The Act

This play is an unusual start to the Ensemble season. The subject matter is dark. Set in Germany during World War II, it sees two vaudeville comedians commissioned to perform at a function. The venue is a secret, as is the audience. They have no idea why they have been chosen, or what is expected of them. Otto (played by Mark Kilmurry) is not fazed by this. Johann (Daniel Mitchell) is not so sure. They play off this insecurity. Otto is curious (he constantly asks ‘where are we?’) and tries to humour Johann by practising routines and being funny. But Johann is apprehensive, bossy, wary.

To go any further would ruin the plot and lose the impact of its final, anticlimactic message. But the writing in this first half is repetitious, almost to the point of tedium, and thus slows the action so that it loses the impetus that it is integral to the plotline.

This is a shame as Director Sandra Bates has assembled a fine, experienced cast. Kilmurry and Mitchell, both well known to Ensemble audiences, inhabit their characters with real understanding and careful control. Brian Meegan, as Captain Steiner, is handsomely cold, calculating, vicious. Michael Ross, as the valet, makes this role hollowly moving. There is nothing to fault in their acting, nor in the very well-designed set on which they work. The colours and richness herald the empirical ambition of the Third Reich and the eerie music and sound effects make the symbolism even more chilling.  

The fault probably lies in the writing, though it is easy to see why Bates wanted to give this play an Australian airing. First produced in 1988 in London, but never actually published, its message is important, the plot well conceived and the characters well drawn. But, the pace of the first act, probably because of some cumbersome writing, does let the production down.

Carol Wimmer

Images: Mark Kilmurry and Daniel Mitchell in THE ACT. Photographer: Steve Lunam.

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