10am. In the morning. On a Sunday. Talk about my own
personal afterlife. Yet there I was in the front row, my usual spot A8, in the
grey limbo world between sleep and disbelief. The dulcet tones of Paul Treasure
drew me back to the light and BAM suddenly there were people on stage entertaining
me.
These poor souls were trapped in a lift stuck on the 12th
floor of some medical facility that would require at least three gulps of air
to recite. Yes, Level 12 was a very
amusing beginning to a daylong celebration of independent theatre. In said lift
is a guy late for his first day at a new job (Ben Costantin) and, let’s face
it, pretty obnoxious about it; a heavily pregnant American woman (Natalie
Baggen); and what turns out to be a drug dealer (Nichola Chapman) who’s been ‘restocking’
her supplies.
What I liked about this is that there was a ticking clock and
stakes for each character and these competed to create real obstacles and conflict. This,
coupled with the close proximity of the characters in the lift setting,
generated some really funny moments though some of the plotting was a bit ropey
(pun fully intended). For example, the rope and handcuffs in the guy’s bag were
there more for (odd) plot purposes than any real character reason. There was
some wonderful physical comedy as well, particularly Baggen’s pregnant
Florinda, and all three actors did a great job. The only thing I didn’t like is
that Chapman’s character was totally ignored in the opening salvos as if she was
invisible. Her presence is a given circumstance that has to be at least
acknowledged. Written by Kate Beck and Directed by Sophie Prober for Blak Yak
Theatre.
Now, I wouldn’t say I am a Major League Baseball fan but I
know enough to get by and Field of Dreams is one on my all-time favourite
movies. So the ten minute spotlight, Judgement
Call, was an unexpected delight. Three baseball umpires are preparing for
the new season – head of the crew Harvey is proud of his number 2 ranking and
determined to be the #1 umpire in the American League. Rookie Joe idolises him
but the other member of the crew, Frank, seems lackadaisical at best.
We soon
discover that Frank blames himself for the suicide of a player who took his
life after losing a critical playoff game on a missed call. A call Frank made.
I loved the physicality of this piece as the actors warm up and practice their
calls. This also has all the trimmings of ‘baseball as a metaphor for life’
which is a peculiar American cultural quirk. Here the umpires represent truth and
certainty in a world full of chaos. The only thing that didn’t quite ring true (but
was absolutely in line with the idealism that comes with all that cultural
weight) is that Frank is turned around by Harvey far too quickly at the end. A
wry ending would much better suit an Australian sensibility. Produced by the Actors' Hub.
Then it was on to Laughing Horse’s production of Cut It Out, directed by Adam Salathiel
and featuring three sisters – Jamie, Emmalee and Phillippa Bialas. Claire is a
self-harmer, racked by guilt over the suicide of her twin sister, Clarice. Her
older sister also feels guilt about this tragedy as she should have been home
to potentially save Clarice but instead was engaging in an affair with an older,
married man.
A recurring issue throughout Dramafest has been doing justice to
the unbelievably weighty issues of suicide and death. In other examples it has
been the writing that has let these types of pieces down but here the writing
is generally good, especially the snappy back and forth in all the two-hander
exchanges. However, the young actors didn’t have the rhythm and pacing right
for this type of, what I call, “banter dialogue”. The delivery was too one
paced, monotone and measured. A master of this type of writing is Aaron Sorkin
and I would recommend getting out Season One of The West Wing and watch how rhythm in delivery is absolutely crucial and when done well is like music.
I was a little confused
about who the older sister was delivering her monologues to – the audience, a
psychiatrist, or some other party. There appeared to be flashbacks here as well
and I didn’t see any change in the delivery style when the twins were playing
younger characters. There needed to be delineation vocally and in physical
movement to sell those moments. This was an incredibly difficult and ambitious
piece especially when I was told later that the twin sisters playing Claire and
Clarice were only 14.
The session ended with the very funny Love and Other Flushes where a plumber pretends to be the husband
of a well-heeled marriage counsellor whose actual spouse has left only hours
before they were due to assist a young couple with their marital problems.
Peter Neaves gives a great performance as the plumber cum de facto counsellor
who imparts wisdom from his toolkit of common sense. Gael Campbell-Young plays
the straight woman role as the very proper lady of the house who espouses HALO –
humility, attentive listening and something starting with O that I have
forgotten right now! The young couple are played by Sam Barnett and, in her
second appearance for the session, Nichola Chapman. This was smartly written,
genuinely funny, didn’t overstay its welcome, and had a sweet ending. Directed by Kelly van Geest, written by Hugh O'Brien and produced by Laughing Horse.
A short break loomed before it was onto the home stretch and
the last session of Dramafest…
A retraction - I am
reliably informed that Emma Davis is a Fremantle Dockers fan who only supports
Sydney when Freo isn’t playing. Apologies for any confusion, Emma’s mum.
A clarification - My
statement about purple, however, stands!
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