Music by
David King
Lyrics by
James Millar
Directed by
Caroline Stacey
Sound Design
by Seth Edwards-Ellis
Reported by Bill
Stephens.
FIRST SEEN, is a new initiative of the Street
Theatre which is creating quite a buzz in theatre circles. Over four consecutive Sundays, Canberra
audiences have the opportunity to be first to see a new work, selected from The
Street’s THE HIVE creative program
for further development. Each of the works is given a week’s workshopping by
professional creatives and actors prior to a public showing at the end of that week, at which members of the public
are encouraged to attend and provide feedback.
The works already
unveiled in this round of showings include “From a Black Sky” an operatic work
about the Canberra bushfires by Sandra Frances and Helen Nourse and “Drama Queen” a musical written by Geraldine
Turner, with Music by David King and Lyrics by James Millar. Two plays are yet to
be shown, “Two plays” a play by Cathy
Petocz and “Sampaguita” a play by Noonee Doronila.
Having
missed out on seeing “From a Black Sky” because I arrived too late to be
accommodated in Street Two where the showings were being staged, I made sure I
arrived in good time for “Drama Queen”.
Lucky I did, because again there was a capacity house in attendance.
“Drama
Queen”, Geraldine Turner’s first musical, is written for four actors, two
female and two male. It’s a searing examination of a dysfunctional relationship
between a mother and daughter. Its challenging script wrestles with changes in
time and locality, and characters who may be real or figments of imagination.
The music is
written by David King, who has previously written music for several musicals
including three with Nick Enright. David is Head of Music at the West
Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
The lyrics
are the work of James Millar, whose previous musicals include “The Hatpin” and
“Lovebites”.
At the showing,
the mother was played by Geraldine Turner, the daughter by Claire Watson while PJ
Williams played a character called Leo, and James Millar played several other
male characters.
The
composer, David King accompanied the performance from a piano placed to one
side, as the four actors, sitting on chairs arranged across the playing area,
read from scripts, only occasionally standing or walking. The disembodied voice of the husband/father
was featured in a soundscape designed by Seth Edwards-Ellis.
Caroline
Stacey, who directed both the workshops and showing, provided verbal links to
the action from side stage as the performance progressed.
Because of
the absence of visual prompts like scenery or stage movement, and the variance
in the unmiked voices, the performance was a relatively challenging experience
for the audience who had to rely on what they could glean from the script and
song lyrics to follow the action as it moved between timeframes and
localities.
But they listened
intently, applauded the songs, and laughed at the dialogue, and when it reached
its conclusion, responded with enthusiastic applause. Then at the invitation of
Caroline Stacey, many took the opportunity to provide their feedback on their response
to their first glimpse of what they sincerely hoped would become a new and
exciting work.
There are
just two more opportunities to participate in a FIRST SEEN experience at The Street. “Two Plays” by Cathy Petocz on May
6, and “Sampaguita” by Noonee Doronila on May 13th. You could just
find yourself at the birth of something truly exciting.
