Tag Archives: sydney theatre school

Review: Before The Water Gets Cold (Smoking Gum Theatre)

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smokinggumVenue: Sydney Theatre School (Chippendale NSW), Aug 23 – 27, 2016
Playwright: Charles O’Grady
Director: Lucinda Vitek
Cast: Samuel Beazley, Robin Chen, Julia Robertson, Amy Zhang

Theatre review
Part poetry, part dance and part play, Before The Water Gets Cold is a multidisciplinary exploration into the nature of artistic expression. With themes of love and loneliness providing its main threads of inspiration, what we see on stage are four performers inhabiting a range of personalities, not to convey a narrative, but to evoke sensations and emotions that we are all familiar with.

The work is guided by an innovative spirit, and is often a refreshing experience, although significant portions can seem clichéd, due to its inability to transcend the derivative. Writing, direction and choreography exhibit moments of beauty through their various modes of experimentation, but a greater sense of originality, or perhaps boldness, is missing in the production.

Performer Julia Robertson is memorable for her captivating presence, and a surprising authenticity that she brings, even to the more absurdist sequences of the show. Her work with Robin Chen in a montage composed of romantic movie quotations is particularly delightful. Composer Josephine Gibson and sound designer Jeaux Pfeffer contribute proficiently to this collaboration, both sensitive and understated in style, for a delicate air that envelopes the auditorium.

Before The Water Gets Cold wishes to marry logic with something more ephemeral, but a greater trust in the visceral instance would allow us to dive in deeper into its artistry. The mind gets in the way of much of life’s pleasures, and at the theatre, an opportunity for us to be in touch with the magic of the here and now is always present, if only we resist the temptation to analyse everything even before it begins to happen.

www.smokinggumtheatre.com

Review: Oleanna (Sydney Theatre School / Actors Not Feelers)

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Oleanna 4 MEDVenue: Sydney Theatre School (Chippendale NSW), Jun 25 – Jul 6, 2014
Writer: David Mamet
Director: Jerome Pride
Cast: Grace O’Connell, Jerome Pride

Theatre review
David Mamet’s script is powerful, complex and intellectual. It is an anarchic work about anarchy. It makes its point by shattering conventional paradigms of discourse, and uses theatre to discuss politics in a way that would be challenging for any audience. There are many ways that texts can be interpreted, but Mamet’s Oleanna is resilient, with a message that is unyielding. There might be room for some ambivalence in the plot, but what it wishes to say is clear. Anyone taking it on must capitulate to its structure in order for the characters to make sense, and for dramatics to take effect, or risk a show that is unconvincing and nonsensical.

Jerome Pride’s direction handles the play’s concepts carefully. Reverence is paid to the writing, and the results are manifestly impressive. Controversial and sophisticated ideas are expressed with surprising clarity. Daring propositions avoid the curse of sounding like highfalutin abstraction, and are made credible and real. Both actors enthrall with interesting and dimensioned portrayals. The pace and tone of dialogue are perfectly tuned, so that we are gripped from beginning to end. Design elements however, are neglected. There is no need for very much embellishment but the set and costumes are overly basic. The actors’ work would benefit with a more defined sense of space, especially with the cast’s eagerness for movement.

John is played by Pride, who invests in his role, an appealing coupling of impulsiveness and thoughtfulness. We can see him thinking, but we also feel the instinctual timing that he trusts to rely on. The story’s characters are flawed, and we need to be repulsed by them as much as we relate to them but Pride’s creation is endearing, which poses a problem for the production. Perhaps better wardrobe choices could play a part in helping to create a less affable impression.

John’s adversary is Carol, whose development over the course of the play is startling. Grace O’Connell’s performance is not entirely convincing. Some of her creative choices lack authenticity, and we come away slightly confused with the character’s evolution. Nevertheless, O’Connell comes to life after the first act. Her energy and conviction is spellbinding. There is a lot to enjoy in this actor’s work, which is robust yet heavily nuanced.

Mamet’s story gives us important and difficult questions, but it is debatable whether answers are to be found therein. Oleanna deals with the injustices in our lives. It talks about systematic oppression and victimhood, but more significantly it talks about the prospect of dismantling those systems and imagines its alternative. The show’s title refers to a failed utopian state. We always want something better, and in some cases, we know exactly what needs to be improved but the question must always be asked about how we get there. Removing the status quo requires a replacement, but it is human nature that seduces and shapes every new status quo into tomorrow’s conundrum.

www.sydneytheatreschool.com

5 Questions with Grace O’Connell

Posted in Suzy's 5 Questions by

graceoconnellWhat is your favourite swear word?
My favourite tends to be whatever comes out at the most inappropriate of moments. “Fuck”, in the style of Four Weddings And A Funeral, is kind of my go to, however.

What are you wearing?
I’m off to a rehearsal so I’m wearing a pair of Blundstones and a vintage Italian army shirt. Practical shabby.

What is love?
The last thing you expect to get and the first thing you expect to lose.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
I am ashamed to say that it was a couple of months ago now, but the last show I saw was The Winter’s Tale directed by John Bell (for Bell Shakespeare). The entire play was set in a child’s bedroom which gave it this indelible lightness making the storytelling quite haunting. He littered it with these fantastic Cat Stevens-esque moments as well which were brilliantly crafted. I’d give it 4/5 stars.

Is your new show going to be any good?
It will rip the audience apart. So, yes, it will be very good. There is no way about it but to say that you’ll get a brutal slap in the face while having all of your social, moral and political structures questioned. It’s the play that famously divides audiences and thats what we expect to do. I think that is exactly what makes good theatre, something that will intellectually challenge an audience in an exceptionally profound way.

Grace O’Connell is appearing in Oleanna, by David Mamet.
Show dates: 25 Jun – 6 Jul, 2014
Show venue: Sydney Theatre School