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9-13 July 1985, Free Theatre, The Arts Centre
image from rehearsals
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Reviews...a disciplined, tightly co-ordinated and frequently intense performance.... ...unusual theatrical experiences, compelling attention despite their strangeness. Some of the most exciting theatre in Christchurch.... Free makes up in exuberance what it lacks in smoothness. This has risks. Their production of 'Mahagonny', for instance, was decidedly more enthusiastic than polished, but Brecht can stand rough edges. It was in their recent production of two short plays by Sam Shepard that Free demonstrated how brilliantly such risks can pay off.... The term "Free" theatre refers to the German tradition of socially critical drama. 'Action' didn't send its audience out to burn down Christ's College across the road. But it did break down traditional audience expectations of theatre. It left them disturbed, disoriented, at odds. Something new was at work in the hallowed, tourist-enticing walls of the Arts Centre. |
