Coop by Black Hole Theatre, Feb 7, 2008

 Coop by Black Hole Theatre

 At fortyfivedownstairs,  Feb 7 to 17, 2008

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

 A demented old man living in a chicken-coop with his son and daughter sounds like a bleak scenario but Coop is both grim and comical. 

The collaborative production, devised by the ensemble of Black Hole Theatre, inventively incorporates actors, visual imagery and a range of puppetry forms.

Nancy Black (director) and Rod Primrose’s (actor/puppeteer) initial inspiration was Hieronymous Bosch’s triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, depicting Adam and Eve, naked humans cavorting with giant birds and fruits and the descent into corruption and Hell.

Coop focuses on mankind’s descent into sinfulness. The old man (Primrose) appears to be, or to believe that he is God and his children (Conor Fox, Tamara Rewse) represent Adam and Eve. Their rough humpy, constructed of old wood, canvas and hay bails, (Ben Cobham) houses his family and his chicken. Images of birds and eggs recur throughout, emphasising the notion of genesis, birth, evolution and corruption.

There is whimsy and humour but the sense of menace is pervasive. The old man is volatile and violent, unpredictable and merciless with his children, just like the God of the Old Testament. The children cower or furtively ravish one another with Bosch-like lust. Intermittently the family plays games. Father makes an egg disappear from an eggcup and the children make tiny fluffy chicks dance in a chorus line. Meanwhile Beulah the live chook ambles around pecking.

One truly inspired moment is when they convert a chicken carcass into an hilarious marionette. It wears tiny gumboots and its wings flap hopefully as it dances like a ballerina over the sleeping old man’s chest until eventually it flies. Another is the luminous and disturbingly disembodied babies’ heads that crawl menacingly over the children’s bodies.

Black allows the piece to develop an almost musical rhythm as the old man’s moods ebb and flow. There is little or no dialogue. The characters grunt and sigh, shout or groan expressively making words redundant.

The dim lighting (Cobham) accentuates the threatening mood with smoky atmosphere and occasional glaring blasts of light. Kelly Ryall’s complex and evocative sound design incorporates haunting bells and whistles with brighter sounds, music and distorted voices.

Coop is eccentric and unpredictable – and it gives poultry a new and inventive role in theatre.

By Kate Herbert