Frankenstein (Ensemble Theatre) - Street Theatre

Don't think about it! Just plunge in.

Playwright Nick Dear's re-telling of Mary Shelley's seminal horror novel Frankenstein is rankest melodrama, but Ensemble Theatre and director Mark Kilmurry pull it off in style.  But: Do Not Try This At Home, any amateur companies seeking to ride the wave of a familiar title. I'm not sure it would have worked at all without the unflinching commitment of a very talented cast, and principally a quite extraordinary physical and emotional performance by Lee Jones as the Monster.

The set is a polished circle surrounded by a curtain on a rail - reminiscent of the Bell King Lear of a couple of years ago - and lit by a collection of steampunky light bulbs liberally distributed at varying heights. It's effective, but not quite gothic enough for my taste and this particular story.  The ambience is enhanced by a solo cellist (Heather Stratford) playing creepy atmospheric music (by Elena Kats-Chernin) - in a very steampunk skirt.  (There's a lot of solo cello about theatre at the moment, has anyone else noticed?)

In lesser hands the opening sequence - the birth of the Monster - could well have become farcical, but in this production instead brought home the terror of a full-grown creature suddenly thrust into the world like a newborn baby, raw and blinking an uncomprehending.  I confess I was disappointed by the loincloth; I am no fan of gratuitous nudity in theatre, but this would not have been gratuitous, and it was the only part of the production that seemed a pulling of punches.  I also would have liked the Monster to have been a lot more monstrous in appearance, but I can see how that might have flirted with caricature, and that would have ruined everything.  As it is, Jones manages a twisted carriage with a powerful physical presence and a total emotional investment that is purely compelling.

He is ably matched by Andrew Henry as Victor Frankenstein - ultimately far more twisted and monstrous than his misbegotten experiment - though in one scene of high passion my mind did flit briefly to that episode of Friends where Joey is cast against Gary Oldman, who explains to him that truly Great Acting involves a considerable amount of spit.

The plot is ridiculous, and the language is so florid in places that  it could easily have risked silliness, but the momentum is so relentless, and Jones so unwavering in his performance, that the whole effect becomes convincing.  Just go with it.  The ultimate testament is that even my mercurial attention span did not regret the lack of an interval, and not once did I think of Peter Boyle.

Under Milkwood - Canberra Repertory

Yes, yes, it's been a very long hiatus.  I am so insanely behind in my reviews - and so frantically busy in the day job - that I was pretty much giving up on ever getting back here. But I've just realised that there are only two performances left of Rep's production of Under Milkwood, and it is so transcendently wonderful that if there is a chance of getting one more bum on a seat then I owe it both to Rep and to the possessor of that fortunate posterior.

I won't say too much, or I'll never hit the Publish button, so this is probably not really a review.  But Duncan Ley has done an absolutely astonishing job with this; the ensemble is perfect, the set wonderful, the costumes bang on, and the lighting and sound possibly the best I've seen.  And Duncan Driver as the narrator is glorious; his voice is rich without being unctuous, round without being plummy; I could listen to him read the phone directory and instead he is reading Dylan Thomas' brilliant, rolling, heartrending prose.

When this ends you'll discover that your mouth is open, your hand is on your heart, and you've been holding your breath for minutes.  Please go see this!

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PS: seen and not reviewed since Pocket Shakespeare:

December 2012:
Glimpse     (42downstairs)

January 2013:
Oliver!  (Ickle Pickle)

February 2013
The Magistrate (NT Live)
West Side Story (Free Rain)
The Secret River (Sydney Theatre Company)
Calendar Girls (Canberra Rep)
Les Miserables (Canberra Philharmonic)
Henry IV (Bell Shakespeare)

March 2013
Animal Farm (shakeandstir)
Dear Epson  - Danny Bhoy
It's My Party & I'll Cry if I Want To (HIT Productions)
Thursday (Brink Productions)
Men of Substance - Tripod
Vakomana Va Viri Ve Zimbabwe (Two Gents Productions) 
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet (Two Gents Productions)

April 2013
Mindbender - Ross Noble
Richard, Prosessor of Literature - Stephane Georis
Eurobeat  (SUPA Productions)
As We Forgive (Collected Works)
Under Milkwood  (Canberra Repertory)
Pea!  (Serious Theatre)
People (NT Live)
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Queanbeyan City Council)
One Man, Two Guv'nors (Sydney Theatre Company)
Weimar Cabaret (Barry Humphries, Meow Meow & the ACO)
Piece of Cake - The Kransky Sisters

I have notes; I may get around to these. But no guarantees! And I have a feeling I've missed a couple.