A Midsummer Night's Dream - Acacia Prison & The Actors Workshop (13 November 2015)

“Close your eyes.

Now breathe in… and breathe out. Breathe in… and breathe out…

Now open your eyes.”

As I did so I saw sixteen actors arranged on a slightly staggered, three level stage.

I was at the theatre.

I was about to watch a play.

One of the most cherished comedies in the history of theatre:

William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In that moment of breathing, eyes closed, all that had come before melted away - the long drive, the uncertainty of what awaited me, the security protocols, the screening, the escorted walk through the grounds of Acacia Prison to a building that normally would be a workshop, the guards.

Yes, this was the most unusual of settings and circumstances.

But none of that mattered now. I was about to witness something truly special. I was about to witness the transformative power of theatre, a magic as potent as the one Oberon wields in Shakespeare’s most whimsical of comedies.

I laughed. Oh, how I laughed. I was moved. I was transfixed. I was beyond impressed.

These men, almost all with no previous acting experience of any kind, flung themselves at this with energy, with style, with commitment, and with their own sense of humour and spirit. It was raw, it was powerful, and it was bloody well funny as all get out. The sly asides, the improvised lines, the odd fluff here and there, the occasional line read from the sidelines; all were incorporated with flair to burn. Above all, this was faithful to The Bard himself in a rollicking performance that drew a spontaneous standing ovation from family, friends, official visitors, and guards alike.

It was a simple stage with a painted backdrop that was flipped over to represent the woods after the initial Athenian scenes. You could see the actors and stagehands in the wings; the incomparable director Nichola Renton off to one side with script in hand giving surprisingly few line prompts. The makeup was done by one of the men in only 40 minutes before the show; the costumes were made by one of the staff. Musical inserts were a funny mix of everything from Chariots of Fire to the Benny Hill theme music. Other men were manning the sound and lighting desk at the back with something like a hundred cues. There were no airs and graces here. Everyone pitched in.   

The performances were all astounding, from a mischievous Puck to a commanding Oberon (the actor, who also played Peter Quince, learnt the lines in 4 days!); to a terrific set of Mechanicals (Bottom’s death scene as Pyramus is something to behold!); and a quartet of young lovers that pursued, evaded, flirted, fought and finally found their true loves in rousing fashion. The men playing Hermia and Helena did so without a hint of self-consciousness and played up to the audience with a wink and a nod that was hilarious. Everyone embraced their part and what I thoroughly enjoyed was seeing their response to the laughter and appreciation they were receiving. That magic symbiotic relationship between a cast and an audience when things are firing on all cylinders.

The Question and Answer session shortly afterwards was just as impressive. The men spoke with passion and sincerity about what this opportunity meant to them and how they had incorporated so many elements into coping with life outside the performing arts programme. One likened the experience to walking through the closet into Narnia which was as apt an analogy as you’re likely to hear. Many talked about the support and encouragement within the group and how they were a family; how they trusted each other and felt safe. Perceptive comments about learning how to read body language and how to use that back in the blocks; about how their days performing were like being out of prison. The camaraderie within the group was palpable as was the sense of humour. It was moving to see the reaction of loved ones in the audience as well.

This is no luxury programme, no gimmick. The benefits were there for all to see and everyone involved needs to be applauded and encouraged to continue and expand this. As an actor in the audience remarked, the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and empathise with that character is an invaluable skill. The sense of teamwork and working together to achieve a common goal and support each other along the way is equally as important.

To mount a production, of Shakespeare no less, and pull it off with such success is a testament to the hard work and commitment of not only the men but the staff as well. Then there’s Nichola who spoke so passionately about working with and teaching this extraordinary cast. What an accomplishment!

This truly was a special day – memorable, moving, and funny. 

Is it the most polished performance I’ll see this year? Not even close. 

Did it the meet the requirement of theatre to entertain, to inspire, to move, and, for a comedy, to make me laugh?

You bet your arse it did.

In spades! 

Improvisation Performance - Perth PlayBack Theatre Company (14 September 2014)

I was invited along to the Chrysalis Montessori School in Glendalough to witness an improvised performance held after a daylong introductory workshop to Playback, a form of improvisational theatre. The performance featured actors well versed in this process and proved to be a fascinating experience as both an audience member and as a writer.

The audience was made up of people who had attended the workshop and members of the general public either interested in acting or there to watch family or friends who were participants. The atmosphere was very supportive which was important not only for the performers but also, as I was about to find out, those of us who supplied real life stories as the catalyst for the improvisations.

Actor Zane Alexander (who I had recently seen in Romeo and Juliet) conducted proceedings and started by giving a brief explanation of Playback and the importance of empathy in the process. The theme of the day was “What if…?” which is, of course, a question all writers ask when creating a new work but had even more resonance here as we were encouraged to apply it to our own lives. Zane was very good at teasing out the threads of a variety of real life stories, himself showing great empathy as he gently probed for, not so much details, as emotional signposts. “How did you feel about…?” was an important question throughout.

While this was going on there would be four actors ‘on stage’ at any one time out of a roster of 8-9 performers and it was interesting watching them. One of the hallmarks of a good actor is the ability to listen and they did so with utmost attentiveness. After the story or scenario had been offered and discussed with Zane he would nominate, in effect, a technique. The actors would then take the information they had gleaned to ‘playback’ that story in improvised form. For example, I offered the moment in my life when I resigned from a managerial job in Sydney to come home to Perth to be a writer and the feelings associated with that – fear, relief, concern I’d be seen as a failure etc. That translated into a physical interpretation of literally breaking free.

The techniques used (and my most likely inadequate descriptions) were:

Pairs - where tandems of two actors would represent opposing internal viewpoints suggested by the story.

Fluid – which seemed to be the four actors working together to present a continuous flow.

Chorus – the actors mirroring each other to reinforce the emotional and story beats.

Comic Strip – where we were asked to close our eyes then open them to a still moment of the story, repeated 3-4 times with different poses by the actors.

Story – where the 4 actors performed a more traditional though truncated set of scenes.

Transformation – a technique that was mentioned but not utilised on the day.

The actors would rotate on and off “the bench” (to use a sporting term) so that there were always different combinations. The only props used were four milk crates, two blue, two green; and a selection of long, coloured strips of fabric. Music was improvised on the spot in the wings with a mix of - a bell, keyboards, saxophone, flute, occasionally vocals and sound effects. Talking to one of the actors afterwards, Nichola Renton (who was wonderful recently in Concussion), this added to the emotional depth and provided cues as well, notably action changes and end points to ‘scenes’. It was clear there was a great sense of craft and trust at play here with the group working seamlessly together.

I won’t go into details of the stories graciously offered but they ranged from the personal to the light-hearted and gave the actors plenty to work with. I do, however, now know about the importance of hydration at sporting carnivals and the dangers of bedbugs on romantic holidays! Indeed, humour and a sense of play were important aspects of the performance but always with that sense of empathy shining through as justice was done to each story.  

Thank you to the director of the Perth Playback Theatre Company, Chloe King, who asked me along but also was a performer (as actor and musician) and even ‘conducted’ one of the story sessions. The afternoon was well received and on the basis of this glimpse into the process is a valuable tool for any performer to acquire within a supportive and friendly environment.

For more details of the Perth Playback Theatre Company go to their facebook page here. 

Concussion - Ellandar Productions (29 August 2014)

Take a bow Ross Mueller. Yes, before we discuss the work of director Sarah McKellar and her excellent cast we have to talk about the writing. This is nothing less than what I call a “writer’s play” with sly references and nods to the writing process itself and, oh my, Mueller is having a grand old time with it. Word play galore, fractured timeline narrative, intersecting character storylines, a faux mystery, characters breaking the fourth wall and even suggesting scenes, and the mocking of clichés associated with this style of story as the characters are all very self-aware about the tale they’re in. 

It’s deliciously clever, subversive and funny. Even the somewhat overwrought shouting match at the end I took to be a poke at the expectations usually contained within this type of tale. As a writer myself this was absolutely in my wheelhouse and I loved the cheekiness and audacity of the script.

When you give such great writing to the talented cast McKellar has assembled, well then, we’re off to the races. Those actors are Richard Mellick as the cop Caesar who has been bashed on his way to court with seemingly no memory of events leading up to that moment; Nichola Renton as his girlfriend Julia who is also an emergency room Doctor and dealing with her needy ex-husband James Jnr Jnr played by Ian Bolgia. 

Then there’s Paul Grabovac as James Jnr Jnr’s brother, James Jnr (I told you Mueller was having fun!) who is melancholic and very anti-accordions. Russya Connor plays Katerina who is Caesar’s legal advisor, the source of James Jnr’s moping, and (stay with me here) is having sex with Caesar’s 15 year old son, Sergio (Danen Engelenberg) who blogs about their sexual exploits having been ostracised from Facebook by his schoolmates.

Initially I thought we were going to see two mysteries solved over the course of the play – the reason for the bashing; and the resolution of the relationship drama between Caesar and Julia. To be honest, the first is really a device to give a major reason for these characters to collide in surprising and unusual ways and it’s that exploration that is fascinating not the mystery itself which remained fairly oblique.

Renton who is excellent as the caring Julia gives an inkling of what’s to come with an early monologue directed at the audience where she indicates that this will not be another tragedy and that their landscape is comedy. There is also repeated mention of the cerebral meeting the physical and that it is actions that define us not words - amusing when so many fine words are being deployed here. She grounds the play with a well measured, sympathetic turn as the woman supportive of her partner and striving to free herself from her ex.

Bolgia gives a wonderfully boisterous performance as a man who tries to win his wife back but uses words as a weapon even beseeching others to guess what he is thinking by giving them the word count and number of syllables. Grabovac is suitably morose by comparison as he loses his job to his brother; is censored on air, not for his ideas but because he used foul language; and who struggles with the loss of his girlfriend.

Mellick gets to inhabit two completely different sides of Caesar – the bewildered bashing victim who muses about Bob Dylan, Osama bin Laden and various other pop culture figures to amusing effect; and the last good cop in town who refuses to lie in his statement to the court about a celebrated war veteran who was murdered at “2am, in the morning, at night”. Writer’s gags everywhere.

Connor is all feisty and sexy as the lawyer and has several raunchy moments that are well staged with Engelenberg as the horny teenager who doesn’t understand the ramifications of his actions and the trouble his blog will cause. He has a standout moment delivering an hilarious monologue that is as explicit as it is downright funny.

McKellar keeps the pace crackling along and I was having a fine time with this. The playing with timelines means that the major revelations when they are come are well crafted with the ending of the play a nice surprise yet totally in sync with what has been set up. Impressive writing that is directed and acted with impressive skill.

Concussion is on at The Blue Room Theatre with only one more show, 7pm Saturday 30 August. Written by Ross Mueller and directed by Sarah McKellar, it stars Richard Mellick, Nichola Renton, Ian Bolgia, Paul Grabovac, Russya Connor and Danen Engelenberg.