|
25-28 March 2009, Old Queens Theatre, Christchurch
1-4 April 2009, Globe Theatre, Dunedin Fringe Festival, Dunedin Nominee, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, 2009 Dunedin Fringe Festival Winner, BEST THEATRE, 2009 Dunedin Fringe Festival Originally presented in 2004 as part of Achternbusch in the Antipodes before touring to Wellington, in 2009 we restaged Ella and Susan in Christchurch before touring it to Dunedin following a successful North Island tour of the award-winning Faust Chroma.
Directed by Peter Falkenberg, these plays by radical German playwright Herbert Achternbusch present rarely heard voices from the margins of society. In Ella a man, dressed in his mother's clothes (á la Hitchcock's Psycho), tells the story of his mother, abused and institutionalised. In Susn a young woman confesses to her priest how her first sexual experiences have caused her to want to leave the church. In staging these works, Free Theatre Christchurch continued a 25-year reputation for presenting rarely staged plays. As with Faust Chroma, Ella and Susn were translated by Peter Falkenberg and presented in English for the first time by the Free Theatre. This production has received particular attention for its unusual narrative style and "rich, satisfying prose" (The Press), which is a feature of Achternbusch's unconventional and challenging work as a playwright, novelist, filmmaker, actor and painter. Despite being one of the most prolific artists of the past forty years, he remains largely unknown. His obscurity is primarily due to his unwillingness to adhere to the norms of art and society, most exemplified when he set fire to an art reward he received: a $20,000 cheque. 
ArticlesStorytelling bender
The Press, 25 March 2009 On the fringe of decency Otago Daily Times, 25 March 2009 Police warn performer after street promotion Nigel Benson, Otago Daily Times, Thursday, 2 April 2009 Thoughts on Fringe Play Grant Bryant, Taieri Herald, 7 April 2009 p. 5 
|
ReviewsFrom March/April 2009 season:
McCurdy is certainly impressive. A gestural, expressive actor, she shifts easily from the fanatical to the hysterical, from the petulant to the sardonic, from the enraged to the coquettish, from the flamboyant to the fragile.... Parker's performance is compelling, giving us what we have come for: theatre.... The Free Theatre is to be congratulated for creating such a coherent, accessible treatment. 
Although this is a story of brutal exploitation and repression, the visual imagery conveys such delicate absurdity that it is at times both funny and charming....To remind one of the transcendent power of theatre to create images that ineradicable. 
These are both difficult pieces, full of broken sequences and awkward shifts, but both principal actors are spontaneous and fresh in their roles.... It is not for everyone, reality through the surreal, but if we accept that the main job of theatre is to be theatrical, to make us see freshly, Peter Falkenberg and his team are right on track. See also reviews from 2004 season of Ella and Susn here:
|
