Review: 'Macbeth' - Eagle's Nest Theatre Company

Eagle’s Nest Theatre Company’s latest production of Macbeth has been advertised as, “Shakespeare as it should be – no frills, plenty of thrills & chills.” This is exactly the approach that the company has adopted, performing Macbeth as it may have been in the early 17^th century.

This traditional approach allowed the audience to reflect on the characters’ journey into inner conflict and, in some cases madness, rather than on the regal costumes, dazzling effects and modern adaptations that are seen in many contemporary Shakespeare productions.

Most of the acting performances demonstrated a strong knowledge of the text and of Shakespearean verse. Jason Cavanagh as the title role was a stand out, creating a completely three-dimensional characterisation of the tragic king. Elizabeth Slattery gave a fantastic performance as Lady Macbeth, revealing the dark motivations of her character that eventually lead to her absolute derangement.

As always with productions of Macbeth, the three witches were an exciting breath of fresh air. Kendy Gable, Poppy Tremayne and Stephanie Evison-Williams portrayed each ‘weird sister’ with their own individual nuance. Poppy Tremayne also appeared as the role of Lady Macduff, a scene of intense emotion that is often overplayed. Her performance in this short scene was excellent and it was disappointing that her talents were limited to only few scenes.

The whole cast worked well as an ensemble, giving the impression that the onstage relationships were comfortable and real. This was especially evident in the chemistry between Cavanagh and Slattery, as Macbeth and his wife, and the unnerving bond between the three witches.

Sean Kavanagh’s direction definitely supported the actors’ performances. Scenes were mostly blocked appropriately so that a large number of people were positioned carefully on the small performance space, although occasionally someone’s lines were recited from behind another actor. Also, the idea to have the witches transform the set between each scene reinforced their power and influence over the play’s action.

Despite the already basic staging, an even more minimalist approach could have benefited the production. Robbie Lingham’s set consisted of cardboard structures in the shape of castle walls, towers and forests. These often distracted from the performance and caused scene transitions to be slowed down. The opening of Act IV involved a bare stage except for the witches’ cauldron, which allowed a much-improved focus on the story line and the actors. The costumes were strong in some areas, for example the witches’, Porter’s and regal costumes but were undermined by other anachronistic costumes, for example tweed coats, dresses and high heels that resembled the fashion of the 1950s.

The lighting design was very effective in conveying different locations and moods. The use of a red spotlight was successful in distinguishing characters’ soliloquies from the rest of the dialogue. A brilliant soundscape was presented by Daniel Nixon, which heightened the tone and emotions of the scene. However, the contemporary scene transition music was somewhat distracting even with some links to their preceding scenes being evident.

Despite this, Eagle’s Nest Theatre Company’s production of Macbeth was upheld by dedicated and endearing performances, which allowed the genuine strength of Shakespeare’s original psychological tragedy to shine through.

This review can also be viewed at theatrepeople.com.au

Review: 'Melbourne Boys' - CEL Productions

JC La Fontaine’s new stage production Melbourne Boys infuses common clichés and previous experience to form a modern Melbourne coming-of-age story.

Written as a series of vignettes, Melbourne Boys reveals the story of Sebastian and his friends’ final year at secondary school, portraying the stress and experiences of VCE as well as the challenges of an everyday teen life.

The play is fairly successful in its attempt to transform regular high-school stereotypes into three-dimensional characters. Common school ground personalities such as the ‘rich bad-boy’ are well developed whereas other more comic clichés such as the ‘choir nerd’ or ‘giggling school girl’ appropriately remain untouched.

While a collection of vignettes may be a strange choice for presenting a dramatic plot, Christine Husband’s direction ensures the small episodes move quickly and fluently so that tension and timing are not lost within the non-naturalistic scene transitions.

The language and scenarios contained within Melbourne Boys reflect and portray a life-like atmosphere, which provides an engaging reality to the play. However, with the sudden inclusion of quite dramatic conflicts toward the end of the play’s action, a slightly ‘soap opera-esque’ tone is adopted, disappointingly interrupting the more realistic nature of the performance. This could perhaps be solved by allocating more time to the introduction and resolution of the eventual climax of the play.

The cast worked well with their given material, in most cases forming credible characterisations. Liam Tapper performed strongly in the role of David, Sebastian’s economically disadvantaged friend, especially in times of greater tension. This was a contrast from Benjamin Stokes who provided much needed comic relief as the class ‘geek’. JC La Fontaine and Sam Young convincingly developed the characters of Sebastian and Billy respectively, although tended to appear melodramatic in the concluding scenes. This may have been caused by opening night nerves or by an uncertainty with the script’s reasonably sincere themes.

The chemistry between Chloe Gavin and Tom Clifas, portraying the roles of Jo and Anthony, was highly believable, an aspect that was very important to bring their short scenes to life. Patti Rocca brought a sense of truth to the role as Sebastian’s mother, causing the audience to cringe as they recognised their own embarrassing mother within her character.

The actors brought a professional touch to their work, evident in their ability to continue performing with absolute focus despite a rather interruptive audience distraction occurring mid-performance.

André Stefan White in collaboration with Fontaine’s original designs devised an economic but effective greyscale stage. The simple set pieces represented a range of differing locations without the need to move or change in appearance enhancing the non-naturalistic flow of the play. The costumes also blended with the greyscale theme allowing Christina Montgomery’s lighting designs to be used to the greatest possible benefit.

While some flaws may be evident in this, the first of JC La Fontaine’s pair of Melbourne Boys plays; it is an enthusiastic contribution to the ever-growing collection of Melbourne-based theatrical works.

This review can also be viewed at theatrepeople.com.au

Blogging Drought

Due to exams, holidays, work and other commitments there has been a major delay in blog updates. However, I am back into the swing of things and new posts should be popping up quite often.

Over this blogging drought I did get to see 'Avenue Q', a hit new musical which even beat 'Wicked' at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show’s programs and posters are labeled “not for kids” and that’s the basis for most of its humor. ‘Avenue Q’ is like Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie have grown up and gone on to have dead end jobs and seemingly bland lives. The Australian cast was fantastic and the updated sets and lines added a fresh new feel to the show.

I have just reviewed CEL's production of a new amateur Melbourne work 'Melbourne Boys'. I will post it soon.