Geordie Crawley and Elise Wilson are two very active Perth/Boorloo-based independent theatre creatives who have been writing, directing and/or producing new performance works in the local scene for some time (previous works include Hive Mind and Girl in the Wood by Crawley, and Do I Look Like I Care and Talkback directed by Wilson). The fact that Perth Festival has platformed their latest work Logue Lake for its world premiere season feels like a brilliant achievement in itself.
But these artists’ first official collaboration (with Crawley as writer and Wilson as director) is also a commendable milestone for the pair in respect of the challenges it presents to certain theatre conventions and for its unexpected – though at times frustrating – layers of intrigue.
The show’s surprising journey begins as we enter the stage space with our headsets on and, as instructed, flick our low-fi FM radio settings between five different channels to reveal the different dialogues spoken by the small cast of characters.
Our old-school personal audio devices are a great match for the work’s physical environment, which we are free to soak up as we wander around the space. (This show is essentially a promenade style experience, with some seating available, but also ample room to walk around and view the work from multiple angles.)
In the centre of the room is an old, 1970s-style cabin on a lake in the middle of the woods. This main set piece, designed by Sam Diamond with lighting by Peter Young, is a sturdy wooden house-frame packed with drab furniture and vintage ornaments.
Depending on where you choose to sit or stand, this “house with no walls” means you can easily see into each room of the cabin to spy on what’s happening in its lounge room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms or creaking old porch out the back.
The story’s characters (also from the 1970s or 80s) soon fill the cabin’s lounge and start joking and reminiscing as they hang out together for a holiday in the house, which one of them has inherited from their father, and which lies deep in the forest, miles away from their usual small town lives.
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The gang of friends includes Michael, a 20/30-something architect (played by Isaac Diamond), his uptight girlfriend Carrie (Lila McGuire), Michael’s more laid-back but discerning sister Raegan (Alicia Osyka) and Alex, Michael’s long-time best friend (Timothy Green).
On Saturday (23 February) night’s performance, the show’s opening scene was one of its weakest moments. The four actors took a while to get comfortable and were not helped by their awkward conversational dialogue in which intimate stories of their past were revealed.
But it didn’t take long to be drawn into their lives and thoughts, especially when a fifth character – the “lost” inscrutable hiker Hugh (played by Will O’Mahony) arrived on their doorstep.
Suffice to say Crawley and Wilson’s love of the suspense-driven horror film genre informs large aspects of the script (with fitting Twin Peaks-style background music included at key moments, composed by Louis Frere-Harvey). Also woven in are stories of repressed desires, queer love, anxiety and grief.
While the actors – especially O’Mahony – negotiate the work’s dramatic storylines well, its drawcard feature of the “choose our own adventure” style audio becomes one of its flaws, as some viewers miss seeing crucial parts of the plot unfold and, as a consequence, may have gaping holes in their version of the story by the work’s end. (On the flip side, the fact that each show is a bespoke ride means a disjointed show for one person may be a seamless journey for another.)
For this viewer, the audio switching and not being able to listen in to more than one conversation at a time when there were clearly multiple interesting interactions happening, was frustrating, and at times confused the thread of who was doing what and why. This may have been the artists’ intention, and it makes for great post-show conversation and comparing of notes with others seeing the same show, but it takes the edge off what could be a more cohesive journey with more cleverly designed audio alignments. (Not all audience members need to know every part of the story, but leaving some people in the dark about major plot developments feels like a mistake.)
Overall, Logue Lake is a work of ambition and shows an impressive level of commitment to a bold concept on the part of its creative team (this project has been seven years in the making so far). It’s also a project ripe with future possibilities, and with further tightening is likely to achieve even sharper and more powerful results.
Logue Lake, Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA
Director and co-Creator: Elise Wilson
Writer and co-Creator: Geordie Crawley
Producer: Erin Lockyer
Production Designer: Sam Diamond
Lighting Designer: Peter Young
Composer: Louis Frere-Harvey
Sound Designer: Ben Collins
Sound Associate: Chloe McCormack
Production Manager: Roger Miller
Stage Manager: Sophia Morgan
Performers: Isaac Diamond, Timothy Green, Lila McGuire, Will O’Mahony, Alicia Osyka
Logue Lake is performing until 3 March at Studio Underground as part of Perth Festival 2024.
