The idea/premise behind Glassroom Theatre Company’s production UNFAIR VERONA is a clever one.
A theatre company has given up on their production of William Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET and it has now been taken over by two amateur actors and their stage manager.
The three talented actors who, together, have devised UNFAIR VERONA, are Jack Calver, Alyssa Peters and Elodie Westhoff. Calver is a graduate from the Flinders Drama Centre and was awarded, at one time, the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s Young Playwright’s Award. Calver has produced the piece via the theatre company that he established, the Glassroom Theatre Company. His fellow actors are the vivacious Alyssa Peters and Elodie Westhoff, both grads from NIDA.
Their take of Shakespeare’s most famous love story is frenetic and very comical. They skip scenes, at whim, saying that, after all, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a long play, and they only have little over an hour to perform the play before dance students take over the Studio again.
The production has a lot of navel gazing and tomfollery between scenes as the play bumbles along. Jack, all of a sudden, goes in to a monologue about whether acting is a career he should continue to pursue.
Alyssa is tormented, why is she playing Juliet, a role created by a privileged, sexist white male. She doesn’t like that Juliet is such a victim and so subservient to Romeo.
The staging worked well. The set comprised a makeshift wall on either side, leaving the centre space free. Some photos were hung up near the top of each wall, perhaps rehearsal photos?, and then hanging from each wall were different costumes and wigs. There was the use of a monitor screen sitting on a table to signpost various developments. A minimal amount of props were used.
One of my favourite portrayals was the comic portrayal of Juliet’s nurse as a rickety, elderly woman walking around, poking the ground with her umbrella.
Costumes and props were by the UNSW Law Revue with lighting and cues by Ben Andrew and Jenny Chan.
On a side-note, apparently the Studio 5 performance is available for fringe theatre companies to hire. It is a good, medium sized performance space, and there is also a foyer for audiences to gather in before the show and during the break.
Summing up, the UNFAIR EXPERIENCE was a very cleverly put together piece, that was a whole lot of fun.
Sadly, the piece is only having a very short season, having started on Thursday with its final performance today (Saturday) at 5pm. If you have some free time this afternoon, try and catch it. You can get tickets at the door.
The venue is Studio 5 at the Sydney Dance Company, Wharf 4/5, the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct.