Review: Wittenberg

Wittenberg
Red Stitch Actors Theatre
6 October 2012
Red Stitch
to 3 November
redstitch.net

Hamlet, philosophy, temptation, indulgences (the paid for kind), Banksy rats, coffee and the quill. Welcome to Wittenberg, Germany, 1517, and Red Stitch, St Kilda, 2012.

Here a young Danish prince, who looks like he's stepped out of Brideshead Revisited, discusses life (or not), the universe and salvation with his university professors John Faustus and Martin Luther, who, despite the odd disagreement, are best mates who regularly enjoy a tankard together.

Sub-titled as a tragical-comical-historical in two acts, David Davalos's 2008 play is a post-modern-ish mash up of philosophy, literature, university politics and the Protestant Reformation. What more do you need to know!?

If you think it sounds like it's written by a nerdy clever dick who's read far too many books, you're spot on. This is the kind of play that justifies doing philosophy at uni, reading old plays and getting As for history in high school. So if you're a nerdy clever dick with a few spare degrees, this is wrtten for you – and you'll still miss some of the jokes because you'll still be laughing from the last barrage of witty wordplay and literary lampooning.

If you're not? Don't worry because Wittenberg is so damn funny that you'll feel like you know it all anyway.

It's similar to Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (enjoyable without knowing Hamlet – but it helps if you do),  but far broader and more contemporary. But it helps if you know Hamlet and at least one of the Dr Fs. Or there's this study guide from the premier production by Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company.

In the wrong hands, Wittenberg could be an obnoxious self-important bore of play, but director Jane Montgomery Griffiths ensures that the humour's as base as Luther's thank-you-god poo and banishes any hints of academic stuffiness – and still makes a 'publish or perish' joke work.

Ezra Bix (Faustus), Josh Price (Luther), Brett Ludeman (Hamlet) and Olga Makeeva (the chicks) are simply hilarious. Their grand, historic and tragic characters are anything by grand, historic or tragic. Hamlet's a bit thick and anxious but full of hope, Luther doesn't know what reformation means, and Faustus is reasonably content and has a regular gig singing at the local tavern. It's a bit like hearing the Queen fart; no pomp, ceremony or memorial tea set can restore the grandeur and they're far more loveable for being seen as human.

This was on AussieTheatre.com


Photo by Jodie Hutchinson

Review: The Aliens

The Aliens
Red Stitch Actors Theatre
27 August 2011
Red Stitch
to 24 September

On realising that The Aliens was another work about young disillusioned American youth on July the fourth, I was as disillusioned as a disillusioned American youth who has realised that the American Dream is a crock. But it didn't last, as this is a fascinating and beautiful study of young men drifting from love and home.

American writer Annie Baker is only just 30 and has already won significant awards for her plays Body Awareness and Circle Mirror Transformation (which is on at the MTC this month). The Aliens is her third major work and was nominated for an Obie (the Off-Broardway Theatre awards given by The Village Voice – the Off-Broadway Tonys).

All three are set in a fictional Vermont town called Shirley. Shirley's fiction enables her to easily transform into any city. Even with northern hemisphere accents and references, it was no stretch to see the same world a short walk from Red Stitch's theatre, in any direction.

Heartbroken novelist Jasper (Brett Cousins) and shroom-loving college drop out KJ (Brett Ludeman) spend their days in a filthy alley behind a new-age cafe. Their comfortable silence is strangely comfortable to watch and the intrusion of high school student Evan (David Harrison), who works part time in the cafe before going to Jewish band camp, lets them talk about their band with many names, Bukowski's poems, their respective genius minds and their attempts at reaching to women for comfort.

Baker's gentle writing lets us observe and accept without judgement.  Her exposition is such a part of their conversation that is goes unnoticed and her story is so subtle that the impact of its climax is unexpected, especially as director Nadia Tass is unafraid of the silence and lets her actors use the time to create men we know and recognise.

This is writing needs time to settle into the hearts of its audience, but its sparseness creates a world that is far more familiar than alien.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Photo by David Parker