Based on Rosa Guy’s novel My Love, My Love, any disbelief must be left in the foyer as a story originally inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid is staged as a story wrapped in a story. Set on an island in the Antilles, this WAAPA production features star-crossed lovers – one from the black peasant community, the other of French-descended aristocratic stock – and more than a little stalker-like devotion.
A cast of players waits out a storm, calming a frightened young girl with the story of events ‘once on this island’. In a similar storm’s aftermath, an older peasant couple find an orphaned girl in a tree. Superstitiously they obey the apparent will of the gods and raise her.
Growing up, Ti Moune brings great joy, but she develops an ambition for the finer things in life and the joys of riding in a motorcar. She prays to the gods, who are amused by her desires and turn her prayers into a game. Soon after, she finds a badly injured young man, Daniel, after his car accident. She insists on nursing him, despite the fears and reluctance of other peasants. The gods demand his life, but besotted, Ti Moune offers up her soul in his stead. Once Daniel’s father learns his location, a helicopter is sent to retrieve the boy. Ti Moune follows him home, becoming his lover and ‘healer’, expecting to marry him. Learning that he is betrothed to another, she despairs, wastes away and dies on his wedding day. The gods then turn her into a tree in the grounds of his mansion, where she watches over her beloved and his descendants.
The cast worked together smoothly in the many ensemble set pieces. Libby Asciak played the little girl with wide-eyed wonder, complementing some of the emotionally extreme moments. Jessica Van Wyk impressed with her stamina as Ti Moune, dancing, emoting and singing with a rich yet clear voice. Joel Paszkowski handled his role as Daniel well, considering the one-dimensional nature of the character, and his duets with Van Wyk were plaintively well-balanced.
As expected from productions with WAAPA talent in the technical crew, the versatile set enhanced the mood, set the scene and still allowed plenty of room to move. The rope swings around the front of the stage were an interesting touch, allowing different layers of action in ensemble pieces, and the ‘statues’ with their glowing eyes were subtle and harmonised with the action.
Costumes were designed joyfully and with passion, different styles not only further reinforcing the class divide, but also adding charm to the characters. The peasant costumes impressed with their responsiveness to dance moves, and the lusciously imagined costumes for the stilt-walking gods were marvellous feats of engineering.
The musical accompaniment was more than competent, and the skill of the sound technicians ensured that vocals and instruments mostly worked together rather than in competition. Some points in the songs with lines shared between singers found the wrong mics amplified at the wrong times, but this was quickly remedied. The constraints of the artform and the venue made the use of actual steel drums unworkable; sadly the replacement – a synthesiser – gave an unfortunate feel of ‘Calypso Lite’ for much of the program.
Mikaila Briggs stood out with her facility with the Afro-Caribbean inspired dance moves, in contrast to the rest of the cast who seemed more enthusiastic than able in this respect. However the massed dance scenes made great use of the available space, bodies moving in time and using other bodies as props in charming vignettes within the overall piece. The contrast between the European-style moves and the Caribbean movements was marked. The gods initially seemed a little wobbly on their stilts, but Sean Moore as Papa Ge (the Demon of Death) put that to rest with spectacular use of the rope swings.
Overall, a diverting piece of light musical theatre, well-executed by a highly talented group of performers. Lapses in storyline development were covered by the high energy and enthusiasm of the cast, who would seem better served by something a little more substantial.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Once on this Island
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Directed by Jason Langley
Musical Director: David King
Choreographer: Bernie Bernard
Production Designer: Cherish Marrington
Production Manager: Ryan McGaw
Lighting Designer: Bethany Ewell
Sound Designer: Carly Gagliardi
Wardrobe Supervisor: Osha Shealey
Musicians: David King, Kohan van Sambeeck, Sam Parry, Matthew Keesing, Sam Blackburn, Rosie Taylor
Performed by WAAPA 3rd Year Music Theatre students: Libby Asciak, Mikaila Briggs, Ross Chisari, Melanie Cornell, Julia Dray, Emily Hart, Bobbie-Jean Henning, Laura Johnston, Sean Moore, Henry Moss, Benjamin Nicholson, Jack O’Riley, David Ouch, Joel Paszkowski, Clay Roberts, Jessica Van Wyk and Riley Sutton
The Geoff Gibbs Theatre, WAAPA, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley
16 – 23 March
