Reviews

Pushing the boundaries could be considered a common element within many dramatic performances. The trio of short pieces will capture and compel with their notorious dark humour.

Although many shows are visually captivating, nine times out of ten the audience is seated generally along cramped pews (except for those trying to inconspicuously leave in a bid to use the toilet). Others fall victim to aisle seating.

That’s the traditional theatre situation. Now enter the not-so-traditional, with no seats and a wandering audience.
Dramasoc of 2011 presents Samuel Beckett – A Triple Bill. 

For the first time in New Zealand, the University of Canterbury Drama Society will provide a performance entitling the audience to a threesome of avant-garde and absurdist work, a sample of Samuel Beckett’s plays.

Beckett finds the humour in suffering. As he said, “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.”

Director Eddy Dever has worked in the theatre in various capacities for more than a decade, alongside some of New Zealand best professional actors.

However this is his first time directing and he is accompanied with also first time producer, Hannah King.

To pursue the concept of doing things in an untraditional fashion, King says: “We always knew it wasn’t going to be in a standard theatre space – the idea was to have a strange place.” 

That strange place is the Addington Stables, a venue that not even the duo could have predicted for their show in its earlier days.

In this venue, the audience will be standing throughout two of the three performances, and will follow the actors around for the entire show.

Beckett finds the humour in suffering. As he said, “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.”

Dever developed the vision and concept for the play last winter, and says that in terms of directing, Samuel Beckett has been a dream starting point for him.

“The thing that really excites me about the pieces, and the concept, is that it is unlike anything that Christchurch has seen in a long time. Theatre in places other than theatres is something seen in other cities all the time, but we seldom see it here. I felt like making it happen.”

Dever says that directing came down to interpreting how Beckett would have intended the audience see his words come to life, and then causing that to happen. All the clues are within the text – it was a matter of the audience creating its own interpretation.

Dramasoc, which often puts on big shows, has this time downsized to two actors per play.

That means that their first show for 2011 includes a tight cast of just six actors, all of whom have had extensive involvement in university theatre.

As a result of the February earthquake, severe damage has left Dramasoc homeless; its former territory and rehearsal space in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre out of action. King explains that because of these circumstances they have received “lots of support”, and is grateful to Merrin Primary School for giving them a classroom to practice and rehearse in.

Dever has chosen three sketches by Beckett:

The first of the sketches, Rough For Theatre I, tells the tale of a wheelchair bound man, who happens upon a blind violin player. Together they discover that they mutually benefit from a collaborative existence.

Act Without Words II, the second sketch in the trio, silently explores the idea that human existence is futile or repetitive, yet we are still compelled to avoid inaction.

In the final piece, Rough For Theatre II, a pair of investigators perform an examination into the life of a suicidal man, “in an apparent attempt to help him decide whether he should or should not take his own life”.

With two months practice under the cast’s belt, the performance will show for three nights and tickets will be limited, making it an unmissable theatrical treat.

Performances will be tonight, Thursday, and Saturday; May 25, 26, and 28, starting at 8pm at The Stables, Addington Raceway, Jack Hinton Drive (next to Twiggers). Tickets are $13 and can be purchased each night on the door, cash only.