"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen" wrote Thomas Gray in his "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" - a churchyard we visited many times when we lived in Stoke Poges in the UK, within walking distance of the churchyard.
I sincerely hope that "An Unexpected Execution" which opened last night at the Star of the Sea Theatre in Manly is not such a flower. The cast and crew deserve a good audience for every night the play is on (until 19 July) given how much work and passion has gone into the production. What this production proves is that you can be transported into another highly believable and currently relevant world if you bring yourself fully into the moment. A moment of suspended disbelief and active imagination without mobile devices, electronic effects and muzak that weaves its magic spell in spite of all those things we have withering labels for today, such as "low production values".
Directed by Roz Riley (Factory Space Theatre Company) the play written by Emma Willis from the play by Schiller is described as "an amorous spy drama set in Elizabethan England". Anyone who has worked in a large corporation will recognise that the politics and conniving, the power plays and disengagement of leaders when it comes to the realities for those with lesser or without power, were just the same then - how little we have advanced.
Playing to a dismally small audience with precious few props and a backdrop of drapes to sketch the splendour of an Elizabethan palace, the cast drew me into their world within moments. At the meeting of the two Queens, Elizabeth and Mary (which is apparently fictitious i.e. they never met), I was immediately put in mind of that memorable movie Mary, Queen of Scots featuring the mystical Vanessa Redgrave as Mary and the acerbic Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth. But at the same time, I was entirely absorbed by the anguish of Mary and the ambiguity Elizabeth felt in the situation admirably expressed by the two players.
Thrown up by the performance were also themes like the powerlessness of women in a world of men ... and by implication the enormous strength (and relatively tenuous hold) of the rare woman like Elizabeth ... and the mistaken belief that getting into court (or the C-suite, if you will) is the one true pathway to success and happiness.
If you are looking for polished and slick, this performance is not for you. And if I was looking to critique this performance, I could find many small things needing improvement to write about. But if you are looking for a chance to engage your mind, your emotions and your creative imagination and to respond to a group of people who are passionate about what they do, this is a great opportunity to give your support to members of our own community who need it. We don't need community programmes to improve our world, we just need members of each community to support their own. Best wishes to the cast and crew - you really do deserve to succeed.
I sincerely hope that "An Unexpected Execution" which opened last night at the Star of the Sea Theatre in Manly is not such a flower. The cast and crew deserve a good audience for every night the play is on (until 19 July) given how much work and passion has gone into the production. What this production proves is that you can be transported into another highly believable and currently relevant world if you bring yourself fully into the moment. A moment of suspended disbelief and active imagination without mobile devices, electronic effects and muzak that weaves its magic spell in spite of all those things we have withering labels for today, such as "low production values".
Directed by Roz Riley (Factory Space Theatre Company) the play written by Emma Willis from the play by Schiller is described as "an amorous spy drama set in Elizabethan England". Anyone who has worked in a large corporation will recognise that the politics and conniving, the power plays and disengagement of leaders when it comes to the realities for those with lesser or without power, were just the same then - how little we have advanced.
Playing to a dismally small audience with precious few props and a backdrop of drapes to sketch the splendour of an Elizabethan palace, the cast drew me into their world within moments. At the meeting of the two Queens, Elizabeth and Mary (which is apparently fictitious i.e. they never met), I was immediately put in mind of that memorable movie Mary, Queen of Scots featuring the mystical Vanessa Redgrave as Mary and the acerbic Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth. But at the same time, I was entirely absorbed by the anguish of Mary and the ambiguity Elizabeth felt in the situation admirably expressed by the two players.
Thrown up by the performance were also themes like the powerlessness of women in a world of men ... and by implication the enormous strength (and relatively tenuous hold) of the rare woman like Elizabeth ... and the mistaken belief that getting into court (or the C-suite, if you will) is the one true pathway to success and happiness.
If you are looking for polished and slick, this performance is not for you. And if I was looking to critique this performance, I could find many small things needing improvement to write about. But if you are looking for a chance to engage your mind, your emotions and your creative imagination and to respond to a group of people who are passionate about what they do, this is a great opportunity to give your support to members of our own community who need it. We don't need community programmes to improve our world, we just need members of each community to support their own. Best wishes to the cast and crew - you really do deserve to succeed.
Comments