Germinal, L'Amicale De Production, Merlyn Theatre at The Malthouse Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Saturday October 20th 2017
"Germinal" was presented by L'Amicale De Productions with concept and direction by Halory Goerger and Antione Defoort at the Malthouse Theatre's Merlyn Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Saturday day October 20th 2017"Germinal" was presented by L'Amicale De Productions with concept and direction by Halory Goerger and Antione Defoort at the Malthouse Theatre's Merlyn Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Saturday day October 20th 2017
"Germinal" is a very clever piece of theatre that provided a heart and an emotional connection that is so lacking with many theatre productions. My heart and body is full of electricity after the show.
The opening was playful with the lights going down then tricking us by coming back on. This lighting sequence was repeated and then went to black out. The lights came up slowly as if from Genesis and the beginning.
Four people were revealed on stage playing with equipment sliding levers. Halory Goerger appeared to be having difficulty which could have been a part of the show as he announced this should not be happening. We are having a few technical difficulties. A stage manager appeared and they played around with some levers and looked up at the lights and up to the technical crew as adjustments were made. This disruption could easily have been a part of the show as they were discussing the technical issues as a metaphor about the origins of life - as to whether it was science, creationist, or another possible theory. I thought that this disruption was a part of the show and loved it. Though the running time was more than the allotted one hour and twenty minutes that suggested it was a genuine technical hitch. I would keep it in for the philosophical question.
The banter between the actors is so funny and thought provoking. Halory Goerger, Antione Defoort, Arnaud Boulogn and Beatriz Setien are brilliant as they work together seamlessly.
They gradually introduced thought, objects, language and so many aspects of life. The thoughts were written on the back in what could be described as text boxes. This was very playful with the four characters introduced but only two text boxes were available for writing their thoughts. They were using their control panels to express their thoughts. The sequence built organically with structure to allow for various thought processes. They even played with the concept of ventriloquism and being able to throw their voices or thoughts.. They played with the concept of defining who was speaking as if writing a script and naming the person who was speaking. They gradually got rid of the control panels.
Beatriz Setien at one stage obtained a pick axe and cut a hole in the stage to reveal a microphone. An entire sequence followed about finding sound and their voices. Whoever was holding the microphone had the control and the power. The discovery of any new object was fascinating and childlike as they tried to make sense and understand what, how and why things worked. The playfulness of the microphone to tap it and discover that it made a sound intrigued them. This led to the tapping of the microphone on various objects including each other's head to discover the famous "poc poc" sound. They played with the microphone tapping it on every object that they had already found. This was a recap sequence that was so much fun. Some objects did not make a sound when they used the microphone as in tapping the empty hole.
Using their new found wisdom they began categorising their thoughts as "Poc poc" or "Non poc poc". It became an academic exercise in the absurd and made fun of any meeting or process. In particular it created their version of the Johari Window. "Poc poc" and "Non poc poc" will become in-jokes as was the phrase "Could it be? Could it be?" from Ronnie Burkett and his puppet shows at previous Melbourne Festivals.
The opening sequences of "Germinal" reminded me at times of "Gilligan's Island" or any film/story where the characters are stranded and have to discover their environment and learn how to survive. Here the cast of "Germinal" were learning about how to make sense of their environment, and as such was deeper than the superficial survival skills.
They played with singing as a means of communication that suggested musical theatre and opera.
A laptop was discovered to provide order and assist in categorising their findings. It was a great play on the Microsoft Windows Word format with headings such as Display, Environment, and Language etc. They played with each of these categories, for example the environments of Forest, Swamp were discovered. When playing with the language option they started speaking in Japanese. This was clever and so entertaining.
The setting was three side black walls and a raised stage that was divided into dark grey cubes. These could be destroyed at will for when the axe was used to reveal the microphone or the pulley system to reveal the sound speaker.
They discovered what could be a pool of water that looked like a spa bath. One sat in the pool, another dived into the pool and the others then also got in. They found electronic drums that they played with to introduce other concepts of anger, denial, negotiation etc. This section was like the five stages of grief.
I loved the summary at the end when the "End" was nigh. The cast summarised the whole show with the aid of all of the words that we were introduced to throughout the show. They created a rhythm and a chant as they played their electronic musical drums.
"Germinal" is a very thought provoking work that is extremely entertaining. At no time does it try to dictate to us but rather gets us to think about concepts.
We were lucky to attend a Question and Answer session convened by Matthew Lutton, the Artistic Director from the Malthouse Theatre after the show. I had to share with them after I heard they do not have theatre backgrounds about "The Serpent" by Jean-Claude Van-Itallie and directed by Joseph Chaikin at the Open Theatre in New York. The opening sequence of light reminded me of the Genesis section from "The Serpent" from a production in Melbourne directed by Norman Southerby in about 1975.
"Germinal"also reminded me of a live version of aspects from "History of the Universe in 2 Hours" shown on the History Channel.
"Germinal" is a celebration of life and freedom as this cast muse and ponder on the meaning of many concepts, particularly when they summarise the whole show as if in a spa bath. "Germinal" feels joyful and grateful for life and existence.
"Germinal" obtained a 9/10 and my partner gave it a 9.5/10.
"Germinal" is a great companion piece to this year's show "7 Pleasures" from the Genesis perspective.
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