Malthouse Theatre and Ranters Theatre
19 July 2008
CUB Malthouse, Tower Theatre
Holiday is a meditative
exploration of a world separated from the responsibility and routine of
day-to-day life. It’s more weekend beach house than five star resort, but who
doesn’t love a few days at the beach.
I was initially intrigued and drawn into this gentle world. Raimondo
Cortese’s writing captures casual conversation with ease, Adriano Cortese’s
direction is beautifully paced and structured, and Paul Lum and Patrick
Moffat’s performances are faultless.
But I wasn’t taken anywhere else. Like a beach house holiday, I kept waiting
for something to happen; expecting a moment that would tie the looseness of the
conversations, chats and stories into something more.
I could see so much process at work that I was never really engaged, or
even that interested in the characters. There were nibbles and hints that drew
me back in, but never enough to give a clear understanding of their
relationship with each other or make me really care. Which could well be the
point of Holiday. When men are alone, do they really have
such mundane conversations?
I didn’t see the original production at Arts House, and suspect that some
of the impact of the design was also lost in its transfer to The Tower. Sitting
up the back, I was immediately distanced from the white box set, which would
have felt a lot more intimate in the front rows. Nontheless, Anna Tregloan’s
design perfectly captures the complexity, mood and humour of the work. (Tregloan’s
design continues to be a highlight of every production she works on.) The whole piece is coloured and given
remarkable depth by David Franzke’s sound design. I know there wasn’t a cat
scampering under my seat, but I found myself looking for it.
There are so many elements of Holiday
that are superb, but I came away feeling like I should have packed a really
good book to read.
This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
