Mothersmilk

With it beguiling, beautifully produced flyer, superb photo on the program and lovely little filmic scene of a young boy being given a toxic glass of milk to drink it is bemusing that this production of a supposedly new play is not billed as a reworking of Medea. It would make sense as the basic story is the same and there always seems to be an enthusiastic audience for reworked classics.

There are problems with just about all the elements of this production and I think they can all be traced back to not being clear about the context of the whole.  The script is repetitive, yet it is not entirely clear who each of the characters are, the acting is at times monotonous, the lighting messy and dull and the music although initially very promising and strong - often intrudes, upon rather than underscore and support, the acting.

There is quite obviously not a true sense of ensemble pervading this work.  The direction lacks clarity and many opportunities have been missed and the work drags.  Basically the whole falls in an out of being monotonous rhythmically and vocally.  That is not to say that talent isn’t there and that all actors can surely and probably will do better as the season progresses.

And there is something in the writing – it just hasn’t come through onto the rehearsal room floor and therefore is illusive in the production.  In my experience writers performing in their own work are seldom successful.  In this instance it is the writing that suffers not the performance.  Joanne Trentini is a strong and stunning stage presence but her writing is in need of dramaturgical work to bring out the ideas she says she is discussing in the program.

Much of the characterization seems non-specific and actors are often not really talking with each other indeed they are barely working with each other at times.  

My guess is that creative roles have not been clearly enough defined, and the rehearsal time has not been adequate to workshop some of the disturbing and complex ideas explored.

Suzanne Sandow