Flicking The Flint

After claiming a few days ago that Brisbane has produced high-quality theatre so far this year, Flicking the Flint loudly contradicts me. The painfully shallow and bewildering production was a perfect example of an artist trying too hard to create a contemporary and abstract piece of art.

Metro Arts and Experimentone
Sue Benner Theatre, Edward St, Brisbane

Saturday, 27 March, 2010

After claiming a few days ago that Brisbane has produced high-quality theatre so far this year, Flicking the Flint loudly contradicts me. The painfully shallow and bewildering production was a perfect example of an artist trying too hard to create a contemporary and abstract piece of art.

A lengthy and uneventful opening scene was a sign of things to come, and it wasn’t long before it became apparent the show was going to fail to explain and entertain.

The program gives its audience background information about the story of an institutionalised pyromaniac male, who was abused by his father as a child. Creator Kate Lee writes that it is about family and loss, and a “young man who is trying to figure out why he is where he is” and trying to make sense of his memories. While there were all the necessary ingredients for an interesting story, not much of it shone through in the performance.

The three characters of boy, mum and dad, lacked depth and had no chance to build a connection with their audience. The series of memories rarely made any sense, and the ones that did never seemed to link with any present thoughts from the central character.

A story-telling scene did that did open a window into the young man’s past was portrayed interestingly with sign language. But this was negatively counteracted by repeating it three times. The tedious repetition technique was later used again and did not describe the character’s thoughts in a comprehensible way. These scenes were compensated in a small way by impressive drums and guitar playing from musician Tim Mcconnachie.

Performances by Kate Lee, Tom Mccosker and Jackson O’Sullivan were strong. The demanding roles called for physical and emotional performance, which they successfully delivered. Mccosker did as much as he could with his role as the troubled young man but with not much to work with he struggled to form a relationship with the audience and the other characters. The same troubles faced Lee and O’Sullivan.

A gorgeous moment in time was a dance between husband and wife under the night sky, complemented with good lighting by Jason Glenwright and beautiful music from Mcconnachie and Bernard Houston. This enchanting moment stood apart from the rest of the show.
The music was intriguing and I believe it would have moved the audience more if the script had been better.

I don’t like to put down those who bravely put their creativity on show and take a risk to produce something different, but this show was more interested in experimenting with the abstract than engaging its audience.

Season Closed