Nevermore - The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe - Grey Lantern Productions (1 December 2021)

An old adage familiar to writers is “write what you know”. Now, we can debate the soundness of that advice (it can and does lead to pedestrian material if another key ingredient, imagination, isn’t engaged) but what if all you know is loss, abandonment, and addiction along with an (un)healthy dose of the macabre? The result is the works of Edgar Allan Poe, a key figure in American literature. This dazzling production tells his story in a highly stylised manner through song and verse. It plays, to use modern film parlance, as a biopic covering Poe’s life from his birth, loss of his parents (mother died, father left) to the Allan’s taking him in to the various women in his life, to his struggle to be published, and eventually Poe’s death. It also asks the question about how much the creations of his imagination and life experience influence him by the fact of their very existence at his hand. It’s a heady brew.

I admit, it took me a while to lock into this production as it’s quite dense and demands your full attention. This was compounded somewhat by the onstage orchestra (more of them later but they played beautifully) sometimes obscuring the plentiful lyrics. Once it clicked for me though, it proved to be a wonderfully satisfying experience, theatrically and intellectually. It’s a smart show and director Lorna Mackie has created a precise and striking production. It’s no coincidence that the rehearsal period was twice the length of a usual undertaking.

The precision is evident in all departments. The look of the show is unique and arresting, from Therese Cruise’s memorable costumes (including the representation of perhaps Poe’s most famous creation, The Raven, which gave a couple of audience members heart palpitations at one point!) to the monochromatic makeup by Andrea Lim that adds an eeriness especially under Mackie’s lighting design. The set design is sparse to say the least in the black box space, deliberately so to enhance the performers’ look and movements. The orchestra under Musical Director Maddison Moulin adds so much mood and atmosphere with an excellent score, violin and cello at the fore. Choreography by Anita Lawrence is also sparsely utilised but when it is the result is hypnotic.

The show is structured using another filmic device – there is a key moment at the beginning where the Players assail Edgar Allan Poe (Cal Silberstein) before we flashback to tell his life story and eventually catch up to that point in time again where certain revelations are made. To aid this there is a literal Book of Poe’s life that each of the players will take turns throughout the show to narrate key moments in rhyming verse.

Silberstein is excellent as Poe representing his trauma and sense of loss through plaintive song and an aura of melancholy. Brief moments of joy are allowed to intrude when Poe is with his siblings or Elmira (Erin Craddock) who seems to be his true love and the one who understands Poe's darker impulses. Silberstein plays the most grounded character as larger than life figures swirl around him and there are times he literally pleads to the audience as he sings.

The other six “players” take on multiple roles as well as narrating duties. Daniel Burton brings gravitas and his booming voice to authority figures such as John Allan; Arianne Westcott-King generally plays the more sympathetic female characters from Poe’s younger sister to his wife (and cousin) Sissy who dies of tuberculosis. Simon Brett is always lurking as almost an omniscient presence with an excellent singing voice and Zac Bennett-McPhee is most notable as Poe’s brother Henry. Craddock brings a mischievously dark energy as Elmira while Charlotte Louise deploys an incandescent smile, enhanced by the makeup, in multiple ways – sinister, wickedly gleeful, occasionally sympathetic – as generally the mother figures in the story. The seven of them work wonderfully well together, vocally and in their highly coordinated movement.

The highlight is when all these elements fuse perfectly in a stunning rendition of the famous poem The Raven, performed as song. I confess, when the first verse began it was like a crackle of electricity straight from the stage to the audience.

Mention must go to the individual orchestra members who formed a character in and of itself at the back of the stage – Moulin, Shaun Davis, Jade Henderson, Jack Duffy, Suresh Manievannan, Emily Gelineau and Liz Moss. Book, Lyrics, and Music are by Jonathan Christenson.

There are only four more shows of this highly original and striking work – Thursday and Friday nights with two shows on Saturday at the Subiaco Arts Centre. I would recommend getting along to see this theatrical treat with a cracking cast and orchestra working in a beautifully staged environment.

Viva La Restoration - Fringe World 2016 (11 February 2016)

Imagine a world where colour doesn’t exist. Where people only vaguely recall it from a children’s fairy tale about golden and crimson monsters battling black and white knights. Where the powers-that-be consider colour dangerous as it incites emotions such as red for anger, blue for sorrow, yellow for fear, and orange for… well, let’s forget about orange for the moment.

Of course, this horrifying dystopian nightmare is quite familiar to anyone who is colour-blind (raises hand sheepishly). But this is the premise for the originally written musical Viva La Restoration or, more accurately the reworked version as this initially premiered back in 2013. Back then it was under the auspices of the University Dramatic Society (UDS). Featuring the same creative team of Jackson Griggs (Music) with Book and Lyrics by Thomas Owen and Cal Silberstein, this production has now been picked up by The Midnite Youth Theatre Company and directed by Gregory Jones.

It stars an excellent young cast of musical theatre performers, headlined by Olivia Everett as the whimsical Gwen Archer; Rupert Williamson as the intense Elias Kane; and Erin Craddock as Mayor Vera Donahue. To quell stirrings of unrest in this black and white world, Craddock’s Mayor announces a competition where Archer’s painting of an eye trumps Kane’s own creation. Both, however, are dissatisfied as something is missing. That something is of course colour that each discover in startlingly different ways. Archer through seeing colour in the eyes of her friend Lucy (Amy Fortnum) and Kane in more brutal fashion as red blood flows freely from one of his admirers Anna Meeler (Amber Kitney).

While Archer sets off to find the almost mythic Professor Perkins (Ben McAllister) who was banished for insisting that colour exists, Kane dazzles the local populace with his bloody art. Red becomes all the rage. The Mayor, advised by a bumbling duo of Councillors (Daniel Kirkby and Kieran Lynch), struggles to keep things under control, instructing her chief enforcer Officer Ambrose (Luke Wilson) to restore the monochromatic peace. It all ends in a showdown between Kane’s towering ambition fuelled by blood and Archer’s childlike idealism aided by the Professor’s dubious science in the creation of true colour.

The show started a little slowly but I really enjoyed this. The predominantly black and white design in costuming and projected images with splashes of colour, particularly red, is striking. The lighting also created great atmosphere with movable wooden frames holding old fashioned blinds rearranged in different combinations to diffuse light and provide the background for those images.

It showcased an excellent piano and guitar driven score that was very well played by the band of Ben Hogan (Keyboard/Conductor), Josiah Padmanabham (Guitar/Keyboard), Gwyneth Gardiner (Bass) and Andrew Silberstein (Drums) that added a lot of mood and texture.

Everett continues to impress with a deft comic touch that I really enjoy. Williamson was all brooding malevolence while Craddock presented a sleek and stern Mayor. Kirkby and Lynch worked well together as comic foils while Fortnum’s change in allegiances was heightened by the earnest loyalty she imbued Lucy with. McAllister gave an offbeat performance as the Professor but gets away with it because we immediately recognise the mad scientist archetype. The ensemble provides great support with strong vocal talent amongst its ranks.

Unlike their previous collaboration How We Ruined MacArthur’s Markers where the lyrics attempted a Sondheim level of complexity, the songs here are simpler and far more effective because of it. Highlights included the dark Living Masterpiece and the lovely Horribly Horrible where Everett’s Archer, faced with the failure of her quest, sings of how she wanted statues. Yes, both lead characters are not short of ego!

But this is one of my quibbles – it took a while for the show to settle into a groove that I thought I’d found when Archer meets the Professor and we get some shtick and the light-hearted I Believe In You. Ah, musical comedy, of course! The very next scene dashed that thought entirely when things took a very dark turn indeed. These two competing tones battled each other throughout the production – the light comedy styling that Everett pulls off so well versus the intense psychological drama that Williamson embodied. It sort of works as both represent diametrically opposed forces on the colour spectrum but the changes in style could, at times, be jarring.

The other minor suspension of disbelief issue emanates from the Book – in a colourless world colour exists in nature as depicted by the eyes and the flow of blood. It was as if no-one had ever noticed this before, not even after a minor cut or scratch.

Other than that this was well played, well sung, looked terrific and featured a great young cast. Plaudits go to Messrs. Griggs, Owen and Silberstein on continuing to develop this 90 minute, one act musical. It’s a devilishly tricky form to get right and this is an enjoyable production that showcases great potential for future endeavours. A recommended addition to the local music theatre scene.  

Viva La Restoration is on at the Subiaco Arts Centre until 20 February.  

How We Ruined MacArthur's Markers - Ludicrous Displays (24 June 2015)

One of the exciting things about independent theatre in Perth at the moment is that there are new emerging creative teams that are young, ambitious, and staging challenging work. They are surrounded by a troupe of regular performers such as the case with Ludicrous Displays that appears to have its origins at UWA. Members of the production team, cast and band have worked together recently in varying combinations on productions such as the musicals Spring Awakening and Assassins, as well as The Importance of Being Earnest. Here, however, not only are they presenting an original musical comedy but a revival of said show! I understand this is a pared down version of the original incarnation with more emphasis on comedy and a smaller cast number with the chorus removed.

There may be nothing more challenging in the performing arts than writing musical theatre, in this instance a 90 minute one act musical comedy. Last year I saw a couple of (good) productions that were billed as musicals but felt more like plays with songs. There is a crucial difference and How We Ruined MacArthur’s Markers certainly is a musical with the songs moving the narrative forward and informing the story. In the early going though the songs felt like they were striving to be too clever with overly elaborate word play and rhyming patterns. This meant that they were not, as Sondheim himself made mocking reference to in Merrily We Roll Along, “humma-mamumma-mamum-mable melodies”. Once this settled down the show found a nice groove and was much stronger after the mechanics of the set-up.

The story itself was a little hazy for mine as I wasn’t entirely clear on motivations and backstory but the decision to de-emphasise the drama and push the comedy meant it kind of gets away with it. In essence, the Patriarch has died leaving his eldest son Marcus (James Cohen) in charge of a business that sells pens. Unbeknownst to that heir he has a brother Felix (Ben Thomas) who still lives with their mother who is dying of *cough cough* The Cancer. He applies for a job at the company but doesn’t reveal his true identity while charged with saving it from demise and falling for the Head of R&D, Erica (Amy Fortnum). Marcus has a close relationship with his financial advisor Lewis (Sven Ironside) while loathing his mother Lillian (Olivia Everett). All the while company lawyer Alexandra (Madeline Crofts) amuses herself with booze and writing severance agreements. Ultimately plans are hatched and plots are gleefully foiled.

It’s told in flashback with Crofts’ boozy lawyer giving a wry, almost film noir style commentary on events as she immediately breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience. It’s a jaunty performance that is snarky and funny as the lawyer becomes increasingly drunk at a bar recounting the tale. Crofts also has an excellent voice as she demonstrated in Spring Awakening and her showpiece number More Fun That Way as she extols the virtues of booze is a highlight.

The other standout is Ironside playing the loyal and protective advisor who is wary of Felix typified by his number Head Down. He has some funny moments but it is in the more dramatic aspects that he excels. Cohen has perhaps the most unforgiving role as the son who fails to live up to his father’s business acumen and is unaware of who Felix really is. I never really understood the venom he directs towards his mother but Cohen has a strong moment in the second ballad of the show after his own personal epiphany. Thomas, who was impressive as Algernon in Earnest, displays a very good singing voice but is essentially playing the straight man role (and mummy’s boy) and he does this with unadorned, ahem, earnestness.

Fortnum gives Erica a bubbly persona that is a nice counterpoint to Alexandra’s cynicism and she has the strongest song with the ballad Just A Little, itself a catchphrase that is paid off nicely. Everett continues to impress with her comedic talents playing another off-kilter character in the supposedly *cough cough* cancer-ridden mother who manipulates her son and anyone who gets in her way. The conceit is that she’s playing a much older character but her showpiece You’re Fired is feisty and sassy. The band of Benjamin Hogan (keyboard), Scott Collison (reed), Gwyneth Gardiner (bass) and Rosie Taylor (drums) under the baton of Jackson Griggs plays the jazz influenced score well though there were times they were a little too loud for the unmiked singers.    

This started a little slowly but had a certain charm with some genuinely funny moments and, when not trying to over-impress with lyrical dexterity, good songs. How We Ruined MacArthur’s Markers is playing in the studio at the Subiaco Arts Centre until 27 June. Book and Lyrics by Thomas Owen and Cal Silberstein with Music by Jackson Griggs, it is directed by Owen and stars Ben Thomas, James Cohen, Amy Fortnum, Olivia Everett, Sven Ironside, and Madeline Crofts.