Feared and Revered – The Women of Shakespeare

Our foray into the city on this occasion was to see a very interesting offering by Genesian member Tui Clark directing a “mash up” of some of the best female dialogue and characterizations Shakespeare had the foresight to create. Clark uses Shakespeare’s Complete Works 2^nd Edition as the basis for her adaption.

Clark cleverly places a number of these seemingly disparate female characters together in a sequence of vignettes that explores six conceptual realms: Innocence, Mischief, Desire, Defence, Compassion and Oblivion. Twenty-four of Shakespeare’s female muses are represented across the six realms where their strength, resilience, humour, fragility, desires, ambitions and flaws are showcased as they recite some of their character’s best monologues. Intriguingly while one is speaking, they entreat the other characters and all actively interact with each other as if the play originally contained them all! And so we have Lady Macbeth, Titania and Tamora seeking a sense of belonging in Mischief; Desdemona, Portia and Lucrece railing against injustice in Defence and witness Juliet and Cleopatra determining their own destiny in Oblivion. 

Eight actors represent the chosen female characters across the Shakespearean landscape with varying degrees of stage craft and confidence as they try to understand the woman’s place in the world and navigate restrictive social mores often devised and adjudicated by men.

The wardrobe is simple and effective with each actor dressed in black pants and tops with black shoes accompanied by an accessory that identifies their character- Juliet wears a string of pearls, Ophelia wears a crown of flowers on her head and the bewitching Macbeth sisters have matching school ties around their necks – just some examples of this clever device.

Most of the actors were able to differentiate their characters further by including differing mannerisms, gaits, accents and demeanours as they embodied different heroines for each scene however some characterizations needed much greater development and emotional depth in order to clearly distinguish them.

Stand out performances portraying an array of characters are Ali Bendall, Emily Saint-Smith, Liz Grindley, Charlotte Bromley and Sophie Alexandra Seper.  Each of these actors knows how to command the stage and with it the attention of the audience. Their stagecraft including fantastic enunciation and voice projection, addressing the audience and moving with purpose show the depth of their experience which other cast members will no doubt observe, learn from and thus grow in confidence as the season moves forward.

The scenes are well transitioned with effective lighting and deft movement by the actors although the choice of transition “jingle” may have been more apt with a deeper resonating instrument as it felt like Tinkerbell was asking you to turn the page.

The soundscape worked very nicely with the dialogue at times, as in the “Compassion” scene and other times was a distraction and a puzzle. It seemed as if there was an attempt to inject some modernity through the music but this was inconsistent and confusing. Some of the music choices undermined the dialogue such as “our Livvy’s” Hopelessly Devoted to You underscoring Liz Grindley’s be – boa – ed Venus. At times this left the audience not knowing what to focus on and subsequently missing the intent of the dialogue.

However, it was as if the Bard himself blessed this production and all of Clark’s directorial choices when in the final scene of Oblivion, the lighting, the underscoring sound effects and the poignant performances came together to show the great potential of this delightfully constructed stage play.

Clark is to be commended for her clear conceptualisation, her effective use of the existing set (Jane Eyre) and the intelligent movement and placement of the actors in each scene. There is no doubt that this play will settle in to realise Clark’s talent and effort as the elements come together over the season.

Lastly it is wonderful to witness community theatre lean into its membership to embrace innovation and creativity. GTC is certainly doing this at the moment with an adaption of Jane Eyre by member Ali Bendall currently showing, an upcoming series of workshops showcasing the writing of members Carlin Hurdis and Roger Gimblet and another delightful evening of romantic cabaret with member Robert Green channelling Lorenz Hart in Isn’t It Romantic?

Rizzie Reviews