.jpg)
Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 18. 26th July 1973
Drama
Drama
The Best of All Possible Worlds: Theatre Action, Concert Chamber this week.
Inside the Concert Chamber there's a sparring match with rigged rules between the Watersiders and the FOL in the centre of the audience, competing with a schmaltsy singer in one corner. In another, what appears to be a mechanical soldier stiffly salutes, and salutes, and. . . until suddenly all the performers vanish; the 'real' performance gets underway with the appearance of Edward Gibbon Wakefield riding on the back of one of his working-class immigrants. The first half moves brilliantly through what could be described — lamely — as a potted portrait of settlers, politicos and others till we reach the coronation of King Dick (alias Seddon), and the advent of prosperity along with a name for progress, i.e. an identity as both a nation and people. Theatre Action perform imaginatively and economically, drawing a character in a deft movement. But it's not really an attempt to produce well- rounded characters or a fixed story line; it's more a mosaic of images moving very fast, with no time for the audience to fix onto a particular one, or to abstract themselves from the action.
Problems arise after the interval. The audience has typed the production: fast satire with an element of mysticism and an underlying pessimism. So they're not prepared for the extreme realism, the plodding pace when the troupe shows us life here and now in 'The Best of All Possible Worlds', alias NZ, alias 'mashed potato feel'. We tend to define good theatre by its attack, and very often equate a sharp, incisive performance with swiftness. Thus the slowness challenged a fairly basic conception, and to a certain extent alienated the audience. It took me a good ten minutes to adjust to the changed pace, and perhaps also the dreariness, before I felt at ease again — only to be disrupted by the appearance of some unimaginative, dull stereotypes. Most of which I have seen before offered as objects of ridicule, and which serve only to make me angry at the creator's sterility and arrogance. Theatre Action redeemed themselves by mixing in familiar with unfamiliar themes and caricatures and, in general, presenting them in tones rather than blatant black and white. Certainly the second half lays itself open for criticism on several planes, but I think only that which regrets the occasional loss of imagination and what could be called a sense of dignity is valid. The audience is left to reconcile myths with reality. With action going on all around the audience, people had frequently to make a choice between one event and another. The audience here is a far more active concept than the easier 'picture frame' presentation, wherein each individual sees the same things.
'The Best of All Possible Worlds' is not only enjoyable, but also challenges certain basic categorisations, the least of which is concerned with theatre.
Drama Society Production
The Drama Society's third offering for this term will be James Saunders' 'Next Time I'll Sing To You'. Accused in the past by "Salient" and others of producing fatuous plays, this production is a significant contribution to a subject which has puzzled man for thousands of years: "What is life?" "What is the purpose of existence?"
Although nominally an investigation of the life of a hermit who divorced himself from society for forty years, 'Next Time I'll Sing To You" in fact attempts to answer this age-old question. It uses techniques bordering on absurd theatre — highly amusing while always remaining thought provoking — dare it be said intellectually stimulating. It stands more as an excerpt from a piece of continuous action without beginning or end rather than the 'well made play' beloved of commercial and amateur theatre alike.
'Next Time I'll Sing To You" nearly reached production last year when it was to be directed by the visiting lecturer in drama, Richard Rothrock, but arrangements fell through; it is now being directed by Alastair MacFarlane.
This play should offer an amusing and stimulating evening's entertainment. It will be performed in the Memorial Theatre in the final week of term, from July 31 to August 4. Bookings may be made at the Students' Association Office.
.jpg)
.jpg)