God’s Ear must be overflowing with words. This is a beautifully realised and strong production of Jenny Schwartz’s linguistically eclectic play. The death of a child shatters lives, meanings, actions, relationships and reality in the world of a family.
Presented by: Pursued By A Bear Theatre CompanyVenue: Seymour Centre, Sydney Opening Night Saturday 12 November 2011
God’s Ear must be overflowing with words. This is a beautifully realised and strong production of Jenny Schwartz’s linguistically eclectic play. The death of a child shatters lives, meanings, actions, relationships and reality in the world of a family. Schwartz spews forth language like a water cannon, showing how inadequate our words can be when dealing with large emotional issues. The narrative at times appears to drown under the barrage. However there is at times poetic art in the great verbal dexterity underlying the wordplay. Fans of Ibsen and Ionesco will notice echoes in the tangential quality of Schwartz’s script. It weaves words using repetition, nonsense, platitudes, proverbs, sayings, jokes, colloquialism into a play that can be touching, confronting and funny. After a while however the linguistic tricks, bells and whistles, particularly the use of repetition, can become wearing when the pattern repeats itself with every character and interaction. Director Jonathan Wald cleverly accentuates the playfulness and virtuosity of the text whilst highlighting the central emotional messages. His deft direction showcases a very strong ensemble. Parents Mel (Natasha Beaumont) and Ted (Julian Garner) have been torn asunder by the death of their son. Beaumont and Garner both excel at times in bringing to the surface the emotion underlying some of the linguistic contortions. Beaumont’s semantically challenged monologue is masterful as is Garner’s final breakdown scene. Ted keeps travelling, staying away from the raw pain at home and meeting people who also have dead children. His interactions with Guy (Cameron Knight) in a blokey exchange are amusing, but the highlights scenes were with Lenora (Helen O’Leary) in a drunken interchange. O’Leary excels with great comic timing and delivery as a lonely lady seeking love. The parent’s anguish reflects in the abstract off-the-wall reactions of their daughter Lanie (Victoria Greiner). Greiner’s portrayal of the remaining suffering child in the family is nuanced with small skilled body language reactions and an innate mixture of world knowledge and naivety. Fantasy characters like the tooth fairy (Gael Ballanytne) GI Joe and the Transvestite Stewardess (Keiran Foster) pop in and out of the action crossing the boundaries of reality and occasionally singing (Michael Friedman supplies the incidental songs). Ballantyne and Foster ably supply some lighter moments to the profound subject of loss and grief. Pursued by a Bear company states it wants to “make work which wrestles with deep and abiding questions and concerns; combines comedy and tragedy; challenges audiences as well as entertaining them; engages with both ideas and emotions; is superbly designed and technically well-executed.” Jocelyn Brewer’s superb production of the Australian Premiere of God’s Ear certainly answers this brief. The play runs for 90 minutes with no interval. Until 3rd DecemberBookings: Seymour Centre Image by Bob Seary