Online review from qstage 21/4/2002 (Saucy Blade)
FACTORY SPACE THEATRE present
CYMBELINE
by William Shakespeare Directed by Roz Riley
Hub Theatre Newtown \Wed-Sun 8pm during April Bookings 9439 1906
.Factory Space Theatre have reclaimed The Hub, that strange and sinister building opposite Newtown Station. In doing so they have added another atmospheric and versatile space to the inner west's fringe theatre scene. Many will remember The Hub as a place to go for a quick grope while sleazy hetero porn played in the background. Maybe an these deep and secret pleasures of the past win continue to hang around in the building’s atmosphere.
Factory Space have also revived Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's most rarely performed plays. 'Within a highly cmplex and varied plot, there are some wonderfull opportunities for comic and dramatic actors, and for the imaginative use of a large ensemble.
Cymbeline (Peter McCallum) is the aging king of ancient Britain. His wife has died, leaving him a
daughter, Innogen (Natalie Wise)- he also has two sons who were stolen as babies. He has married
again to the scheming "Queen" who wants her clownish and lusty son Cloten (Daniel McCallum) to succeed
Cymbeline and marry Innogen. Innogen has secretly married her childhood playmate Postumus (David Sutton),
whose sexual insecurity leaves him open to the darkly witty Iachimo (James Lugton), who wagers he can
seduce Innogen. He gets close but fails. Then he sneaks into her bedroom and looks at her body while she
is sleeping, allowing him to convince Posthumus he has seduced her. Postumus orders Pisanio (Hamish Sullivan), a quirky and compassionate servant, to kill Innogen- he instead disguises her as a boy and she wanders the countryside where she meets her two brothers who think they are shepherds. The situation all ends happily, but in the meantime notions of loyalty, jealousy, trust and lust are explored against the background of the ancient Druid court, Imperial Rome at the time of Augustus and the countryside.
Director Roz Riley and a large ensemble of mainly young actors manage for the most part to capture the
darkly comic energy, melodrama and variety of this wonderful script.
The Hub is a large space and occasionally the action is too widely spread out in it leading to a lack of
focus, particularly at the beginning. The use of atmospheric music sometimes makes the actors hard to hear.
However the production contains some very exciting scenes and intense complex characterizations from the
actors. Director Riley is at her best when she uses her imagination and some tight stylized blocking.
such as when Iachimo and his friends hem Postumus in and play with his doubts about Innogen, or where
Cloten brutally harasses a young servant girl while talking about his love for Innogen. There are also
many absorbing intimate scenes as Innogen, the lost brothers, the Queen and others work through the
issues arising from the play's constant and fast moving changes.
Some of the actors succeed very well in combining the play's sexual passion, deep thoughtfulness and
comic energy. Natalie Wise is very clear and watchable as Innogen, Daniel MacCallum finds menacing and
comical lustful energy as Cloten and Fiona Passmore has a wonderful intensity as one of the long lost sons and a range of courtesans.
At times the play is hard to follow, and the space is too big for a few of the actors to fill. However
if you are able to give the production your full attention at three hours, you will find it rich and
rewarding. F'actory Space Theatre are to be admired for their labour of love in reviving an exciting
forgotten play and theatre space
|
