Thursday 12 April 2012

The Histrionic, Malthouse, April 10, 2012 ***1/2


The Histrionic (Der Theatermacher) by Thomas Bernhard
Translated by Tom Wright, by Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company
Merlyn  Theatre, Malthouse, April 10 to May 5, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ***1/2


THE HISTRIONIC is not only a satirical indictment of highbrow theatre and its proponents; it is also a big, fat clown show with plenty of physical comedy and eccentric characters.

Writer, Thomas Bernhard, an inveterate social critic of humanity and its perceived idiocy, incorporated into his plays and novels his blatant criticism and satirisation of his native Austria.

Bille Brown is in his element playing the melodramatic, self-important, ham actor, Bruscon, who prepares to perform the unwieldy production of his epic play, The Wheel of History, in the inn of a tiny, rural, Austrian town.

Director, Daniel Schlusser, effectively balances the comedy and catastrophe that are both inherent in Bruscon’s ambitious and foolish exploit.

In the foreground, Schlusser focuses attention on Brown/Bruscon’s florid language and theatrical posing, while providing some comic relief in the deep background with the silent antics of the rest of the cast as they shuffle enormous props into place and attempt to mop the drips from the leaking roof.

Most of the first hour is an uninterrupted monologue by the larger-than-life Brown who, with baroque extravagance, struts around the stage, bullying his restrained daughter (Edwina Wren), demeaning his injured son (Josh Price) and criticising his ailing wife (Jennifer Vuletic).

Bruscon’s rant is often an hilarious satire of high art, but even over-acting needs light and shade, and this piece could do with more balance in pace and rhythm to provide greater dynamic range.

Barry Otto is delightfully doddery as the twitching, obsequious, old innkeeper and pig-farmer who, with his wife and daughter (Kelly Butler, Katherine Tonkin), desperately tries to accommodate his demanding guest.

The play is like a clowns’ status game with Number One, Bruscon, as the clown king, and the cast descending in rank according to Bruscon’s favour.

After establishing the power play and exposing Bruscon’s arrogance and his abusive and brutal nature, it is a delicious payback when his elaborate, self-serving plans descend into chaos and his mammoth production collapses.

Marg Horwell’s vivid, chaotic design creates a vast, playful landscape for Schlusser’s production and is Enhanced by Paul Jackson’s bold lighting and Darrin Verhagen’s sound.

It is possible that this satire of the theatre and its artifice may appeal to theatrical aficionados more than to the general populace.

By Kate Herbert

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