"The Geometry of Love"

Wed, 4 June 2008, 09:44 am

Melz8 posts in thread

Firstly, I want to point out that I really don't like writing reviews... and yes, I have a connection with Garrick Theatre, and my comments below are purely as Melz and not as the publicist - ok...

I just want to say that I saw "The Geometry of Love" last Sunday and WOW !!!

What a show !! I totally fell into this story of the mad, bad and dangerous to know "Lord Byron"... this is an Australian Premiere performance, and I wish more people would race to see shows at the beginning of the season and not leave it all to the last minute...

Every performer was outstanding, totally believable, some actors had multiple roles and each role they played was individual and again believable.

It was very interesting to see Ailsa Travers incorporate the auditorium in parts of the show. I really felt like I was in the ball room and that there was a large room off stage right where supper was being served... I loved seeing that Garrick's revolve is being used again, and many other ways the stage incorporated the scenes.

When you read the program you think - woah - there's a lot of scenes here... the show flowed so well and the pace was great that you forget there are so many scenes...

I mean, I FELL INTO THIS SHOW !! I wanted to rescue Annabella Milbanke and hit Byron - "you leave that poor girl alone!!" This show really is an adults only production. There is no nudity, but there's some interesting 'touchy feely' and the content leans to intense on some occasions. But with that, the actors portrayal was 100 percent. And Annette Hopkinson who is the dancer in the show was a lovely touch and I felt very fitting.

Congratulations to all involved, particularly Daniel Kershaw who plays that dastardly Lord Byron, Lorna Mackie playing Augusta Leigh - aww you could feel the lust and love... Erin Comenos as Annabella Milbanke, Veronica Fourie as Lady Melbourne (who has her own touchy feely moment), Jeff Watkins as Hobhouse and Sneak, Richard Allen as Hanson and Dr Baillie, and Paris Romanis as the Bailiff and Lushington.

I don't really know a lot about lighting - but in my book, it was excellent, well used... and in the wedding scene Erin Comenos emits radiance and shines on stage, she sparkled !!

Having been very fortunate to be communicating with the English playwright of this show, Peter Dunne, I am sure that he would be proud and thrilled with Garrick's production of "The Geometry of Love".

As I write this, there is only 1 week left to see the show... so if you haven't seen it, I urge you to, as not every show can transport the audience like this one did for me.

Would love to read other people's feedback and reviews on this show too.

Melz

I saw the show lasr

Wed, 4 June 2008, 11:35 am

Don Allen

I saw the show last Saturday night and overal it rates as a good production. Erin's performance is excellent, her facial expressions and body language give depth to her character. Daniel was excellent too, only criticism was that he lost some intelligibility of his words when shouting. I have a lot of respect for the ability of actors to learn so much dialogue. Costumes were excellent apart from the chinese pajamas at the start, couldn't figure them out ? The set was fuctional but bland. One side of the revolve had wallpaper of the era, the other side was painted. Removeable window frames etc could be used to provide a different look for each scene. Carpet is needed backstage to mask footsteps during scene changes. The lighting provided a smooth illumination of the actors, but there were scenes where actors stood in the dark during some of the scenes when the lead actors were centre stage. With so many scene changes, the downstage area in front of the middle stage curtain needs different lighting states as it is not practical to have different sets for these short scenes. The use of colour, gobos, sidelights and backlighting can produce different scenes, especially if most light is kept off the curtain. The choice of set wall colour and different gels in floods can give different looking sets due to the additive and subtractive nature of lighting. The Garrick has 8 cyc floods so the walls can be lit without the actors costumes getting affected by the wall lighting. The homemade gobo needs to be replaced with a commercial one to let the audience know it is a window. One of the good aspects of amateur theatre is that as we can keep improving our techniques as we do more shows. I have a connection with the Garrick theatre, I know several of the actors, production crew, front of house crew, committee but it has not influenced my review !

Thread (8 posts)

Threaded Flat

"The Geometry of Love"— Melz4 June 2008

I saw the show lasr— Don Allen4 June 2008
Geo of Love— Walter Plinge5 June 2008
Thanks all— Labrug5 June 2008
- The Geometry of Love— jefroe208 June 2008
Geometry of Love— Gordon the Optom6 June 2008
Forgotten actor in the review— Walter Plinge8 July 2008
A bit late...— Walter Plinge8 July 2008

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