Much Ado About Not(h)ing

This was my first experience with Adaptivity Theatre Company, but having read the company’s mission statement I was curious to say the least.

“Adaptivity Theatre Company was founded in April 2018 by artistic director Kelly Wilson, who seeks to explore the complexities of life in the 21st century through the adaptation of classical texts from Ancient Greece to the Renaissance. ATC endeavours to render the poetic language of classical texts more accessible to today’s highly visual, digital era audience by incorporating digital projection, movement and dance to represent visually elements of text, as well as music to heighten moments of emotional joy or turmoil by converting selected text into lyrics for original music.”

Doesn’t that sound fabulous? Well, this production does indeed do everything they said on the tin. In an absolute turnabout, the audience is not only encouraged to keep their phones on, but are also invited to join the 'characters’ Facebook Group and also the hilarious private chat therein. This definitely added to the irreverent approach adopted for one of The Bard’s most popular comedies. It also engendered a ‘co-conspirator’ vibe within the audience. 

Back wall projections of the activities on the Facebook page (happening in real time) popped up intermittently while the action was taking place on stage - which was curiously calming for my undiagnosed ADHD brain. The sheer Australian-ness of it all was fun also, with each member of the cast creating engaging characters. 

Some evocatively choreographed movement, as well as traditional dancing and intermittent, original songs throughout the show kept the narrative bouncing along, feeling fresh, fluid and unpredictable. All in all, each of the adaptations made by Adaptivity made for a unique theatrical experience. 

However, I wouldn’t be doing the company any favours if I didn’t mention that the dialogue volume was inconsistent. I put this down to several factors - the obvious one being the actors weren’t projecting their voices consistently throughout, but this was also exacerbated by several factors: the use of an electric piano, playing an underscore - during some of the dialogue (they really need mics to compete with that). Also, without a set or furniture to speak of, the cavernous space within the Earl swallowed some of the dialogue as well, especially when the action took place upstage. 

To their individual credit, each member of the cast was clearly very capable of delivering their wordy dialogue with sufficient clarity and measured expression, but the lack of consistent volume let down an otherwise memorable piece of theatre. 

Good thing the private Facebook chat filled in some of the blanks!

There was this one moment towards the end when the characters of Leonarto and Benedict (played by David Lee and Christopher Bryg respectively) get into a fight and actually do YELL at each other. It was genuinely THRILLING. 

For over a decade, I performed in the huge old Wyong Memorial Hall on the Central Coast NSW before it was knocked down to make way for a legit theatre. It had the worst acoustics. Directors would always urge us actors to yell. The reason being - “they could always pull us back if we were being too loud”. 

We never were. Just putting it out there. 

Rose Cooper