Covert, A Thoroughly, Modern Morality Play
Sun, 26 Oct 2003, 12:34 amGreg Ross11 posts in thread
Covert, A Thoroughly, Modern Morality Play
Sun, 26 Oct 2003, 12:34 amCovert is stunning
Covert is intense.
Covert is wonderfully written.
Covert is superbly acted and directed.
Such are the moral dilemmas played out in front of the audience, I found myself driving home almost sympathising with Howard, Blair and Bush, quite apart from realising what returning Vietnam veterans must have gone through all those years ago, as they were exposed to our indifference and dissent.
Robert Jeffreys has pierced the protective wall of modern active army life and exposed the haunting reality of life on a necessary edge that most of us would rather not be confronted with. A superb, non-judgemental work that should be mandatory viewing for every Australian.
I have struggled in my ineffectual way to fault the play and apart from a couple of absolutely irrelevant opening night line stuff-ups, I could only come up with the nit-picking fact that Land Rovers are permanent 4WD, itÂ’s not something that needs to be engaged.
The acting was thoroughly believable, mind you, by my count, Greg McNeil and Peter Docker have now been in the Australian Army for 60 years - since "Rusty Bugles,” so they should know their way around the camouflage of army life! And the cast were obviously aware of the notorious Rechabites penchant for muffling male voices.
On that score, Deputy Premier Eric Ripper said on the way out, that the cost estimate for bringing the Rechabites Hall up to scratch was $4 million. I suggested that he could divert some of the revenue from Multa Novas.
To the Perth Theatre Company. Bloody fabulous once again. Skin Tight still lives with me and this superb work will do the same. DonÂ’t miss it.
Ps: Will the thought provoking solo one act play before the main event become a regular feature?
Covert is intense.
Covert is wonderfully written.
Covert is superbly acted and directed.
Such are the moral dilemmas played out in front of the audience, I found myself driving home almost sympathising with Howard, Blair and Bush, quite apart from realising what returning Vietnam veterans must have gone through all those years ago, as they were exposed to our indifference and dissent.
Robert Jeffreys has pierced the protective wall of modern active army life and exposed the haunting reality of life on a necessary edge that most of us would rather not be confronted with. A superb, non-judgemental work that should be mandatory viewing for every Australian.
I have struggled in my ineffectual way to fault the play and apart from a couple of absolutely irrelevant opening night line stuff-ups, I could only come up with the nit-picking fact that Land Rovers are permanent 4WD, itÂ’s not something that needs to be engaged.
The acting was thoroughly believable, mind you, by my count, Greg McNeil and Peter Docker have now been in the Australian Army for 60 years - since "Rusty Bugles,” so they should know their way around the camouflage of army life! And the cast were obviously aware of the notorious Rechabites penchant for muffling male voices.
On that score, Deputy Premier Eric Ripper said on the way out, that the cost estimate for bringing the Rechabites Hall up to scratch was $4 million. I suggested that he could divert some of the revenue from Multa Novas.
To the Perth Theatre Company. Bloody fabulous once again. Skin Tight still lives with me and this superb work will do the same. DonÂ’t miss it.
Ps: Will the thought provoking solo one act play before the main event become a regular feature?
Re: meanwhile, back to Covert
Thu, 13 Nov 2003, 09:10 amSaw the show last night, like most people here I liked it. I agree wholeheartedly with Craig Williams' comments about the stage punches. Maybe its just the martial artist in me getting annoyed here, but really - there is no excuse at any level for the punches to look that weak (ie obviously no impact, overly large verbal grunt on hit, reaction out of time with the punch hitting), let alone Perth Theatre Company. Particularly when we're just talking about punches to the stomach, not exactly the most high risk of fight dynamics.
Maybe it was just the night I saw it, but I was also somewhat dissapointed with Peter Docker's Captain Smith. The Brittish-esque formal accent (stage-voice maybe?) was inconsistent and distracting - especially when it crept into the scenes where he was conversing with the main character (also his lover). When delivering military formal dialogue, the voice seemed fine, but when having an intimate/passionate argument with a lover? Didn't quite gel. However, I have to add to that that he picked up tremendously in the 2nd half of the play, where I think the script played a lot more to his strengths.
Really though, its worth seeing on the basis of the script alone. Add what is mostly a great set of performances to it and I'd recommend catching it before the season ends.
Maybe it was just the night I saw it, but I was also somewhat dissapointed with Peter Docker's Captain Smith. The Brittish-esque formal accent (stage-voice maybe?) was inconsistent and distracting - especially when it crept into the scenes where he was conversing with the main character (also his lover). When delivering military formal dialogue, the voice seemed fine, but when having an intimate/passionate argument with a lover? Didn't quite gel. However, I have to add to that that he picked up tremendously in the 2nd half of the play, where I think the script played a lot more to his strengths.
Really though, its worth seeing on the basis of the script alone. Add what is mostly a great set of performances to it and I'd recommend catching it before the season ends.
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