Beyond the Neck
Fri, 4 May 2012, 09:17 amGordon the Optom2 posts in thread
Beyond the Neck
Fri, 4 May 2012, 09:17 am‘Beyond the Neck’ (subtitled ‘A Quartet on Loss and Violence’) was winner of the 2008 AWGIE Award for Best Stage Play. It is another post-dramatic, haunting play by Australian playwright, Tom Holloway. Holloway was part of the Royal Court Theatre’s International Young Writers’ Festival, before being commissioned by the Bell Shakespeare Company. Multi-talented Tom also wrote the libretto of an opera performed at a Munich Opera Festival. He went on to study playwriting at NIDA, before being shortlisted for both the 2011 WA Premier's Literary Award, and twice for a Patrick White Award.
This presentation is by the Curtin Performance Studies and The Hayman Theatre Company; it is showing at The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco nightly at 7.30 pm until Saturday 12th May.
In 1996, at the age of only 17, whilst working in a Hobart pizza shop, Tom heard a collection of in-depth ABC radio interviews with those relatives dealing with personal grief and battling to recover from the Port Arthur massacre. This memory motivated him to carry out his own interviews and write ‘Beyond the Neck’. The Neck is a surfing area south of Hobart.
The morning light rises to show a grounds worker (Erin Carter) raking the sandy bank and tidying up the area. The loud chattering of the birds stops, the lights grow dim and the sound of approaching thunder can be heard. There is an explosion and we are plunged into darkness.
It is now ten years after the events at Port Arthur. The stage lights gradually brighten to reveal a massive tree with a multitude of branches interwoven, symbolizing hundred of years of powerful growth, but now the tree limbs are dead(Design, Tessa Darcey and Shelby Shaw, construction Ian Stewart).
Four figures step forward. The first a young boy (Michael Collins) nags his Dad about having to go to ‘this stupid place’ when he could be playing cricket. As his whinging continues there is interaction from the others, as though they were there with the boy. A smartly dressed, grieving lady (Tessa Carmody) is travelling on a tour bus, a trip organised by her relatives as a treat. In another car is a teenage girl (Rachael Granger) desperate to find her father. For years she has been told that her dad was killed at Port Arthur, along with 34 others, but she knows he isn’t dead, after all it is on the internet how the event didn’t really happen. The girl is convinced that her mother is simply taking her there to cover up her indiscretions with her husband’s best friend.
At Port Arthur the guide (David Valent), an elderly man who was at the massacre, awaits the next group of tourists. Every now and again the grounds man symbolically rakes over the past.
This is a very intimate and harrowing piece, created around a series of in-depth interviews carried out by the author, with the sufferers. I found it far more appealing than the ‘Laramie Project’ of the same genre. The dialogue is short and punchy and the characters strongly developed. I expected that this play would be distressing and heavy-going, however the storyline is gripping and fascinatingly shows how the very different personalities cope with their pain. The black humour covers the fragility of the situation.
Directed by artist-in-residence Adam Mitchell and his assistant Jade Unwin, the cast speak their dialogue with a quiet, understated air which gives the horror an even more chilling feel. The characters interact, even though they are in fact many kilometres apart, this emphasises the kindred spirit of the victims. The dramaturge (Briege Whitehead) again helps one feel as though you really know the characters and at time you feel as though you have been transported to the site.
The set was simple, but the complex lighting (designer Duncan Sharp, operated Georgia Knox, Angela La Macchia) ranged from the blue frosty glow to a warm, reassuring radiance. The sound design (James Luscombe) was exceptional. The quality bird noises, the sound of the sea and weather was essential to give the feeling of being there. The choice of soft brass music hinted at the tragedy of the ANZACs.
A very well presented story, definitely worthy of its many prestigious awards. Good solid performances, presented in a compassionate but not over sympathetic way. Thought provoking but certainly not depressing. An excellent night at the theatre.
‘Beyond the Neck’ (subtitled ‘A Quartet on Loss and Violence’) was winner of the 2008 AWGIE Award for Best Stage Play. It is another post-dramatic, haunting play by Australian playwright, Tom Holloway. Holloway was part of the Royal Court Theatre’s International Young Writers’ Festival, before being commissioned by the Bell Shakespeare Company. Multi-talented Tom also wrote the libretto of an opera performed at a Munich Opera Festival. He went on to study playwriting at NIDA, before being shortlisted for both the 2011 WA Premier's Literary Award, and twice for a Patrick White Award.
This presentation is by the Curtin Performance Studies and The Hayman Theatre Company; it is showing at The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco nightly at 7.30 pm until Saturday 12th May.
In 1996, at the age of only 17, whilst working in a Hobart pizza shop, Tom heard a collection of in-depth ABC radio interviews with those relatives dealing with personal grief and battling to recover from the Port Arthur massacre. This memory motivated him to carry out his own interviews and write ‘Beyond the Neck’. The Neck is a surfing area south of Hobart.
The morning light rises to show a grounds worker (Erin Carter) raking the sandy bank and tidying up the area. The loud chattering of the birds stops, the lights grow dim and the sound of approaching thunder can be heard. There is an explosion and we are plunged into darkness.
It is now ten years after the events at Port Arthur. The stage lights gradually brighten to reveal a massive tree with a multitude of branches interwoven, symbolizing hundred of years of powerful growth, but now the tree limbs are dead(Design, Tessa Darcey and Shelby Shaw, construction Ian Stewart).
Four figures step forward. The first a young boy (Michael Collins) nags his Dad about having to go to ‘this stupid place’ when he could be playing cricket. As his whinging continues there is interaction from the others, as though they were there with the boy. A smartly dressed, grieving lady (Tessa Carmody) is travelling on a tour bus, a trip organised by her relatives as a treat. In another car is a teenage girl (Rachael Granger) desperate to find her father. For years she has been told that her dad was killed at Port Arthur, along with 34 others, but she knows he isn’t dead, after all it is on the internet how the event didn’t really happen. The girl is convinced that her mother is simply taking her there to cover up her indiscretions with her husband’s best friend.
At Port Arthur the guide (David Valent), an elderly man who was at the massacre, awaits the next group of tourists. Every now and again the grounds man symbolically rakes over the past.
This is a very intimate and harrowing piece, created around a series of in-depth interviews carried out by the author, with the sufferers. I found it far more appealing than the ‘Laramie Project’ of the same genre. The dialogue is short and punchy and the characters strongly developed. I expected that this play would be distressing and heavy-going, however the storyline is gripping and fascinatingly shows how the very different personalities cope with their pain. The black humour covers the fragility of the situation.
Directed by artist-in-residence Adam Mitchell and his assistant Jade Unwin, the cast speak their dialogue with a quiet, understated air which gives the horror an even more chilling feel. The characters interact, even though they are in fact many kilometres apart, this emphasises the kindred spirit of the victims. The dramaturge (Briege Whitehead) again helps one feel as though you really know the characters and at time you feel as though you have been transported to the site.
The set was simple, but the complex lighting (designer Duncan Sharp, operated Georgia Knox, Angela La Macchia) ranged from the blue frosty glow to a warm, reassuring radiance. The sound design (James Luscombe) was exceptional. The quality bird noises, the sound of the sea and weather was essential to give the feeling of being there. The choice of soft brass music hinted at the tragedy of the ANZACs.
A very well presented story, definitely worthy of its many prestigious awards. Good solid performances, presented in a compassionate but not over sympathetic way. Thought provoking but certainly not depressing. An excellent night at the theatre.
SPAM Reset
Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)
Jeff Watkins