Venue: Roslyn Packer Theatre (Sydney NSW), Apr 13 – May 19, 2024
Playwright: Thomas Bernhard (translated by Gitta Honegger)
Director: Tom Creed
Cast: Danny Adcock, Helmut Bakaitis, Tony Cogin, Alan Dukes, Julie Forsyth, Olwen Fouéré, Kate Gilmore, Hugo Weaving
Images by Daniel Boud
Theatre review
The president and first lady of a small unnamed European country have no one to talk to, even though there is never a shortage of hangers-on. They both go on long, repetitive tirades, clearly having stopped listening a long time ago, to anything but their own voices. The nation is on high alert, with the escalating threat of anarchic activity, but both the head of state and his wife, are preoccupied with their own laments that are patently irrelevant to anyone but themselves.
The four acts in Thomas Bernhard’s 1975 play The President feel very much like a series of monologues, although there is always more than one actor present. In a work that is ostensibly about megalomania, Bernhard’s dialogue never sounds like conversation, and what the characters do say, is unlikely to be of great interest to contemporary audiences. What results is something that does not consistently engage, but under the directorship of Tom Creed, the production is certainly curious, if not completely fascinating. Although this half-century-old piece may not bear obvious resonances for our immediate epochal concerns, The President is nonetheless creatively assembled, and ironically refreshing in its presentation of a theatrical style that seems contrary, to what is considered en vogue.
Its visual aesthetic however is very much on trend, with production design by Elizabeth Gadsby offering sumptuous imagery through sets and costumes depicting the rich and rarefied existence of the political elite. Lights by Sinead Mckenna and sound by Stefan Gregory are relatively minimal in approach, never superfluous with their artistic gestures, only delivering elegant solutions for this instance of cerebral satire.
The luminous Hugo Weaving plays the president, commanding and mesmerising, almost able to help us make sense of all the despotic rants and raves inflicted by his part. Weaving’s capacity to portray someone despicable, whilst keeping us thoroughly charmed, is nothing short of masterful. In the role of the first lady is Olwen Fouéré, whose immense energy sustains our attention, and whose talent for blending the surreal with the natural, makes for a fascinating study of a woman unravelling, almost having us overlook the misogyny in Bernhard’s legacy.
So much of politics have changed since the original staging of The President, but it seems that the need to regard the powerful with suspicion, is eternal. Power affords those who wield it, secrecy and inconsequence, so that they may abstain from accountability, and act with no consideration for morality. Humans are susceptible to corruptibility; anyone can imagine themselves accorded unchecked authority, and understand that to withstand temptation requires extraordinary, or perhaps impossible, integrity. This can only mean that our leaders must be kept under constant scrutiny, even when we do entrust them with all our greatest hopes.
Suzy Goes See 