Plank's Constant
Fri, 19 Apr 2002, 10:06 pmPamela1 post in thread
Plank's Constant
Fri, 19 Apr 2002, 10:06 pmWhen I was a student at WAIT I lived in a house in Vic Park with three other students. A very old house. And while we didn't have cockroaches that could be mistaken for armadillos, we did have rats that could be mistaken for terriers. And there was a section of floorboards in the kitchen you didn't stand on for fear of ending up with the footings under the house. The house was finally condemned and torn down.
The set of Plank's Constant looked very much like the bedroom of one of my fellow residents - right down to the tatty Playboy magazines (yes, he was an Engineering student). In this production there was no curtain, so the audience could see the full horror of Henderson, a medical intern, and Will's (studying for a B.A. in Rumanian Studies) apartment as they entered the theatre. The mismatched furniture, the tragically empty vodka bottles and the general flotsam and jetsum of their lives. And the dead body, of course.
Death, and our reactions to it, form a large part of Plank's Constant. Craig Edwards, the director and Mr Violent (who looked damn fine in a string vest, may I say) writes in his "Self-indulgent director's spiel", "Plank's Constant may also for some raise the question of whether some events are simply too tragic to be the subject of comedy." September 11 Drinking Game, anyone? From the team that brought you the Death of Diana Drinking Game. For Henderson, death was a means to an end, a way of getting the rent paid. For (most of) the others it was an excuse to invent a new drinking game.
As a comedy, Plank's Constant is very black and very funny. Most of the characters were beautifully realised and the by-play between Henderson and Will a delight to watch, particularly their dealings with the unfortunate Jimmy. One small quibble, Jamie McNamara as Will tended to garble his lines, making some of them a little difficult to understand.
Craig, in his spiel, wrote, "...do not think that I want you to strenuously analyse what is, above all else, a comedy. Enjoy the show and have a laugh. If the show delivers anything more than that, well, all the better."
I had a lot of laughs and I did realise a couple of things. One, you can use pizza grease as hair gel, and two, I'm so glad I've never seen Belgian porn.
Well done UDS.
[%sig%]
The set of Plank's Constant looked very much like the bedroom of one of my fellow residents - right down to the tatty Playboy magazines (yes, he was an Engineering student). In this production there was no curtain, so the audience could see the full horror of Henderson, a medical intern, and Will's (studying for a B.A. in Rumanian Studies) apartment as they entered the theatre. The mismatched furniture, the tragically empty vodka bottles and the general flotsam and jetsum of their lives. And the dead body, of course.
Death, and our reactions to it, form a large part of Plank's Constant. Craig Edwards, the director and Mr Violent (who looked damn fine in a string vest, may I say) writes in his "Self-indulgent director's spiel", "Plank's Constant may also for some raise the question of whether some events are simply too tragic to be the subject of comedy." September 11 Drinking Game, anyone? From the team that brought you the Death of Diana Drinking Game. For Henderson, death was a means to an end, a way of getting the rent paid. For (most of) the others it was an excuse to invent a new drinking game.
As a comedy, Plank's Constant is very black and very funny. Most of the characters were beautifully realised and the by-play between Henderson and Will a delight to watch, particularly their dealings with the unfortunate Jimmy. One small quibble, Jamie McNamara as Will tended to garble his lines, making some of them a little difficult to understand.
Craig, in his spiel, wrote, "...do not think that I want you to strenuously analyse what is, above all else, a comedy. Enjoy the show and have a laugh. If the show delivers anything more than that, well, all the better."
I had a lot of laughs and I did realise a couple of things. One, you can use pizza grease as hair gel, and two, I'm so glad I've never seen Belgian porn.
Well done UDS.
[%sig%]