Girl Shut Your Mouth - Black Swan State Theatre Company (15 January 2016)

This was the first of a double bill of new plays at the Studio Underground under the moniker Loaded, the other being Tonsils + Tweezers. Both were written by outstanding local playwrights; featured WAAPA graduates making their professional theatre debuts; and focussed on the all too real contemporary issue of gun violence.

In Girl Shut Your Mouth, playwright Gita Bezard creates a world of indeterminate location where four teenage girls live in fear of their life. One, Darcy, has been the victim of an acid attack; another, Katie, has survived a shooting with the bullet still lodged in her spine. This fact seemingly gives her the ability to leave this horrid place and go somewhere else where she will be welcomed and able to do whatever she likes free of fear. Except that Darcy believes instead Katie will be ostracised and treated poorly. That doesn’t stop Grace and Mia wanting to get their ‘own bullet’ so they too can leave.

Firstly, the acting here is excellent. Shalom Brune-Franklin (Grace), Brittany Morel (Darcy), Stephanie Panozzo (Mia), and Jessica Paterson (Katie) all graduated from the same WAAPA class in November last year. The three years they spent together shows in the natural chemistry of their interactions, whether it be playful, taunting, or full on drama. Each has a moment to shine though Paterson is the presumptive lead as the more dominant Katie. The power dynamics within the group are fascinating with Morel’s Darcy the seemingly meek outsider; Brune-Franklin’s Grace the capable ‘lieutenant’ of sorts; and Panozzo’s Mia the one that tilts that whole hierarchy on its head with a decision that escalates matters into truly dangerous territory. That escalation sees Paterson’s Katie react in telling fashion as the façade of bluster and nonchalance is ripped away.

Those dynamics are enhanced by the set – in effect a big ‘playpen’ is created for these 16 year old characters to cavort in. The raised sides allow positions of dominance while the floor of the pen is used to put characters in a position of submissiveness. There is outstanding use of lighting to elevate dramatic moments through use of silhouette and to delineate flashback sequences to Katie’s shooting. The sound design aids in these distinct sequences as well.

Image by Daniel James Grant

It certainly is a confronting play with occasional beats of very black humour but it didn’t quite work for me even though there were some outstanding moments. To name three – Brune-Franklin’s ‘fear’ monologue where she wishes the most fearful moment of going to school was whether a cute boy would have the courage to say he liked her versus the ugly reality of shootings and rapes and more; the ‘Walter sequence’ where Mia follows through on a pivotal decision is truly creepy and disturbing as the reality of this world for young girls is made brutally clear; and the climax itself which takes that decision to its logical conclusion to shattering effect. The acting, staging, writing, and execution in all three of these moments makes for riveting theatre.  

However, while I understood the analogies – I took the here and now to be somewhere such as Syria; the other place free of fear to be Australia; and the shed with the blankets the dog gave birth on that Darcy thinks will be Katie’s true destination, to be a detention centre – the act of ‘getting your bullet’ seemed so extreme even in the logic of the world that was created as to be somewhat distancing. The high risk stakes of planning to get shot but not die only to prove your ‘credentials’ to enter the ‘other place’ I guess could be analogous to undertaking the dangerous passage by sea to a new world free of persecution.

I suspect the issue was that we never saw that other world in the context of the play to understand its magnetic lure; nor did we really see the horror of their present world. Both of those things were mainly only talked about and not experienced. Even the flashbacks to Katie’s shooting were more an exercise is exaggeration or shrugged off which diluted their impact.

Having said that, it is a provocative premise and one that will sponsor debate given the extreme nature of what these teenagers propose to escape the horror of their daily lives. Very well acted and staged, Girl Shut Your Mouth is on at the State Theatre Centre in the Studio Underground along with Tonsils + Tweezers until 7 February. It is written by Gita Bezard, directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and stars Shalom Brune-Franklin, Brittany Morel, Stephanie Panozzo, and Jessica Paterson.

Macbeth - WAAPA (9 October 2015)

WAAPA prides itself on housing many disciplines under the one roof at the ECU, Mount Lawley campus. Not only performance - acting, musical theatre, dance, contemporary & classical music - but all the other disciplines that are required to stage a production, from lighting and sound design, to costuming, set design, and arts management. This totality of approach makes the Academy unique and was certainly on display with this modern interpretation of Macbeth.

As I walked up the long corridor to the Roundhouse Theatre I could hear the portentous rumbling of modern music which was the first sign of the multi-media accompaniment we were about to experience. As the line of patrons waited to file in, the director Andrew Lewis pointed out signs asking that the name Macbeth not be uttered inside. This is a long held tradition given the play’s reputation of being ‘cursed’.

Once inside, the freshly painted stage was bare. There was a spiral staircase up to the second level where three screens were situated; one centrally, the other two on each side. Apart from occasions where a table might be wheeled on there was little set to speak of. This is where the light and sound design came to the fore and the use of those screens in various ways. They crackled into life depicting key elements - the roiling witches' cauldron or Seyton's initial appearance for example; or indicate the setting - Birnam Wood; but most noticeably were utilised to project live video of crucial soliloquies as they were being delivered on stage. 

Filmed from the upper level with at least two cameras given the juxtaposition of images, the harsh video look worked perfectly to heighten the emotion on the actor's face in close up - usually Benjamin Kindon as Macbeth but also Shalom Brune-Franklin as Lady Macbeth. The screens flickered and crackled in time to the modern, rhythmic music that was an ominous score. The lighting design was excellent with lots of diffused light through smoke and the highlighting of actors again in key moments but great use of shadow as well. 

Lewis had chosen to set this Macbeth "in a corporate world inhabited by knife-wielding, suited professionals". That suited look worked well with 'armour' being replaced by police style flak jackets. Brune-Franklin looked stunning in several gowns while the other female characters were sleek in their corporate attire; the men resplendent in suit and tie. Instead of swords and daggers we had knives and some vigorous confrontations, notably in the final fight between Macbeth and Macduff (Hoa Xuande).

All these elements gave the production great atmosphere and allowed for seamless scene transitions - this fairly hummed along. Having said that there were times, especially involving the witches, where there was a languid, at times hypnotic pace within a scene that was mesmerising.

This considered and skilled approach allowed the actors to shine in the space that had been so meticulously crafted. First and foremost, Kindon was excellent as Macbeth - a strong physical presence, he also conveyed the range of emotion from the almost boyish delight on hearing the witches' initial pronouncements to doubt and rage, the full force of hubris, and the slow descent into madness. His blind conviction of his invincibility was writ large as he mocked Macduff at the end only to be undone by such misplaced faith. His terror at Banquo's appearance was well portrayed and he handled the famous soliloquies well - the softly delivered Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow the best of them.

Brune-Franklin was at her best in the aftermath of Lady Macbeth's terrible cajoling of Macbeth to commit murder and seize the crown. The portrayal of guilt as she prowls the castle, sleepwalking at night ending in the famous Out, Damned Spot was strong. Those two characters' intersecting emotional through lines is always fascinating. From the stronger of the two at the start Lady Macbeth crumbles into irreversible guilt and finally suicide. 

Lincoln Vickery was a most affable Duncan and later the more earnest Scottish Doctor who witnesses Lady Macbeth's malady and overhears her seeming confession. Dacre Montgomery provided a strong counterpoint to Kindon in the early going as Banquo and his return as the blood spattered ghost that rebukes Macbeth is powerful.

Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Stephanie Panozzo and Brittany Morel comprised a set of tantalising witches adding a highly stylised approach to proceedings. They also doubled as various servants and messengers. They were joined by Elle Harris as Seyton. Harris has a chameleon like quality that can see her playing a young boy (Fleance here and Tom Joad last year in Grapes of Wrath) with as equal credibility as the vamped up Seyton. 

The other standout though was Jessica Paterson as Malcolm. WAAPA often likes to switch up their casting with gender reversals and here Paterson was more than equal to the task giving Malcolm an impressive strength and charismatic stage presence. Unfortunately, Xuande's Macduff wasn't up to the same calibre, the Shakespearean dialogue coming across as quite flat in his delivery. 

Then there was the famous Porter scene that immediately follows Duncan's death. A radical shift in tone to provide some comic relief to the relentless darkness and allow our co-conspirators time to change. Megan Wilding nails the moment and owns the stage with a full-throated approach that had the audience laughing and squirming in equal measure. 

Another highlight was the tension built up in the scene where Lady Macduff (Rebecca Gulia) cradling her baby and talking to her son (Gordon-Anderson), is assailed by Bevan Pfeiffer's and Rian Howlett's assassins. Pfeiffer's sudden appearance out of the shadows at the back of stage had the person sitting next to me pointing in warning. The resultant actions were brutal and devastating.

I walked back down that long corridor reminding myself "this is one hell of a play" and that is testament to all those elements that WAAPA brings to the table. 

Macbeth is on at the Roundhouse Theatre until 15 October. Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Andrew Lewis, Set Designer Ashliegh Hodges, Costume Designer Dolly-Mere Nettleton, Lighting Designer Chloe Ogilvie and Sound Designer Alice Carroll.

It stars the 3rd year graduating class of Benjamin Kindon, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Dacre Montgomery, Lincoln Vickery, Jessica Paterson, Bevan Pfeiffer, Hoa Xuande, Rebecca Gulia, Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Luke Fewster, Claudia Ware, Seamus Quinn, Elle Harris, Brittany Morel, Stephanie Panozzo, Megan Wilding and Rian Howlett.