This retelling of Oscar Wilde’s short tale of love, knowledge and sacrifice has been created with a great deal of love and care.
Combining live music, film and delicate shadow puppets, this quiet performance is set in the atmospheric ruins surrounding the Brisbane Powerhouse.
It’s been a year since Jennifer Bismire and a team of puppeteers brought Julian Running to Anywhere Theatre Festival, and it’s clear that year has been spent productively. Most of the rough edges seen in last year’s offering have been smoothed out to bring us a beautiful performance in The Nightingale and The Rose.
Like any good puppet show, there are comfy cushions at the front of the audience, though most of the audience choose to sit on the chairs to the back. And it may be a wise move.
This is an open air performance, with lots of space for the five puppetry screens, projector providing narration and the film screening. It looks beautiful and provides a landscape in which to be lost inside the story. But from the front of the audience, it can be difficult to take it all in at once as there are often multiple screens competing for our attention.
When watching the film or revelling in the beauty of the puppetry — shadow figures writing with quill pens or turning on appliances that actually seem to work — it’s easy to miss sections of the narration. Without knowing the story in advance, you may find yourself getting a little lost as the story progresses. Fortunately it’s a simple tale, and can be easily picked up again as the action progresses.
The haunting live music, performed by Richard Grantham, complements the eloquent words of Oscar Wilde seen on the screen. It is a lovely touch, as are many of the lighting techniques employed with the puppetry which add depth to this two-dimensional medium.
The film component was well produced with an exquisite set. It overlapped nicely with puppetry scenes to supplement the story, though was perhaps a little overused. I found some of the acting a little stilted, which perhaps would have been remedied by having actors live on set who could better integrate into the scene as a whole.
It was worth the wait for this very enjoyable adaptation from a talented group of performers.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Nerissa Rowan
The Nightingale and the Rose
presented as part of the 2013 Anywhere Theatre Festival
Director: Jennifer Bismire
Film Director: Belinda McCulloch
Musical Director: Richard Grantham
Technical Director: Imogen Titmarsh
Film cast: Michael Croome, John Grey and Tim Gollan
Puppeteers: Sami Van Barneveld, Emily Bruce, Eloise Maree, Helen Stephens, Lauren Neilson, Perie Essex and Caitlin Adie
Labyrinth, Brisbane Powerhouse
9–11 and 16–18 May
Bookings: www.anywherefest.com
