A Tender Thing – S.A. Premiere

Shakespeare’s works have been adapted in many ways through the centuries, including for modern stage audiences and for film and television.

Perhaps the most radically different adaptation of all has been Ben Power’s A Tender Thing. This September, Adelaide’s Growling Grin Productions presents the South Australian premiere of Power’s uniquely different and emotionally powerful play at Star Theatres Hilton.

Michael Boyd, while working as Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the mid 2000’s, was struck by the number of mature actors who had commented to him they’d always wished that in the early stages of their professional careers they’d had the opportunity to play one of the young lovers in Shakespeare’s immortal love story Romeo and Juliet.

Boyd also recognised that the central themes within the lovers’ relationship are timeless…and so a seed of an idea was planted. The RSC commissioned up-and-coming young Dramaturg Ben Power (later to become Associate Director of the National Theatre) to produce a new version of Romeo and Juliet, this one with much older central characters.

A dramaturg is skilled in context, dramatic composition and editing. The result of Ben Power’s brilliantly creative practice of his craft in this RSC commission was so very unusual, so powerfully contemporary in its themes and so exquisitely beautiful in its study of a mutually dependent relationship that even the RSC was astonished.

Devoid of all Romeo and Juliet characters except the lovers themselves, set in modern times and at a much later time in life, A Tender Thing portrays a moment in the sunset of a lifetime, a tender, often funny, linguistically exhilarating and ultimately poignant story of love and sacrifice and of making profound choices. Through remixes and context changes of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet text, together with some lines from his other plays and sonnets, a strikingly different love story emerges. Unlike the teenage lovers of Shakespeare’s original story, this Romeo and Juliet have been together for decades.

The couple has long ago endured the loss in infancy of a child, something that has drawn them even closer, but now they must decide how to face another daunting life event. It throws them into conflict and audiences will instantly be struck by the fact that in contemporary real life the very same desperate dilemma polarises us all.

A Tender Thing was produced for the first time on stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2009, starring Kathryn Hunter and Forbes Masson. Later, Kathryn Hunter again played Juliet in the play, with Richard McCabe as Romeo. Reviews following these productions included:

-‘The audience was transfixed…’ British Theatre Guide.

-‘Ben Power’s powerful take on Romeo and Juliet reduced me to tears…’ The Journal.

-‘Gut wrenching…utterly beautiful…packs an emotional punch without becoming mawkish…both poetic and real at the same time…a powerful love story…’ A Younger Theatre.

A Tender Thing has since played worldwide. Olivia Jane Parker, Artistic Director for Growling Grin Productions is Director of the company’s September SA Premiere of the play. Parker has a passion for producing edgy, meaty and even experimental work, as demonstrated in the company’s first production, the cult psychological thriller and movie-turned-play Closet Land, staged at Bakehouse Theatre in 2013.

Said Parker of A Tender Thing, ‘We treat the Shakespearean text with the upmost love and respect, however the actors speak in a slightly more naturalistic style than the original, due to the contemporary setting of this re-contextualised play.’

Playing Romeo is Lindsay Dunn, who audiences will remember for his recent performance as Dogberry in the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s Much Ado About Nothing. Lindsay has worked in theatre since the 1970’s, including children’s theatre and also in radio, film and television. He is an accomplished singer/guitarist. Lindsay has many favourite stage roles, including playing the Father in Shout! opposite the legendary Toni Lamond.

Lesley Reed is Juliet. She has a performing history in theatre that stretches back to the early 80’s. More recently, audiences will recall her in the role of the Nurse in the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s Antigone. In addition to theatre, Lesley’s acting experience includes film, radio and many television commercials. She works regularly professionally in improvisation, including in vignettes for corporate and health training. Lesley is also a theatre reviewer and South Australian correspondent for Stage Whispers website and magazine.

Said Olivia Jane Parker, ‘The idea of working with such experienced actors from the local theatre community greatly appealed to me because they are equipped to handle the language and the complexity of their characters.’

A Tender Thing is a play for two speaking actors only, however Director Olivia Jane Parker has included two additional performers, Benjamin Orchard and Ruby Bown, who represent Romeo and Juliet in the past. Ben Orchard is an experienced actor and a founding partner in Growling Grin Productions with Olivia Jane Parker. He is also a theatre reviewer. South Australians will instantly recognise Ruby Bown as one of the staff in the Adelaide restaurant involved in Channel Seven’s Restaurant Revolution. Ruby is also an accomplished dancer.

‘A Tender Thing is a short play,’ said Olivia Jane Parker, ‘so incorporating additional characters into the story enhances the history of the main characters for modern audiences, drawing a comparison between the mature couple facing life-altering events and the starry-eyed young lovers as they were when they first met and married.’

Some Shakespeare buffs may be unsettled by Ben Power’s radical re-working of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The young Dramaturg has recognised this and in 2012 he publicly reminded those with such concerns that this version is ‘its own thing’, a different play… and that the original play still endures for audiences to love.

A Tender Thing has been described as a ‘…tender, magical, deeply moving and ultimately joyous thing’ (The Other Bridge Project) and as ‘wonderful and deeply affecting…an astonishingly powerful play’ (Express & Star).

The immortal lines of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ask, ‘Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.’ Now Adelaide has its chance to experience the humour, passion and tragedy of Ben Power’s magical play, which acknowledges the timelessness of those words.

WHERE: Theatre Two, Star Theatres, 145 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Hilton.

WHEN: 7.30 pm, September 8-12, 2015.

BOOKINGS: www.startheatres.com.au or call 8234 1800.

TICKETS: Adults $25 (early bird $20), Concession $20 (early bird $15).

Photographs: The Apollocave

Disclaimer - Lesley Reed and Benjamin Orchard are contributors to Stage Whispers.