The Grief Parlour

The Grief Parlour
Created by the cast (Emily Ayoub, Roziye Delaney, Katie Crowl, Gareth Rickards, Kate Worsley). Clockfire Theatre Company. Old 505 Theatre, Surry Hills (NSW). 30 May to 3 June 2012.

Death can be a moving experience           

 

Clockfire is a new Australian theatre company dedicated to producing original, ensemble-based theatre. Clockfire was founded in France in 2011 by Emily Ayoub and Roziye Delaney, two graduates of the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris. Each Clockfire story begins with a concept and is developed through physical improvisation. They have planned a trilogy dealing with sex, death and greed.

The Grief Parlour deals with death. We are taken on a ‘through the looking glass’ journey with a young blonde girl in a blue dress. Her name might be Alice. But the world she transitions into after dying challenges her perceptions, her emotions and her physical stability. She leaves her loved ones behind and wanders along the seashore of the afterlife, accompanied by a collection of bizarre and rather lovable characters.

The Old 505 theatre is a bare concrete box above a rather decrepit building in Elizabeth Street Surry Hills. It seats around 30 people. And it works perfectly for this superb production.

The production design is simple and brilliant. Two pairs of wooded framed cloth covered screens are propelled around the stage by performers concealed behind them. These performers are puppeteers for two pairs of screens that become a character in the performance. They can form a wall, a box or shelters. They whizz around the stage like trained cats. They can part and reveal a character, then another, then another. They can conceal what lies behind the face of death, as well as a variety of costume changes and machinations with props, balloons and signs.

There is little dialogue. There is much movement. And the movement is breathtakingly beautiful. Our deceased heroine is joined by a guide, a quirky elf like character, who leads the young beauty through storm and tempest towards the mystery of the afterlife. The storm scene is a highlight of the show, with three characters being blown across the stage, with each trying to cling to the other to save themselves. This scene is cleverly performed and is transfixing.xing.

The Grief Parlour runs for around 60 minutes. Yet the time evaporates and we reach the end much too soon. The end leaves us hungry for more.re.

There are no stand outs in the production, because they are a true ensemble. They move together like the sure fire mechanism of a beautiful old clock, deserving their name – Clockfire Theatre.

Stephen Carnell

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