By Sarah Vincent and Vanessa Pigram
At La Mama at The
Courthouse until October 12, 1996
Reviewed by Kate
Herbert around Sept 25 1996
Lottie Lyell may not
have had a movie house named after her as has her hubbie Raymond Longford but,
according to Sarah Vincent and Vanessa Pigram, she's Not Dead Yet.
Vincent and Pigram have teamed up with Lottie to re-vamp her
1911 film, ˇThe Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole. Only fragments of the
Lyell-Longford original footage are extant so Vincent has created, in
theatrical form, the missing story.
The style of the production is pure Victorian melodrama,
complete with a villain’s, romance, danger, Sarah Bernhardt histrionics and
wind machine sound effects. Margaret's
one true love is the smuggler, Will Long, alias Cut-throat Willy, for whom she
rejects her other suitor, the law-abiding coastguard, Edward Barry. Both men
come to no good as a result of their love for Margaret and Margaret in turn , resorts
to crime and the poor wretch is transported to, you guessed it, Australia
where, for her sins, she cares for
orphans.
The production, part of the Fringe Festival, is stylishly
directed by Pigram and is light and funny with delightful performances from the
cast of five. They prance about, mug at the camera, double-take, tear at their
clothes and generally over-act in the best possible satire of the silent movie
genre.
The black and white theme is echoed superbly in the costumes
and set by Anna Tregloan and the style is supported by predominantly original
music by Mark Pollard.
There are, however, moments when the narrative becomes
confusing and difficult to follow particularly when it concentrates on short
grabby scenes. Spoken dialogue interspersed with silent miming of text is
amusing and clever but extremely taxing on the audience's concentration and the
constant setting and re-setting of location and characters is exhausting.
All that said, it is a hoot and one of the most inventive
concepts I have seen in some time.
KATE HERBERT
No comments:
Post a Comment