Monday evening the theatre students on my trip attended the National Theatre's production of Our Country's Good in The Olivier Theatre. The production blew me away not only from design perspective but the storytelling was superb. The story tells of the first group of prisoners to be taken to Australia from England in 1787/1788. The show struck a balance between history, entertainment, and the internal struggle for those who work for or are victims of the justice system. The aspect of the show that stuck with me the most, other than the set design, was the character of the Aborigine. I recently took a course on American Indian Religious Freedom and I found many similarities even within the small storyline of the Aborigine. In the photo below it gives a good idea of how the prisoners and marines hurry about their day around him and as an extension the rest of the Aborigine people. The systematic take over of Australia by the British people perfectly mirrors the American Indian experience. The powerful moment of recognition of the Aborigine by the prisoners happens only after small pox had spread and the Aboriginal culture was beginning to deteriorate.
Annand, Simon. The Company of Our Country's Good. Digital image.National Theatre. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
Wednesday night we saw Song from Far Away, an eighty minute one man show that explores the stages of grief. The production is housed in the Young Vic Theatre which is a beautiful space that houses a multi-level bar that appeared to be fairly popular with the locals. The show had a bit of a slow start but once I had a feel for what I was about to see I was able to relax and just take in the story. The choice to have the stage nearly bare forced me to focus deeper on the nuances of the lighting design. There was a nice use of both practicals and backlighting that created an extremely intimate environment for the majority of the performance. I have inserted a picture below in order to get an understanding of the space and the lighting techniques.
I was captivated by Eelco Smits' performance and I never hit the point of boredom and discomfort that sometimes accompanies one man/woman shows. While there were aspects of the performance that wasn't exactly my cup of tea I did find the concept of writing a recently dead brother to be terribly intriguing. There is a fantastic mixture of humorous self-depreciation and emotional internal reflection in Willem's journey with grief. I think that if there is time in the future for the script to be flushed out a bit that it could be a complete powerhouse of a play.
Versweyveld, Jan. Eelco Smits in Song from Far Away. Digital image. Young Vic. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
Thursday night we saw The Beaux' Stratagem which was also in the Olivier Theatre. This show was a dream when it comes to costuming. The show being a restoration comedy allows for an extravagant use of color and texture within certain garments. The majority of the costumes for the women were a bit lavish and the construction looked impeccable. I was taken by one garment in particular, pictured below, worn by the character of Mrs. Sullen. While the skirt was beautiful I was completely blown away by the bodice both from a construction and design standpoint. The differing shades of red were totally cohesive on stage and created a lot of dimension within the garment. The internal line quality of the bodice nicely brings the eye towards the face while also balancing it with the jacket piece. After a bit of searching through production photos I believe that the jacket and the bodice is one piece instead of two which is an interesting construction challenge when working with fabric of that thickness. The restoration era is one of my favorite time periods to design for because each social class had nuances to their garments that will create interest on stage. Other than the fabulous costumes the show was engaging, fun, and light which was nice for a Thursday night.
Harlan, Manuel. Susannah Fielding (Mrs. Sullen). Digital image. National Theatre. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
One unifying factor of all three pieces was the use of music, some of which was original. I enjoyed the original music in Our Country's Good almost as much as I enjoyed the technical design. The moments of music in the production were outwardly Brechtian in nature but it still flowed nicely. Song from Far Away's use of original music wasn't my personal favorite. The music felt awkward and forced at times when the acting was enough in the moment. With both of those being touched on I can honestly say that The Beaux' Stratagem's music was lovely and fun. It didn't feel like an afterthought at all but I was curious to know how much of those music pieces are written into the show. The production had a live band that played throughout the show, aiding with transitions and things. The band played the audience out which was quite amazing and added a little something extra to remember the play by.
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