Golem

London-based company 1927 has brought a unique multimedia theatre production to the Adelaide Festival and in doing so has without doubt created a Festival hit. Golem is gob-smacking; it’s wonderful.

Set in an exquisitely detailed and brilliantly-coloured dystopian world that seems to encompass our past, present and future, Golem is influenced by German Expressionism and comics. It combines handmade claymation with projection, silent film, absurd comedy, choreography, fine live performance and original music. The result is a twisted story made up of gorgeously droll characters, Monty Pythonesque marketing messages and a darkly hilarious underlying reality check for today’s gadget-obsessed ‘must-have’ society.

Drawing on Jewish folklore’s myth of The Golem, in which a man builds a creature out of clay to do his bidding, Golem is written and directed by Suzanne Andrade and produced by Jo Crowley. Paul Barritt is responsible for the hugely important components of film, animation and design.

In 1927’s production, binary coder by day and performance-shy punk rocker by night Robert acquires his Golem from a local entrepreneur. The bulky creature helps Robert in unexpected and not necessarily solicited ways. People notice. Of course, as happens in real life, clever marketing also occurs and it isn’t long before everyone wants a Golem. Later, as the creatures become smaller and more sophisticated, the streets are littered with obsolete Golems. Eventually, the creature’s evolution means the formerly benign and amiable Golem is a threat to society. Robert’s life and that of his family, friends and coworkers will never again be the same.

Shamira Turner embodies nerdy Robert, a young man who ‘smells of unwashed hair and mathematics’. Turner’s facial expressions are simply delightful. Esme Appleton, Lillian Henley, Rose Robinson and Will Close are also splendid, rounding out a superb ensemble cast who make the most of writer/director Suzanne Andrade’s wonderful way with words and are even involved in performing live music.

Golem has required eleven months of rehearsal to synchronise the interaction of actors with projected and animated components of the work, as well as with the music, voiceovers, lighting and sound.

As I discovered from a recent interview I had with Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt, the cast frequently rehearse in darkness. The intensely choreographed rehearsal has resulted in a capacity for the actors to arrive in pitch blackness and be pinpoint-perfect in terms of interacting with the projected components of the action.

The animated clay figure of the Golem seems to morph from screen to stage, but in reality is only ever present in projected form, even when the creature is human-sized amongst the wonderfully-costumed actors. Conversely, the humans sometimes appear to be part of the two-dimensional intricately detailed urban landscape, such is the overall visual effect. Perspective is also cleverly changed at times, as if by magic.

Delightfully quirky effects include moths flying out of the projected background and a moustache crawling from a portrait on the wall. The use of colour is terrific, with brilliant block colours juxtaposed against dense black.

In addition to the acting, animation, film and projection, every other element of this production shines, including lighting, sound and Lillian Henley’s music, played live on stage.

The message of Golem’s narrative comes across loud and clear. It highlights just how much we are influenced by overt and subliminal marketing messages that over time have changed western society. No longer satisfied simply by what we need, we are a ‘wants’-based world, forever aspiring to have the first and the best, no matter the cost.

My own marketing message (coming to you via flashy Monty Python-style graphics, of course) is this: You may not yet realise you WANT your own Golem experience, but you NEED it. Don’t miss this marvelous, magical production.

Lesley Reed

Photographer: Tony Lewis