Cenci *****
Sat, 30 Aug 2003, 12:31 pmGordon the Optom7 posts in thread
Cenci *****
Sat, 30 Aug 2003, 12:31 pmCenci – pronounced Chenchi – is a Curtin Hayman Theatre production showing at the Rechabites Hall. Shelley’s play has been reduced by 85% to give a cross between ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. A blend of loud Marilyn Manson expletives, excitement and Shakespearean tragedy.
On arriving in the auditorium one is greeted by warm-up artist Reg, brilliantly portrayed by Matthew Hardie. Reg is an oversexed slime-bag, guaranteed to turn your stomach. The play proper, starts with a hilarious Pope ‘Elvis’ (Dylan Sercombe) giving out absolutions to game show winners. Two actors, Gabby Pitt and Jackie Brown, epitomised the type of hyper excitable contestants that go in to these competitions. The ‘glamorous’ show hostesses capture the moment so well, moving and singing beautifully and being ‘suitably repulsive’ – and this a strong compliment. They depicted everything that makes one cringe at TV shows.
One of the game show contestants, Cenci (Paul Goddard – ‘The Brick and the Rose’) does not get the result that he would have liked. He then goes on to tell his wife (Teresa Jakovich) that their sons are dead. The mother and daughter (Andrea Demetriades – last seen in ‘Six actors searching for an author’) decide to hire a couple of killers and get rid of the abusing husband.
Goddard as the cruel father was outstanding. His powerful clear diction and thorough understanding of the script, tended to make a couple of the other male actors seem a little inadequate. His downtrodden wife, Lucretia, and daughter, Beatrice, were both superb in their tragic roles; oneÂ’s heart really went out to them.
Newcomer Simonne Hurse, as the tarty murderer, showed great skills with her voice and body language in portraying her brash character.
The lighting (Cameron Menzies) was clever and used to the full, from dark scenes with follow-spots to bright variety show settings. The costumes were witty, appropriate, repulsive and delightful. Richard John and Brent HillÂ’s music fitted perfectly.
Director Alice Bishop has obviously put a lot of lateral thinking into this worthwhile show. Great to see something of such vibrant quality, which is away from the boring repetition.
On arriving in the auditorium one is greeted by warm-up artist Reg, brilliantly portrayed by Matthew Hardie. Reg is an oversexed slime-bag, guaranteed to turn your stomach. The play proper, starts with a hilarious Pope ‘Elvis’ (Dylan Sercombe) giving out absolutions to game show winners. Two actors, Gabby Pitt and Jackie Brown, epitomised the type of hyper excitable contestants that go in to these competitions. The ‘glamorous’ show hostesses capture the moment so well, moving and singing beautifully and being ‘suitably repulsive’ – and this a strong compliment. They depicted everything that makes one cringe at TV shows.
One of the game show contestants, Cenci (Paul Goddard – ‘The Brick and the Rose’) does not get the result that he would have liked. He then goes on to tell his wife (Teresa Jakovich) that their sons are dead. The mother and daughter (Andrea Demetriades – last seen in ‘Six actors searching for an author’) decide to hire a couple of killers and get rid of the abusing husband.
Goddard as the cruel father was outstanding. His powerful clear diction and thorough understanding of the script, tended to make a couple of the other male actors seem a little inadequate. His downtrodden wife, Lucretia, and daughter, Beatrice, were both superb in their tragic roles; oneÂ’s heart really went out to them.
Newcomer Simonne Hurse, as the tarty murderer, showed great skills with her voice and body language in portraying her brash character.
The lighting (Cameron Menzies) was clever and used to the full, from dark scenes with follow-spots to bright variety show settings. The costumes were witty, appropriate, repulsive and delightful. Richard John and Brent HillÂ’s music fitted perfectly.
Director Alice Bishop has obviously put a lot of lateral thinking into this worthwhile show. Great to see something of such vibrant quality, which is away from the boring repetition.
Re: Cenci
Tue, 9 Sept 2003, 08:33 amWalter Plinge
Vested interests schmested interests, the cast are my friends so I went to see it.
A quick review:
Was preparing myself to hate it. Once upon a time at the development stages, I was told that they were having foetus's (sp?) hanging from the roof and plaster casts of people that actors would break out of. I got incredibley excited. A few weeks later I heard these had been cut. Bastards.
But despite my determination to dislike it, I really enjoyed it. In chronological order:
Music: really worked for the play. Can never go past a little bit o' Manson-covered Tainted Love.
Matt as Reg: Gold. At first the dummy and nipple-fondling freaked me out a bit, but what a fantastic role to get. Emcee from Cabaret, but better.
Stairs: Loved them. Good idea. Well used. Well moved.
Dylan as The Pope: Costume was sublime. Character was a hoot. Only crit was the flashing lights on his belt should have been turned off during the ending. I heard they were meant to be ironic or something. They just annoyed me.
Andrea D: If anyone gets a chance to see this girl perform, take it. She even managed to make a Joan of Arc-esque costume look good.
Actual play: the old text was sucessfully merged with the new. Hard to do; they did it well. Nicely done.
Chorus: Even wearing flouro lycra, fantastic. So seedy, so gross, so sexual, so damn funny. Loved the 'trumpet flirting' too...
An incredibley disjointed and shallow review, I know. If I had more time and energy, I'd write a proper one *sigh*. One thing I will say though, is dont dismiss Curtin productions (for for that matter, any student productions) just because they are performed by students or performed on campus etc. I dont go to Curtin (just to avoid any 'vested interests' comments) but I have seen some great performaces there. I've seen some not-so-great ones as well, but thats the idea at Curtin: try things out. See what you can do. See what you can get away with. Fail if need be, but try anyway. And personally, I think thats bloody fantastic.
Cheers.
Thou roguish guts-griping gudgeon!
A quick review:
Was preparing myself to hate it. Once upon a time at the development stages, I was told that they were having foetus's (sp?) hanging from the roof and plaster casts of people that actors would break out of. I got incredibley excited. A few weeks later I heard these had been cut. Bastards.
But despite my determination to dislike it, I really enjoyed it. In chronological order:
Music: really worked for the play. Can never go past a little bit o' Manson-covered Tainted Love.
Matt as Reg: Gold. At first the dummy and nipple-fondling freaked me out a bit, but what a fantastic role to get. Emcee from Cabaret, but better.
Stairs: Loved them. Good idea. Well used. Well moved.
Dylan as The Pope: Costume was sublime. Character was a hoot. Only crit was the flashing lights on his belt should have been turned off during the ending. I heard they were meant to be ironic or something. They just annoyed me.
Andrea D: If anyone gets a chance to see this girl perform, take it. She even managed to make a Joan of Arc-esque costume look good.
Actual play: the old text was sucessfully merged with the new. Hard to do; they did it well. Nicely done.
Chorus: Even wearing flouro lycra, fantastic. So seedy, so gross, so sexual, so damn funny. Loved the 'trumpet flirting' too...
An incredibley disjointed and shallow review, I know. If I had more time and energy, I'd write a proper one *sigh*. One thing I will say though, is dont dismiss Curtin productions (for for that matter, any student productions) just because they are performed by students or performed on campus etc. I dont go to Curtin (just to avoid any 'vested interests' comments) but I have seen some great performaces there. I've seen some not-so-great ones as well, but thats the idea at Curtin: try things out. See what you can do. See what you can get away with. Fail if need be, but try anyway. And personally, I think thats bloody fantastic.
Cheers.
Thou roguish guts-griping gudgeon!