Masks

‘Masks’ by Humphrey Bower was written about ten years ago as a radio play, and has recently been adapted for the stage. This Night Train Production, under the eye of producer Lisa McCready, is part of the Fringe World Festival and can be seen at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, 53 James Street, Northbridge.  Starting at 9.00 pm, the performances last for 45 minutes and run until Friday 8^th February.

       The stage is dim. We are looking into the corner of a sitting room, where the tall walls are dove grey with fleur de lis ‘wallpaper’ projected onto the surfaces. An old, cream moquette armchair is illuminated by the warm light of the nearby standard lamp.

        We hear the front door open and middle-aged man (Humphrey Bower) leads a tall, slim and attractive young woman (Danielle Micich) into the room. He had spotted this woman and decided that she was perfect to hire for his purpose. He sends her into the bedroom to get changed and sitting down, he starts to recall a vacation at the annual Carnevale Venice and the resultant holiday love affair.

        All the man has to remind him of this Venetian holiday is a white mask he purchased. By getting this young woman to wear the mask, will the memories return? However, the mask has more properties than one would expect from a papier-mâché pulp.

The quality of Humphrey Bower’s monologues is renowned. They have won him many awards, the more recent plays have gained ‘winner of The Blue Room Theatre's Members' Choice’ and a Best Performance Award. The script is, as always, superbly written, although the storyline being based on one person misses Humphrey’s usual mix of exciting characters. The storyline does keep up the audience interest and is filled with unexpected twists.

Danielle Micich, who achieved a WA Dance Award for Best Female Performer and recently an Actors’ Equity Award, is wonderful as the lithe, spiderlike dancer who, with contortionistic movements, slowly glides through her routine. The couple build up a wonderful atmosphere as their bodies intertwine.

Joe Lui employed miniature spots, placed at floor level to give a sense of mystery to the whole situation. The wallpaper pattern slowly melds into black and white views of Venice (excellent visuals by Ashley de Prazer) and the deep adagio rhythm gave a spooky feel to the performance. This sound design (Joe Lui) gave way to passages of resonance which occasionally slid into dissonance. Even the ripple of the Venice canal water was also reflected in the score.

All of the senses were stimulated by this short piece. Exceptional quality.