Punk Rock (Schauspielhaus Graz)

Full cast of Punk Rock

This review is for the Premiere performance of Punk Rock, written by Simon Stephens, and directed by Stefan Behrendt. This production was performed by the 3rd Year acting students from the Kunst Universität Graz and played on the Probe Bühne at the Schauspielhaus Graz.

A play about a group of senior high school students performed by a group of junior university students. Not a bad idea, let the actors show their own angst through the angsty characters. That I suppose was the main idea for having this group of students perform Simon Stephen's Punk Rock, according to the added prologue performed by  Friederike Majerczyk. The prologue told the audience about the grueling schooling the acting students have been going through at the Kunst Universität and that they are dealing with massive anxiety due to their chosen perfession, "There are about 200 acting students graduating each year in the german-speaking world and about 8 fix ensemble positions at the state theatres". On one side, this gets the audience to sympathsize with the actors and maybe not view their acting as critically as a perfessional, or maybe it was meant to draw parallels with the script so that we would see that the circumstance of the play also could happen in any student's daily life. Either way I found the addition of this prologue rather odd and annoying, particularly because the actor (Majerczyk) looked as if she was going to throw up from fear....which also was the case during her short scene as psychiatrice - there is a reason she had the smallest part. Yes, I know that was somewhat cruel...but I was irritated by her delivery, I felt awkward watching her and in all my studies and performances that I've watched, I have never felt uncomfortable watching a performer before. As for the rest of the cast, I believe they did well telling the story and embodying the characters. However, on the whole the group somehow couldn't manage to truely speak to one another. Every actor was playing for himself and not playing with their scene partner, the exception being Jaan Luca Schaub (Chadwick Maede). Schaub was fresh, active and truly engaged with any and every scene partner, a pleasure to watch.

Chadwick (Schub) bullied by Francis (Schiffkorn)

Stage design and costume truly gave the feel of a English private school, but the direction could have done more the have the actors behaving like British youth because they are not the same as Austrian youth. Direction, all in all, was ok, but I did ask myself why all the actors were sitting on the stage for the entire performance, it didn't really add much to the performance except distractions. Sometimes I felt like this was an attempt to just show off the various actors instead of really telling the Punk Rock story.

If you aren't friends/family with the cast, or a serious teen drama fan you can skip this performance and save your money for something with more substance (like Onkel Wanja or Werther for instance).

Overall: 5/10

Geister in Princeton (Schauspielhaus Graz)

This review is for the World Premiere (Saturday, September 24th 2011) of Geister in Princeton, written by Daniel Kehlmann. This production was directed by Anna Badora and performed on the main stage at Schauspielhaus Graz.

Kurt Gödel (Silberschneider) und alter-ego (Widerhofer)

Complex story. Complex stagecraft. Watching this 100 Minute long modern tragi-comedy I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the story of Kurt Gödel, his theories and the ability of Daniel Kehlmann to put this all into a digestable piece of theatre. The centre of Gödel's theory is that we (and time) exist an infinate number of times; each version of us lives in different spheres of existance where our decisions always get made the same way, that our lives circle like a train. Sadly, I cannot explain his theory as well as the stage Gödel was able to.

The core theme of parallel lives was explored by the use of 4 Gödels: the main Kurt Gödel (masterfully played by  Johannes Silberschneider), a Gödel alterego (played by Rudi Widerhofer), the young Gödel (David Rauchenberger), and the Student-Gödel (Claudius Körber). Two or more Gödels often shared the stage at the same time, existing parallel. A good example is the Vienna Circle scene, where we see the Student-Gödel take part in a scholarly discussion on mathematics while the main Gödel watches (as if remembering his past self) or he's working out a mathematical equations on a board (as if the two worlds or time periods live parallel).


I find the idea of playing with our preception of time particularly fascinating when it comes to stage productions thanks our, the audience's, readiness to believe the various realities as living parallel as presented on stage. I was reminded of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, where the room of a country manor house is the set (very naturalistic) and in the final Act it is used by simultaneously by characters in the 1800s as well as the present. There are already essays and journals written on this idea of the Five Wall, aka time and the way theater explores the notion of parallel worlds. Unlike Stoppard, Kehlmann's piece is not ancored to a single setting to show us the Fifth Wall, instead we follow the main Kurt through various moments in time and experience his existance through the Fifth Wall. In Arcadia, a character from the past and a character from the present would drink from the same wine glass without any awareness of the other time period, they are walled from each other; however, we as audience get the benefit of seeing the place and objects as timeless.
In Geister in Princeton, we have the Student-Gödel courting his wife (who also was double cast, in this scene we had the older Adele played by Steffi Krautz), and in a later scene it was the younger Adele (Swintha Gersthofer) who gets courted by the main Gödel while being watched by the Student-Gödel. In both scenes, we readily accept the scene as being authentic and real, in other words: not a recollection that's being illustrated for the audience, but rather a dialogue between Gödel and Adele happening for the first time and we just happen to see it. We accept the idea that Gödel is Gödel regardless of age, he can be timelessly used within a scene just like Stoppard's wine glass. Even though the 'timeless' Gödel did manage to catch my attention as being something post-modern, I must say having the story generally follow a normal cause-and-effect timeline in connection of the main Gödel proved to make the piece less exciting.

End of the Vienna Circle scene

Post-modern theatre pieces tend to work very cyclical, just like Gödels theory. Yes, there was a lot of cyclical story telling: we saw certain characters or sections repetitivel. The best example of cyclical story telling in this piece is: Prof. Schlick - acted by Dominik Warta-, who is in a discussion with the Student Gödel, but in the background we see a body double of his get shot, then the Vienna Circle scene where real Schlick actually get shot and the main Gödel as well as Student-Gödel are present, and finally the desceased Schlick who haunts the main Gödel later in the piece. Although this proves to be cyclical, it also proves to be cause-and-effect story telling. It makes me wonder what effect would the story have had if perhaps these three Schlick events had been told none-linear, would the audience not be able to understand and therefore deam the show as unwatchable or would we the piece be even more chaotic, post-modern and subsiquently effect with regards to the central theme?

As for the stage design, a glass wall that at a moments notice, could be turned opaque was the main trick employed by the director. The glass wall divided the entire stage so that only the downstage playing area put the actors in the same room as the audience. Very risky because isn't it the fact that actor and audience are in the same space that makes theatre special, interesting and effective? I must admit at some points the glass got in to way, I would find myself getting bored with all the acting done behind the screen. However, most of the time scenes would switch between being behind the scene and in front so that the audience wouldn't feel cut off from the actors.

As for the acting, the actors were well cast and each helped the story be told. Stand outs are definately the main Gödels and Einstein (played by Hans Peter Hallwachs). But to be fair ensemble members like Franz Solar,  Franz Xaver Zach or Simon Käser added humor to the performance that with its complexities had a tendacy to become too heavy.

All in all, it was an interesting evening but not necessarily for everyone. The ideas presented in this piece are oftentimes very complex and meant for an adult audience. The Schauspielhaus also offers a small introduction exhibition on Kurt Göbel found in the 3. Rang, which is definately a worthwhile read before watching this production.

Overall - 6.5/10

Theaterfest 2011/2012 (Schauspielhaus Graz)

The Schauspielhaus Graz had a large Theaterfest to mark the start of their 2011/2012 season. The ensemble and crew of the Schauspielhaus, as well as some guest actors, took part this evening of theatre and celebrations. 

There was a properties auction, a speed dating session with characters from productions from last year, an automatic hotdog machine, games for youngsters and two preview shows. The preview show showed us about 10 minutes of the various productions set to premiere within the next two months and there were introductions to some of the other shows set to play in the house. The preview show was wittily moderated by Steffi Krautz and Sebastian Reiß in a variety show manner. 

I really liked the idea of introducing a theatre's season is such a way because it builds excitement for the season and the company. It's almost like a pep-rally for theatre. This goes to show how invested the subscribers of the Schauspielhaus are in their theatre. I wish we could see something like this in Canada....but allas, we have a different theatre culture.

Restmüll (Theater am Ortweinplatz)

This review is for the Wednesday, September 21, 2011 performance of Restmüll by Ko van den Bosch. The production was directed by Manfred Weissensteiner and performed at the Theater am Ortweinplatz, Graz.


Two child actors and one seasoned professional. That was the cast of Ko van den Bosch's Restmüll, a realistically absurb play about two young brothers who have been living without a father or mother for six years. Gustav, the older brother, is the man of the house and spends his time either watching tv, sleeping or eating. With his bright red hair. Gustav, played by Jakob Soukup, is bold, opinionated, witty, street smart and a big-talker. On the other hand, younger brother Boris (Clemens Joham) is curious, gullable, well-behaved and brave. Both boys were well cast and contrasted each other well; although, credit must be given to Soukup who acted with such procision that some acting students at any creditable university haven't even achieved yet. He effectively showed a child who is the big guy when he knows what he is talking about, but the second he is in unfamiliar waters he becomes a massive scaredy-cat.

Boris (Clemens Joham) and Gustav (Jakob Soukup)

As for the professional in the cast, Christian Ruck played a very effective Vater-in-denial. The father of the two boys hide himself in the living room sofa to get away from the sad reality of his deceased wife. Though emotionally closed, the hippie-like father goes through the years collected everything the boys lose to the sofa, even things like toe-nail clippings or farts. The sofa is a brilliant metaphor for ones own mind, the father chooses to close himself off from the children because of grief, the children are forced to go on with life and prematurely become adults. This piece is very relavant to a child from today who may have a deceased parent or parents who get divorced and then close themselves off to their children. Gustav is unwilling to forgive his father at first, but Boris, perhaps because he is younger and more open-hearted, managed to remind their father of his duty to his family. Here Gustav finally recognizes his father as someone who didn't abandon his family to hurt them, but rather because he couldn't deal with life itself. The brothers make it clear to their father that a father, even one who isn't perfect, is better than no father at all.
This is an excellent play for young and old and because the principle characters are played be children it may be more accessable to a younger audience. The dialogue was very witty and the story was well thought out. My only major critic is that the story could have been told much faster. For the majority of the piece a line was said and then characters acted and then the next line was said. If actions and lines could have been incorporated more the piece would have flowed much better.

Overall - 6.5/10

Der Zerrissene (Pascal Productions)

This review is for the production of Der Zerrissene written by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy and performed by Pascal Production in Schloss Traun, Upper Austria.

I saw this production back in August and was the only summer theatre I managed to see. Nestroy's pieces are notorious for being untranslatable into the English language because the pieces are so full of Viennese humor very specific to the time period in which the playwright lived and wrote. Therefore, I found it interesting that the director, Ursula Ruhs, decided to set the play in the here and now with a few allusions to the Vienna of times past (the old style Bauernhaus - Farm house). I suppose this was done to translate the piece for a modern audience, so that we would understand the joke and that it wouldn't seem like a museum piece. Although, I must say I would love to see a Nestroy play like a Restoration play, with accurate costumes and everything - but that's just me.

 

As for the cast, all were perfessional, but not all were able to catch the attention of the audience. Title characters did well to tell the story, and it's quite clear that the lead Herr von Lips, Daniel Pascal, carried the show. I felt the show started off rather slow and somewhat dull until the wonderfully witty monologue of Herr von Lips as the zerissenen. Also, the second act started somewhat slow, as if the change of set put a peg into the actor's energy, but then the lively dialogue between Herr von Lips and Krautkopf got the audience back into the piece and laughing heartily. Costumes and set design was ok and it worked for this production. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and I think such a theatre company is an asset to a suburb like Traun. For a private company I must say the production was well done.
I am definately interested in seeing Pascal and Ruhs' next project!

Overall - 7/10

Trying to stay impartial

Hello all,

You were probably wondering, hey what happened to the reviews? Simply put, it's hard to objectively write about productions when you start to get to know people involved with the production company.

I have decided to change my format a little bit for the upcoming reviews. I will simply write a review and not grade the individual segments of the production but rather give an overall out of 10 rating.

Happy Reading,
Victoria

Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund (Schauspielhaus Graz)

     This review is for the Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 performance of Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund which took place at the Schauspielhaus Graz, Probebühne.
     This performance was put on by the Theater-Spielclub intergroup, which is a group of young people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds in Graz, who, with the help of the Schauspielhaus, put on one theatre production each year. This production will be reviewed in relation to what I expect of amateur theatre and high school theatre, so please take that into consideration.

Acting - 7/10
Direction - 7/10
Design - 8/10
Sound - 7/10
Affectiveness - 6/10

Overall - 7/10

     On the whole, all of the performers were very engaged and playful which is exactly what this boardering-on-absurd play by Witold Gombrowicz needs. Most of the time the performers allowed themselves to really have fun with the story and in turn, we as an audience enjoyed what was going on. But at times in the ensemble segments, certain actors we not in character - perhaps off thinking about what was for dinner, or if they are playing well or what have you. This is a typical trait of high school productions, at least those that I have seen. Nevertheless, the principle characters were steadfastly engaged with their characters and audience to make up for any dull moments experienced with the ensemble.

King, Queen and Advisor.

     The actor playing Prince Philipp did a very good job presenting a caring, sexual, outspoken and boisterous young prince, but what he lacked was expression the stark ups and downs of emotions. It would have been exciting to experience severe shifts between sexual arrousal, anger, stereotypical lovey-doviness, etc. As for the actress playing Philipps mother, Margaret, she did an excellent job capturing the absurdity of this piece through her body movements. She was the clown of the production which made some dully recited dialogue into something exciting to watch. The King dwindled between insteresting and not; it seemed that when he himself enjoyed what he was doing, we were also engaged with his story telling; otherwise, when he didn't care, we could also care less. The young woman playing Yvonne was very interesting in her subtlties which is essential for this character to be seen as unusual and eerie. Finally, the court advisor had the clearest diction and was therefore easy to listen to and understand. This actor was very receptive to interaction with other actors which made any scene with him in it quite enjoyable to watch.

Yvonne eating fish on the eve of her wedding to Prince Philipp.

     The direction overall was rather good considering how difficult it can be to direct for an alley style of stage. I only felt cut of from the action two times when the actors got too focused on one side of the audience. Also, I may have had a bad spot, but things that happened on the 'forest' side of things got lost also because my attention was pulled towards the bright red table/catwalk which was the central set piece of the production (and very well lit I might add).
    I thought adapting the piece to be played in Styria was a wonderful idea that immediately drew me into the production. I liked the inclusion of traditional Styrian dancing, music and the province's anthem.

Prince Philipp

    The weakest points of the direction were: Valentin, and the constant thumping on the set. Most of the time I thought Valentin's enterances were uninterersting, obnoxious and took away from the flow of the story. This character should have been more comical. He shouldn't just run into everything (which looked like it hurt) but instead be incessantly clumbsy but amazing agile so that nothing would break or knock over. This character could have also been more snoopy like Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Finally, my biggest pet peeve was the continuous thumping on the set and the loud placing of chairs. Characters would say something important and then inadvertantly thump the set as a way of excentuating their opinion. This works once or twice but when it happens all the time it just gets annoying because its careless, unfocused acting. People also don't normally place chairs so there is a loud thud in real life, but in this production it happened all the time. I know I am just being a pain but it took me out of the action everything I had to hear a thud, thump, crash etc.
     This production was fun and interesting but if you are looking for depth, it's not for you.

Blind Date (Schauspielhaus Graz)

This review is for the Thursday, May 19th, 2011 performance of Blind Date by Theo Van Gogh which took place at the Schauspielhaus Graz Hauptbühne.

Acting - 8.5/10
Direction - 9.5/10
Design - 9.5/10
Sound - 8/10
Affectiveness - 9/10

Overall - 9/10

     This play is based on a film, which I never saw, but now I believe I might want to see after experiencing this thought-provoking production of Blind Date at the Schauspielhaus Graz. Someone seeing this production without knowing that it was originally a movie would find no markers of a bad movie-to-stage adaption.

Pom (August Zirner) alone in his club.

     The stage was well used and the set was never boring (thanks to Stage Designer Jens Burde). The set consists of a bar and a small vaudevillian stage which gives the effect of a basement club. What makes the stage design remarkable is that the bar moves between scenes without the need of stagehands (in the style of musicals). There were only three actors in this piece, adding another person to move the set would have destroyed the close almost clauserphobic relationship between the three characters. The set also employed the use of the Drehbühne (Rotating Stage) which added to the sometimes chaotic nature of the piece and it allowed for quick scene shifts, ultimately giving us the feeling that time has now moved on.
     The acting was strong by all three members of the cast. Stefan Suske as the Waiter gave the main story of the dysfuntional couple a human backbone, although, he was a silent observer most of the time, a type of wallflower. Suske showed us a lonely middle aged workhorse, who, despite having clear romantic interest in Katja, almost appears as a their child by being too nervous to interrupt his parent's bickering. This is ironic given that the story revolved around the main characters' inability to be normal and functional human beings after the tragic loss of their child.

Left to right: Zirner, Suske, and Krautz.

     Steffi Krautz, who plays Katja, and August Zirner, playing Pom, have the arduous task of presenting two distraught and distroyed people trying despirately to reignite their once loving relationship. Krautz and Zirner showed the many layers of grief: hysteria, utter sadness, blame, denile, anger, and need. These were real people experiencing pain so deep that they cannot reintergrate themselves normally into society or continue to function as a family. Both actors captured our attention and sympathy, showing that theatrical tragedy isn't just about kings or salesmen, but it's a result of sad life events that go unresolved and build into something unbearable. My only criticism about the acting of the two principle actors is that sometimes I felt they were hopping from emotion to emotion. Krautz would go from expressing something dark and then automatically switching to happy denile. The transition between the darkness and happy denile was completely missing, or shall I say jumped over. It didn't just happen once, it happened often. The grey areas were rushed - the most interesting and vulerable part of the human condition was compressed. This rushing emotions was sometimes disjointing to me, almost like a Brechtian Gestus in that I was snapped out my empathy and was reminded that I was watching actors portray grieving characters. I'm sure not everyone experienced this, but nevertheless the grey zones, aka transitions, was something I would have liked to experience more of.
     The story flowed, the characters moved from scene to scene with great ease and the meaning of the piece, I believe, was received by all audience members. This all adds up to good directing.
     Bernadette Sonnenbichler, the director, used sound effects greatly to the piece's advantage. The start of the story is a bit hard to get into because the huge stage is only inhabited by three actors, our eye wanders around looking for more actors, or our brain is caught thinking about the wonderful dinner we just had. This is where the use of music and sound can immediately take our mind out of our unrelated thoughts and plant our interest into the actors and the story. Many times the acordian music gave a feeling of a french film and immediately my mind was filled with conventionally french ideas of great love and great loss. Interestingly enough, that's what the play was about (I did not read a synopsis beforehand).
     Overall, this is a very interesting and affective piece of theatre. It's a puzzle to figure out at first, but once the pieces start to fall into place the audience is left to experience the looming downfall of these two shattered people. Shattered because of the loss of their child, loss of their relationship, and lost grip on reality. This play is tragic and leaves you without much joy. In regards to that thought, tragedy is meant to be cathartic, it gives you hope and influences you to not take loved ones for granted. This show did that.

Das geheime Tagebuch des Adrian Mole (Next Liberty)

This review is for the Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 performance of Das geheime Tagebuch des Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend which was put on by the Next Liberty theatre troup in Graz.

Acting - 9/10
Direction - 10/10
Design - 10/10

Sound - 8/10
Affectiveness - 9/10

Overall - 9.5/10

  

      Next Liberty is the children's theatre division of the Theatre Holding in Graz (which includes the Schauspielhaus as well as the Opera) for those who are unfamiliar with the company. Initially I was wary about seeing a children's theatre production because many times they can be seriously cheesy but this production was not that. There were the occasional fromage moments but the were wonderfully incorporated into the story. 

     The point of children's theatre is to entertain and to educate in a way that makes the text easy to understand for the young (and old). This company did just that. I was never left questioning why or how or what on earth is going on. 

Start of the play. New Year's Eve.

     The acting was strong by the entire cast. Each actors physicality was so expressive an almost clown-like at times. The story was not only told through their words but their body moved to illustrate a lot of what was being said as if each character was 1/4 mime. It worked brilliantly. I was smiling and eager to see what the actors would do next and I was always surprised by their enactments. Exciting and engaging. Only sometimes I wished for a little more depth because there were hints at it, but then quickly snapped back to pantomime. I understand that it was to make the issue of divorce less troubling for the audience, but at the same time I'm sure a little bit more exploration of the dark side of things only would have benefited the production.

     The stage was dressed like an apartment from the late 1970s early 1980s and really gave that sitcom feel which went wonderfully with the sitcom-like direction (without a laugh track - thank god). Furniture pieces were moved around by the title character Adrian Mole during his monologue breaks in a very Brechtian manner. This illustrated to the audience that this is a story and Adrian our point of perspective, just in case we got wrapped up with the divorce storyline from the side of the Mr. & Mrs. Mole.

     Regardless of the children's theatre aspect of this company, this production is a harmony of great acting, well thought out direction and eye catching design. (I especially like the pet dog).

     This production is a must see for anyone who wants a good 2 hours and a renewed appreciation for the art of entertaining the yound and old.

Hamlet (Schauspielhaus Graz)

This review is for the Friay, May 13th, 2011 performance of Hamlet by William Shakespeare at the Schauspielhaus Graz - Hauptbühne.

Acting - 8/10
Direction - 8/10
Design - 9/10
Sound - 9/10
Affectiveness - 8/10

Overall - 8.5/10

     You say Hamlet and immediately I think....great.....that show. I am always a bit reluctant to see a stage production of this play simply because, being an actor, I know the script really well and naturally have my preconceived motions of how it could be played. This reluctance is so silly because within the first few minutes of any Hamlet production I am won over and remember how nice and refreshing it is to see different version of such a well known story. And this production delievered just that.
     This production opened with Act 1 Scene 2 which was a direct jump into the story. I also believe Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were brought in a bit eariler than in the normal script (switching scenes?) and there were other cuts in this version of the play. All in all, I think the performance script was well cut and easy to follow.

Hamlet and Horatio talking about the Ghost

     The production's design was ultramodern and minimalistic. The backdrop and side curtains were made out of a transluscent white plastic material that gave a blank cavnas for all the symbolic special effect of dropping clothing from the ceiling. At various points throughout the show clothing fell from the sky, an effect that worked wonderfully. For example, after Ophelia's death, when Gertude delievers the account of the death, black pieces of sheer fabric slowly drifted from the sky giving the effect of a dark rain, a new take on pathetic fallacy. I was always interested to see what would drop because it was always colour-coded to deal with the feelings expressed in a given scene. By the end of the play there was so much clothing and fabric litering the floor that it was like a deep rough or swamp. This may have been a metaphor for the building tragedy and ensnaring treatchery.

Gertrude asks who Hamlet is talking to

     The acting was strong all round except for a few weak points like Ophelia's screaming craziness (played by Claire Sobottke - it just got too much), or Laertes' overexpressive hand movements (played by Rahul Chakraborty - no other actor was acting like that...and it didn't harmonize with the minimalist feeling of the show). Polonius (Franz Xaver Zach) was played with such care, he was a very loving father and a most loyal advisor to the king not like the bumbling old fool he is sometimes portrayed as. It was refreshing to see him as a strong character. Birgit Stöger showed a Gertrude who truly deteriorated as the play progressed, slowly injesting more and more alcohol and collapsing into herself with a broken heart. Claudius (Stefan Suske) was regal, arrogant, but sometimes overshadowed by Gertrude (she was also taller than him) which made him seem a weaker character than he ought to be. Guildenstern and Rosencratz (Alexander Knaipp and Gustav Koenigs) in particular stole the show almost during the play-within-the-play scene because they played the parts of 'Claudius' and 'Gertrude' both respectfully. These two brought enjoyment and played with such happiness that made the audience laugh. Nothing is worse than sitting through a tragedy that doesn't at least have one part that makes me laugh ['Why so serious?']. Finally, Hamlet performed by Claudius Körber was very believeable and interesting. It was nice to see someone under 30 play this role and with such precision like someone in his late 40s. Sometimes crazy, sometimes emo, sometimes fool-like, sometimes calm, Körber gave us a complex Hamlet as he should be played.
     The direction by Theu Boermans was simplistic, modern and percise giving us a very understandable and affective story. We didn't have to waste time with elaborate scene changes, or moving into different rooms of the castle. The actors showed us a scene change through the way  interacted with each other or the stage. I particularly liked that after the opening speech by Claudius it seemed as if the afterparty for his emalgimation took place behind the white transluscent curtain which added a very nice dimension to the all the business between Hamlet, Horatio and the Ghost. The Ghost never actually appeared by the way, we only heard the Ghosts voice.
     The sound effects were echoing cords played when the tension heightened within the piece which gave a nice veseral effect, a sense of suspense.
     Overall, the show was well exectued, interesting and memorable. Definately a production for people who don't know anything about Hamlet or those who want to see something different than Sir Lawrence Olivier's or Kennth Branagh's version of Elsinore. Young people who are experiencing Hamlet for the first time on stage (having maybe just read it in school) might be wondering where the castle is, and what's up with the dropping clothing. But don't let that deter you from seeing this great rendition of Shakespeare's masterpiece.

Peer Gynt (Schauspielhaus Graz)

This review is for the Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 performance of Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen from the Hauptbühne at the Schauspielhaus in Graz.

Acting - 6/10
Direction - 6/10
Design - 7/10
Affectiveness - 3/10

Overall - 6/10

I had never seen or read Peer Gynt prior to experiencing this performance and in the case of Ingo Berk's mosaic of a production, that was probably a good thing.

Stage. Inside a ship or coffin.

I had difficulty understanding the story. Granted it was in German and occationally I have difficultly understanding certain words but in the case of this production its the story-telling that suffers not my language proficiency. I am a great fan of Henrik Ibsen and have read many of his other plays but something about this production seemed unusual, un-Ibsen-esque. At first, I thought 'Well you don't know everything Victoria, maybe Ibsen did write Peer Gynt in sets of disorganized scenes asking for three different actors to play the title character simultaneously.' However, that thought didn't feel right, Ibsen wrote many naturalistic plays and even those plays that weren't very naturalistic still had character with archs and stories with plots that were directly based on the idea cause-and-effect. This production was lacking that throughline.

It was when I got home and had a look at the actual play that I realized Berk's performance text was nothing like Ibsen's script. Berk had taken the play and put it into a blender! Claudius Körber played the Peer from Act 1-3, Sebastian Reiß from Act 4, and Gerhard Balluch the elder Peer from Act 5. The acts were inwoven; the play started with the beginning of the 5th Act. It's this patchwork of plot that left myself, and many audience members, questioning the plot. Many of us lost the meaning of the play and were left with just visually interesting affects from odd juxtapositions.

The 3 Peer Gynts: Claudius Körber, Gerhard Balluch, and Sebastian Rieß

Having the 3 Peers on the stage together reminded me of the final act of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, where both the events of the early 1800's and late 1900's get enacted in the same room at the same time, where members of each time period use the exact same properties (eg. Wine Glass) which creates a tension between our understanding of time and space. There is a wonderful journal article written on this topic I found in a drama journal in university on Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the fifth wall (can't quite remember what it was called, but it was great). This sharing time and space in something unique to theatre and I am assuming Berk major draw to splitting Peer into 3 roles. The convention sort of worked and sort of didn't. It gave the audience the stages of man in plain sight, so we are confronted the central theme of aging head on. However, the effect wasn't strong enough. Frankly, the script alone delivers that message, pretty bluntly actually, so all the division of Peer into 3 actors and the mixing of scenes did was was confuse and ultimately take away from the playwrights artifice.

On the whole, the acting was good. But sometimes it felt too out there and sometimes too safe. The ensemble did a great job of giving each small role they played a very specific character which gave the production life as well as kept me interested in the piece. Claudius Körber had an odd vocal rhythm which made him hard to understand. Also his character arch was non-existant, it didn't seem as if his Peer learned anything through the THREE acts he played. Sebastian Rieß was bold and eye catching, but when left alone without some other actor to work off of  he was somewhat dull and out of place (maybe a fault of the direction?). Gerhard Balluch had the task of making the audience believe the other two Peers were a part of his Peer's past which wasn't always believeable except for the Onion monologue. The onion monologue, because of it's story telling nature highlighted the different actors giving the audience a nice visual roadmap of the character which Balluch supplied for us through a strong performance.

I wouldn't recommend this production to the casual or conservative theatre goer, only maybe to those who are familiar with the play and want to see a production that does what it wants with the plot. For a newby to Ibsen I would rather suggest they read the play.

My Long Absence

It has been a while since I last wrote a review, and to be honest, I was a tad lazy to begin with. I was really busy with work, life and rehearsals which didn't leave much time to see theatre let alone write reviews.

Things in my personal life have changed and now I have time to see a lot more theatre in Austria and I will discipline myself to write reviews and post them within a reasonable amount of time.

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Here's a sloppy recap of some of productions I saw within the last few months:


Private Lives by Noel Coward - The Old Vic, London
This production was really well concieved and done. The acting was exciting and the stage design was candy for my eyes. My family and I loved the show, although my mother wasn't all too fond of the story line. This production overall deserves 10/10 because it really was perfectly executed in all respects and memorable.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - Vienna's English Theatre, Vienna
I am bias because I was rehearsing my own production of this very play at the same time as seeing this performance. I found the stage design odd, the acting by some of the principles rather weak (eg. Gwendolen) and the direction rather odd. Cecily was in control of the scene changes that a little girl with her doll house, very weird. The actors were clearly told to act out to the audience in a way that seemed highly artificial and reminiscent to how a Restoration Comedy may have been acted but not Oscar Wilde. Many jokes were lost, albeit some smaller ones found new life in this production. It wasn't a bad evening, I still enjoyed myself....but this production had the quality of a decent Arts University production with the price tag of something professional. I expected better. 6/10

Faschings Kaberet - Musical Güssing, Güssing
I like caberets but I did not like the unusual audience set up of this one. The line-up was good. Many/most of the pieces were written by the actors/comedians. I enjoyed myself, but I think there could have been some cuts to the performances because it seemed a but long and there were definately a few really boring parts. I'm sure alcohol would have helped that, but instead I opted for the Orange Juice (which wasn't really juice). Considering most people involved aren't professional performers, it was impressive. Also Florian Resetarits (see Kiss Me, Kate Review) sang some songs which was very pleasing to the ear. Overall 7/10 for a nice evening you do once a year.

Der Meister und Margarita by Michail Bulgakow - Schauspielhaus Graz, Graz
It is impossible to write a decent review on this production directed by Viktor Bodó, all I can say is see it if you have the opertunity too. At some parts you think to yourself, 'what on earth is going on?' and then you just let yourself be affected because the answers will come without you even having to really think about them. Thoroughly odd, and thoroughly enjoyable. Strong acting throughout and some interesting new actors from Hungary (I like the cat-man). In the final act, a white drop comes down that is backlit which projects everything that is happen behind it in shadow form. The stage behind is constantly turning and we see Expressionistic angles of the set mixed with the moving actors. The continue to act there piece (without talking) to music, while the audience watches it in shadow. Truly amazing and worthy of making Robert Lapage envious. 9/10 - must see.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - The Pennyless Players, Literaturhaus Graz
This was the production that I got the lovely opertunity to direct. Obviously I can't give a review but I can say there is an audience for English Theatre in Graz. The Pennyless Players is a rather new group (founded in 2007) and is still on its path of finding itself as a theatre group. There was a lot of talent and many audience members had a very enjoyable evening. It was a pleasure directing my first show and I hope those involved and those who saw the performance walked aware with the satisfaction of an enjoyable production.

Overdue Reviews: Blood Brothers (London Trip)

I know London isn't in Austria, but I thought I would share my thoughts.

This is a review for the Friday, November 24th, 2010 performance at Phoenix Theatre London.

Acting - 8.5/10

You could tell this was a professional show and one that has been in London since the late 1980s. All of the main characters were fully realized human beings who grew and changed with the piece. Willy Russell wrote a wonderfully powerful musical which calls for full commitment in order for the final scene to have the impact that it must have for the show to be a success.
Linda Nolan as Mrs. Johnstone was a nice fit and she showed us many of the ups and downs of the character. In the first half she seemed a bit careful and not as emotionally invested or effected by her station and losing her son as I would have hoped. It seemed like she was just playing conventionally, showing the emotions the same way she does every night. This, however, changed in the 2nd Act at the end where the characters emotional life was essential and her exhibited struggle ultimately moving.
I think I saw Stephen Palfreman playing Mickey Johnstone in Canada in 2005, which was a wonderful production. Either way Palfreman's performance made this performance the success that it was. I was starting to get bored in the first Act and then Palfreman took the stage and captured my interest. His detailed impersonation of child was fully embodied which made it particularly painful to watch his decline into depression in the 2nd Act. He was no longer the agile child who cheerfully wiped his snot with his sleeve but rather a almost paralyzed young man who almost looked like a 80-year-old. Truly amazing.
As for the rest of the cast, they were all well played and added to the success of this production.

Direction - 8.5/10

It flowed and we could understand the story. I can't remember many details but I know that I would have liked to experience the Narrator a bit more as a friendly ghost. He coiuld have been more present in the scenes (depending on the scene of course), instead of lurking around 'upstairs'.

Design - 8.5/10

This seems like the original design and it works...but I wonder if it could be updated at all? The production I saw in Canada was a bit more Expressionistic in design with many triangles and shadows, whereas this production was very realistic. I suppose it depends on the desired effect.

Special Effects - 10/10

Whatever there was, was well used (won't spoil the surprise).

Sound - 5/10

The singing was great, as was the score....albeit clearly 80s. BUT my one major concern was the playback. Do we really need to have the music BLASTED at us? I don't think so...unless humans are loosing there ability to hear. What did they do in the Renaissance before microphones and speakers. This production was an excellent example of how high decibles can ruin a production. My favourite song in this production is the one the narrator sings  'The Devil's Got Your Number' which was completely butchered thanks to the playback. It was too loud by far! And the song is already pretty much shouted, just because the nature of the music. My mother cringed when this reoccuring song was performed and it's not becasue Philip Stewart did a bad job but because of sloppy sound technicians. My sister, 'I think that song that the Narrator sings is probably really good, but right now it hurts to listen to it' (this is while she was covering her ears with a scarf).

Affectiveness - 8/10

This is an seriously affective musical because Willy Russell tapped into the perpetual struggle of class and coupled it with a changeling-twin scenerio. It was also a production that did the script justice.

Overall - 8/10

If you are in London see this show, there is a reason it has been playing  since it first came out.  The acting was great, the script is affective, the singing was filled with emotion and despite the bad playback it's still worth sitting through 3 hours of ear destruction thanks to the decibels