Photo: Marty Williams
It’s fitting that a new musical theatre production about Ned Kelly – the Australian bushranger of Irish heritage who was executed at Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880 – should have its world premiere in Bendigo’s magnificent new Ulumbarra Theatre.
Built within and sensitively incorporating many of the architectural elements of the former Sandhurst Gaol, one enters the theatre by walking under the gallows, past cells converted into cloak room and box office. Sadly, NED – A new Australian Musical lacks the imagination of the Ulumbarra’s architects, and though its ambition is to be applauded, and while it succeeds in condensing the key events of Kelly’s short life into theatrical form, it does so with little flair.
Following an opening scene where the adult Ned (Nelson Gardner) waits to be hanged, the bulk of the musical is set in flashback, beginning with the episode circa 1865 when the young Kelly was presented with a green silk sash by the parents of a grateful boy he saved from drowning. Thereafter we watch Kelly grow into the outlaw of legend, nurtured by his mother Ellen (the compelling Penny Larkins), roughhousing with his friends and family, including ladies’ man Joe Byrne (a charismatic Connor Crawford), and harassed by police – especially the unctuous Constable Fitzpatrick (Nick Simpson-Deeks) whose pursuit of Ned’s teenaged sister, Kate (Hannah Fredericksen) precipitates the events which see Ned and his brother Dan (Robert Tripolino) outlawed.
Featuring a cast of 25 and an 18-strong orchestra, this is a major production given a rare out-of-town tryout in Bendigo in the hope of a future production elsewhere in Australia. But significant work is required before NED is ready for remounting.
One of the musical’s greatest faults is its book: the story is unimaginative, a straightforward retelling of events which makes no attempt to explore some of the more fantastic elements of the Kelly myth, such as historian Ian Jones’ claim that Ned hoped to establish a Republic of North-Eastern Victoria. It also fails to give any strong sense of its characters’ personalities save as briefly sketched caricatures; nor does the book give any real sense of the greater political landscape which shaped Ned’s rebellion against the colonial authority of the day or the popular support his crimes garnered. Leaden dialogue, with a larrikin-like focus on sexual innuendo that initially amuses but quickly grates, also detracts.
Equally significantly, the production’s 21 musical numbers feel very much by-the-numbers: songs just happen rather than being integral to the plot, emotionally resonant, or revealing the character’s inner lives and motivations.
Nonetheless, some effective numbers exist, such as ‘Timber and Steel’, sung as Ned and his friends labour on the railway; the bawdy folk-inspired kitchen table number ‘Here’s to the Kellys’; and the sombre ‘White Dove’, sung by the Gang and a tender counterpoint to their violent reputation. Other numbers, such as the second act song ‘A Woman’s Hand’, while effective, feel rote, artificially inserted into the score in order to echo the base structure of what Lyon thinks a musical should sound like (as he has previously told ArtsHub).
The production also fumbles what should be some of its most powerful moments – in particular the murders of Constable Lonigan, Sergeant Kennedy and Constable Scanlon at Stringybark Creek; and the reveal of the gang in their now-iconic armour. Such scenes should be chilling, thrilling and intensely dramatic – instead, they feel muted and clumsily staged, indicative of the generally inert and emotionless tone of the production overall.
There are numerous strong performers, but all are over-miked, leaving the audience struggling to identify who is singing at any given time. Costumes are appropriate but too clean, and some aspects of the set – such as a single tree lowered on stage to evoke the bush which shields the Kelly Gang from their police pursuers – seem cheap. Conversely, the lighting design is excellent.
One day the story of Ned Kelly and his gang will make a great musical – until then, NED will have to suffice.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Groaning Dam Productions and Capital Venues & Events present
NED – A New Australian Musical
Director: Gary Young
Music and Lyrics: Adam Lyon
Book: Anna Lyon and Marc McIntyre
Set Design: Marc McIntyre
Musical Direction: Loclan Mackenzie-Spencer
Choreography: Michael Ralph
Costume Design: Emily Barrie
Lighting Design: Rob Sowinski
Cast includes Nelson Gardner, Penny Larkins, Alana Tranter, Hannah Friedricksen, Robert Tripolino, Connor Crawford, Brent Trotter and Neil Simpson-Deeks
Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
www.nedmusical.com.au
22-31 May 2015
