SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER
Sun, 4 Apr 2010, 01:00 amGreg Ross7 posts in thread
SIXTEEN WORDS FOR WATER
Sun, 4 Apr 2010, 01:00 amDamn!
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.
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.
Woman Clarified
Thank Greg for the overall great review. As there appears to be some confusion around the woman, I thought it might be worthwhile to provide some insight into what I thought of the character.
Woman is never allowed to reveal her name which creates a level of disassociation with her. We can never really connect with her without this knowledge, along with Ezra who tries very hard not to connect with her. Instead, he attempts to badge and distract her, and in effect also distract us the audience.Until the end of act one where he actually makes a rather generous suggestion, the results of which we never really see.
In the script, Ezra nicely describes the Woman in one of his many attempts to infuriate her.
"New kid on the block. Bottom of the Totem pole. Trying to make an impression?"
She is a shrink but a relatively new one. She is also a green Legal Shrink. Apparently hand-picked to handle Ezra's case after 12 years worth of many others, where the last one "Lasted longer than the rest." They wanted an end to the case and picked a bunny.
She is in conflict with her own ideals as this case puts her in the position where if she sticks to the truth, she risks sending Ezra to his execution, which she disagrees with. One may assume that the motivation for putting a person with conflicting ideals in charge of such a case is a clear set-up yet we are never given any clear evidence of this. At the end of the day, they do not listen to what she has to say. She was just there to show on paper that they dotted their i's. She was used.
That was my view of the character and from what you described, I actually think we achieved that outcome.
Thanks again Greg. Glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins
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Community Spirit
Good review Greg
I Was Wrong About Ezra Pound & His Knowledge of the Wanjina
Thanks to Don, I went hunting and sure enough, he was right! There's too much to the story to put here (including photos), however if anyone's interested, it's all posted on my Loconut Blog site:
http://www.loconut.com.au/myplace/gregross
and there's a link to it on my Facebook site. Another good friend tells me that Pound delcared the Aboriginal people the world's only true Communists!
Cheers
Greg Ross
LAST NIGHT
Tonight is the last chance you will have to see this show.
There are still tickets available ...
CLICK HERE
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins
SN Profile
Photographer
Community Spirit
Douglas Fox Article Located
Salutations people
In the search for the article by Douglas C Fox, written for The Townsman in 1939, the English Universities eventually couldn’t provide a copy, however Ann-Kristin (in Munster), laughed and told me that she was sure the German universities would be able to help. Sure enough they could, (German efficiency - why am I not surprised).
I've posted copies of the article pages on my Loconut Blog (the story about this), again, while I'm not an expert, or an historian, I think it could be accepted that Ezra Pound got his meagre knowledge of Wanjina culture from Fox and his article.
My gut feeling is that Pound was not particularly interested in Aboriginal people, or their culture, rather the lack of mouths in the paintings suited his purpose of illustrating his self-conceived position that he was being punished for telling it like it was - going too far, producing too much, a bit like a lawyer in court - seizing on anything to help prove a case.
It's certainly been a fascinating bit of digging and for me, proves the value of theatre / writing / art.
All Good Things
Greg Ross
I agree - Pound must have read Fox
"Sic semper tyrannis " is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants". It is sometimes mistranslated as "death to tyrants". It is most known as the official motto of Virginia and for its usage during the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and Julius Caesar.", says Wikipedia.
That's not particularly relevant to this part of the thread, but I had been wondering...
Anyway, I think Greg & colleagues have found the real thread - Pound must have read Fox.
From the last page of the script: POUND (Continued)
Sic semper tyrannis,
a brackish tribulation.
Great skill precedes creation.
A knowledge of plants and birds
serves better than a stipend;
There are still those who walk the Earth
and know this, who are attuned to
the distribution of the spirits of children.
Nice detective work, one & all! Thanks for the insight.
Now that the play's over, I have time for some research!
:-) L