The Changeling
Mon, 18 Mar 2002, 05:02 amWalter Plinge1 post in thread
The Changeling
Mon, 18 Mar 2002, 05:02 amTHE CHANGELING by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
directed by Humphrey Bower
at the Blue Room Theatre until March 23.
Review by David Meadows:
When John Geilgud saw Trevor Nunn's now legendary RSC/Other Place "Macbeth" in 1979 (with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leads), he was quoted as saying that he never wanted to do Shakespeare in a large theatre again.
Humphrey Bower's extraordinary production of "The Changeling", currently showing at the Blue Room, continues this tradition of removing classical, text-based works from the hands of grandiloquent late-Victorian-era indulgences. Indeed, it goes even further. It goes beyond even the self-conscious theatricality of Peter Brook's "Dream", and into the realm of what I call "Theatre of Humanity". This is distilled humanity, viewed through the heightened language of Middleton and Rowley.
Nothing perhaps better exposes Ron Banks' increased irrelevance to Perth's theatre scene than his casual dismissal of this production. Banks' references to "grandeur", "declamatory", and "big theatre", reveal his unwillingness (pr inability) to evolve at the same pace as the theatre he is paid to review. Mr Banks, theatre is moving forward... either catch up, or go away.
What Bower has done with "The Changeling" is to reduce the play to essentials, and, in so doing, he has created a work of enormous intensity. His use of a highly restricted playing area and simple costuming, not to mention the work he has done to pare performances down to glances, pauses, and excruciatingly detailed textual nuances, gives the work a weight and integrity it perhaps would not otherwise have possessed... nor, indeed (dare I say it) have warranted.
The wonderfully restrained economy of movement on the narrow, run-way-like playing space, aligned with the defiantly minimalist delivery of the words, forces one to actually _listen_ to what is being said, and this can only be a good thing for as dense a text as this.
The restricted playing space also allows great experimentation in movement. Actors having to "squeeze past" one another to exit at the other end of the space, meant that each instance is necessarily loaded with the power plays of the moment... each "squeeze past" speaks volumes about character status and emotional dynamics.
Performances were uniformly strong (once again, Banks misses the boat). Sophia Hall and Simon Clarke were quite perfect as the Beatrice Joanna and Alsimero... Hall superbly charting Joanna's journey from the beguiling, hesitant maid to the doomed victim of her own sexual avarice, and Clarke making a wonderfully direct Alsimero... all romantic fervour and pious nobility, resplendent in silent-movie make-up and back-lit blond hair.
Jackson Castiglione was pure classical villainy as de Flores, the riveting stillness of his presence making for a disturbing portrait of moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Scott Koehler was a new face to me when I saw him in Ubu Roi, and his performance in that show alone was sufficient for me to sit up and take notice. Now this. He is a talent to be nurtured. He and the equally enchanting Lara Tumak were both commendable in their subtly differentiated multiple characterisations... he, in turn, sprightly and devoted (as Jasperino), then dignified and formidable (as Vermandero); she, in turn, perky and sexy (as Diaphanta), then stolid and righteous (as Tomazo de Piraquo).
The performance was not without its faults... audibility was sometimes a problem (over-estimating the intimacy of the space, I suspect), and some of the more impassioned sections of text were spoken at such a rate that words were occasionally stumbled over. Small matters, though, in the scheme of things.
It takes an extraordinary piece of theatre to make me put aside my revulsion towards reviewing the work of my peers, so you might have guessed where this review was headed. This is a major production... one of great importance to those of us with a passion for the classics.
D.M.
directed by Humphrey Bower
at the Blue Room Theatre until March 23.
Review by David Meadows:
When John Geilgud saw Trevor Nunn's now legendary RSC/Other Place "Macbeth" in 1979 (with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leads), he was quoted as saying that he never wanted to do Shakespeare in a large theatre again.
Humphrey Bower's extraordinary production of "The Changeling", currently showing at the Blue Room, continues this tradition of removing classical, text-based works from the hands of grandiloquent late-Victorian-era indulgences. Indeed, it goes even further. It goes beyond even the self-conscious theatricality of Peter Brook's "Dream", and into the realm of what I call "Theatre of Humanity". This is distilled humanity, viewed through the heightened language of Middleton and Rowley.
Nothing perhaps better exposes Ron Banks' increased irrelevance to Perth's theatre scene than his casual dismissal of this production. Banks' references to "grandeur", "declamatory", and "big theatre", reveal his unwillingness (pr inability) to evolve at the same pace as the theatre he is paid to review. Mr Banks, theatre is moving forward... either catch up, or go away.
What Bower has done with "The Changeling" is to reduce the play to essentials, and, in so doing, he has created a work of enormous intensity. His use of a highly restricted playing area and simple costuming, not to mention the work he has done to pare performances down to glances, pauses, and excruciatingly detailed textual nuances, gives the work a weight and integrity it perhaps would not otherwise have possessed... nor, indeed (dare I say it) have warranted.
The wonderfully restrained economy of movement on the narrow, run-way-like playing space, aligned with the defiantly minimalist delivery of the words, forces one to actually _listen_ to what is being said, and this can only be a good thing for as dense a text as this.
The restricted playing space also allows great experimentation in movement. Actors having to "squeeze past" one another to exit at the other end of the space, meant that each instance is necessarily loaded with the power plays of the moment... each "squeeze past" speaks volumes about character status and emotional dynamics.
Performances were uniformly strong (once again, Banks misses the boat). Sophia Hall and Simon Clarke were quite perfect as the Beatrice Joanna and Alsimero... Hall superbly charting Joanna's journey from the beguiling, hesitant maid to the doomed victim of her own sexual avarice, and Clarke making a wonderfully direct Alsimero... all romantic fervour and pious nobility, resplendent in silent-movie make-up and back-lit blond hair.
Jackson Castiglione was pure classical villainy as de Flores, the riveting stillness of his presence making for a disturbing portrait of moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Scott Koehler was a new face to me when I saw him in Ubu Roi, and his performance in that show alone was sufficient for me to sit up and take notice. Now this. He is a talent to be nurtured. He and the equally enchanting Lara Tumak were both commendable in their subtly differentiated multiple characterisations... he, in turn, sprightly and devoted (as Jasperino), then dignified and formidable (as Vermandero); she, in turn, perky and sexy (as Diaphanta), then stolid and righteous (as Tomazo de Piraquo).
The performance was not without its faults... audibility was sometimes a problem (over-estimating the intimacy of the space, I suspect), and some of the more impassioned sections of text were spoken at such a rate that words were occasionally stumbled over. Small matters, though, in the scheme of things.
It takes an extraordinary piece of theatre to make me put aside my revulsion towards reviewing the work of my peers, so you might have guessed where this review was headed. This is a major production... one of great importance to those of us with a passion for the classics.
D.M.
Walter PlingeMon, 18 Mar 2002, 05:02 am
THE CHANGELING by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
directed by Humphrey Bower
at the Blue Room Theatre until March 23.
Review by David Meadows:
When John Geilgud saw Trevor Nunn's now legendary RSC/Other Place "Macbeth" in 1979 (with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leads), he was quoted as saying that he never wanted to do Shakespeare in a large theatre again.
Humphrey Bower's extraordinary production of "The Changeling", currently showing at the Blue Room, continues this tradition of removing classical, text-based works from the hands of grandiloquent late-Victorian-era indulgences. Indeed, it goes even further. It goes beyond even the self-conscious theatricality of Peter Brook's "Dream", and into the realm of what I call "Theatre of Humanity". This is distilled humanity, viewed through the heightened language of Middleton and Rowley.
Nothing perhaps better exposes Ron Banks' increased irrelevance to Perth's theatre scene than his casual dismissal of this production. Banks' references to "grandeur", "declamatory", and "big theatre", reveal his unwillingness (pr inability) to evolve at the same pace as the theatre he is paid to review. Mr Banks, theatre is moving forward... either catch up, or go away.
What Bower has done with "The Changeling" is to reduce the play to essentials, and, in so doing, he has created a work of enormous intensity. His use of a highly restricted playing area and simple costuming, not to mention the work he has done to pare performances down to glances, pauses, and excruciatingly detailed textual nuances, gives the work a weight and integrity it perhaps would not otherwise have possessed... nor, indeed (dare I say it) have warranted.
The wonderfully restrained economy of movement on the narrow, run-way-like playing space, aligned with the defiantly minimalist delivery of the words, forces one to actually _listen_ to what is being said, and this can only be a good thing for as dense a text as this.
The restricted playing space also allows great experimentation in movement. Actors having to "squeeze past" one another to exit at the other end of the space, meant that each instance is necessarily loaded with the power plays of the moment... each "squeeze past" speaks volumes about character status and emotional dynamics.
Performances were uniformly strong (once again, Banks misses the boat). Sophia Hall and Simon Clarke were quite perfect as the Beatrice Joanna and Alsimero... Hall superbly charting Joanna's journey from the beguiling, hesitant maid to the doomed victim of her own sexual avarice, and Clarke making a wonderfully direct Alsimero... all romantic fervour and pious nobility, resplendent in silent-movie make-up and back-lit blond hair.
Jackson Castiglione was pure classical villainy as de Flores, the riveting stillness of his presence making for a disturbing portrait of moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Scott Koehler was a new face to me when I saw him in Ubu Roi, and his performance in that show alone was sufficient for me to sit up and take notice. Now this. He is a talent to be nurtured. He and the equally enchanting Lara Tumak were both commendable in their subtly differentiated multiple characterisations... he, in turn, sprightly and devoted (as Jasperino), then dignified and formidable (as Vermandero); she, in turn, perky and sexy (as Diaphanta), then stolid and righteous (as Tomazo de Piraquo).
The performance was not without its faults... audibility was sometimes a problem (over-estimating the intimacy of the space, I suspect), and some of the more impassioned sections of text were spoken at such a rate that words were occasionally stumbled over. Small matters, though, in the scheme of things.
It takes an extraordinary piece of theatre to make me put aside my revulsion towards reviewing the work of my peers, so you might have guessed where this review was headed. This is a major production... one of great importance to those of us with a passion for the classics.
D.M.
directed by Humphrey Bower
at the Blue Room Theatre until March 23.
Review by David Meadows:
When John Geilgud saw Trevor Nunn's now legendary RSC/Other Place "Macbeth" in 1979 (with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the leads), he was quoted as saying that he never wanted to do Shakespeare in a large theatre again.
Humphrey Bower's extraordinary production of "The Changeling", currently showing at the Blue Room, continues this tradition of removing classical, text-based works from the hands of grandiloquent late-Victorian-era indulgences. Indeed, it goes even further. It goes beyond even the self-conscious theatricality of Peter Brook's "Dream", and into the realm of what I call "Theatre of Humanity". This is distilled humanity, viewed through the heightened language of Middleton and Rowley.
Nothing perhaps better exposes Ron Banks' increased irrelevance to Perth's theatre scene than his casual dismissal of this production. Banks' references to "grandeur", "declamatory", and "big theatre", reveal his unwillingness (pr inability) to evolve at the same pace as the theatre he is paid to review. Mr Banks, theatre is moving forward... either catch up, or go away.
What Bower has done with "The Changeling" is to reduce the play to essentials, and, in so doing, he has created a work of enormous intensity. His use of a highly restricted playing area and simple costuming, not to mention the work he has done to pare performances down to glances, pauses, and excruciatingly detailed textual nuances, gives the work a weight and integrity it perhaps would not otherwise have possessed... nor, indeed (dare I say it) have warranted.
The wonderfully restrained economy of movement on the narrow, run-way-like playing space, aligned with the defiantly minimalist delivery of the words, forces one to actually _listen_ to what is being said, and this can only be a good thing for as dense a text as this.
The restricted playing space also allows great experimentation in movement. Actors having to "squeeze past" one another to exit at the other end of the space, meant that each instance is necessarily loaded with the power plays of the moment... each "squeeze past" speaks volumes about character status and emotional dynamics.
Performances were uniformly strong (once again, Banks misses the boat). Sophia Hall and Simon Clarke were quite perfect as the Beatrice Joanna and Alsimero... Hall superbly charting Joanna's journey from the beguiling, hesitant maid to the doomed victim of her own sexual avarice, and Clarke making a wonderfully direct Alsimero... all romantic fervour and pious nobility, resplendent in silent-movie make-up and back-lit blond hair.
Jackson Castiglione was pure classical villainy as de Flores, the riveting stillness of his presence making for a disturbing portrait of moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Scott Koehler was a new face to me when I saw him in Ubu Roi, and his performance in that show alone was sufficient for me to sit up and take notice. Now this. He is a talent to be nurtured. He and the equally enchanting Lara Tumak were both commendable in their subtly differentiated multiple characterisations... he, in turn, sprightly and devoted (as Jasperino), then dignified and formidable (as Vermandero); she, in turn, perky and sexy (as Diaphanta), then stolid and righteous (as Tomazo de Piraquo).
The performance was not without its faults... audibility was sometimes a problem (over-estimating the intimacy of the space, I suspect), and some of the more impassioned sections of text were spoken at such a rate that words were occasionally stumbled over. Small matters, though, in the scheme of things.
It takes an extraordinary piece of theatre to make me put aside my revulsion towards reviewing the work of my peers, so you might have guessed where this review was headed. This is a major production... one of great importance to those of us with a passion for the classics.
D.M.