So evocative are Ben Collins’ sound and David Murray‘s lighting designs for Kate Cherry‘s excellent production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that you can almost hear the skeeters hummin’ on the honeysuckle vine, feel the cooling breeze off the Delta, and smell the coming storm’s electricity in the oppressive air. The crackle of electricity within the Pollitt family home and the heady odour of lies and falsehood that lie at the thematic heart of this masterpiece of modern drama – the ‘smell of mendacity’ – are also wonderfully captured in the action played out with gusto in QTC’s co-production with Perth’s Black Swan Theatre Company.
Other reviewers of this production have referred to or compared it with the heavily adapted 1958 film version which starred Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives. The movie seems to have left an almost-indelible mark on the work despite the screenplay’s being openly scorned by Williams. References to the repressed homosexuality of the former footballer Brick were largely omitted from the screenplay which also included a heavily reworked third act reconciliation between father and son. The play was first directed for the Broadway stage by Elia Kazan in 1955, and went on to take out the Pulitzer Prize for drama in that year. However, and at Kazan’s urging, Williams substantially revised the work for a revival in 1974, and this is the version which has usually been produced since that time. This production may nod towards the film in its look but, make no mistake, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a great play of classic proportions and classic themes; it almost needs the stage’s size and accommodation for its playing out. Continue reading “Review: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Queensland Theatre Company at QPAC Playhouse”
Sunday afternoon in the theatre with a friend … and musical theatre at that … a perfect way to end the weekend. Last weekend saw me at the Schonell Theatre for Blue Fish Theatrical Productions’ latest, the fabulous Guys and Dolls (music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows). It’s directed for the company by debutant-director Lindsay Fletcher.
Blue Fish is a relatively new, Brisbane-based company dedicated to musical theatre. It has professional aspirations, and is still establishing itself, so I was also keen to get a sense of the kind and quality of work they are doing. I was unable to see Spamalot or Jekyll and Hyde their two previous productions.
As to their vision for themselves, Blue Fish have a manifesto expressed in a programme message and online from the Producer – they don’t appear to have an Artistic Director – at least there is no credit for one. What does come shining through are their pride in Brisbane and its talent and their ambition – they aim to be ‘Brisbane’s answer to The Production Company in Melbourne.’
As the note puts it, Blue Fish are aiming ‘to open up pathways for excellence in the production and the quality of musical theatre works.’ They seek to do this by focussing on ‘intense rehearsal periods for short seasons of highly-regarded Broadway Book Musicals,’ and in doing so want to contribute to ‘the professional and independent theatrical landscape within Brisbane.’ Good on them, say I.
Guys and Dolls, based on short stories by Damon Runyon, is an almost comic-book romance which focusses on two unlikely couples seeking love: Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson are a couple of gamblers, and Miss Adelaide (a night-club singer) and Sarah Brown (a missionary) are the respective objects of their affection. A slew of street types from a mythical post-WWII New York make their appearances throughout the show. It’s an almost perfect musical and an example of some of Broadway’s best music and lyrics. Guys and Dolls has been revived on Broadway several times and has taken out 10 Tony Awards over the years, since its first production in 1951. It’s also been filmed. TIME magazine called it, ‘the perfect American musical.’ It’s a favourite, for sure, and why not? The music is gorgeous and the lyrics witty, snappy, and delightful.
The musical direction for this production and the action in the pit was most impressive: Julie Whiting (Musical Director) gets a great sound from her musicians and singers. It’s always hard to pick a favourite, but in this production I very much enjoyed the gem, ‘Sue Me’ sung and played with spot-on gusto by Miranda Selwood (Miss Adelaide) and Jason Lawson (Nathan Detroit). Coming a very close second was the lovely ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ sung by Doug Rumble (Arvide Abernathy).
When it came to performance, the female company of actors and dancers were, on the whole, stronger than the males. Ms Selwood and Melissa Scheele (Sarah Brown) are talents to follow; I look forward to seeing their work in the future. Please, though, Mr Sound Guy, can you turn the volume down a tad when these girls sing; the can belt with the best of them! We’re used to vocal enhancement in musical theatre, but their songs didn’t need the amount you gave them and, at times, this verged on distortion.
Set mostly in NYC with a quick flight down and back to Havana, Cuba for some nightclub action and romancing Guys and Dolls‘ action is played out across a number of interior and exterior locations: streets on and off-Broadway; Sarah’s Save a Soul Mission; nightclubs, and so on. With 17 individual scenes chock full of musical numbers the challenge for the design team is to create a flexible set with the capacity to move location and cast quickly and easily from one to another.
Blue Fish’s production clocked in at 3 hours; this is just too long. I know these Golden Oldie musicals generally run much longer than contemporary shows, but I couldn’t help but feel the pace of this production slowed things down. A few more cross fades from one scene to another, shortening some of the crowd scenes or dance sequences would have made things much sharper – anything that doesn’t move the action along should always get the chop first, imho. Within individual scenes, lighting was a problem from time to time. Those which worked the best were well lit and isolated on the stage – in other words – were focussed. Ones that didn’t sprawled across the stage, were under-lit or hit the wrong targets.
As a period piece, the production’s overall look is critical to the success of the design. Set, costumes, hairstyles, and props don’t need to be elaborate, but they should be consistent and of the era. Whilst the design of this production went a good way towards achieving an overall look for the piece, some of details were lost; haircuts for the men, hairstyles for the women. The devil’s in the detail, and a sharper eye could have fixed it. Did men wear hats inside back then? Just asking …
Blue Fish notes that they value professionalism and artists ‘who have attained international exposure,’ as well as the wealth of local talent in the city and throughout the state. If they are prepared to commit to the independent, pro-am theatre road and remunerate artists and creatives, then I would strongly suggest that they give consideration to hiring experience and mentoring in key roles for future productions, and especially in the roles of Direction and Design. Learning on the job under the direction of an experienced professional and one who understands the brief is a recipe for success.
This new company are to be congratulated for their aspirations and for galvanizing their ‘people power … passion and respect for musical theatre.’ It has driven them thus far through two ‘high-budget and large-scale musical theatre productions’ during the past 12 months. This is no small achievement, but they have a way to go before they will be Brisbane’s answer to The Production Company in Melbourne. It has to do not with passion or ambition or talent – which they have – but with a commitment to development and to raising the bar. Forget Melbourne’s Production Company; they should aim to be the best Blue Fish can be.
Guys and Dolls is directed by Lindsay Fletcher, with musical direction by Julie Whiting for Blue Fish Theatrical Productions. The season continues at the Schonell Theatre, Brisbane until August 6th. Details from the company website.
You may like to Like Blue Fish Theatrical Productions of their Facebook page. I see they are holding open auditions soon for their next production, The Producers.
It’s been a while since I’d last seen one of David Williamson‘s best plays, The Removalists – 36 years, in fact, in an opening night performance of a production by QTC at the old La Boite Theatre in Hale Street. I took the opportunity this week to see a matinee performance once again at Queensland Theatre Company. I was surrounded by kids, and seniors like me; weekday matinees tend to be like that.
The current production, directed by Michelle Miall for the Studio program, was a bit of a nostalgia trip in many ways, and I wondered how the high school students around me would react to a period piece – for such it is. The first production of the play in Melbourne in 1971 featured David Williamson as the removalist, and his wife to be, Kristin. This production marks the play’s 40th anniversary. Still hard to believe …
Back in the early 1970s Australian drama was going through its heady nationalist phase. The Ocker figure made his appearance over and over, the women’s liberation movement was getting an exploratory nod (here and there) on stages, and more than a fair sprinkling of vulgarity and violence was the norm. Lots of beer cans were popped on stage and the male vernacular ruled. They were exciting theatrical times and it was all exhilarating stuff, although female characters tended to be short-changed in what was an overwhelmingly masculinist world on stage. More often than not, these productions shocked the socks off seniors at matinee performances back then. These plays hadn’t made the schools’ syllabus list – these too were awaiting liberation.
Williamson’s text is tight, entertaining realism in the service of a good yarn; this much hasn’t changed at all. The twin protagonists – Sgt Dan Simmonds played by Chris Betts and Kenny Carter by Steven Rooke – are terrific, layered characters which remain a challenge and, I imagine, a delight to play for any actor. They are two of the great roles in modern Australian drama. Both Betts and Rooke are well matched here and in good form as they spar verbally and physically.
As I watched, I was reminded of something that was obvious in a lot of Australian plays from the 1970s: Williamson wrote awful roles for women. Until later on, when complex, central characters like Frances (Travelling North) or Barbara (The Perfectionist) appeared in his works, this lack of meaty roles for women in his plays was a bone of contention amongst female actors. In this production of The Removalists (one of those plays) two fine actorsEmmaline Carroll (Fiona Carter) and Natasha Yantsch (her sister, Kate) are constrained by roles which are as slight as the male roles are rich; they are almost entirely satellites and supports to the males. Peter Cook as Rob, the Removalist, and Anthony Standish who plays Simmonds’ foil, the new cop on the job, Const Neville Ross round out the cast.
Michelle Miall’s production keeps the pace up – 1 hr 44 mins with no interval – and she lets more of the comedy show. Chris Betts’ Simmonds is less the sinister, terrifying thug than comic, lecherous braggart circling Kate in hopes of some overtime fun. Steven Rooke is excellent as Kenny; it’s some of his best work, and he’s always good. Anthony Standish is terrific too as Ross; he’s the embodiment of a boofhead – all nervous, try-hard precision. In a weird way, even after you know he’s committed an appalling crime, you just can’t help feeling sorry for the guy. Kenny’s the same. He’s unlikeable but sufficiently complex to grab our interest and our sympathy. ‘I’m unpredictable. It’s part of me charm,’ he notes cannily of himself. Williamson may well have written the role of Rob knowing he was going to play it himself in that original production. It was a smart move either way; it’s an unforgettable little pearler of a role. Once heard, you never forget that defining mantra from the guy who knows he’s the real man in charge, ‘I’ve got $10 000 worth of machinery ticking over out there in the drive.’ Peter Cook fills this smartypants Everyman role with relish – and a smirk.
In the post-show Q&A session the kids asked about the props: ‘Were they real?’ they asked. There’s a television audience for you! It turns out that the labels and packaging, uniforms and set dressing were all of period in which the play is set. Lit by Jason Glenwright, Simone Romaniuk‘s wonderfully-awful-70s (you can still get that wallpaper?) set design works well for police station (Act 1) and Kenny and Fiona’s living room (Act 2.) I’m a sucker for those soundscape atmospheric mixes of music and popular culture from a period. Here, Sound Designer Tony Brumpton gathers snatches of television and news broadcasts from the early 1970s and gets the sound of the times spot on as well. By the bye, hasn’t the style of VO announcers changed?
Whilst the student audience asked about the police corruption portrayed in the play, no one talked about how the actors had worked on the violence which made The Removalists such a shocking piece when it was first produced on Australian stages; there’s that television audience again. Whilst I recall squirming during the onstage violence – choreographed by Scott Witt – I found even more revolting the perverted mateship that plays out over a beer and a cigarette. Kenny drags himself back from the kitchen where Ross has beaten and kicked him to a bloody mess, and, in the scene that follows, Williamson sets up one of the most violent and disturbing endings in Australian drama. Beer can in hand Kenny dies from a massive cerebral haemorrhage and, in what the stage directions describe as ‘a frenzied ritual of exorcism,’ both police officers beat each other senseless over his body. It’s truly brilliant, ghastly stuff.
When it first appeared to great acclaim, the black comedy and the horror of TheRemovalists was undeniably shocking. Whilst it may not have the visceral impact of the original productions in their own time, there is no doubting its dramatic power.
The Removalists by David Williamson Directed by Michelle Miall for Queensland Theatre Company plays at the Bille Brown Studio, 78 Merivale Street, S Brisbane until 6 August. Check the Company website for details.
Bella is entering her 30th year – a dangerous age we used to be told. For the members of Gen-Y (look it up) portrayed in British writer Nina Raine‘s realistic comedy of manners Rabbit (2006), Time’s wingéd chariot is rumbling along all too loudly on the bumpy road. It’s time to take stock, socialise the hell out of the opportunity and, inevitably, get really ugly with your friends. It’s mostly uncomfortable veritas that emerges as the vino flows and vodka and reputations get slammed in what turns out to be a BLOCK CAPS WITH LOTS OF !!!! kind of party for those who turn up.
Bella’s joined by a handful of friends at her small though positively exuberant 29th birthday celebration in a hotel bar somewhere in Brisbane. Director Daniel Evans has relocated the play to the city, and it works well. Guests include Bella’s good friend Emily, a doctor; former lover #1 Richard, a barrister but wannabe writer; former lover #2 Tom, who works in the city – in Brit parlance a stockbroker or banker; and Sandy, a writer.
On the night of the party Bella’s father, played with intelligence and subtlety by Norman Doyle, is hospitalised and dying from a tumor that is gradually wiping away his seat of emotions and memories; he has refused treatment. Bella is angry with her father for his decision, and guilty for not being at his bedside. We learn it’s been a rocky relationship in a series of flashbacks – heartfelt duets between father and daughter.
Designed by Tara Hobbs, with lighting design by Daniel Anderson and sound design from Anthony Ack Kinmouth, Daniel Evans‘ production of Rabbit for the indie company The Good Room is a sharp, witty, fast-paced interpretation that draws terrific performances from the cast of six, who are just about perfect for their roles. They are as slick and excellent an ensemble as you could want.
The cast is headed by Amy Ingram as Bella, a successful publicist, in a performance that is as robust as it is gentle and nuanced. It’s also in perfect sync with Raine’s shrewd take on friendship and contemporary society. The performances by Sam Clark, Kevin Spink, Belinda Raisin, and Penny Harpham as Bella’s friends are individually and collectively proof of the depth and quality of acting talent we are experiencing right now in this country. Raine writes terrific characters in this – what was her first and an award-winning work for the stage – and the dialogue is hugely enjoyable; I bet the actors loved working on their roles.
Yes, Bella’s Friends are all a whiny, self-indulgent, privileged bunch and, at times, as nasty as they come; with cynical friends like these etc. At times you want to slap them all in turn and, sometimes, all at once. I went for an interval drink (YES!! THERE IS AN INTERVAL!! AMAZE!!) loathing the lot of them but, as Raine develops the play throughout the second act, we experience its real strength – the development of characters whose directness and brutal honesty are, perhaps, their saving grace. You actually do end up ‘caring’ for them – and I count this as one of the markers of a good play/production.
So, whilst opening night saw a lot of first-night adrenalin pumping on both sides of the fence – there were a lot of friends in the house – and there was probably a little too much SHOUTING AND LOUD, I have no doubt this fine company will continue developing and finessing across its season. The tiny Sue Benner Theatre will get full houses, so get in quick.
Rabbit by Nina Raine for the indie company The Good Room as part of !Metro Arts Allies program plays until July 28th. Get details from the website.
Like to read more Greenroom reviews? You can right here.
It’s a cool and drizzly Brisbane winter night, the wind is blowing off the river and I’ve scooted back in quick time from my current-neighbourhood playhouse – the Bille Brown Studio at 78 Montague Road. I’ve been disturbed rather more than I would have thought possible by Dennis Kelly’s Orphans, a play out of contemporary Britain that lays bare another part of the barbaric underbelly of the carefully manicured middle class. I wanted to get home, turn the lights on and clear my head.
Orphans‘ action is relentless, and it doesn’t let go for its 105 or so minutes’ playing time. Ithooks you from the get-go as the blood-stained figure of Liam bursts in on his sister Helen at home and eating dinner with her husband Danny. Their young son Shane is away – being baby-sat, and they’re having a quiet night at home – a ‘celebratory dinner’ cooked by Danny. We learn Helen is pregnant. The couple appear to be reasonably well-off; they live in a tasteful, beige on beige apartment which is interpreted with spot-on minimalist restraint in Sam Paxton‘s design.
Kat Henry directs this production for Queensland Theatre Company’s Studio with pace and flair. The starkness of Ben Hughes‘ lighting design and the cinematic atmosphere of Guy Webster’s sound composition create a stage world that beautifully complements the play’s dialogue – fragmented, naturalistic sounding yet meticulously crafted to reflect all the tempo-rhythms, poetry and ambiguities of everyday speech. Continue reading “Review: Orphans – Queensland Theatre Company (Studio) @ Bille Brown Studio”
