Emily Barclay’s characterisation of Nina makes most sense later on as the demure wealthy mother. The initial take on Nina as a petulant brat undermines the notion that Nina has suffered a nervous breakdown. Toby Schmitz’s typically measured, rhythmic delivery is fitting for the clinical character of Ned Darrell and Toby Truslove’s Sam Evans is cringe inducing and hilarious and not without moments of pathos. Mitchell Butel’s choice to turn Marsden into a camp Prima Donna in the regatta scene is an excellent comedic surprise. Kris McQuade as Mrs Evans stands out as an authentic and direct performer.
The show is enjoyable and entertaining. But what is Simon Stone playing at? Much of the press has named him a Wunderkind alongside Barrie Kosky and Benedict Andrews (kindergartens for gifted children are surely bursting). Jana Perkovic of Guerrilla Semiotics has criticized his productions for lacking interpretive nous, whereas Alison Croggon at Theatre Notes sees his plays as legitimate responses to classics. His productions sell well.
Stone answers in his program notes that he is translating classics into contemporary Australian vernacular in order “to raise to the level of classical drama the everyday lives of people like us”. People like Sydney theatre makers? Excellent. I didn’t want to know about life in post war America anyway.
There has been an error in the classification of his work. What looks and sounds like interesting German-inspired deconstruction has been confused for interesting German-inspired deconstruction. Just because his shows look like they’d be at home in a Berlin theatre doesn’t mean that their content shares any similarity with the distinctly political theatre of people like Thomas Ostermeier, Luk Perceval or Heiner Müller. Meaningful deconstruction of texts works in the hermeneutic tradition of questioning what is normal and seeking possibilities for the new. Stone’s treatment of texts tends rather towards simplification.
Some sensible defences for messing with classics include the following: Freud’s idea that the author’s intention is subconscious and therefore inaccessible; Barthes’ distinction between the text and its creator (rendering the author ‘dead’); and Derrida’s point that meaning comes from the use of language – words are not carriers of fixed meaning.
But Stone’s rationale for adapting classics is the notion that as a text ages, the author’s intention is ‘undermined’ because of time passing. This, along with his view that his works are translations, tells us he is aiming for accessibility, not criticism or interpretation.
Strange Interlude by Stone after O’Neill provides both entertainment and the cultural cache of watching a classic, but it’s nothing new. It’s a good play by a talented director, not a prodigy.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Strange Interlude
Written by Simon Stone after Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Simon Stone
Set Designer: Robert Cousins
Costume Designer: Mel Page
Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper
Composer & Sound Designer: Stefan Gregory
With Akos Armont, Emily Barclay, Nicholas Bakopoulos-Cooke, Mitchell Butel, Callum McManis, Kris McQuade, Eloise Mignon, Anthony Phelan, Toby Schmitz and Toby Truslove
Running time: approx. 2 hours (plus interval)
Upstairs at Belvoir
May 5 – June 17
