SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER

Damn!

In SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER, Jeff Watkins has chosen an interesting play and in it, cast one of the finest actors I’ve seen – Rory Mitchell is simply astounding as Ezra Pound, his stage presence is nothing short of magnificent. Not only does he look the part, he IS the Fascist poet Ezra Pound. This is stunning work.

Lisa Skrypicahayko is less assertive in her role, however I suspect this is more to do with the script and direction. I could sense she has better to offer than we were seeing here, more on that shortly.

Kim Lazarus had a quirky role to play and did it well, although both her hairstyle and her costume were jarringly out of period (Pound’s final year in St Elizabeths was 1958).

The set was stunning, as were the props – being over-picky, I could only fault the typewriter. Brilliant people, just brilliant. Minimal, but clever use of sound and here, projection from all three actors was faultless. The lighting fade-outs could have been smoother – a couple of transitions from full lighting to spotlight were disjointed, which leads me to the script.

SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER is written by Billy Marshal Stoneking, an ex-patriot American now living in Oz. The programme mentions his deep (and admirable) love of Australian Aboriginal culture, unfortunately he has allowed his interest in Aboriginal culture to ultimately derail this work.

Most people are aware of Ezra Pound’s background, suffice to say, he was enamoured with the classical cultures of Italy and Germany and also China, but as far as I know, his interest in stone-age cultures, such as the North American Indian, (from his country of birth), or the Aboriginal people of Australia, was nil, although musically, he may have found Aboriginal didgeridoo and clapstick rhythms of interest, (had he known they existed).

The play starts off so well, Pound is a difficult subject, but Stoneking demonstrates he’s done his homework – Pound did get special treatment at St Elizabeths, even to the extent of conjugal rights with his wife and there’s a nice touch with the two women in the play, one older, one younger, mirroring the ménage a trios Pound led for much of his life, (with his wife Dorothy and the violinist Olga Rudge). The script is initially tight and fascinating, the acting splendid.

However I had difficulty trying to ascertain exactly what position Lisa’s character had in the play. Yes, she was from the government, yes she was there to assess Pound, but in what capacity. Eventually it appeared that she was a psychiatrist, but if that was the case, either the playwright’s notes are illogical, or the Director has misunderstood her role. Several times, she followed Pound over to his bed, either sitting on it, or in the chair next to it, no Psyc would allow that power play to occur. The character several times began to answer Pound’s questioning, it was so wrong, I sat there querying what her actual role was. Also, Lisa’s mannerisms often conveyed a sort of Marilyn Monroe eye-brow raised coquettish shock, where as I felt she should have registered either no reaction (as a professional Psyc), or 1950s grim-faced horror). It was as if she hadn’t been directed, or perhaps, as I was, both Lisa and Jeff were baffled about her role. Eventually, by interval, I concluded that she was possibly a sort of Jiminy Cricket – Pound’s conscience - she wasn't supposed to make logical sense.

But by then I was also grappling with the sudden, totally unexpected introduction of Australian words – Warrnambool etc, Pound had supposedly spoken several Australian names in his sleep. It made no sense to his character when he was asked about it and it made no sense to me as a member of the audience. I waited for some thread about Aussie soldiers in the war, but none was forthcoming.

Then the script went mad. Pound started to talk about Wanjinas, producing a pen and ink drawing of a classic Wanjina and telling us how they - who? - anyhow,  let us assume the playwright is referring to the Kunmunya Mission people, (now living at Mowanjum), had sixteen words for water.

Stoneking obviously has a profound admiration of Aboriginal culture and with this work he has touched upon one that has meant a lot to me personally since the mid 1970s. He would appear to have enough understanding and knowledge to write a superb work woven around the Wanjina,(and the Lalai). He also demonstrates a wonderful depth of knowledge about Ezra Pound, BUT the two stories have nothing to do with each other. After interval, the play rapidly became sadly risible, in spite of the fact that I was watching some of the best acting I will ever be fortunate enough to see.

I genuinely congratulate Jeff (and everyone involved) on going out a limb and also Garrick, for starting off their year with two very non-traditional works, please don’t stop. SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER it is a must-see, simply to watch and listen to Rory Mitchell – this guy would not be out of place on stage with Cate Blanchett.