Under Milk Wood
Fri, 26 Sept 2003, 02:21 pmLibby16 posts in thread
Under Milk Wood
Fri, 26 Sept 2003, 02:21 pmI had heard quite a bit about Deckchair's production of Under Milk Wood, so curiosity aroused I trotted along to see it last night.
To go into a long detailed review would spoil the surprises for everyone, but here are some brief points...
Under Milk Wood, for those unfamiliar with the play/poem, was written by Dylan Thomas originally for voices only. We are shown a day in the life of the seemingly sleepy town Llareggub, its inhabitants and their innermost thoughts.
One of the highlights for me was Renee McIntosh singing Polly Garter's song- just beautiful, especially with the acoustics in the Victoria Hall. In fact, Renee, Claire Hooper and Christina Critch did a great job juggling characters throughout (although I did wonder what the point was of having Claire stand to the side when not onstage most of the time).
Elwyn Edwards did a marvellous job as the all-knowing First Voice, the link between audience and players. The image that was created as he stood downstage with his shadow cast upon each wall was a good lighting design choice.
Yes, there is a lot of audio/visual material- in fact four of the cast we never see, just hear. Anyone who knows the play knows what a nightmare it is casting for sixty-plus characters, and as such using voiceovers is a good way of dealing with this. For the most part it works quite well, although I did find myself growing a little weary of them towards the end.
In my humble opinion, it's well worth going to have a look, as it's a very different take on a classic piece. I enjoyed it and was entertained by it, but I think I'll have to go away and think some more about it.
Sure to delight some and jar others, make the trek down and decide for yourselves, I'm interested to hear what others thought.
And remember to take a coat to wear in the chilly Victoria Hall!
deckchair theatre's Under Milk Wood. Running Tues-Sat, 20 Sept- 4 Oct. 8pm. Victoria Hall, 179 High St Fremantle. $25/$20
To go into a long detailed review would spoil the surprises for everyone, but here are some brief points...
Under Milk Wood, for those unfamiliar with the play/poem, was written by Dylan Thomas originally for voices only. We are shown a day in the life of the seemingly sleepy town Llareggub, its inhabitants and their innermost thoughts.
One of the highlights for me was Renee McIntosh singing Polly Garter's song- just beautiful, especially with the acoustics in the Victoria Hall. In fact, Renee, Claire Hooper and Christina Critch did a great job juggling characters throughout (although I did wonder what the point was of having Claire stand to the side when not onstage most of the time).
Elwyn Edwards did a marvellous job as the all-knowing First Voice, the link between audience and players. The image that was created as he stood downstage with his shadow cast upon each wall was a good lighting design choice.
Yes, there is a lot of audio/visual material- in fact four of the cast we never see, just hear. Anyone who knows the play knows what a nightmare it is casting for sixty-plus characters, and as such using voiceovers is a good way of dealing with this. For the most part it works quite well, although I did find myself growing a little weary of them towards the end.
In my humble opinion, it's well worth going to have a look, as it's a very different take on a classic piece. I enjoyed it and was entertained by it, but I think I'll have to go away and think some more about it.
Sure to delight some and jar others, make the trek down and decide for yourselves, I'm interested to hear what others thought.
And remember to take a coat to wear in the chilly Victoria Hall!
deckchair theatre's Under Milk Wood. Running Tues-Sat, 20 Sept- 4 Oct. 8pm. Victoria Hall, 179 High St Fremantle. $25/$20
Re: Under Milk Wood
Mon, 29 Sept 2003, 07:29 pmWalter Plinge
For a teenager who has little theater experience and has not attended many performances, Under MilkWood did not captivate me. The table seating was an interesting touch i had never experienced before and i did enjoy the intamicy of the actors roaming though the tables.However, the welsh accent was too strong for me and my friends to understand and since we were not familiar with the script we were totally lost. The decorations in the hall effectively added atmosphere and helped create a sort of backdrop for the simple set. I wish i'd been able to catch more of the story but most words were lost. And i didn't understand the significants of the stilts, is it just that he's supposed to be tall?
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