Category Archive: THEATRE
Götterdämmerung
There's nothing like wrapping-up a series with a wedding (even if it's a double-wedding from Hell)
(Opera Australia, Melbourne, December 7, 2016) (Dir. Neil Armfield) With Götterdämmerung, Wagner closes his monumental circle, and not in a particularly happy way. Or does he? Why, after their interminable love play concluding Siegfried, does Brünnhilde send her lover off to do good deeds, a la Lucy and Ricky? Why are the Norns just catching-up with the imminent fall of Valhalla, which Wotan and Erda would have told them about already? Why, after drinking a Brangäne-inspired potion that moves him to marry Gutrune and kidnap Brünnhilde for Gunther’s convenience (an infamous act that he compounds by slapping her around and stealing…
Continue Reading →Siegfried
(Opera Australia, Melbourne, 5 December 2016) (Dir. Neil Armfield) In this third spoke of the cycle, the plot becomes simple, but radical; in a sense, confined, more a matter of fairy-tale than myth. Siegfried goes from boy to man; with the newly forged hand-me-down sword, ‘Nothung’ he slays the gold-hoarding dragon, and when he sees that his guardian, Mime, has played him for a sucker, he deals with him too. Then, with newly-acquired powers of comprehension, he heads up the mountain to find the sleeping Brünnhilde. During that ascent, he confronts on old fella (who turns out to be his…
Continue Reading →The Effect
(Image c/- US Dept. of Health)
(written by Lucy Prebble) (Adelaide University Theatre Guild, 8 October 2016) A man and a woman – an experienced experimentee and a first timer – sign on as subjects in an anti-depressant trial at Raushen Pharmaceuticals. Who would have thought that two young, flaky people left virtually alone in a closed environment with nothing to do might engage in a little forbidden hanky-panky? Sigh. Unfortunately this rather juvenile play is full of such predictable developments and unsurprising attempts at surprise. Connie and Tristan, the guinea-pigs, escape to a moonlit former insane asylum and bang on about whether unnatural upsurges in dopamine cause…
Continue Reading →The Norman Conquests
(A marriage made in hell - Norman and Ruth)
(1977) (Written by Alan Ayckbourn; Directed by Herbert Wise) This three-part dance about a weekend in the country, set at parallel times in different rooms of a large house, is not everyone’s cup of tea by a long urn, but it satisfies in its neat construction, its gentle humour, and several rollicking performances. “Table Manners” revolves around the dining room; “Living Together” the lounge and the conclusion is “Round and Round the Garden.” The episodes stand alone but we recommend that you watch all three consecutively, over a few nights (or one long rainy afternoon). Kudos to the…
Continue Reading →The Crucible
(by Arthur Miller) Adelaide University Theatre Guild, August 2016 ‘Desperate and hot.’ That’s how Miller wanted his Witch Trial / Cold War hysteria tale to play; stoke the fire till someone gets burnt. Whilst at the time of debut in 1950s America the piece served a political purpose, sixty odd years later, we can appreciate the wider themes of group-think and guilt. In this production, directed by Geoff Brittain, the essential drama is delivered in a powerful and solid fashion. Despite a few misfires in delivery, the odd uncertain accent and some overly shouty bits, the acting was generally good. Of the brat…
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