The Sneeze

Freshly Sneezed Review: The Sneeze by Michael Frayn after Chekhov Theatre Forward NIDA Parade Studio, 215 Anzac Parade opp. UNSW Five actors, five stories and five directors… and only 3 days of rehearsal per play. The newly formed Theatre Forward alliance, made up of graduates of the NIDA directing course, advertises its debut and the Australian premiere of The Sneeze, as an ‘experiment’ and invites curiosity as to whether this audacious rehearsal timeframe can actually pull off seriously good comedy. They succeed. Although the performance is “still evolving” as one of the directors put it, its freshness adds vivacity to the bold and very funny performances from these five actors. Annie Maynard and Berryn Schwerdt sparkle and satisfy as the dueling George-and-Martha-type couple in “The Bear”, under Sarah Giles’s direction. Keith Agius manages to be both amusing and incredibly sad as the pathetic old clown in “Swan Song”, directed by Imara Savage. Solid performances are also put in by Garth Holcombe and Olivia Simone as the young couple in “The Proposal”, although Simone is given rather little to do by Morgan Dowsett, who concentrates on the comedy of Holcombe’s dithering. Directed by Kate Revz, the potentially difficult central piece “The Sneeze” is performed with only gobbledy-gook for dialogue and much hilarious hand gesturing and facial contortions, Á  la Mr. Bean. As his army officer character gets sneezed on, Agius’s po-face here has to be seen to be believed. So does Schwerdt’s complex array of twitches, timbre shifts and dangerously unexpected laughs as the ageing, hen-pecked schoolteacher under David Harmon’s direction in “The Evils of Tobacco”. Harmon must have experimented energetically with Schwerdt in rehearsal. The latter’s transformation into an older man is so convincing that it is a shock to see how much younger he actually is when he changes character for the transition to the next piece. The transitions between these disparate plays were handled fairly smoothly, although one was left wondering exactly who these people waiting at a cold bus station were. There was a suggestion that they were quintessential melancholic Russians: On entering the theatre, the setting was immediately announced by Cyrillic graffiti sprayed across a blank noticeboard. Four of the actors lounged in place before the performance began; not a new technique but one which is used rarely in theatre and has the effect, especially in such an intimate space, of making the audience feel as if they too are performing, which can be particularly unsettling if a fifth actor is somewhere behind you… The five directors allowed some overacting, but this made for such a good laugh that it was not generally a drawback. Some effort was made to link motifs between the pieces—a black tailcoat, an eye-twitch, operatic singing, the sneeze (of course)—however this motivic tapestry concept could have been carried through a little more. Production values were necessarily low-budget but designer Renée Mulder’s set of suitcases (the director’s perennial salvation!) and bus-stop bench were used imaginatively. The sound and lighting designs were creative; I particularly liked the use of hanging lights to ‘switch’ characters on and off as they were required. Overall, the anxiety-ridden schedule, the melting pot of creative minds and—as I understand—large helpings of generosity from the performers and the NIDA Springboard Initiative have contributed to making The Sneeze an unusual and very enjoyable evening in the theatre. My major complaint would be that at 95 minutes, it was rather short and I wanted to see more (!) but I have no doubt that we will see much more from these talented young directors. The Sneeze continues until Saturday August 1. Performances daily at 7:30 pm with a Saturday matinee at 2 pm. Tickets: $29 Adults, $24 Concession