What:
Harry's Christmas by Steven Berkoff, by Elixir Theatre
Where:
Chapel off Chapel 12A Little Chapel St Prahran
When:
Thurs to Sun at 7pm until 22 December, 2002
Reviewer:
Kate Herbert
English
playwright and actor, Steven Berkoff, knew what a depressing time Christmas
could be for many lonely people.
His
play, Harry's Christmas, is a dark, comic exploration of one man's failure to
cope with the Silly Season.
Mirra
Todd, plays Harry as a frenetic, almost uncontrollable, lonely loony.
Stefan
Mrowinski directs him in an abstract form based on the methods of Polish
director, Jerzy Grotowski. This works only in part.
The
production takes us out of the realistic and ordinary and into a metaphoric
world in which Harry's broken thoughts are represented in convulsive and
unpredictable movements.
Todd
cavorts and leaps in a large open space. He runs in circles, contorting his body
and babbling at his audience.
In
Berkoff's script, Harry collects his handful of Christmas cards and hangs them
in his bed-sitter. In Mrowinski's
production, Harry instead holds a deck of playing cards, symbolising that his
luck is out.
Berkoff's
language exaggerates superbly the fractured mind of this sad little man with no
friends. His thoughts leap from topic to topic like a bird pecking seeds.
Harry
wants company. The only call he receives is from his ailing, aging mum. He
franticly phones a couple he knows to come for a drink. He rings an
ex-girlfriend only to abuse her.
His
plan to invite another for a drink is foiled when he discovers she is happily
partnered.
This
play can be hilarious as well as grim. This production lacks colour and dynamic
range. Much of the humour is lost amidst the tension of its form.
Todd's
performance is a good attempt at this play but it misses the mark on some
levels.
His
voice is monotonous, grating and stuck in the throat. He seems disconnected
from the text and even from the movement.
The
set design by Rashelle McHugh, comprising banners of playing cards, is
interesting but seems inappropriate.
Lighting
design, by Bernard Angell, often leaves the actor in darkness and us in stark
white light.
This
lighting technique can work if it offsets dialogue in darkness or some attack
on the audience. However, in this production, it seems gratuitous.
By
Kate Herbert
No comments:
Post a Comment