|
14-18 July 1992 University Theatre, The Arts Centre
Free Theatre presents a production of two expressionist plays about the battle between the sexes. These battles take place in the minds of protagonists created by a contemporary Christchurch female poet and a turn of the century Viennese male painter respectively and therefore take on predictably opposing forms themselves.
Bernadette Hall's The Girl Who Sings Waterfalls was commissioned for this production and the company, together with the writer, had a chance to find a theatrical form for this play. The play reflects the changes and problems that accompany increased self awareness in women. As more women leave their marriages and many turn to lesbian relationships, it seems that the traditional patterns of male/female bonding are failing to provide a solid emotional base. The play develops in a cyclical form from which breaks into violence but ends with an assertion of the energy of love. As the dramatic voice of the play is that of a woman, it was felt that it would strengthen the integrity of the piece, if the male roles in the play were also played by women. While Bernadette Hall's play may be called "expressionist" only loosely, Sphinx and Strawman is unquestioningly regarded as one of the first expressionist plays ever written. Oskar Kokoschka is actually a famous expressionist painter and in his early farce his protagonist rants and raves about the obsessive "gynolatry" (adoration of women) of his contemporaries. It is up to a discerning audience to decide, if his misogynist outpourings can be laughed at from the distance of today or if the play is ironically undermining its own sexual or sexist projection from the Jungian "anima" to the then fashionable female "vamp". Certainly the big-headed male protagonist loses his battle with woman. The play was written in 1907, but its most memorable performance was by the DADA artists in the "Cabaret Voltaire" in 1917. |
PublicityReviewAs a celebration and assertion of loving female energy released by the five actors, this work becomes an exquisite sculptural form. This play spirals its way into your consciousness. |
|
|
|
|
