The Children, MTC at Sumner Theatre MTC, Tuesday February 27th 2018

"The Children", MTC at Sumner Theatre MTC, Tuesday February 27th 2018

"The Children" a co-production by MTC and STC was presented at Sumner Theatre MTC, Tuesday February 27th 2018.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

"The Children" by Lucy Kirkwood and directed by Sarah Goodes as a co-production by MTC and STC.  In a nutshell the acting is better than the script.  The direction is laboured.

The logic with the set design is flawed when the stage left door is opened with no change in the lights.  Then suddenly there is a lighting change with a huge doorway lighting effect.  

The kitchen with the table and two chairs made sense while the sole lounge chair screamed unrealistic.

The major visual effect is flawed also when William Zappa who plays Robin sits in a trail of the visual effect.  There is not a trace on his jeans when he stands.

Writing wise, there seemed to be segments spliced together to create scenes and then patched together to create drama.  The play took way too long to get to any potential drama.

The funniest lines were those usually delivered by Pamela Rabe as Hazel, who underplayed her asides to reveal deep feelings.  Sadly these asides rarely raised a vocal laugh as they were the best writing in the play.  Though the asides that were overplayed and made obvious to the audience as "this is a laugh line" rose laughs of recognition.  Sadly these were embarrassing to watch as they were played so much in our face.

The actions were laboured by the over produced and over rehearsed choreographed actions  that there was barely a truthful realism.  Pamela Rabe came closest with her fastidious ways, particularly in the preparation of a meal that took way too long for what was produced.  The best piece of realism was when Sarah Peirse as Rose rescued the dripping lettuce in the tea-towel.  More of these moments were required to save a very ordinary script.

These fine actors are better than this ordinary play and this direction.

What really lost me was William Zappa's entrance with the bike.  He kept carrying it during the welcome scene.  The used the machine to check for any radiation.  Wow!  It read okay!  But later this same man was being checked with the same machine, on the same day and now we have a dramatic reading.  Oh spare me!

The telephone rang conveniently to provide a distraction.  This was another spare me moment!  It was so cliched and the phone call took the requisite amount of time for the reveal scene.  My eyes were rolling my eyes in my head as it was as if this was an undergraduate play.

The accents varied and heaven forbid we had the occasional Canadian or Australian sounding word and phrase.  And they used a vocal coach!

The dance routine scene seemed so out of place and overly long.  Yes the MTC and STC  had to justify the use of a movement consultant.

The set design does not work properly in this theatre with the sight lines as each side of the audience is denied the view of one of the end walls.  The set is set askew with the stage right side further upstage (kitchen set) than the stage left side, that provides some tension.  This tension is then negated by counter balancing the less cluttered stage left side with the sole lounge chair and stool.

I have seen amateur companies do a better job with less flamboyant sets and costumes than this overly produced work.

To top off this we had to endure a very loud ringing mobile phone.  Then there were three other phones that beeped throughout.  Plus two of those flashy watches with computer attachments had to be checked on numerous occasions.  In a darkened theatre these flashy lights are so distracting.  The first loud ringing phone was during a crucial reveal that both my partner and I missed the dialogue.

Overall, this production obtained a very generous 6,5/10.  My partner agreed and said the whole play was too long!