LAST SUPPER review

Hi All,
In the spirit of Leah's request for this section to actually be used for reviewing shows, here's my two cents...
Show : The Last Supper by Dan Rosen (Directed/adapted from the screeplay of the same name by Leah Maher)
Date Seen : Fri 3rd March 2000
Venue: Don Russell Performing Arts Centre, Gosnells (ph. 9493 4577)
Playing Dates : 23, 25, 26 Feb; 1,3,4,8,10,11 Mar
****** LAST SUPPER IS VERY BLACK YAK ******
Overall, I enjoyed the production. One of Blakyak's fundamental strengths is a youthful enthusiasm which is absent from many other clubs. They are also willing to tackle the 'strange and unusual', as witnessed by this play and their repetoire to date, which, as 'The Banished One' observed in a previous post, is a level of theatre also missing from many other clubs..
However, enthusiasm is not always enough to overcome the technical difficulties inherent in using a moderate size procenium house. At 200+ seats the Don Russell is a quite a challenge for most actors and requires an awareness of the body, an understanding of stillness, form and significant movement and, above all, voice projection. The technique required for playing to a house of this size and larger is no easy thing to acquire and is a far cry from the level of realistic 'TV acting' that the director seems to have required from her actors.
The other problem in the playing was a seeming lack of real 'ensemble feel' from the 5 main actors. Again, a by-product of inexperience perhaps, but this sort of play really would have benefited by the attainment of this asset, perhaps through exercises and constant work with the 5 actors in question. I rarely felt that they were all aware of each other, in space and dialogue, and certainly there was no evidence of 'lines of tension' holding them all together. If this core element could have been attained, the rest of the play would have fallen more easily into place - it would have had a really powerful engine to keep it moving, lively and engrossing). There also seemed to be a trepidation from several actors which is unusual this far into a run - as though they had not yet fully committed themselves to performing this text (or to learning the lines, perhaps)?
One thing that most of the performances were able to get across, however, was the sense of journey - I enjoyed very much the changes in several of the characters as the killing spree took hold. They were very different people at the end of the play than they were at the beginning (which is a fundamental that I wish every director and actor in community theatre would realise - it's a given in any but the most crude or stylised of plays). The 'last supper' with the bigoted TV presenter (sorry, no names - i didn't pick up a programme) was also very effective. When confronted with their own impotence, the change in the characters was unspoken, subtle and was one of the very few moments of true ensemble in this production.
Technically, the play was served well enough, with some glaring exceptions. Lighting, during the 'filmic' moments, ie. quick changes from one area to another should have been 'snapped' as opposed to cross-faded. This would have shaken up the lethargy that set in at these points. Sound was oddly inconsistent. I was having real trouble parsing why the quality of the rain changed so abruptly so often (apart from the door opening parts). Also, if you have rain outside why were none of the entering characters wet?
The setting was functional and the table in it's odd shape for the audience viewing was an excellent touch. It hinted at a theatricality that the play could sustain but not evident in the style of performance or any other part of the mise-en-scene, for that matter.
The following are a few things I would have liked to have seen, to enhance the theatricality and stylistic mode that seemed needed:
I couldn't see the need for using real food, especially when it was done so sparely, which was irritating. Miming would have been very appropriate here (still having the place settings, etc - just no food).
I wonder how much fun could have been had if just one very good actor played all the guests, with a few make up changes (and the odd gender change)?
Without wanting to give away the end, slow-motion death throes during the final speech of the TV presenter, perhaps?
I am told that in the film, there are literally thousands of tomatoes from the excellent 'fertiliser' - this made so much more sense to me in terms of arousing the Sheriff's suspicions and visually, that much red bulk would have acted to present a kind of 'drowning in blood' metaphor.
Overall, I did enjoy the production, it's blackness and ideas. It was nice to go and see something with some 'teeth'.
There you go...I hope that this is helpful. Enjoy the rest of your run.
Regards
Jason Seperic
(with Flame Proof Suit at hand)
BTW - I do NOT agree with an earlier post, stating that reviews should be 'by-lined' anon. If you are going to say something (read ANYTHING) about someone else's hard work, have the courage to stand by your comments. I believe that so long as what you say is constructive and geared to the attainment of excellence in the long term, there should be no really bruised ego's - a bit Pollyanna I suppose, but evolution and development come at some price...if you're prepared to pay your way and take some of the lumps (and LEARN from mistakes/errors in judgement), you'll get there in the end.