The Castle
Wed, 1 Dec 2004, 04:58 pmWalter Plinge1 post in thread
The Castle
Wed, 1 Dec 2004, 04:58 pmI saw Heidelberg Theatre Company's production of this adaption of the screenplay by Working Dog Productions (the 'Panel' mob) last Thursday night and was most impressed.
The story is all about the working class battler Kerrigan family and their fight to save their humble abode from being subsumed by a big bucked airport quango. They take it all the way to the High Court of Australia where they win the support of a high-powered silk and of course, their case.
In her 'Director's Notes', Maureen McInerney says:
"We knew that we could have been lynched if we had "messed" with the original film's dialogue to any noticeable extent but we also felt that it was necessary to shuffle some of the scenes and incidents to produce something that would work under the very different constraints of the stage".
Indeed, the play was very faithful to the film version - rapidly becoming a cult classic - and conveyed all of the same warmth and satire and then some. The casting of the main characters was done perhaps with an eye out for a Caton or a Curry lookalike but very successfully regardless of that. The set was split into three with a revolve giving a fourth scene. Lighting design was okay, sound was excellent (especially the low-flying aircraft).
In all, a very enjoyable show and proving extemely popular with the sellout audiences here in Melbourne. Any WA companies interested in mounting a production - contact HTC at www.htc.org.au - or me at stinger@iinet.net.au
Thou warped milk-livered dewberry!
The story is all about the working class battler Kerrigan family and their fight to save their humble abode from being subsumed by a big bucked airport quango. They take it all the way to the High Court of Australia where they win the support of a high-powered silk and of course, their case.
In her 'Director's Notes', Maureen McInerney says:
"We knew that we could have been lynched if we had "messed" with the original film's dialogue to any noticeable extent but we also felt that it was necessary to shuffle some of the scenes and incidents to produce something that would work under the very different constraints of the stage".
Indeed, the play was very faithful to the film version - rapidly becoming a cult classic - and conveyed all of the same warmth and satire and then some. The casting of the main characters was done perhaps with an eye out for a Caton or a Curry lookalike but very successfully regardless of that. The set was split into three with a revolve giving a fourth scene. Lighting design was okay, sound was excellent (especially the low-flying aircraft).
In all, a very enjoyable show and proving extemely popular with the sellout audiences here in Melbourne. Any WA companies interested in mounting a production - contact HTC at www.htc.org.au - or me at stinger@iinet.net.au
Thou warped milk-livered dewberry!