Adam and Eve

‘Adam and Eve’ is a World First from the award winning group, The Wet Weather Ensemble. Each year Wet Weather seems to produce one of the most admired and original Blue Room plays. The performances for this Pride WA Festival event, are nightly at 7.00 pm at the Blue Room in Northbridge until Saturday 29^th October. The original concept by Alicia Osyka and Reece Law has been further devised and developed by the ensemble.

       As you enter the Garden of Eden, your wrist is stamped to ensure that you can return should you wish.

       The stage is a verdant lawn, with hillocks of grass. The walls are shimmering metallic strips (design by Pilar Mata Dupont and Tarryn Gill). The red glow of dawn lights the performance area. A mad scientist (St John Cowcher) appears and introduces his two characters dressed in scarlet – they are Adam (Ian Sinclair) and Eve (Moana Lutton). Sadly Adam is a nervous and insecure failure of creation, so the creator decides to send him on a journey of development. Adam finds himself in several well-known, cinema film scenarios where he has to tackle various heroes.

       Onto the scene appears an Archangel (Alicia Osyka) who comes down to earth as a nun. She argues with the scientist as to who created Adam, God or the chemistry lab.

       We see Adam develop as a man, as he passes through various stages of his life. However will he win-over the love of Eve? Or will this gorgeous female be forever outside his reach?

Moya Thomas’ direction, with dramaturgical help from Sarah McKellar, is fast paced and most inventive. The whole production is filled with brilliantly conceived symbolism, e.g. the ‘temptation of the apple’. The serpent appears in various guises, finally as a green flexi tube light draped over the Devil himself, whilst he tempts Eve.

Will Slade’s sound was exciting and dramatic, and coupled with Chris Issacs very clever and accurately positioned lighting gave an excellent overall atmosphere to the whole production. An overhead projector was used to give ‘instant sets’ (drawn by Rohan Hamett) during Adam’s Genesis adventure.

There was a wonderful musical number when the ensemble sang and danced their socks – and dresses – off.

The amount of work that has gone into the development of the script is amazing, with topics ranging from desire, lust and genuine love all being tackled. There was one short passage which seemed to be a little childish and irrelevant, where we were taken back to prehistoric times, I would recommend this is dropped as it slowed the pace and distracted from the otherwise richly written script.

This topic was a difficult challenge, admirably undertaken and delivered with a huge amount of drive and energy.