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
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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