Following on from the success of their 2012 production, The Red Tree, Barking Gecko presents another strong stage adaptation of a children’s picture book featuring traditionally adult themes.
Based on Wolf Erlbruch’s book of the same name, the stage play follows the simple story closely. Death has been following Duck all her life. One day she notices him, and they converse about the nature of mortality and the afterlife. That night, she goes to sleep, and is delightfully surprised to wake up alive in the morning. Death is still there, and they spend many days and months having adventures together. When Duck dies, Death lays a tulip upon her body and sheds a tear, before returning to his duties and attending to his next visit.
Ella Hetherington as Duck was perfect. Her wonderfully expressive face, meaningful, controlled movements, comical kazoo-delivered lines and graceful dancing ensured the character earned a place in our hearts. Even in repose she was wonderfully natural and duck-like, bobbing on the surface of the ‘pond’ and preening stray feathers. George Shevtsov was well-cast as a long and lanky Death, his stilted movements both a contrast to Hetherington’s energetic Duck and a reference to the original book’s depiction of Death as a skeleton.
The musicians carried on Barking Gecko’s tradition of creating an original score as well as performing on stage. The interaction between them and the actors was sweetly done, and emphasised the vitality of the musical accompaniment, which moved the play along at a good pace. Rhythmic changes from the attentive accompanists helping to avoid any sense of narrative padding, which could have resulted from a less skillful adaptation of such a simple tale for performance. The continuous music also rendered the various dance and acrobatic routines a natural part of the production.
Death’s gorgeous grey frock coat and bowler hat, and Duck’s fluffy dress and jacket were quite different from the book’s stark illustrations, but were well-designed to function as character-developing props as well as distinctive costumes. Inspired set design created the impression of space on what is really a tiny stage. Props were excellent, with playpen balls as water in the bathtub that did duty as the pond, and a series of ladders as a nearby tree. Projections further opened up the stage while conveying a sense of time and meaning, without adding any visual clutter to proceedings. The simple device of smoke rising around Death, perched up his ladder as he observed the world, neatly bookended the show.
Duck, Death and the Tulip is a children’s play for all ages, taking Wolf Erlbruch’s book as a starting point but emphasising the joys and value of life itself as well as the book’s themes of death and the afterlife. Beautifully adapted for the stage, the changes made to the tale have only enriched the original text and its messages, in yet another delightful offering from Barking Gecko.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Barking Gecko Theatre Company and Perth International Arts Festival present
Duck, Death and the Tulip
By Wolf Erlbruch
Adapted and Directed for the stage by John Sheedy
Musical Director: Tristen Parr
Live Score: Tristen Parr, Christopher de Groot and Callum Moncrieff.
Orchestra: Tristen Parr, Aaron Wyatt, Callum Moncrieff, Christopher de Groot and Rachael Aquilina
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest
Video Designer: Chris More
Set and Costume Designer: Alicia Clements
Costumier: Rosie Hodge
Sound Designer: Kingsley Reeve
Head of Sound: James Luscombe
Production and Stage Manage: Genevieve Jones
Subiaco Arts Centre, Subiaco
Perth Festival 2013
www.perthfestival.com.au
8 February – 2 March
