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Review: Andrew Hale
I HAD a friend who used to say, ‘wherever you are, that’s
where you’ll be’. It was his shorthand for; you can’t
run from your problems no matter how far you go. (The irony that
he was from Scotland, I was Australian, and we both were in England,
has only just dawned on me.)
It could also be a theme in last seen imagining’s beautiful
production of The Country, now playing at The
Blue Room until Saturday, July 17.
If you have never been to the Blue Room, this terrific piece
will give you the best introduction possible. In fact, even if
you have been, go again, because this show is surely one of the
best pieces to ever be produced in the space.
Director, Humphrey Bower (who co-founded last seen imagining
with Sophia Hall), has carpeted the entire space, even under the
audience who sit along the walls. It allows the front row voyeurs
to watch a marriage disintegrate in aching detail.
The Country tells the story of Richard (Igor Sas) and
his wife, Corinne (Sophia Hall), who have recently moved to the
country to make a fresh start. The play starts mid-discussion.
As with a good deal of the play, we are not quite sure what is
actually being discussed; there is suspicion and suppressed anger,
but why?
Slowly, it is revealed that Richard has found a young girl (Lara
Tumak) unconscious by the side of the road, and has brought her
home to recover.
But why did he bring her home? Would he have done the same if
she were a man?
We soon find that Richard has willingly moved his problems with
him; Corrine blindly and desperately believes all of hers have
been left behind.
They are each trying to save their marriage, but for very different
reasons.
Sas and Hall are simply beautiful. Each turn in Crimps’
fine script is deftly handled as our allegiances swing from one
to the other. At certain points, audiences will think he’s
hiding something. Then, she’s just neurotic.
Tumak, as Rebecca, is simply stunning. By turns sexy, vulnerable,
vindictive, lost, strong and sometimes all at once. My only regret
is that she wasn’t in more scenes.
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Ordinarily, I have a problem with
theatre that ignores its audience, leaving them sitting quietly
in the dark, afraid to cough, and serving it up whether they are
there or not.
Here, I felt privileged to sit and watch, probably because, in
this case, the audience actually sit inside the reality that is
so skilfully created around them.
Bower’s confident direction gives everybody the time and
space to see and feel what is going on. This shows a painstaking
eye for detail, considering the play is done ‘in the round’.
There was a danger that a little too much time could be taken
over some moments, but not on the night I was there.
The simple lighting, by Nick Higgins, is evocative of the wide
spaces in the country and in the marriage, while the design, by
Clair Whitley, is ingenious; we sit in a fragmented living room
watching fragmented lives.
Kingsley Reeve’s haunting sound is downright scary.
Probably the only unsuccessful element of the production, is
Bower’s decision to set the story in an Australian landscape.
The country to which the story refers was once colonized by the
Romans and rhapsodised by the poet, Virgil.
This leaves examples of Virgil’s poetry, and references
to the straight roads built by the conquering Romans, compared
to the shale tracks of the original inhabitants and the slavery
and misery upon which the beautiful roads and poems were built,
sitting without a context, which was unfortunate.
There were also references to the converted mill in which the
couple live, another example of Roman history imposed upon the
landscape.
Personally, I just ignored the magpies in the soundscape and
translated ‘creek’ back to ‘stream’.
Presumably, the change was made to avoid doing English accents,
considering the time constraints of a profit-share production.
But Australians live in England and Americans visit them, so
why not leave it as it was?
Having said that, the intention may have been to keep the audience
away from the stuffiness of ancient poetry, and place the emphasis
squarely on the living dynamic of the characters, something which
the production does admirably.
There is a droning song in Perth that bewails the lack of arts
funding.
Bower and Hall's company have decided to sing another tune by
just getting on with it and making great theatre.
last seen imagining need that funding like any company and deserve
it more than most. If more funding flowed to shows like The
Country, rather than the run-of-the-historical-mill, Perth’s
theatrical pastures would be verdant indeed.
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