Tag Archives: Peter Hiscock

Away on Australian National Theatre Live

On Demand, Play, streaming May 28, 2024 Leave a comment

Michael Gow’s Away remains one of the most produced plays in Australia.  First performed nearly 40 years ago and set in 1967/68, it explores grief, family relationships, and xenophobia against the backdrop of a distant war in Vietnam.  Away may be considered uniquely Australian, but those themes are timeless and have continued to reverberate, making this play forever relevant and moving.  Fortunately for those of us in this hemisphere, an all-around excellent production from 2017 — a co-production of the Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company — is available to watch on Australian National Theatre Live.  With a first rate cast led by Heather Mitchell at her biting best as Gwen, this layered revival makes for a fulfilling 1:40 for any theater fan.

Bookended by the words of William Shakespeare, the action opens with the final scene of an emotive and balletic high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The evening is hosted by the outwardly jovial Roy, whose wife Coral is consumed with depression over their son who died in battle.  Puck has been played by the sweetly awkward Tom, the only child of working class English expats, Harry and Vic.  He has fallen for his costar, Margaret, whose nouveau riche parents, Jim and Gwen, aren’t thrilled about the boy’s attentions.  All three families leave for beachside holidays over Christmas break, but at three very different levels.  Roy and Coral are flying to a ritzy resort where they’ve been regulars.  Margaret, Gwen and Jim are off to an upscale caravan park in their luxury camper-van packed with fishing equipment and other gear.  Meanwhile, Tom, Harry, and Vic load their lean-to pup tent into the family car.

Playwright Gow seamlessly blends lighthearted humor, social commentary, and surreal fantasy.  The three parallel stories beautifully and economically unfold, with all the actors playing ancillary characters in each other’s tales.  The juxtaposition of the high anxiety of Gwen with the genuine warmth of Vic set up the confrontations that ripple through each encounter.  There is no situation Gwen can’t make worse nor one that Vic can’t see the best side of.  The young couples’ exchanges ring true and are deeply touching.   There continue to be reverberations of Midsummer with an increasing number of besotted Bottoms among the dancers and a Shakespearean-sized storm brewing.  Tom often watches from the sidelines, like Puck overseeing his handiwork, though Tom has little control over any story, especially his own.  

Cast of Away (2017); Production Photo by Prudence Upton

Even through the lens of a camera crew, the top notch design shines through.  Powerfully directed by Malthouse Artistic Director Matthew Lutton, the staging includes several etherial dances choreographed by Stephanie Lake.  Though the stage remains nearly bare throughout, there is always a strong sense of place centered around an almost-magical wardrobe (set and costumes designed by Dale Ferguson).  Most of the surroundings are conveyed in light and sound with Paul Jackson’s lighting providing the eery warm glow of backstage, garish pink of a dance floor and stark whiteness of a deserted beach.  The atmosphere is made more jarring by the discordant sound design of J. David Franzke.  In addition to Ms. Mitchell, the cast includes Liam Nunan (Tom), Naomi Rukavina (Margaret), Glenn Hazeldine (Roy), Wadih Dona (Harry), Julia Davis (Vic), Marco Chiappi (Jim), and Natasha Herbert (Coral).

This stirring production of Away was among the first dramas uploaded to Australian National Theatre Live during the pandemic.  While there is no substitute for being in a darkened room with strangers, the service (https://australiantheatre.live/) does a first rate job of sharing a range of quality work live-captured by Peter Hiscock and his crew.  The concept is to allow a wide audience to enjoy these productions regardless of their location, income level, or physical limitation.  Subscriptions are $7.99 per month or $74.99 per year and a free trial is available.

Australian Theatre Live – Orange Thrower

On Demand, streaming November 15, 2023 Leave a comment

For a little over a year, the non-profit Australian Theatre Live has made some of that continent’s most innovative stage productions available on demand.  Much like the New York Public Library’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, the platform also serves to preserve the works of a variety of performing artists. ATL is making their official US debut by hosting two public screenings — the second of which is in New York tomorrow* — as a springboard for building a relationship with a new audience. In addition to attracting theater lovers and fellow artists, they are offering an education-specific subscription service to bring this enriching content into the classroom.

For my introduction to the platform, I chose Kirsty Marillier’s Orange Thrower presented by the Griffin Theatre Company.  Griffin is Australia’s only theatre company that is dedicated exclusively to producing new playwrights.  Their Stables Theatre is a 105 seat house with a “kite shaped” stage that promotes a distinct and intimate relationship between performers and viewers.  That vibrancy translated well to the digital realm where director Peter Hiscock used three cameras to bring the home audience into the world created on stage by director/musician/performer Zindzi Okenyo.

The 80 minute comedic drama covers familiar territory from a unique perspective.  There is a layer of the mystical which is fittingly never fully explained.  This is not just a coming-of-age story, but rather one of coming-into-being.  We meet Zadie (Gabriela Van Wyk), a young woman of African decent living in a white suburban development, ironically called Paradise.  While she has code switched to the point of being almost permanently “on,” her younger sister Vimsey (Mariama Whitton) cannot wait to escape to a big city like Johannesburg where she’d find more people who look like her and share her perspective.  Their conflicting views are heightened when the two girls receive an unexpected visitor, Stekkie (director Okenyo) while their parents are away in South Africa.  Rounding out the cast is Callan Colley who provides brightness and levity in his two catalytic roles.  

Gabriela Van Wyk, Mariama Whitton and Callan Colley in Orange Thrower, a Griffin Theatre Company production available on ATL; photo by Brett Boardman

Designer Jeremy Allen’s set is centered around an open rectangle which is both a physical and a metaphorical window.  The moody lighting by Verity Hampson and a soundscape by Benjamin Pierpoint in which memories make a noise add to the feeling of otherworldliness.  Easily changed costumes topped off by Dynae Wood’s perfect wigs complete the imagery.  There is a warning that the production includes depictions of drug use, gun violence and mature themes, though these moments are nearly dreamlike.

During the pandemic, some American theatre companies offered a streaming option, but more often in the US the art form has been entangled in red tape and mismanagement. The on-demand vault of Australian Theatre Live currently has 26 entries created in partnership with nearly two dozen theatres and arts organizations.  It illustrates the value of making theatre accessible to everyone whether they live miles from a venue, have limited income, or have mobility issues.  As important, every cent of a $7.99 per month subscription goes to supporting the artists.  Learn more at https://australiantheatre.live/.  

* New Yorkers: You can join ATL for the New York debut of Indigenous artist Dylan Van Den Berg’s Whitefella Yella Tree, another Griffin Theatre Company production, at the Australian Theatre Festival (1350 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 2400), on November 16, at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.)  To  register your interest in attending, please fill out this form.