Tonight I went to see Plus Sign Attached at the VCA. I managed to get the last ticket for opening night, which was cool because you get champers and nibblies after the show on those nights;) It is really interesting doing the residency, because it seems like everything I do and everything I work on, ends up being filtered by the residency, and every experience I have helps me understand the kind of work I want (or don't want to make). This show taught me that restraint is an excellent quality in a stage show. I know this because restraint is the one quality this show did not have.
Don't get me wrong. I found myself laughing in quite a few spots. You might think that odd, because the show was about AIDS, but it was generally an absurdist piece - although there was interpretive dance, realism, and some physical acrobatics thrown in for good measure - oh and lets not forget the singing and the puppetry. There were moments of genius - the music chosen for the 80s disco, the grim reaper, the mumbled sex scene - but overall it came across as a random collection of theatre styles mashed together, and to be honest I didn't get a lot of the symbolism, and I am not entirely sure what the show was even really saying. The only thing I left knowing for sure was that there is a 72 hour drug similar to the abortion pill, which you can take to reduce you chance of contracting HIV. I guess if that is what I left with, then the show worked...
It was kind of funny to see the nudity. It brought back my VCA days and how there was a joke going around that if the actors could find a reason to be nude in a show, they would. It seems that era is returning pmsl. In fact, the whole show felt very 1970s to me. I actually found myself thinking of Hair. I also found myself thinking of the graduation play directed by Richard Murphett last year. I can't remember what it was called, but it was about a post-modern poetry movement. It was a truly magnificent production, and I think this group of actors were strongly influenced by it. Even down to the staging of certain elements. Unfortunately a lot of the originality in the work was smothered by the copying of unrelated forms and flawed dramaturgy.
One of the things I did like was that the show began by splitting the audience into five groups and giving us all a different entree into the main performance. Part of me is curious what it would have been like to be in one of the other groups - especially the Pacman group - but I didn't enjoy the show enough to even consider coming back for a second round. Also, in my group we began in the stairwell with a hooded actress singing a siren song, beckoning us to follow her to the next experience. It was absolutely beautiful and riveting and just perfection! I actually suspect it was Simone French, but she was hooded, so I don't know for sure.
So back to my original statement about how I see things through the prism of my residency at the moment. I recently finished working on a physical theatre piece, 'La Peste', and in that I realised that I believe that you can hold a moment too long. If it is funny, that does not mean it will continue to be funny if it goes on and on. I also discovered that I don't believe in changing performance once a show is open - unless there is something majorly wrong of course! I think everyone who buys a ticket deserves to get the same show - and I think that is also important to the clarity of the story telling you are undertaking. I also learnt the importance of working transitions well - although, really, I already knew that.
The show I saw tonight showed me that I believe you should pick a style and stick to it. I don't deny the possibility of the existence of geniuses who can somehow meld different approaches and styles, but for the rest of us - we should make sure we clearly understand the style we are working with and why we are choosing to use it. I think this is how I am slowly working my way to understanding Pound's 'primary pigment'. Tonight I learnt that one of the very first decisions to make is decide which modality is the best one to tell your particular story.
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