistent in her unrelenting belligerent manner, trying to get her son to blame himself for leaving, forcing him to explain his return. She constantly berates The Prodigal Son and blames him for her ruined uterus, vagina and sagging breasts. She refuses his questions and his insistence on moving home again.

Mrs:  The room is frozen in time. And will remain unthawed.

Son:  Like your heart.

Mrs:  I never wanted you.

Son:  I gathered that. It is unusual for a mother to hang her son on a meat hook when he has been naughty.

                           

The play starts with only the sound of a metronome. A heart beat. It is suddenly stopped by The Father. The family continue to act as a normal family - the pouring and offering of coffee, the offering of cake - but in complete silence with frequent and highly specific pauses to create different tableaux.

In the finality of the situation, after The Prodigal Son is asked to leave the house, The Father begins the metronome again. The heartbeat continues.

The language in this play has a post-modern vibe to it. It is broken up into small tableaux with frequent silences and sometimes incomprehensible, and sometimes philosophical, dialogue and conversations.

Mrs:  Children. They suck you dry. They sup upon your very marrow. To them your blood is raspberry pop. They gnaw at your liver. Guzzle goblets of fluid, cerebrospinal and lymph. They eat your placenta. Buttocks subside and gravitate. Breasts become old knapsacks. Your navel fills up with gunk. Receptacles pucker. You feel like tripe.

(Pause)

Mr:  I could do with a snack.

The Prodigal Son was first produced for the Queensland Theatre Company in 1997 and Directed by Jennifer Flowers, as part of their short season.  It was first produced in script form alongside Barry Dickins play 'Insouciance' published by Playbox in 2001. Directed by Daniel Schussler (I think....) for Playbox (now The Malthouse) it opened in the Beckett Theatre in July 2001 for a short double bill season.

Unfortunately there are so little productions of this play that I cannot even search for reviews of productions or images from any shows apart from the Playbox season. (And even then, all I can find is reference to reviews written...  http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/11567) 

[FYI - I am on my iPad and it won't let me do anything fancy like imbed links and make the images all pretty 

and properly centred.]

This is a real shame as it is a brilliant play that deals with some meaty issues that are especially prevalent today with the debates on gay marriage. 

I for one would love any chance to see this play in action as Hibberd's plays always carry a sense of the public and private lives of dysfunctional families and the detachment and disillusionment of such in these familial structures.

Hibberd is such an Australian institution, being one of the founders of of the Melbourne Writers Theatre, which is still running today. He is noted for his playwriting, especially with his play 'Dimboola', which has been noted as one of the most produced Australian plays, even to this day (albeit in Amateur Theatre circles).

Next Week: 'A Comedy of Errors' by William Shakespeare