Kenneth Ranson and Marthe Rovik. Image by Gary Marsh Photography.
As a psychological suspense thriller with a twisty tail, The House on the Lake is difficult to review to any depth without giving at least some of the game away. Just be mindful there may be some mild spoilers ahead; it might be a good idea to stop reading at about the third paragraph if you want to avoid them.
David Rail (Kenneth Ransom) wakes up in a hospital with anterograde amnesia, meaning that, while his long term memory is intact, his short term memory resets itself every fifteen minutes or so. Also present in the room is Doctor Alice Lowe (Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik), who begins asking him questions, adjusting her approach each time his memory fails and restarts. The main character in the movie Memento had the same condition as Rail, and it does makes for an interesting plot device: the storyline is retrospectively revealed to both the audience and the central characters at roughly the same pace, which can create a certain camaraderie, and the release of information is necessarily gradual, which aids in the suspense.
Unfortunately, this story has been done before, and not just by Christopher Nolan. Which would be fine, if the play managed to extend out of its relatively narrow scope and surprise us. (Ok, spoilers from here.) Even the much anticipated twisty bits are unsubtly revealed and vanilla at best, exposing the foundational elements of the plot – the house in the middle of nowhere, murder, infidelity – to be uninteresting and archetypical. An old story, like a cover song, can work magnificently if its writer adds a flair of originality or lashes outside the boundaries of the work. Aidan Fennessy’s script is well-written and clean, but dulled by a lack of courage and inspiration.
Even so, if you have the patience, the cast and crew easily make this play worth its 90 minutes. As a two-hander, it places immense pressure on the actors, and both Ransom and Snorresdotter Rovik hold the play together well, if unequally. Ransom is mesmerising – natural, deeply embedded in the subtlties of his character, and crisp in his cadence and ability to project. Snorresdotter Rovik’s performance, though marked by a strong demeanour, is somewhat wooden in contrast. That said, her character is also flatter than Ransom’s, with Lowe used by Fennessy primarily as a probe to explore Rail.
Backstage, Black Swan has again pulled out all the stops. The lighting is practical, clever and efficient, illuminating a set that is rich in detail and acutely stylised. The soundtrack is cinematic and large, almost as if it’s preparing the play for the movies. All together they settle a grand and dark mood around The House on the Lake. And while there’s no escaping an old story, this Black Swan production has done a dull script a great deal of justice.
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
The House on the Lake
Performed by Kenneth Ransom and Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik
Writer: Aidan Fennessy
Director: Stuart Halusz
Set & Costume Designer: India Mehta
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest
Sound Designer: Brett Smith
Stage Manager: Hugo Aguilar Lopez
Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre, William St, Perth
www.bsstc.com.au
6 – 22 June
