It’s a scenario that has become frighteningly prevalent
in recent times – a lone gunman wreaking havoc and misery on innocent people
who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At school, at work, in
a café; no public place seems immune to the criminal insanity. We watch in
disbelief as school shootings become incomprehensibly commonplace in the
US. We are brutally reminded despite tighter gun laws in the wake of the Port
Arthur atrocity that this type of evil can strike on our own shores, the Martin
Place siege a case in point. Oftentimes it is the act of disaffected youth –
radicalised, marginalised, traumatised. We lament what could make someone do
such a heinous act?
This brings us to Punk Rock, a slow burn drama that builds to
a harrowing climax. Set in an English school where students are preparing for
their mock exams, it explores the pressures and preoccupations that might lead
a person to spiral so completely out of control. Among the many are bullying,
sexual identity, relationship dramas, rejection and the pressure to succeed, to
conform, to rebel. It’s a powder keg of adolescent emotions and power dynamics
where any of the students might snap.
At first it is a familiar world – the teasing, bullying, and
knockabout ribaldry of high school where identities and pecking orders are
forged and refined. But there’s a sense of dread that creeps in as we slowly
come to realise something isn’t quite right here. This is where Murdoch Theatre
Company’s admirable attempt fails. Too many elements detract from the creation
and ratcheting up of that tension.
Foremost of these is the sound design. Live music is
performed by Michael Bennett-Hullin and William Burgess on guitar and drums
providing authentic bursts of punk music to start the show and between scenes.
However, once the guitar amp is switched off there is a muzak-like soundtrack
piped in from the speakers high up on the back wall of Studio 411 that was
distracting to say the least. I sighed with relief once it stopped after what
felt like 20 straight minutes only for it to sporadically return throughout
including, most unfortunately, the lead-up scene to the moment where a gun goes
off. I didn’t understand why it was there in the context of scenes set in a
school library or why it came in and out without any seeming rhyme or reason.
It totally undercut any attempt to build that atmosphere of dread.
The lighting design also periodically confused me as again,
the action takes place indoors so changes in the intensity of lighting during
scenes didn’t make much sense especially when linked to dialogue about the
level of heat in the room. If it was supposed to reflect emotional intensity
then I would argue that this is the job of the actors to convey.
The set design was very good with all the trappings of a
school in decay – battered tables and chairs, graffiti strewn cushions and a
warped row of cupboards to represent lockers. Except for one important aspect –
the band was visible behind a lattice framework that was the centrepiece of the
back of the set. Once they completed their punk interludes all the musicians could
do was watch the action with nowhere to hide from the audience. This posed another distraction. At
one point a section of that framework was opened as a ‘window’ by an actor at the
start of a scene. The guitarist closed it before the start of the next scene!
This totally wrenched me out of the supposedly hermetically sealed world of the
story.
To the performances and Mike Casas brought immediate creepiness
and intensity to his portrayal of William instead of perhaps modulating this to
incrementally build as his character’s arc deepens. It is a difficult role and
he plugged away at it but often he was caught out Acting in a tic laden,
mannered performance. Thomas Dimmick gives the bully Bennett a sneering
verbosity but I didn’t get a sense of physical menace or unpredictability. He
did handle the ‘lipstick scene’ well after the perennial target of Bennett’s
scorn (Chadwick played by Sean Welsh) questions his sexuality. Welsh delivers
the memorable monologue about all the woes of mankind with straight forward
earnestness and plays the reserved ‘nerd’ with nice understatement.
Paige Mews is the new girl, Lilly, who becomes the object of
William’s misplaced affections while already sleeping with Nicholas (Will
Moriarty). It is a steady performance but I didn’t feel the inner turmoil that
would drive a character to deliberately burn herself with a cigarette lighter.
Shannen Precious has some nice moments as Tanya, another target for Bennett’s
anger. She adds fleeting moments of humour and a touch of backbone within the
group hierarchy. Will Moriarty’s Nicholas was oddly lacking in swagger or charm
as Bennett’s presumptive buddy and object of Lilly’s attentions. Bella Doyle
rounds out the cast as Bennett’s put upon girlfriend Cissy bringing equal
measures of mean girl snark and helplessness as the character’s relative
status is determined by his behaviour.
The climax is still disturbing – how could the depiction of cold
blooded murder not be? But its power is diluted by the wide spacing of the
performers whereas a more claustrophobic configuration would have worked better
– they are trapped and there is no way out. The final scene was omitted. I’m in
two minds about this. In many ways it’s superfluous as it provides no easy
answers. What it does do, however, is let the audience breathe again before
releasing them back into the world. A world you would like to think is safe but
one where what they have just witnessed is a terrifying possibility.
Co-directed by Tay Broadley and Justin Crossley, Punk Rock
is one of the more ambitious productions I’ve seen staged at Studio 411
(formerly the Drama Workshop) and should be commended for that. Ultimately
though, there were too many aspects working against propelling the themes and
narrative into truly compelling dramatic territory.
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