Female Transport
Fri, 19 Aug 2005, 04:36 pmWalter Plinge5 posts in thread
Female Transport
Fri, 19 Aug 2005, 04:36 pmI went to the opening night of Female Transport last night at Pheonix Theatre. Gosh, was I impressed. The first time I've been prompted to write a review, let alone a long one like this!
The play revolves around 6 female convicts being transported to Botany Bay. The whole play is set in their cell on the boat, and the girls don't move from it the whole time. There's not a whole lot of movement - in fact they spend half the time in leg irons.
Sound grim? Well, it would be if the girls didn't do such a good job with the acting. They were fantastic. This would not have been an easy acting job. The girls went from periods of reflective boredom to rapid fire arguments, There were moments of slapstick (yay, barrel girl) and moments of intense drama. They did it all without missing a beat.
I think I enjoyed the grittiness of their performances the best. None of these girls were 'ladies'. And none of them were particularly nice. If any one of the characters had been transplanted into any other play they would have been a villain, but in this play it was just a matter of them being different shades of black. These were hard women - think Prisoner set 200 years ago. But for all that, they were so likeable. And very very watchable.
It's probably not fair to single cast members out in an ensemble piece like this one, but three of the girls in particular stood out to me. They stood out because they placed a great degree of complexity into their characters, and I'm betting that a lot of this wasn't in the script.
Amy Tyers played what was essentially a character role (I don't know whether it started this way in the script) to perfection. Her catty laughs, coughing fits, the way she stood up to authority without any sense of self preservation and then bravely laughed off the consequences - it was a good strong performance.
Sharon Thomas (my mate that I went to see in the show, but I promise I'm not biased) was also good. I've seen most of Sharon's plays, and I can honestly say this was the best performance I've seen her in. Sharon, you did really well mate.
But the standout for me was the girl playing Charlotte (Joanna _____?) I've seen some great amateur performances, and I can't recall seeing one that has impressed me more. There was such a great range and depth to it. I can't even put my finger on why it was so powerful, but in my opinion it was this character that defined the play for me. A strong woman with her own set of principles (not necessarily society's principles!), able to be considerate, just as able to kick her cellmates when they're down. If you're reading this, sorry for not mentioning you're surname - I wish I'd taken a program with me!
I remember when I did Stories from a Suburban Road there were 6 actors in an ensemble and the reviews focussed on other members (singling them out for either praise or criticism). I don't think I got personally named in any of the reviews that I read, and that stung my pride a bit. I realise I've done the same thing here and to the other three girls in the cast, SORRY! I appreciated your work, and recognise that you were part of an ensemble that really shined.
I should mention that there were also four males in the cast, two of whom were doing their first play. The play was definitely centred on the female characters, but the guys did their part too.
I was particularly impressed with the guy who played Tommy (Matt ______?). I initially thought he was a bit insipid, and thought he looked a little out of his depth. But then I realised that I might have just been drawn into his character, which developed more and more balls as the play went through. I was absolutely amazed when I saw him after the show. He was not at all what I'd expected him to be after seeing the character - a true sign of someone who's done his job to perfection. The accent was amazing - it had me completely fooled. And I was gobsmacked to find that meek, pushed-around Tommy was in fact played by an actor that exuded confidence in real life. Can't give you more of a compliment than that! Well done!
And a note for Sarge - if that was your first full-length play, really really good job.
I could make some negative criticisms. I thought that some of the scenes with the men on their own were a bit weak, although that might have been the fault of some expositional and didactic dialogue. Also, the leg chains were a little too real - they made a lot of noise and made some of the dialogue difficult to hear. There were also some minor opening night issues with lights, but nothing too major.
Anyway, thanks to the cast and crew of this production. As you can see, I really enjoyed the experience.
The play revolves around 6 female convicts being transported to Botany Bay. The whole play is set in their cell on the boat, and the girls don't move from it the whole time. There's not a whole lot of movement - in fact they spend half the time in leg irons.
Sound grim? Well, it would be if the girls didn't do such a good job with the acting. They were fantastic. This would not have been an easy acting job. The girls went from periods of reflective boredom to rapid fire arguments, There were moments of slapstick (yay, barrel girl) and moments of intense drama. They did it all without missing a beat.
I think I enjoyed the grittiness of their performances the best. None of these girls were 'ladies'. And none of them were particularly nice. If any one of the characters had been transplanted into any other play they would have been a villain, but in this play it was just a matter of them being different shades of black. These were hard women - think Prisoner set 200 years ago. But for all that, they were so likeable. And very very watchable.
It's probably not fair to single cast members out in an ensemble piece like this one, but three of the girls in particular stood out to me. They stood out because they placed a great degree of complexity into their characters, and I'm betting that a lot of this wasn't in the script.
Amy Tyers played what was essentially a character role (I don't know whether it started this way in the script) to perfection. Her catty laughs, coughing fits, the way she stood up to authority without any sense of self preservation and then bravely laughed off the consequences - it was a good strong performance.
Sharon Thomas (my mate that I went to see in the show, but I promise I'm not biased) was also good. I've seen most of Sharon's plays, and I can honestly say this was the best performance I've seen her in. Sharon, you did really well mate.
But the standout for me was the girl playing Charlotte (Joanna _____?) I've seen some great amateur performances, and I can't recall seeing one that has impressed me more. There was such a great range and depth to it. I can't even put my finger on why it was so powerful, but in my opinion it was this character that defined the play for me. A strong woman with her own set of principles (not necessarily society's principles!), able to be considerate, just as able to kick her cellmates when they're down. If you're reading this, sorry for not mentioning you're surname - I wish I'd taken a program with me!
I remember when I did Stories from a Suburban Road there were 6 actors in an ensemble and the reviews focussed on other members (singling them out for either praise or criticism). I don't think I got personally named in any of the reviews that I read, and that stung my pride a bit. I realise I've done the same thing here and to the other three girls in the cast, SORRY! I appreciated your work, and recognise that you were part of an ensemble that really shined.
I should mention that there were also four males in the cast, two of whom were doing their first play. The play was definitely centred on the female characters, but the guys did their part too.
I was particularly impressed with the guy who played Tommy (Matt ______?). I initially thought he was a bit insipid, and thought he looked a little out of his depth. But then I realised that I might have just been drawn into his character, which developed more and more balls as the play went through. I was absolutely amazed when I saw him after the show. He was not at all what I'd expected him to be after seeing the character - a true sign of someone who's done his job to perfection. The accent was amazing - it had me completely fooled. And I was gobsmacked to find that meek, pushed-around Tommy was in fact played by an actor that exuded confidence in real life. Can't give you more of a compliment than that! Well done!
And a note for Sarge - if that was your first full-length play, really really good job.
I could make some negative criticisms. I thought that some of the scenes with the men on their own were a bit weak, although that might have been the fault of some expositional and didactic dialogue. Also, the leg chains were a little too real - they made a lot of noise and made some of the dialogue difficult to hear. There were also some minor opening night issues with lights, but nothing too major.
Anyway, thanks to the cast and crew of this production. As you can see, I really enjoyed the experience.