Not a really bad show yet although the second half last night was the nearest we’ve come to it. Wasn’t entirely the actors fault. Audiences in the main have been so appreciative. The preshow tannoy announcement about what is expected has helped, as has the fact that it is a genuinely powerful show at times and people really want to listen. So everyone has followed the plea to control laughter so others can hear. The only time this doesn’t work is if you get latecomers whom you wish had heard the announcement. This is what happened last night. After about 30 minutes a family of two young teenage girls, two pre teen kids a baby and a mother and father sat right in the front perched on the rostra, the last remaining spaces. One of the teen girls in particular had this awful cackle, which she applied to everything - actors weeping, prisoners being beaten. The only consolation was that it clearly pissed off the rest of the audience. I think the mother picked up on this vibe because towards the end she leant across to talk to her daughter and the girl went quieter after that.
The best show was this Wednesday. It was thrilling. It seemed to be coming from somewhere very deep. I will always remember Albert’s howl of anguish when he is drunk after learning that Lei will marry the politician. He’d never done it before…I love that when, during a run, the actors seem to surprise themselves into some totally new feeling. But what made the evening even more special was that it was nearly ruined by power failure. We had a couple of cuts but the security on the meter pushed reset almost immediately and then at the start of the final prison encounter between the pastor and Matthew the final failure occurs and we cannot get the power to start up. The audience didn’t want to leave. They got out their mobile phones and tried to give us enough light that way. I tried to shine a torch at it but the torch too kept cutting out. Finally after 10 minutes the power came back and the audience resumed total concentration till the end. Afterwards many people were coming up and saying that it was WSB’s best ever show.
During the day the group has been reviving two old pieces for the theatre festival. On the Reef and Shame and Ignorance. On the Reef with redesigned puppets from Ken Evans formerly of Handspan theatre in Melbourne who designed the original production in 1993!!
They arrived yesterday and the actors were thrilled. A new cast of younger actors, most of whom would have been about 4 or 5 when the original production was made. Still one of Jo’s best short plays I think.
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