Part One of Crossing
The Line Merlin Theatre until August 20, 1998
The Look by Alexa
Wyatt
The Floating Girl and
the Man Who Whirled by Jack Feldstein
Review Aug 17, 1998
The lure of screenwriting for playwrights is well
documented. There is no brain drain in the opposite direction because there is
no money in theatre – and no jobs.
Crossing the Line is a momentary lapse, the exception to the
rule. Under the umbrella of the Melbourne Writers' Festival,
actor-writer-director, Gary Files has put together staged readings of five plays by established screen writers.
These two media, stage and screen, demand very different
techniques from writers. Naturalistic detail and dialogue is generally demanded
on television whereas, on stage, styles range from realism to the abstract and
physical.
Screen writers, so often constrained by the requirements of
television executives, can be excused for forgetting the skill of the actor and
the versatility of the stage.
The first program is two short plays: The Look by Alexa
Wyatt (E Street, Heartbreak High, All Saints) and The Girl Who Floated and the
Man Who Whirled by Jack Feldstein (Head Writer, Brilliant Digital
Entertainment) Both are directed by John Wood, famous for his Blue Heelers role
but also a seasoned theatre performer.
Ailsa Piper (Neighbours) alone on stage, apart from a
Narrator (Tony Rickards) reading stage directions. Marilyn, a comic-tragic
figure, is running a training session for Estelle cosmetics. Piper is poignant
and funny as Marilyn's prepared lecture slowly disintegrates into a tortured
and embarrassing rave
She was the first Estelle girl, the lover of Monsieur Dupont
the owner. She is a shattered, disillusioned, dislocated woman who has no
identity without her beauty or her make-up.
The piece is cleverly written but too long for its content.
It is reminiscent of the women's theatre of the 80's which challenged role
models and female stereotypes.
Feldstein's play is clearly written by a very capable screenwriter
but it is not a theatre script because of its rapid cinematic scenes, very
involved naturalistic stage directions, specific locations, costumes, props and
numerous extras.
It is a tale of two inner-urban, self-indulgent,
angst-ridden Jewish artists (David Tredinnick, Fiona Walsh) whose fraught
relationship involves tormenting each other about their bisexuality, jealousy,
intensity, neurosis and their Jewishness.
If this were staged in an abstract form it could be an
interesting performance piece but, at present, it is still a short art-film
script.
Other writers to come are John Wood's The Subterraneans,
John Misto's Gossamer and Snoop by Patrick Edgeworth.
By Kate Herbert