THEATRE
Written by Kim Ho
At Theatre Works, until Feb 29, 2020
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars:**
Review published in Herald Sun in print only on Fri 28 Feb, 2020. KH
Written by Kim Ho
At Theatre Works, until Feb 29, 2020
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars:**
Review published in Herald Sun in print only on Fri 28 Feb, 2020. KH
 |
| Jessica Koncic, Sarah Fitzgerald, Tamara Lee Bailey, Sermsah Bin Saad, and Daniel Fischer.-pic Jack Dixon-Gunn |
Kim
Ho naming his production The Great Australian Play is
asking for trouble and almost begging for criticism – so here it comes!
To deconstruct narrative, a playwright must learn to construct
narrative. However, what we see is five wannabe filmmakers rambling about the rules
of cinema narrative structure, including the ‘Hero’s Journey’, a well-worn, Hollywood
model.
Their movie, set in 1930, deals with Lasseter’s purported reef of
gold in Australia’s desert centre. The second half, When the Eucalyptus Weeps, includes
episodes about a dysfunctional family – perhaps Lasseter’s?
At no point in the deconstructed format does a narrative of any
substance emerge. It is a series of parodic sketches aiming to illuminate the
Australian condition, history, environment and indigenous culture.
The story of The Fidgeter, introduced at the end of
the play, might be developed as the second thread interwoven with Lasseter, but
it is bolted on and merely narrated.
Although described as an epic, the only thing epic is the 150-minute
duration – about 90 minutes too long.
Actors (Jessica Koncic, Sarah Fitzgerald,
Tamara Lee Bailey, Sermsah Bin Saad, Daniel Fischer) are committed and energetic, but their efforts are eclipsed by the production’s
failings.
Some
scenes appropriate, rather than celebrate, indigenous culture, the depiction of
a German is racist, the juvenile introduction of a dildo gets cheap laughs and
references to burnt koalas are offensive.
Ho’s script is overwritten, impenetrable, informational, with
little action. It is riddled with cinematic references, satirical film titles
and idiotic script pitches, while Saro Lusty-Cavallari’s
direction is static, and his production resembles a university revue.
The play tries to be artful, inventive and satirical
but loses coherence and cohesion, so any message is lost in multiple styles and
tangled narratives threads.
Anyone unfamiliar with screenwriting processes,
modern cinema references or the compelling but dense work of lauded Australian writer,
the late Patrick White, will probably feel alienating. Rule 1: never make your
audience feel stupid! (That should be Rules 2 and 3 as well!)
Ho inserts himself in the play at the beginning and then the end when he
argues with Patrick White about the merit of Ho’s work, a discussion which
reveals Ho’s vision to be confused, self-indulgent and incoherent.
This is no longer a joke when such confusion makes a mockery of the
theatre it purports to value. How this play won the Patrick White award is as
mysterious as Lasseter’s reef.
by Kate
Herbert
