By George Orwell. New adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. Ambassador Theatre Group, GWB Entertainment & State Theatre Company South Australia present the Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse & Almeida Theatre production. 16 May 2017
The much anticipated stage adaptation of cult science fiction novel 1984, which – along with Animal Farm – brought George Orwell worldwide fame, finally opens at Her Majesty’s theatre. The auditorium is packed to overflowing, and there’s an air of excitement.
The book has found new meaning of late with the ascension of Donald Trump to the United States Presidency and all of his posturing about fake news and attempts to shut down institutions that independently manage the national interest, to better serve his own. But it is nothing on the levels reached in Orwell’s 1984.
The device for the translation of Orwell’s novel to the stage is very clever. Adaptors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have read beyond the novel and taken deeper meaning from the contents found in Orwell’s appendix, where he outlines the principles of Newspeak. Working under the assumption that this information could only have been completed in or around the year 2050 when Newspeak was predicted for completion, they have subsequently cast the vantage point of Winston and his experiences into the past.
As such, Icke and Macmillan’s protagonist experiences, and enacts, Smith’s story from 100 years hence. The performance opens with a group of would-be ‘tourists’ exploring the history of Orwell’s central character, Winston Smith, through the writings apparently discovered in his diary.
The transformation from present day – which is later revealed to be a future present day somewhere around the year 2084 – to 1984 is confusing and feels a little clunky. It is only after the penultimate revelation of the story’s place in time that we finally understand the external workings of the writing, and its genius is revealed. Purists, however, may wonder how it is possible that the diary escaped the memory hole to survive in the future.
The performers all rise to their roles, and the overall effect created by lighting, sound and pace successfully generates a sensory overload that is unnerving. One feels, however, that this adaptation fails to give its key characters the depth of connection necessary to fully play out the interdependency and simultaneous isolation they suffer.
Tom Conroy is Winston and instantly feels too young for the part. Orwell describes Winston as 39 years of age, and Julia as 10 to 15 years his junior, yet the two appear to be of similar age. Early constructions of Oceania don’t sufficiently generate the details of the society that controls its citizen’s every move, thought and action, leaving Conroy at an immediate disadvantage.
Despite this inconsistency, Conroy delivers a suitably troubled Winston. Later in the piece, live camera projection is used to expose Conroy’s tortured face, blood splattered and desperate. We are treated to a vivid performance of a man torn down by the cruel and unyielding force of the Ministry of Truth.
Ursula Mills gives a solid performance as Julia, Winston’s lover and confidant. Mills looks the part both in age and figure, and her perfectly executed, ‘wooden’ portrayal is a textbook rendering in the beginning. However, it does not evolve sufficiently as the play progresses.
The intensity of the relationship between Julia and Winston is sadly glossed over in the adaptation, with neither she, nor the relationship between them, properly explored. This weakens the importance of Winston’s eventual betrayal at the climax of the piece, which is critical to understanding the depths of his defeat; in destroying the couple’s ability to love one another, the Party proves it can truly control all thought, and strip anyone of their humanity.
Terrance Crawford is wonderfully menacing as O’Brien. Crawford is in strong voice and has wonderful stature and presence, but weakens his authority with loose and fluid body language during the interrogation. Again the adaptation overlooks establishing O’Brien as an approachable, congenial, gentleman to whom Winston is constantly drawn. This omission sells short the intensity and respect in their relationship, and lessens the impact of both the betrayal and subsequent torture at O’Brien’s hand.
Renato Musolino takes on the character of Martin, a servant to O’Brien and supposed member of the Brotherhood. His presence throughout the show is ominous and his constant, unbroken eye contact on Winston is both unnerving and equally telling. Whilst the role doesn’t afford much scope for play, Musolino delivers a wonderfully simple, controlled, performance.
As Winston’s neighbour, Parsons, Paul Blackwell is in perfect form. Blackwell imbues Parsons with a kind of harmless naivety. Completely taken in by the party and its motives, Parsons is almost comical and Blackwell nails it. Fiona Press plays his wife, Mrs Parsons and multitude other characters, all which add their own flavour to the complex storyline. Their daughter, played on opening night by Trinity O’Shea, serves as a stark reminder of the control elicited by the Party over young and influential minds.
Guy O’Grady has a short lived part in Newspeak expert, Syme, who is categorically vaporized for knowing, and likely saying, too much. O’Grady plays him in just the kind of annoying way one might expect a character expert of any type to act – dribbling on at great pace about his speciality – and is marvellously effective.
Yalin Ozucelik is perhaps the most impressive visual transformation as Thought Policeman cum antique-shop-owner, Charrington. He delivers on Orwell’s objective of shocking us with the discovery of his betrayal, even though very little is spoken. Ozucelik effectively constructs the aged shop owner to a point of believability, making his reveal striking for the audience.
The design by Chloe Lamford with lighting by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons, and video by Tom Reid is crucial to the success of this production. Sound and lighting in particular are used to great effect to make the audience feel the discomfort and uncertainty that Winston suffers. Opening night sound is uncomfortably loud, and one has to physically block their ears to lessen the deafening volume. Whilst the audio and visual discomfort is necessary in translating the feeling out into the audience, it does seem overdone.
The occasional use of voice amplification, interspersed with unamplified voice and then incredibly loud and jarring sound effects gives an uneven quality to the production which is more than just unsettling, and borders on annoying. More amplification of spoken dialogue throughout would smooth out the enormous undulations in the levels.
Video is effective in conveying alternative locations, close ups, and in ramming home textual imagery that emphasises key themes. The cast also execute impressively fast scene changes which are carried out with military precision, every object and prop echoing the dystopian existence and Winston’s ever degrading state of mind.
Coming into this show without an understanding of 1984 may prove difficult for some. The adaptation chops and splices scenes, and regularly inserts themes and ideas without introduction. Without context, this could be confusing or worse, render important ideas into insignificance.
Character relationships suffer in this heavily edited adaptation. Despite this, the integrity of the book is mostly maintained, and the story’s emotional heart is successfully conveyed even with so much detail excluded. Overall the adaptation creates an Orwellian world worthy of attention.
If you haven’t read 1984, it is worth investing the time before seeing this show. It is not a feel good story by any stretch of the imagination, but the nuances in the script are more enjoyable with Orwell’s words ringing fresh in the mind.
Paul Rodda
When: 13 to 27 May
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Photography by Shane Reid
Guru Grets and her Psychic Sex and Life Advice. La Bohème. 13 May 2017
She’s very famous. She is used to people asking for her autograph, even people who think she is someone else. She is on TV. She has written lots of books. She is paid for her opinion.
Gretel Killeen is no shrinking violet and, perchance, we need to be told a lot of this. She is better known in the east than in Adelaide where she is holding a one-night-only stand-up comedy show at La Bohème.
The venue is packed to the rafters. Extra chairs are brought in.
But not everyone is there because of Gretel. Gretel’s sidekick is Joey Moore, one-time South Australian Channel 9 children’s TV star. Joey, who has been living in the east and working as a voice-over artist, is beloved by many and they’re there at her behest. Joey’s job is to introduce the great Gretel and be her foil.
They’re friends and also peers in the world of voice-overs - one for Optus and t’other for Telstra. There’s a good line in that and Gretel goes for it. She also chides and mocks Joey who stands in the wings loving every moment of it.
And that’s why the house is full. Joey would not recommend us to a lousy show. Gretel Killeen, stand-up comic, is a joy.
She has a wry, self-deprecatory wit and a wise eye for the absurdities of life.
She is frank, disarmingly so.
She is not standing up. She is perched on a stool and, oddly, wearing a fur hat. She is post-operative, she reveals, and on drugs. She’s here because she did not want to let the show down. She says her memory is impaired by medication and she waves notes.
She also says she is psychic. She tells of how she was able to discern old pakoras from fresh ones in an Indian deli. Thus equipped with uncanny insight, she is here to see into our lives and problems. She has audience members write their problems on slips of paper before the show and she later draws them from an ice bucket and discusses them. A number of people ask her to prognosticate on Trump. Gone by November, she declares. Personal questions are given the big audience participation tease. It is meant to be funny and it is. Dud questions she tosses on the floor.
She tells tales of travel and media, of stardom and ignominy. She admits to embarrassing situations which have the audience cringing. She describes the questionable rewards of being mother to a teenage girl. She delivers it all in an engagingly droll manner. She has a script and she also has a quick wit - even on painkillers. There is lots of laughter, lots of common threads and, oh yes, she has that beautiful voice.
Whatever people thought of her on Big Brother or in the streams of books and the media persona, this Gretel Killeen is a gem. So we thank our Joey Moore for bringing her to town and hope she comes again.
Samela Harris
Interested in seeing her next time? Sign up at GretelKilleen.com.au
When: 13 May
Where: La Bohème
Bookings: Closed
Kenny Wax Family Entertainment Ltd. Dunstan Playhouse. 27 Apr 2017
If you are on a hunt for new and family friendly ways to entertain your children as winter closes in, look no further than the stellar line up of theatre in this year’s Something on Saturday program. It’s not often that you can treat your under-10s to high quality touring theatre, but Sally Cookson’s adaption of the much-loved children’s book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, presents the perfect opportunity
Set to a whimsical score by Benji Bower, the show retells Michael Rosen’s family adventure with a fun sense of humour and an endearing set of characters. The book’s vivid locations are brought to life with a simple but clever set design that has you nodding in admiration, in particular the funny and practical interpretation of the “deep, cold river”.
Even the bear himself is depicted, and he is fantastic. Big, shaggy and thrilling without being frightening, the bear elicits audible glee. His appearance marks the show’s frantic conclusion, which is beautifully faithful to the story.
The cast are at ease interacting with the young and noisy audience, who are given many opportunities to get involved.
This fantastic piece of children’s theatre is a delightful day out with pre- and primary school age children.
Nicole Russo
When: 27, 28, & 29 April
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: Closed
The State Opera of South Australia. Festival Theatre. 18 Apr 2017
‘Uno squarcio di vita’ (a slice of life) perfectly sums up Director Andrew Sinclair, Conductor Nicholas Braithwaite and Designer Shaun Gurton’s riveting double bill; Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci.
Both are deeply intense Italian works, steeped in rich emotion, religion, passion and human frailty developed with extreme, loving care by Sinclair and Braithwaite. The themes of both may seem the same, but the nexus of love lost, illicitly found, and jealousy gives decidedly different focus of expression in each work. It’s this ability of the creative team to extract from Masacagini and Leoncavallo’s works the individual heart felt agony of the characters, making this double bill evening so engaging and emotionally rewarding, especially for those for whom Italian sung is like sweet nectar to the senses.
The lead in to Cavalleria Rusticana is delicious in its simplicity, both musically and in staging. Shaun Gurton's superb rustic villa setting, with two sides of buildings reaching towards each other backstage profoundly concentrates attention to the action, especially centre stage. Donn Byrnes’ lighting catches illicit shadows. Offstage, loving praise is sung of Lola (Catriona Barr). Turiddu (Rosario La Spina) appears in dawn light, followed closely by Santuzza (Jacqueline Dark) who was the woman he accepted a smoke from?
In that moment it is immediately clear Turiddu is a philanderer. Santuzza, his wronged partner, clutches a suitcase and Lola, a married woman who is Turiddu's conquest. It won’t end well, we know. How all goes wrong on this Easter Sunday, is what we want to know.
At the heart of Cavalleria Rusticana is a profound, heartfelt, achingly deep Catholicism in struggle with a culture of machismo and hard set attitudes to ‘fallen’ women. Turiddu chances it for the love of Lola on being caught by her husband Alfio (Jeremy Tatchell.) Santuzza powerfully appeals to the Virgin Mary in the face of total loss and humiliation in a bravado performance from Dark.
La Spina and Dark are perfectly matched in evoking a battle of deep love against an immoral one. They tear the stage up as Turiddu rejects her, only for Santuzza to again appeal, then resorting to informing Lola’s husband, after facing up to Lola in a terrific scene between a woman scorned and a woman scorning. Catriona Barr’s Lola is played with elegant and precise arrogance against Dark’s emotive righteousness. In song, they are rich in brittle contrast.
Jealousy begets rage, begets revenge, begets death.
Not content to wow an audience with one lead role, Rosario La Spina appears as Canio, the alcoholic, violent, jealous husband of Nedda (Joanna McWaters) in I Pagliacci. Leoncavallo's opera superbly offers opportunity to play off rage and blood soaked reality against a commedia play Canio’s Pagliaccio’s company tour to a favourite town.
Gurton's set, an open air theatre space which the touring players inhabit, is cage like with its scaffold stage providing the perfect space in which the unfolding, deranged blend of play and murder will unfold.
The love triangle of deformed clown drummer Tonio (Douglas McNicol), Nedda’s lover Silvio (Jeremy Tatchell), and Canio is pungent with cruelty, loss, hatred, desire, jealousy, and pain. The shifts between these states of feeling in this trio of twisted interrelationships are handled with admirably deft pacing both musically and dramatically.
Nedda’s cruelty laden rejection of Tonio after McWaters’ wonderful expression of Nedda’s fear, loneliness and desire for freedom encapsulates the vicious emotional dual lives these characters live as human beings and performers. McNicol is fantastic in his ability to enliven Tonio with a suffering misery and wickedness quite shocking in sung delivery.
It’s La Spina’s performance as Canio which carries I Pagliacci. In a demonstration of supreme sung characterisation expressing inner sorrow and loss one is moved to sympathy, for as much of the murderous, savage madness one reviles, La Spina is at once the sad clown and a man unhinged.
Brilliantly partnered with McWaters, La Spina’s progression from jealous drunk to murderous madman is spellbinding as he spirals closer and closer to murder.
State Opera’s double bill is sharp, pointed, pleasing operatic fare that pulls no punches, leaving one well sated.
David O’Brien
When: 18, 20, & 22 April
Where: Festival Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au
Photography by Ali Feo
Adelaide Repertory Theatre. Arts Theatre. 6 Apr 2017
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s dramatisation of The Diary of Anne Frank is a solid old history play, well known in theatre circles as a long one. This should have been the clue for The Rep director Geoff Brittain to give it a thrust of energy or a bit of a cut to fully engage a modern audience. The arduous pace of this new production is just about the only thing wrong with it. Of course it could be argued that the audience needs to suffer for its art, to feel the ennui to get a taste of the long and strange time that Anne Frank describes in hiding from the Nazis from 1942 to 1944 in Amsterdam.
One hopes that, as the play runs in, the action and inflections may pep up.
Ole Weibkin has devised an extraordinarily complex and labyrinthine set to depict the office building annex in which two Jewish families plus the dentist Dussell were confined. The set reaches from the rig to the wings to the apron and back again, seemingly dark, dense and dusty and claustrophobic as well the hiding place must have been. Therein, Richard Parkill's lighting completes the mood, dull when the world is working in the offices below, bright only in the secrecy of night.
The production has been well cast and, despite the pace, there are some lovely performances. There are the seasoned skills of Nicole Rutty and Therese Hornby as sweet Mrs Frank and insufferable Mrs Van Daan, along with the strengths of Tim Williams as kind Otto Frank and Tim Taylor as the unpleasant Mr Van Daan with Chris Leech most effectively stress-inducing as the dentist Dussell.
Genevieve Venning is endearing as Anne's quiet big sister, Margot, while Ronan Banks has just the right adolescent awkwardness as Peter Van Daan. Heroic from the outside world, the protectors of the hidden Jews come and go with rations and news of the war. Stuart Pearce plays good Mr Kraler with Esther Michelsen delightfully simpatico as Miep. They appear and disappear from below, arriving each time on stage with a convincing sense of having climbed some pretty awkward stairs. But it is the young Henny Walters in a big wig of glistening black hair who charms and compels as the famous child diarist.
Henny is still at school and is a clearly a talent with a shining future.
There are some oddities to the production, not the least of them the amount of time the director has his lead with her back to the audience. One sees her close up on a screen over the blackout window now and then through the play delivering verbatim extracts from her diary. The audio-visual fades in and out are awkward, but one feels the intention to segue back into the live action. There also is the mixture of accents. The young characters are performed without accents at all. As the audience becomes consumed in the tensions of the lives depicted, the details of accents fades away - a successful gamble by the director.
The production wins in the end. Final curtain generates resounding applause.
It is not a great play but it is one of the important stories of history made all the more heart-rending by being told by a doomed young girl so full of life and hope. The first night audience was mainly Repertory subscription patrons - but this play really needs to be seen by secondary students.
Samela Harris
When: 7 to 22 Apr
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: 8212 5777 or adelaidrep.com