Wednesday 25 April 2012

The Plague Dances, Four Larks, April 22, 2012 **1/2

By Four Larks, presented by Malthouse Theatre
The Tower, Malthouse Theatre,  April 19 to 29, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert on Sunday April 22, 2012
Stars: ** 1/2

Dance, trance and religion played a significant role in the development of drama in both Europe and Asia. Classical Greek theatre evolved from religious dance and musical rituals dedicated to Dionysus and many cultures still use trance and dance to celebrate religious rites.

The story of 400 villagers who inexplicably and spontaneously began dancing in 16th century Strasbourg certainly has theatrical potential, but this is only partially fulfilled in The Plague Dances by Four Larks.

The script is conventional in form and style while the story resembles a biblical parable and the dialogue attempts to replicate classical language.

When a lone, frightened girl (Esther Hanneford) arrives in a village that is isolated from the plague, the priest (Kevin Kiernan-Molloy) accepts her while townspeople suspect her of carrying the plague.

In fact, she is afflicted with strange seizures that half the town believes to be a dance dedicated to St. Vitus, and the rest think is an illness brought on by sin.

The production suffers from an awkward mix of styles and forms, including original music, earnest and, portentous language and unimaginative movement sequences.

This is a youthful cast but some of the strongest moments come from older, experienced actor, Matt Crosby, whose voice and delivery make the language and style work for him.

The live music and songs (Mat Diafos-Sweeney) have some interesting moments but lacks originality and the passion and power of Mediaeval or Renaissance religious music or the folk music of the period.

It is possible that having four writers (Diafos-Sweeney, Sebastian Peters-Lazaro, Jesse Rasmussen, Marcel Dorney) made coherence and consistency difficult. Theatre by committee is always a challenge but it can be very successful.

By Kate Herbert

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