Nocturne

American novelist and playwright Adam Rapp first staged Nocturne in 2001. Local Adelaide actor Tom Gentry has taken on the mammoth task of reproducing this highly emotive work as both the protagonist of the play and the director.

A stark set consisting of a sofa, desk, bookcase, typewriter and a coffee table strewn with books is dimly lit, allowing for a glimpse of piano keys painted upstage on the floor; their relevance soon becomes apparent.

Sound design by Adam Sheridan is unsettling and adds the right amount of ambience, but I yearned for more of these effects to break up the wordiness of the play. Lighting by Stephen Dean creates pockets of shadows that work well with the performing space.

Rapp’s language is poetic in its delivery, but there are many times when you wonder whether this story would have served better as a novel, rather than a play. Gentry re-tells the tragic story of the night the central character killed his sister with his ’69 Buick Electra. What follows is the inevitable collapse of this American family’s perfect suburban existence and the survival of the lead character.

The production is long-winded and becomes somewhat frustrating when Gentry’s voice trails off or is swallowed. Sitting in the second row on opening night, I struggled to hear this vast monologue clearly. Gentry’s delivery is understandably sombre and at times he evokes the right amount of sympathy, but lack of strong direction means he spends most of the time stuck behind the coffee table rummaging through books. While I understood the books represented a comfort to the central and an inspiration for his novel, his constant handling of them without any provocation, meant they became a distraction.

The story is heartbreaking, but failed to pack the emotional punch for me on opening night. Given that most of the characters are only spoken of, it is hard to make any real connection.

I learnt after writing this review that Tom Gentry was quite ill and came close to cancelling the opening performance. This could account for the lack of volume and energy missing from his execution.

Lyrically quite stunning, the play has the potential to improve throughout the season.

Kerry Cooper