The Season, Merlyn Theatre at The Malthouse Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Thursday October 12th 2017
"The Season" was presented by Tasmania Performs at the Malthouse Theatre's Merlyn Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Thursday October 12th 2017"The Season" was presented by Tasmania Performs at the Malthouse Theatre's Merlyn Theatre for the Melbourne Festival, Thursday October 12th 2017
Sadly no programme was available for the show. Thankfully I checked when I arrived home and I had saved my reminder email that provided a link to the online programme. There must be a link problem as I was unable to print the programme, and I rang the Melbourne Festival and they will send one out to me. I wonder if anyone else notified them of the problem with the link.
"The Season" is set on Big Dog Island between Victoria and Tasmania and is based on rituals by the Muttonbird People and is drawn from biographical and family histories. "The Season" is not an educational play as such, but now has so many people who are interested in the story and history of the Muttonbird People. Wow! The play may create more tourism for the island! An entertaining show that is so funny, poignant and educational. "The Season" is so respectful of the heritage of the Muttonbird People.
The set was very wide and framed the sky and the island with a darkness of open space in between. The set reminded me of the CinemaScope pictures we would see as a child with the curved screens.
The opening scene was hard to hear as the actors were finding their vocal levels with a full theatre. A lot of people struggled to hear and the actors needed to project their voices more. Thankfully as other actors entered the stage, the projection levels improved slightly as the cast developed an ensemble vocal level.
Some of the staging was a bit confusing and the lighting could have supported the story telling with more clarity. Overall the cast needed to project their voices a little more so as to be heard. I noticed a few audience members turned to their partners requesting a line repeat on more than one occasion.
The other aspect was when Stella the mother was observing the action and reacting. At first I thought this was very amateurish and then came to realise Stella was like the mother bird watching and protecting her flock. If so, this aspect of observing could have been made more obvious that it was a clear directional choice earlier on. When the three women were upstage cleaning the muttonbirds, then it was made clear that the observing was a directional choice. If the direction had made distinctly clear earlier on then that would have enriched the experience, rather than be a questionable distraction.
Kelton Pell played the father Ben Duncan with blokey and lovable warmth and sincerity. He did not overplay the Ocker-isms and was true to himself. Kelton Pell as dad is the father I would want to have - one that cared for his family, his wife and traditions.
Ben's wife, Stella Duncan was played by Tammy Anderson with compassion and restraint. Ben's relationship with Stella was part of the soul of this play. They keep the family together with all of their secrets, traditions and care. Stella's revenge during the snake-dare-scene tricked the audience.
Nazaree Dickerson played the daughter Lou Duncan with genteel calm and honesty, with a secret bubbling underneath.
Luke Carroll played Ben and Stella's son Ritchie Duncan with honesty. Handing over of his lucky white glove to his nephew Clay Duncan (James Slee) was the beginning of new generation.
Auntie Marlene (Stella's sister) played by Lisa Maza with spirited humour, directness and played at times to the audience. Her interaction with the arch rival neighbour Neil Watson was great light relief that later exposed a depth of self reflection and understanding. Her relationship with her sister Stella revealed more depth to her character. Her happy exterior was bubbling with issues. Maybe, Neil Watson and Auntie Marlene are "in season" and "on heat" which is a pun on the play's title.
James Slee played Clay Duncan (Lou's son), and he captured teenage embarrassment during the sex protection talk scene. When carrying birds he needed to feel the weight of his load to create a sense of reality. Otherwise, he gave a solid performance.
Trevor Jamieson played the dual roles of Ben's arch rival, Neil Watson and the Senior Ranger, Richard Hadgeman. His roles were clearly differentiated by his body language, voice and costume. Trevor Jamieson's demeanour and language clearly differentiated his two characters. I wish more actors would clearly differentiate between roles when playing multiple roles as did Trevor Jamieson.
The birds were stylistically portrayed using rags. The various rituals of catching, storing, carrying gutting, cleaning and cooking the birds had a polished stylistic choreography. When Ben carried the birds I could feel the weight on his shoulders.
Set and Costume Design by Richard Roberts created a sense of space, depth and isolation. The different layers of canvas laid down created a depth and texture for the sand dunes/hills for where the birds lay. The simple lighting up the holes looked like a mini golf course at times, but stylistically worked to create a sense of location. The use of the long rag during the snake-dare-scene between grandson Clay Duncan and his grandmother Stella Duncan was priceless with the simplicity of the staging and design.
The use of the 44 gallon drum reminded me of the MTC original production of "Angels In America".
The final scene where Stella made a comment to her husband Ben made my eyes well up. Their relationship was fundamental to the success of the warmth of this play. They created an emotional bond that was the benchmark for other relationships. Their relationship was genuine and heartfelt, not only between the two actors, but more importantly as they connected with the audience.
Lighting Design by Rachel Burke was adequate but a bit clunky in execution at times. Some clear lighting plots for different locations would have added theatrical depth to the production.
Sound Design by Ben Grant assisted to create atmospheres, a sense of distance and isolation. Ben Grant also gave us a soundscape to create the sense of the muttonbirds' presence and their departure.
"The Season", by Tasmania Performs deserves to have an international audience but first, could do with some refining from writing, lighting and staging perspective.
The final tableau, where the cast farewell the birds on their journey, flooded back memories of Peter Brook's "The Conference of the Birds" at the HSV7 Tele-theatre in 1980.
"The Season" written by Nathan Maynard and directed by Isaac Drandic is a very good new Australian play. With some refinement this work could be a greater work.
As I finish my recollections the day after viewing "The Season" , I have a warm glow that brings joyful welling of my eyes. I wish so much of humanity had the heart and love and respect that is shown in this fine work.
"The Season" obtained a 7.5/10. My partner gave this production an 8/10.
Side notes: it was fantastic to bump into Gregory Fryer from 'The Disappearance of Willie Bingham" who I had worked with in 2015.
My partner recognised Rhys from Tuesday October 10th 2017 show "All Of My Friends Were There" and we went up to wish him a happy birthday. He was with a guy, Jason who was the guinea-pig birthday boy at the previous Friday performance. It was great to share our varied experiences and what they got up to in the Hummer. We told them about the birthday boy's bedroom, the barbeque hosted by his Uncle and the speech writing session. "All Of My Friends Were There" has lived on for the week.
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