Image supplied by Mockingbird Theatre.
‘Macabre. Debauched. Thrilling. Hilarious.’
The Mockingbird Theatre’s production of Doug Wright’s Quills, directed by Chris Baldock, promises the audience sensation and entertainment, but does it succeed? In short, sometimes.
Quills is a fantastical recreation of the final period in the life of the Marquis de Sade–a prolific and accomplished writer of the intersection between pleasure and pain, sex and sadism–who spent his final years in Charenton mental asylum befriended by the director, Abbe de Coulmier, who allowed him to open a theatre there. He died of natural causes in 1814.
Wright, in Quills, borrows from the style of the Grand Guignol, a form of theatre born in Paris in 1897, known for its bloodlust, horror and melodramatic acting. These influences are certainly evident in de Sade’s writing, the grotesque and outrageous peppering moments of long exposition.
The play aims to tackle some lofty philosophical quandaries, censorship vs art, pornography vs sex, sanity vs insanity, religion, humanity, etc. This seems to necessitate long discussions particularly between the Abbe de Coulmier (representing religion and, initially, humanity and sanity) and de Sade (embodying the opposite). This, for me is where the production falls down. The tension, particularly in the first half of the play, is just not sufficient to keep the audience engaged. My feeling is that it could have done with a good edit.
I also wonder if it’s the venue. Quills is on show within the vast hall of the Arts House in the Meat Market. While no doubt this is a lovely building to be in, the set is huge, a middle open-sided stage flanked by two stages at either end. The action rotates around these stages and also along the walls behind the audience. While an interesting concept which should be compelling, the action and dialogue is sometimes lost with the constant demands of the shifting of attention to a new speaker or location. The acoustics of the venue means that some dialogue, particularly when spoken by actors with their backs towards you (necessitated by the staging), is lost. This becomes frustrating and ultimately tiring, evident by the constant yawning of theatregoers in the interval.
The main actors are supported by a large cast of asylum inmates who are most impressive in their recreation of madness, never once lapsing into ‘normality’. Chris Baldock’s direction in naturalistic acting and the skills of this group of talented actors are both outstanding.
Adrian Carr as de Sade is played as a modern day Hannibal Lector, his vileness so plausible I almost expect him to start licking his lips and speaking of ‘fava beans’. Carr’s performance is gutsy and skilled. Adam Ward as the manipulative, pompous Dr Royer-Collard, is also strong but it does feel as if he is more focused on voice projection in the first half of the play, sometimes sacrificing nuance. He seems to inhabit the role more convincingly in the second half, becoming less vaudevillian.
Dylan Watson as the Abbe de Coulmier is outstanding, assigned the difficult task of portraying the gradual transition from humanitarian to monster. If the performance verges on outlandish in the latter part, it is more the fault of the writing than the skills of Watson. Andrea McCannon as de Sade’s wife is assured and comical. Indeed this is where the comedy is most embraced by the audience, otherwise falling a bit flat. Lauren Murtagh as Madeleine LeClerc is solid.
Overall this production of Quills is ambitious and certainly suggests that the Mockingbird Theatre has a wealth of talent within its ranks, but for me it is let down by the vastness of the venue and its acoustics, and the constant transitioning required by the audience. I also wonder if the themes it tackles are too numerous and expansive to be carried on the shoulders of a three hour play. The long stretches of dialogue are just not sufficiently compelling to engage the audience, particularly when some words disappear into the shadowy recesses of the Meat Market.
Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars
Quills
Written by Doug Wright
Director: Chris Baldock
Production managers: Emma Ward and Kellie Bray
Stage manager: Emily Carter
Set designer: Merinda Backway
Lighting designers: Jason Bovaird and Ben Howlett
Costume designer: Kellie Bray
Cast: Adrian Carr, Adam Ward, Dylan Watson, Lauren Murtagh, Andrea McCannon, Jordan Armstrong, Andi Snelling
Arts House, Meat Market, North Melbourne
www.facebook.com/MockingbirdTheatre)
5 – 15 August
