Antigone
Wed, 21 Mar 2001, 11:54 pmWalter Plinge4 posts in thread
Antigone
Wed, 21 Mar 2001, 11:54 pmOne of the great things about going to Harbour Theatre is Clancy's Fish Pub right next door. Many people have a soft spot for Clancy's, and it is a major contributory factor as to why the ITA keeps hosting DramaFest in Fremantle. It's worth getting to Freo an hour or so early, just to have a meal next door before the show.
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our meal. Bonus! Well worth the trip to Harbour Theatre. Enjoy!
JB
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our meal. Bonus! Well worth the trip to Harbour Theatre. Enjoy!
JB
Walter PlingeWed, 21 Mar 2001, 11:54 pm
One of the great things about going to Harbour Theatre is Clancy's Fish Pub right next door. Many people have a soft spot for Clancy's, and it is a major contributory factor as to why the ITA keeps hosting DramaFest in Fremantle. It's worth getting to Freo an hour or so early, just to have a meal next door before the show.
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our meal. Bonus! Well worth the trip to Harbour Theatre. Enjoy!
JB
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our meal. Bonus! Well worth the trip to Harbour Theatre. Enjoy!
JB
Walter PlingeThu, 22 Mar 2001, 12:48 am
RE: Antigone
Damn, I forgot to review the play.
Another play I'd never seen, never read, and knew nothing about - beyond the fact that Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus, and, as such, we were in for an evening of Greek Tragedy. Still answering Gill's query, my primary reason for seeing the show was that friends were in it, followed by the fact that Harbour usually puts on a good show, followed by an interest in the ancient Greeks (looking forward to Oedipus!)
I came out of the auditorium totally exhausted. This is an intense play that kept me riveted. Approximately one-and-three-quarter hours long, with no interval, this was still edge of your seat stuff. Made even more intense by the fact we KNOW what is going to happen.
The production opened with a frozen full cast on stage and a STUNNING 7 or 8 minute monologue by the ravishing Jemma Gurney as the Chorus, as she introduced each of the characters and explained the back-story, the current situation, and exactly what was going to happen in the play. Jemma never descended into boring exposition, and held every ear as she lovingly (and sometimes mildly amusingly) led us through the Court of Thebes. Despite her forshadowing, we watched the story relentlessly unfold, like a car wreck - unable to tear our eyes from the story.
Unfortunately, I thought some of the opening scenes were a little weaker than the rest, as it seemed to take a few minutes for the actors to get rolling. But this didn't last long, and the tragic tale soon came to life. The simple but effective poster for the production soon revealed its meaning as we discovered that the lady in the foreground was the beautiful older sister, Ismene, while plain, innocuous Antigone hovered in her shadow. However, in my mind, there was a bit of miscasting here as Antigone (Vanessa Harding) turned out to be a stunningly beautiful woman in her own right, with gorgeous flowing red hair - hardly plain & simple! (And Carolyn Varey - Ismene - was lovely too).
Vanessa took control of the play early on, and demanded the audience's attention. Things kept getting better as Bruce Denny as King Creon entered the fray and made his presence felt with cool and reserved passion, completely avoiding the melodrama that he could have fallen into. The best scenes were the intense battles of wills between Antigone and Creon. Creon scared the hell out of me at one point when he had his hand around Antigone's throat - his hand was almost as big as Vanessa's head, and you could feel the power of this man, this king, who would do whatever it takes to keep his realm under control. Buffeted by Antigone who would do whatever it takes to do what she felt was right. Exhausting stuff.
Mild comedic relief came from Sidsel Brannick, Rob Tagliaferri and Andrew Milne - necessary to break up the intensity, but, once or twice, I thought they might be trying to get away with a little too much. By the way Rob, it was never precisely cleared up - which one of you stinks of beer and which one of garlic?
Shenandoah Bruce continues to grow with each production - here in the sympathetic role of Creon's son, caught up in the tragedy that he cannot understand nor halt. Sophie Smith pulled off a very hard trick - spent a lot of time on stage with no dialogue, but you KNEW her character was taking in every word. When she finally delivered her final, awful speech, every heart in the room was focussed on her - you could have heard a pin drop. Not bad for a first-time actress who turned 14 last week.
I know I gush about a lot of plays, but I was totally enthralled by this production, and particularly by Vanessa, Jemma and Bruce. Congratulations to director Bronwyn Pearson who steered this to its final result. I know nothing about directing, but, for the most part, the delivery and movement seemed pretty damn flawless, so I suppose the director should take SOME credit. I believe there are very few seats left. Try to see it if at all possible.
JB
Another play I'd never seen, never read, and knew nothing about - beyond the fact that Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus, and, as such, we were in for an evening of Greek Tragedy. Still answering Gill's query, my primary reason for seeing the show was that friends were in it, followed by the fact that Harbour usually puts on a good show, followed by an interest in the ancient Greeks (looking forward to Oedipus!)
I came out of the auditorium totally exhausted. This is an intense play that kept me riveted. Approximately one-and-three-quarter hours long, with no interval, this was still edge of your seat stuff. Made even more intense by the fact we KNOW what is going to happen.
The production opened with a frozen full cast on stage and a STUNNING 7 or 8 minute monologue by the ravishing Jemma Gurney as the Chorus, as she introduced each of the characters and explained the back-story, the current situation, and exactly what was going to happen in the play. Jemma never descended into boring exposition, and held every ear as she lovingly (and sometimes mildly amusingly) led us through the Court of Thebes. Despite her forshadowing, we watched the story relentlessly unfold, like a car wreck - unable to tear our eyes from the story.
Unfortunately, I thought some of the opening scenes were a little weaker than the rest, as it seemed to take a few minutes for the actors to get rolling. But this didn't last long, and the tragic tale soon came to life. The simple but effective poster for the production soon revealed its meaning as we discovered that the lady in the foreground was the beautiful older sister, Ismene, while plain, innocuous Antigone hovered in her shadow. However, in my mind, there was a bit of miscasting here as Antigone (Vanessa Harding) turned out to be a stunningly beautiful woman in her own right, with gorgeous flowing red hair - hardly plain & simple! (And Carolyn Varey - Ismene - was lovely too).
Vanessa took control of the play early on, and demanded the audience's attention. Things kept getting better as Bruce Denny as King Creon entered the fray and made his presence felt with cool and reserved passion, completely avoiding the melodrama that he could have fallen into. The best scenes were the intense battles of wills between Antigone and Creon. Creon scared the hell out of me at one point when he had his hand around Antigone's throat - his hand was almost as big as Vanessa's head, and you could feel the power of this man, this king, who would do whatever it takes to keep his realm under control. Buffeted by Antigone who would do whatever it takes to do what she felt was right. Exhausting stuff.
Mild comedic relief came from Sidsel Brannick, Rob Tagliaferri and Andrew Milne - necessary to break up the intensity, but, once or twice, I thought they might be trying to get away with a little too much. By the way Rob, it was never precisely cleared up - which one of you stinks of beer and which one of garlic?
Shenandoah Bruce continues to grow with each production - here in the sympathetic role of Creon's son, caught up in the tragedy that he cannot understand nor halt. Sophie Smith pulled off a very hard trick - spent a lot of time on stage with no dialogue, but you KNEW her character was taking in every word. When she finally delivered her final, awful speech, every heart in the room was focussed on her - you could have heard a pin drop. Not bad for a first-time actress who turned 14 last week.
I know I gush about a lot of plays, but I was totally enthralled by this production, and particularly by Vanessa, Jemma and Bruce. Congratulations to director Bronwyn Pearson who steered this to its final result. I know nothing about directing, but, for the most part, the delivery and movement seemed pretty damn flawless, so I suppose the director should take SOME credit. I believe there are very few seats left. Try to see it if at all possible.
JB
robThu, 22 Mar 2001, 06:02 pm
RE: Antigone
Hi Jarrod, glad you liked the play. As to who smelt of garlic, I'm of Italian heratige, if that answers you're question.
As for Clansy's, certainly tell them you're seeing the show - they have a $12.50 meal deal during the show.
Rob
As for Clansy's, certainly tell them you're seeing the show - they have a $12.50 meal deal during the show.
Rob
NormaSat, 24 Mar 2001, 05:32 pm
RE: Antigone
Jarrod,
you forgot to mention the stunningly simple set and lighting of same.
Certainly one of the most efective sets in a long time.
Jarrod Buttery wrote:
-------------------------------
One of the great things about going to Harbour Theatre is Clancy's Fish Pub right next door. Many people have a soft spot for Clancy's, and it is a major contributory factor as to why the ITA keeps hosting DramaFest in Fremantle. It's worth getting to Freo an hour or so early, just to have a meal next door before the show.
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our ....
you forgot to mention the stunningly simple set and lighting of same.
Certainly one of the most efective sets in a long time.
Jarrod Buttery wrote:
-------------------------------
One of the great things about going to Harbour Theatre is Clancy's Fish Pub right next door. Many people have a soft spot for Clancy's, and it is a major contributory factor as to why the ITA keeps hosting DramaFest in Fremantle. It's worth getting to Freo an hour or so early, just to have a meal next door before the show.
The food is great - not dirt cheap, but not horrendously exorbitant. A stranger in the queue behind me murmured to his partner, "It's a bit expensive isn't it," and yes, if you're used to paying 5 or 6 bucks at your local fish 'n' chip shop, then $13.50 is going to sound a bit expensive. But you're paying for a restaurant meal (more or less), the food is delicious (I've never had a problem with it), the servings are huge, the service is usually fast and the menu is varied.
The best bit is, when we placed our order, we were asked, "Are you going to Harbour Theatre?" When we replied that we were, we were afforded complimentary bread and salad to go with our ....