Tag Archives: sydney theatre company

The Maids (Sydney Theatre Company)

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906946-130601-rev-theatre2[1]Venue: Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay (Sydney NSW), Jun 4 – Jul 20, 2013
Playwright: Jean Genet
Director: Benedict Andrews
Actors: Cate Blanchett, Isabelle Huppert, Elizabeth Debicki

Theatre review
It’s difficult to find Genet’s script relevant in Australia today, as the concept of “domestic help” is far removed from our day-to-day realities. Of course, the employee/employer relationship is commonplace, but our experience of it isn’t quite as oppressive and stifling an environment as portrayed in the play. Therefore, it is form rather than content that is of interest in this production by the Sydney Theatre Company.

All three actors are charismatic, vibrant and thoughtful in their interpretations of the text. There are many macabrely humorous moments played with twisted aplomb by these fearless women, providing not just comic relief, but also a sense of gravity and doom while avoiding a monotonous heaviness that could have easily permeated throughout. A very large screen captures these enigmatic faces in tight close ups (with cameras in the wings), feeding the adoring audience with the star power they desire. This same medium however, is also often distracting and awkward. Our eyes are kept too busy, trying to keep up with too much action, and we quite literally lose the plot at several points.

The set design and lighting are sumptuous. Several costumes look like real couture pieces the script proclaims them to be, and they are truly mesmerising (one is said to be a McQueen). The seductive glamour and luxury of the visual design makes sense within the context of the decadent world in which they dwell. On the other hand, the choice and use of music does not work nearly as well, with inappropriate tunes jumping jarringly in at several points, as though someone had clicked the wrong button on an iPod.

Ultimately, this production is about performance, and the art of acting. Huppert’s less than perfect command of the English language is a minor fault, but witnessing the best in the world onstage tackle an outlandish and flamboyant text is not only satisfying, but thoroughly and wonderfully exhilarating.

www.sydneytheatre.com.au

Fury (Sydney Theatre Company)

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Fury_716x402_3[1]Venue: Wharf 1 Sydney Theatre Company (Walsh Bay NSW), Apr 15 – Jun 8, 2013
Playwright: Joanna Murray-Smith
Director: Andrew Upton
Actors: Sarah Peirse, Robert Menzies, Harry Greenwood

Theatre review
Murray-Smith’s new work is complex and nuanced, exploring the anxieties of contemporary middle-class Australia. A broad range of themes are explored, from class and racial politics, to marriage, parenting and the education system.

The performance commences disappointingly with a young actor seemingly unsure of her role in the plot, yet distractingly forceful with her facial expressions. Thankfully she exits early on and allows for the stronger players to take over, but her subsequent appearances do nothing in assisting with the development of the story.

On the other hand, Sarah Peirse is wonderfully compelling in the lead role. Her thorough understanding of the character’s world and the writer’s words are impressive and she provides the audience with a generous dose of drama that is both profound and entertaining. At times, however, it looked as though she would have benefited from a less minimal set. The bareness of the stage might have established the coldness of the intellectual “ivory tower” in which the family resides, but it also demanded too much of the actors who looked stranded in empty spaces for so much of the play’s duration.

Upton’s direction is particularly strong in conveying the play’s crucial ideas. Some complicated ideas are staged and performed with palpable clarity, and this is a great achievement. Less successful are the lighter moments, especially in the first half, which come across contrived and tired. There is however, no doubt that the strength of the “important scenes” more than make up for those momentary lapses.

www.sydneytheatre.com.au

One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre of Great Britain)

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OM2G_F11[1]Venue: Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay (Sydney NSW), Apr 2 – May 11, 2013
Playwright: Richard Bean, based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
Songs: Grant Olding
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Actors: Owain Arthur, Edward Bennett, Amy Booth-Steel, Alicia Davies

Theatre review
This work of nostalgia references British comedy in the 60s and 70s, utilising every familiar mechanism that contemporary audiences would know from Benny Hill, Are You Being Served, and the Carry On films. It cleverly incorporates an endless string of raucous gags, unafraid of the lowbrow but carefully avoiding anything that would be deemed “bad taste” by today’s standards, such as the homophobia and misogyny that had featured prominently in the past.

Hynter’s direction brings to Sydney a breath of fresh air, a kind of theatre less concerned with “high culture”, and more to do with pantomime and commedia dell’arte. Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay felt like it had been administered a shot of adrenaline; not a minute passed without screams of laughter were hurled at the stage in joyful appreciation.

Theatre is serious business, one which comprises hundreds of different disciplines. Even in the realm of pure entertainment such as this production, One Man, Two Guvnors demonstrates what can be achieved when great skill and talent are applied perfectly.

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk