Judith

A beautiful Jewish widow sneaks behind enemy lines, with the help of her servant, to seduce and slay the general of an invading army. She succeeds, ends the war and becomes the heroine of all of Israel. But Howard Barker’s version of Judith takes the relatively straightforward biblical tale to explore questions of love, power and sexuality in a revelatory way.

Presented by: The Impending Room and Tamarama Rock Surfers Venue: Bondi Pavilion Theatre

Date: Tuesday, 18 October 2011
A beautiful Jewish widow sneaks behind enemy lines, with the help of her servant, to seduce and slay the general of an invading army. She succeeds, ends the war and becomes the heroine of all of Israel. But Howard Barker’s version of Judith takes the relatively straightforward biblical tale to explore questions of love, power and sexuality in a revelatory way.
The work of British playwright Howard Barker rejects the idea that every member of an audience should have the same reaction to a work. Barker believes that each individual audience member should consider the play alone and arrive at an individual reaction to the piece. Judith explores this attitude to drama in an excitingly immediate way through the use of the violence and sexuality that typifies Barker’s work. Judith is challenging, intriguing and somewhat disorientating. 
It’s surprisingly difficult to watch a play knowing that the playwright isn’t intending to preach one particular message, but is rather wishing to explore a set of ideas and allow the viewers their own interpretation of the events. In a way, audiences are conditioned to look for the ‘point’ of the piece. It’s challenging not to look for the message and simply accept that there may not be one. 
The effect is that Barker essentially throws ideas, concepts and actions at the audience, with unclear motivations and asks the audience “Well, what do you think?”
This excellent production, directed by Cathy Hunt, fully realises all the intensity and complexities of Barker’s work. Hunt has a great knack for creating dramatic tension and conveying an almost terrifying intensity. Aided by a simple, effective design by Michael Hankin, beautiful lighting by Christoper Page and the perfect soundtrack by Ekrem Mulayim, this production places the audience right in the middle of the action.
The three actors give uniformly strong performances. Luisa Hastings Edge as Judith is seductive and enigmatic. She is perfectly at home with Barker’s use of language and works brilliantly through the various dramatic changes in the role. 
Benedict Samuel is wonderfully abrasive as Holofernes. He brings to the life the changes in relationship and balance of power inherent in the piece through great chemistry with the two other actors. 
Anna Houston is brilliant as Judith’s servant. Blessed with some of the best comedic moments of what is otherwise very much a tragedy, she tackles every moment of the piece with great skill and is completely engaging throughout the whole play.
This production of Judith is in almost every way very compelling. It offers the audience a chance to see three brilliant young actors performing a piece which is challenging, and pushes them to the absolute peak of their skill. For this reason alone, Judith is a wonderful theatrical experience.
Photo by: Heidrun Lohr Oct 18 – Nov 6 2011 Times: Tues – Sat 8pm & Sun 5pmTICKETS Adult $33, Concession $25, Previews $21 Cheap Tuesday: Adult $21 Purchase Tickets: www.rocksurfers.org or 8019 0282