ENERGETIC IRREVERENCE |
 |
) Written by Dave Armstrong Directed by Conrad Newport Producer: Caroline Armstrong, Armstrong Creative at James Hay Theatre, Christchurch From 29 Jul 2009 to 31 Jul 2009 [2 hrs incl. interval] Reviewed by Elody Rathgen, 29 Jul 2009 |
[Christchurch Arts Festival]
Le Sud adapts a nifty concept to make a lively theatre farce, which will appeal particularly to South Island audiences. Sud Zealand (the South island) has been colonised by the French, while North Zealand (the North island) has been colonised by Britain. Both have significant indigenous populations.
Le Sud has flourished economically, politically and culturally. People work short hours, and enjoy long, indulgent culinary and wine events. It is a sophisticated country, the wealthiest in the southern hemisphere.
The play concerns the arrival of a prime ministerial delegation from the North and their attempts to negotiate down the price they pay Le Sud for electricity. The North has come to a point of collapse and unless they can pay less for their power the members of this delegation will certainly lose their positions.
That is as far as anything serious goes in this play! This is home-grown nonsense which the Christchurch Arts Festival audience thoroughly enjoyed on opening night. Whether Northerners will is another issue.
Very few sacred cows in New Zealand are excluded from a thorough mocking. MMP, Mâori entrepreneurs, any form of sexual politics, rugby, Te Papa, smacking, smoke free, Tuhoe terrorists, Palmerston North and lots of other icons or issues come in for merciless one-liners or set comic routines. As this is pure farce there is no point to it except to make people laugh. And they do.
Only one piece steps over the edge. A bit of pseudo street rap takes references to the Obama family unnecessarily far.
The cast ensemble is excellent. Great pace and the choreography of set comic routines keep the performance energetic. The audience laughs so much in places that we miss some lines.
All of the company contributes well to the irreverence, but among them Nick Dunbar as Le Sud's Prime Minister and Heather O'Carroll his deputy stand out. Their slickness and vitality are superb.
The set is drab, and positioning of the characters in unforgiving lines at times seems more suited to the television camera than live theatre.
Le Sud might suffer if we thought too hard and long about it. But we are not supposed to think about the point of farce, and the Christchurch audience thoroughly enjoyed the laughs.
_______________________________
For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.
John Smythe
Ewen Coleman (The Dominion Post);
Melody Nixon
Lynn Freeman (Capital Times);
Maryanne Cathro
Ben Stanley (Waikato Times);