Onkel Wanja (Uncle Vanja) - Schauspielhaus Graz

This review is for the Monday, October 25th, 2010 performance at the Probebühne.

Acting - 9/10

Every actor in this piece did wonderful justice to their parts. There was such precision and detail in creating real humans with wants and needs. Chekhov writes wonderfully complex and chillingly real characters with the emotional ups and downs written into the text. He provides the road map for the actor, but the actor chooses the speed and lane when driving the piece. And this cast gave us a very interesting and moving performance.

At the start of play we see old Ilja Iljitsch Telegin (played by Otto David) walk across the stage slowly and surely so to get some tea from the samovar. He took his time, setting up the place and his character, the silent movement kept me intrigued. Later in the Act when Telegin defends his name, David's slight nervous tug on the back of his cardigan showed us a somewhat nervous side to this poor old landowner. 

Also, at the start of the play we are introduced to the overworked doctor Michail Lwowitsch Astrow, played by Florian Köhler. Köhler consistantly shows us a doctor who is almost at witts end because of work and his unrequited love for Jelena. Köhler's uses body language that is somewhat shakey and never quite put together, this reinforced the characters uneasiness in life and emitted his stress to the whole audience. His boisterous drunkenness was highlighted by a very physically destructive Köhler which almost gave an expressionistic feel to his anguish. I am thinking of when Köhler climbed up the upstage lighting bar and hung off of it, thus displaying Astrows a confusion of emotion. This emotionally unstable and overworked nature of Astrow was very well countered by Köhler's display of wide-eyed romance and faith in nature during Astrow's forest speeches. I enjoyed watching this actor in all scenes, and was truly invested in his character's journey because the artistry of the actor was bang on in showing us his struggle for normalicy and the love of Jelena. Nevertheless, this is where my only criticism come in, I believed his love for Jelena throughout the entire piece but when the two of them were brought together for one last time before Jelena's depature there was some detachment. I no longer saw this as the woman Astrow loves and I'm not quite sure what ended the feel for the romance that was well presented throughout the piece. Perhaps it may have been a too evident coolness in the physicality of Köhler? It was as if there was no longer that magnetic pull towards her. I cannot quite explain it, but somehow the body language and presented energies told me of his defeat long before it was truly pronounced and somehow I missed that struggle for one last moment of togetherness before losing the women he never even had to begin with. But that is just one minor criticism, otherwise I think the performance was great.

Jelena (Sophie Hottinger) kissing Astrow (Florian Köhler) goodbye

Speaking of Jelena (Sophie Hottinger), I enjoyed watching this character's journey as well. In the first act, Hottinger did a great job convincing not only Wanja that she is happy in her marriage, but also the audience and her character. It is only in her obedient reception of her husbands verbal abuse do we see that her life isn't as wonderful as her beauty. Hottinger shows a woman who can 'keep up appearances' despite being romantically crushed on the inside. Hottinger does a good job of not making Jelena appear as a victim, instead she shows a woman who realizes her mistakes and faults and continues to trudge on the only way she understands, by doing nothing at all important. There were times that Hottinger seemed too outwardly emotional to be believeable but in retrospect that may have been a character  choice that Jelena uses her frail womanhood to attract attention to herself.  I liked the details Hottinger employed to present the inwardly nervous Jelena like picking at her nails or playing with her robe, dress, tea cup or hair. I also like that Hottinger made the relationship between Jelena and her step-daughter Sonja truly appear to be one of caring and not false masks. In this sense, she won my sympathy and interest into the character's story.

Katharina Klar, who played Sofja, did a great job of emboding a strong minded, caring and humble young woman. Klar's scenes with Wanja felt true and connected. In fact Klar's smiling face made all her interactions with the other characters seem like pleasant ones, despite what might have been said in them. This shows us an open and caring Sofja and paired with Klar's bouncy walk and light state of being, Sofja seems like an optimistic youth.  These qualities displayed by Klar gets the audience on Sofja's side so that we can empathetically feel the pain of Astrow's rejection.  I feel when Klar was stronger when acting opposite someone directly than in the last scene while giving the end speech to a spot light. Here she dwindled in efficacy - however, I believe that has more to do with script and lighting.

Sonja (Katharina Klar) comforting a crushed Vanja (Franz Solar)

As for Wanja, played by Franz Solar, his rises and falls in the character arch made this show as affective as it was. At first I wasn't sure this somewhat short man would fill the large shoes of the perpetual worker Wanja, but those doubts were quickly squashed after Wanja's rant about the Professor in the first act. Here I was taken aback by his power and drawn in by interest to hear every arguement he was setting up irreconcialably. Solar displayed the phyisical strength of Wanja but also showed us the uncertain, scared and lonely man behind the power. This was mainly through physicality and voice. His calm singing voice made the 3 or 4 sad songs sung in a happy way all the more chilling because it was like seeing through the character's mask (not the African mask). I was particulary affected by his blow-up in the third act. Solar's whole body was clenched in anger, even his out stretched arm of accusation quiwered with anger. Solar stomped up and down a few of the stairs beside the audience which echoed in the wood of the seating area which allowed every audience member to viscerally experience the rage trying to escape from Wanja. Some people in the audience couldn't take the rumbling, loud and deep accusations of Wanja so they would just laugh (maybe people who aren't used to visceral power like that from the Theatre of Cruelty), whereas I was completely shaken by the outburst almost to the point of tears (helped by Telegin's wimpering to stop). All I can say is it was magnificent.

Finally, Gerhard Ballach's portrayel of Alexander Serebrjakow - the Professor, served as the imminent catalyst to Wanja's outburst. Without Ballach's cool and collected togetherness, Wanja's physical rucous would not have been as effective, their polar difference in physicality was essential to the success of the scene and the show as a whole. Ballach really captured the swager and arrogance of the Professor through his stiff walk, nose in the air, and artful articulation. Also, Gerti Pall as Marija Wojnizkaja - Wanja's mother, served as a good spectator inside the play for the audience, she really made the character seem like a useless member of the family which added to the haze of their dull and depressing lives.

Direction - 8/10

Ingo Berk set this production of Onkel Wanja in the present which is an idea I am rather weary of especially when considering that this piece is naturalistic meaning that the time period it is set in has a large effect on the story. Somehow placing this story in the undisclosed present in an undisclosed place gave the piece the feel of gloom. I think this was the goal for the feeling of the entire piece, espeically when one considers the music between acts. Moving on, all the relationships were interestingly explored. The stage and props were used to aid the story and did not detract from the experience.
The inclusion of pop songs which highlighted the inner termoil of the characters but sung in a cheerful choral manner left a chilling feel in my heart. Also the inclusion of some very expressive and normally out of place acting set ups (the stark reading light for the Professor) lead to a very symbolic effect keeping the audience engaged with the story. And finally the scene of Wanja's explosion the setup of having the family sit in a large semi circle facing the audience and having Wanja in the audience was ingenious and very effective. As stated in the Acting critic this employment of the Theatre of Cruelty made this experience unlike anything you could experience at a movie theatre or from television. It was real, it was live theatre.

Design - 8/10

The design was very minimal and simple. Clothing for the most part didn't seem to match, but everything worked for the characters. The simple shirt and pants of Wanja, the brown corderoy jacket of Astrow, and Jelena's floral dress all worked very well. In terms of the set, it was mainly chairs, a table with food, cups, and a samovar, and a very large floral carpet that gave the look of Russian folkart. The overall design aided the directors conception for a modern Uncle Vanja very well. As for the sound effects, I thought them odd and somewhat distracting.

Special Effects - 8/10

There really was only a gun shot and it worked well.

Affectiveness - 9/10

Really affective. First of all Chekhov is one of my favourite playwrites so I am rather bias. But I do believe that this well-concieved and executed production made a lasting imprint of the mind's of every member in the audience. I will think about this play anytime I think about the Schauspielhaus Graz or about Chekhov from now on.

Overall - 8.5/10

This piece was truly wonderful. The play is a strong piece to begin with but the detailed acting and the well-conceived direction make the piece particularly affective. I particularly enjoyed being viscerally affected by the downfall of Wanja, it makes this production especially interesting and unique. This is definately a production worth seeing and telling your friends about. I would like to see more theatre like this, so that I can walk out of the venue thinking I have experienced something television and films can't every give me. Very, very good.

Kiss Me, Kate! revisited

This is in response to a blog dedicated to Kiss Me, Kate! which can be found here.

First off, I agreed with most of the critic on the show. This is the first time I have seen any production of Kiss Me, Kate and can only base my observation on the Saturday's performance. I have, however, been in a production of The Taming of the Shrew. We did a gender reversed version of the show where men were cast as Kate, Bianca and the Widow. Having a man play Kate gave the end scene a much different meaning. But nevertheless, it is a difficult speech to perform - or song in the case of the musical.

Ryan Fisher as Kate, Kevin Owen as Bianca @ Theatre Erindale

In regards to Kate's final speech, it is important to understand why the play even exists. The Taming of the Shrew is a lesson to the women of Shakespeare's time. A lesson that women should be more obedient - become the woman that Kate becomes and dictates. Historically, there are accounts of women becoming more boisterous and self-minded (thanks to Elizabeth I?); therefore, so called 'behaviour' pamphlets were written to guide women to be proper at home and in public - so called lessons in what we now know as ettiquette. Would a women really behave like Kate in the last scene? Probably not, but that is what is written. She must be tamed as the title dictates. In Fletcher's Taming of the Tamer (also known as The Tamer Tamed) we learn that Kate let herself be tamed because she truly did love Petruchio and wanted to be a good wife to him.

Looking at this particular performance of Kiss Me, Kate! the speech just seems like a metaphor. Is Lilli really tamed like Kate? Most likely she isn't. But does she perform the speech? Yes. Lilli comes back to finish the performance and 'lovelingly' kisses Fred. I personally was unsure in this production of whether Lilli was just coming back to finish the show or if she was ending the relationship with Harrison in order to continue one with Fred. And this unsureness comes directly from what I harped on in the Acting critic. The detail! The details of Fred and Lilli's relationship throughout the entire piece were missing.

To read 'Bei Kiss me Kate nach Gefühlstiefe zu suchen :-) Liebe Victoria das ist wahrlich das falsche Stück dafür' in a comment posted annonymously on the Kiss Me, Kate! blog is a comment that is, I'm sorry, very naive. Do you mean to say musicals are incapable of producting deep feelings, or that this piece isn't worth exploring the depths of human emotion? Either way I must say that is comment way off the mark. All theatre, be it drama or muscial, is about love and the need for it/lack of it. Humans are about LOVE. For example: love of money will bring success or collapse, love for a woman is enough for men to be able to get through a war and come home, love for your nation or culture is enough reason to start a war (to defend what you love). All are extreme examples but it is true. Conflict and love are central to theatre, without it what is the point? (Ok, then we might have an absurdist piece, but we are talking about conventional theatre). And what makes musical theatre so special is that the feelings and emotions are so strong the characters must SING about them. The potential for an affective piece is in the script - it's there - the details were merely missing because of the unspecific choices by the actors. I wanted to see a Fred who is jealous because Lilli seems better off and happier with the General than when she was him. Or seeing both characters truly lose themselves in the Wunderbar sequence so that the kiss is real and that, we, as audience could feel like we were peeping Toms - witnessing a tender moment between the two ex-lovers. Which would contrast wonderfully with their hate later on in the show. How else can we believe the end scene. And this relationship needs to build with the Shrew story.

Just to aid my point I will quote an essential passage for acting written by Michael Shurtleff:

'An actor cannot act without creating a relationship with the other person who's onstage with him. Some actors do it intinctively, they are the lucky ones. But when the insticts don't work the way they should, the first things an actor must do then is ask questions about the relationship and insist upon full emotional answers that can lead him to commit himself fully. It's the full commitment that creates good acting. It's the achievement of a relationship of need and love that makes the audience believe.' (Audition, p.41)

This was my major concern with the production. It was safe. The facts were played - very nicely I must add. The production had a quality of being professional but in terms of the acting it was in want of specificity. I view the characters as characters that were played by actors, I was not invested in the story. I was not taken on the journey of Fred and Lilli - I did not believe this to be their struggle and therefore the end didn't quite fit either. I don't know why you go to the theatre Mr./Ms. Annonymous but I go to have an experience that isn't just as superficial as seeing nice dance moves and hearing melodic sounds, I go to be affected, to see the beauty that is life and humanity. I want to walk out of that theatre and realize that I can look at life another way because of those 2 hours I sat in an auditorium. Isn't that the point of art?

Kiss Me, Kate! - Musical Güssing

This review is for the Saturday, September 25th, 2010 performance. http://www.musicalguessing.com/

Acting - 6/10

It must be noted that this was an amateur production of the musical, so one cannot expect something that would be performed at the Ronacher in Wien. That being said, there are some Musical Güssing vetrans in the cast as well as actors who have studied acting and/or singing. The cast did well in telling the story. Some scenes were definitely more enjoyable than others, therefore, the first and second act were equal in their entertainment value. No chorus member took away from group scenes by being overexpressive which allowed for smooth storytelling from all.

The four main characters were portrayed well, but all lacked specificity. Fred Graham, played by Florian Resetarits, is the director of the play-within-the-play (The Taming of the Shrew) in which he stars as Petruchio. Fred is the boss, the one in control of others, simply put the Tamer. The tall, dark, and handsome Resetarits fits the idea of what the rugged Tamer would look like very fittingly. His singing reminds me of what one would have heard on broadway in the 1950's with its power and manliness. When it comes to Resetarits' singing one can only stare agape and feel honoured to be able to hear such a wonderful voice live. That being said, I felt where his singing was superior his acting lacked. I do not feel the range of emotions between jealously, love, need, loneliness, hate, regret, and pride was truly explored and presented. We did not see a true need for his ex-wife to stay at the theatre apart from the logical need provided by the script. The text tells us that Fred needs Lilli to complete the performance in order to preserve his professional reputation BUT the need of and desire for the woman who once had his hand in marriage was unexplored. This lack of detail in their relationship dulled the payoff when Lilli stays to complete the performance and more importantly leave her soon-to-be husband so as to be reunited with her ex. Yes, Resetarits shows us a happy Fred when Lilli returns but the emotional struggle to get to the joy of having her back was missed.

Speaking of Lilli, who was played by Romana Tomisser, she is a very complex character who must swing between hate for Fred and love for her financee Harrison as well as play the Shrew. Tomisser was believeable for the most part, especially in regards to being in love with Harrison. This can be hard to pull off truthfully with all lovey-dovey cliches the character uses. But like Resetarits, the emotional range of Lilli presented by Tomisser lacked definition. For instance, in the first act Fred is sitting with Lilli in her changeroom while she telephones with Harrison. Tomisser played purely to the phone (Harrison) telling him how much she loves and misses him but was unexplored was the oppertunity to play with that situation in order to make Fred jealous about her new-found happiness. Small details like this were missing which would have given the character much more depth so that her decision to stay or go carries more weight, thus allowing the audience to be more invested in her story. We needed to see more of the STRONG love and hate these two characters feel for each other, not to meantion the competition between the two for who is living a better life now that they are no longer together - this is typical of the divorcee storylines in theatre (eg. Noel Coward's Private Lives)

As for the supporting love pair of Bill Calhoun (Lucentio) and Louis Lane played by András Koczor and Susanne Dunst and. The text doesn't give them much of a storyline. We understand that the characters are performers and being a part of the nightclub business they are rather loose. Both lovers sing songs about whether they can trust the other in terms of how faithful they are. I feel both actors did well with what they had, but we could have seen a bit more nightclub sluttiness from the actors as Bill and Louis as well as Lucentio and Bianca. A good example is when Louis was speaking with Harrison, Dunst picks up the phone for no apperant reason and then later puts it back on the hook. This was a majorly missed opertunity. I would have liked her to play provocatively with the phone to get her point across that she would like to continue her bedtime games with the General, not only would that have worked for the character but also would have been funny to watch. Similarily Koczor could have played with the idea of Bill's nightclub slag persona by hitting on many of the chorus women. Then the audience can truly enjoy the end love song between these two who clearly deserve each other.

As for the older members of the cast, Harrison Howell and Harry Travor (Baptista) were very well cast. I thoroughly enjoyed how Otto Konrath played the bubbling Baptista in the Taming of the Shrew bits; I believed him as the troubled father of an unwedable shrew. As for Kurt Resetarits as Harrison, I thought he fit the bill vocally and his army phyisically (always standing tall with heels together) made for a good contrast to the physically free Frank. That being said, the fact that father (Kurt) and son (Florian) played battling lovers was unused and not played with - which is perhaps more of a point for direction. Anyone who looks at the program can figure out that the actors are related, so some kind of physical show-off between the two would have only added to the performance.

And finally, as stated before I think the chorus and the gangsters did a great job in supporting this piece.

**added -> I just wanted to add something about the gangster because I didn't write much about them yet. I think both Zoltán Kutnyánszky and Eva Zankl performed well in these rolls. These are the pieces' comic rolls and the actors did just that - play characters. In terms of the detail work that I wanted to see from the other actors, Kutnyánszky and Zankl are good examples of what detailed work can be. I am reminded in particular of when the two come onto the Shrew stage and start to strike ancient Greek codified poses because they do not know how to behave on stage. I greatly enjoyed their contribution to the piece. My only critic for the two is that I found it difficult to under the Shakespeare song because of annunciation. It may have also been because I was sitting the balcony and the sound didn't travel well. Even though i didn't understand most of it, I did enjoy the pantomime and the hint of Zankl's wonderful vocal range (wish we could have heard more) in the last verse of the song.

Direction - 6/10

All in all the piece was in fact well directed by Marianne Resetarits. The story ran smoothly, all the marks were met. But the flare for something special was missed. Actors can only do so much, and directors can only suggest so much. Some of the missed detail meantioned in the Acting critic may in fact be due to unspecific direction - I am particularly leaning toward the idea of loose nightclub stars and the father/son bit. I think if more time was spent on finding the core of each relationship and playíng off of what each character needs or wants from the other would have made for a more interesting piece. The show was too safe except for the crowning moment of laughter: when Fred manages to phyically bully Lilli unto a table which appears to be a sexual position during a scene from Shrew. Very amusing and right on the mark! Would have liked to see more innuendos like that one.

As for the choreography by Lysa Urbano, I think it was nice for most of it. Simple moves that were clearly well rehearsed - which was indeed very nice to see. I only question the balletic hand movements at the end of Shrew in particular. Shrew takes place in the Renaissance and ballet comes into being during the Baroque period - this is just being picky.

Design - 8/10

For what the budget may have been for this amateur production I think the stage design and costumes were great. The costumes (arranged by Olga Gröschl), as I have heard, were rented as pieces from a professional production of this show. It was well worth the price. The stage design by Oswald Hager and Karl Pandl was simple and very musical-esque with four moveable set pieces (two of them staircases) that were used as the flats for the Shrew production and turned around to be the backstage of the theatre. Well designed and well used. The only thing I questioned was the Trattoria in the Shrew scene; I'm not quite sure if they were so popular during the time of Taming of Shrew seeing as the pizza was invented, or should I say popularized, in the 1800s.

Special Effects ­- none were used.

Although the dove released at Bianca's wedding can be considered a special effect and that I would say was very well used as well as entertaining!

Affectiveness - 3/10

Considering this is the first time seeing Kiss Me, Kate! I will think on this production when someone meantions the musical. I don't think it has affected my life in any way and I don't think it's only like that because we are talking about a musical. There are many wonderful musical that can shift ones mentality in life, and this one had potential to be affective.

Overall - 6.5/10

On the whole Kiss Me, Kate! was enjoyable. The singing was by far the highlight. All the main characters were a joy to listen to. There were many nice things about this production, but the lack of detail made the performance rather mediocre. Nevertheless, for an amateur group I will definately see another one of their shows in the future. Also, the live music was wonderful and made the production rather special.

The Beginning

• Focus

Theatre in Austria - whatever I happen to find interesting

• Slant

I'm a Canadian/Austrian who grew up in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto. I studied Theatre and Drama Studies at the University of Toronto (Mississauga Campus) in conjunction with Sheridan College Oakville. My program of study allowed me to explore many styles as an actor and an academic. Our intensive acting classes covered techniques like Stanislavsky, American Method, Clown, Suzuki, Laban and more. On the academic side of things, we looked at theatre culture, the power of the written word versus the performance text, the modern and postmodern theatre as well as theatre throughout history. I have encountered many styles and techniques during my Specialist Degree but as theatre is always changing there are many things to be experienced and analyzed.

As an actor myself I understand the difficulty and precision that is involved with creating and performing a character. But when an actor brings truth to a character and truly makes me care about their struggle and journey they win my respect as being a skilled craftsman. Acting is a craft - it can be learned...but it starts with talent.

• Styles

I am up for seeing any style of theatre!

• English

Yes, most if not all the productions I will see are in German BUT I will write my reviews in English.

• Rating system: out of 10, with catagories

Acting - How well the entire piece was acted in regards to believeability
Direction - How innovatively the piece was directed
Design - How effective was the stage, costume, make-up, lighting and sound design
Special Effects - When used, how well did they enhance the piece as a whole
Affectiveness - Will I think about this piece weeks after seeing it? Theatre has the power to affect us for an extended period of time, does this piece change how I view the world or myself?
Overall - simply put the end verdict.