In a Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence is the second installment of Bell Shakespeare’s In a Nutshell series.
The first, two years ago, opened the Nielson Nutshell – the company’s new home at Dawes Point – and provided general insights into Shakespeare and some of his greatest works.
Taking the form of a lecture, it saw Bell Shakespeare’s artistic director Peter Evans walking audiences through great Shakespearean themes and scenes, with actors delivering excerpts from a range of plays.
This time around, the format is much the same except that violence is the theme. Evans posits that while there’s a lot of violence in Shakespeare’s plays, the violence is not gratuitous but, rather, highlights how violence begets violence.
New Zealand-born Evans gives off the air of a university professor as he shares insights into scenes from the plays, including Coriolanus, Hamlet, Henry V, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.
He darts about the space as he speaks, pen and notebook in hand, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, occasionally scrawling something in his notebook. He’s very much in his element, passionate and excited.
The six actors he calls upon to bring various scenes to life present their soliloquys atop several large boxes or crates placed in the centre of the stage, which is configured in the round.
The staging is simple, with the actors wearing street clothes.
More creative is Max Lyandvert’s sound design accompanying the soliloquies; it’s haunting and abstruse but always appropriate, never overpowering the onstage action.
All six actors are competent, with Darius Williams and Lucy Bell the standouts for this reviewer.
The best parts of this show are a section where Bell Shakespeare’s fight director Nigel Poulton demonstrates the intricacies of sword-fighting in Shakespeare’s plays; and Evans’ stocktake of the many and varied ways death comes to Shakespearean characters.
The most shocking is surely found in Act V of Titus Andronicus, when the titular character kills the Empress of Rome’s sons Chiron and Demetrius, grinds their bones into powder, cooks their heads into a pie and serves the pie to the empress!
The Poetry of Violence functions well as a kind of primer on Shakespeare’s works, particularly where violence is involved (and that’s most of them) although some may find it akin to an overly long university lecture punctuated by sections of acting.
Read: Theatre review: The Children, Heath Ledger Theatre, WA
But for anyone who’s interested in the Bard or learning more about his works, this production comes recommended.
In a Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence
Presented by Bell Shakespeare
Director: Peter Evans
Designer: Anna Tregloan
Lighting Designer: Benjamin Cisterne
Composer and Sound Designer: Max Lyandvert
Cast: Lucy Bell, James Evans, Peter Evans, Madeline Li, Nigel Poulton, Jessica Tovey, Darius Williams
In a Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence was performed at the Nielson Nutshell, Pier 2/3, Dawes Point NSW from 4 to 8 September 2024 and will be staged at the Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra ACT from 13 to 14 September 2024.
