Before I start even talking about my experience with the latest Sydney Theatre Company production I am going to preface all remarks with a disclaimer. I am not a professional theatre reviewer - I am a novice enjoyer of the theatre. When I write about my thoughts about a show I usually do so from the viewpoint of what I liked about it.
Why do I write this disclaimer? Well the last few times I have commented on productions - people have left comments about everything they hated about the performance. If you want to outline all the deficiencies of Stockholm - please start your own blog and run it down somewhere else - not here.
So - that out of the way - Ruen and I headed off to the Wharf tonight for this performance of the new STC via Frantic Assembly production of the performance piece by Bryony Lavery called Stockholm. The play features Australian actors/dancers Socratis Otto and Leeanna Walsman who outwardly seem like the picture-perfect yet obsessively co-dependent couple Todd and Kali.
But the play is actually about how relationships are not always what they seem on the outside. The title is a play on the Stockholm syndrome in which hostages end up expressing adulation and positive feelings towards their captors despite the torment that they have caused them. In this situation the intensity of the relationship is holding each party captive and ultimately they are staying together for all the wrong reasons. It is Todd who is on the receiving end of most of the abuse. When the violence stops the victim in this scenario takes that as an act of generosity and then tenderness and cruelty seem to become linked.
One of the creative directors of the show, Steven Hoggett, was actually associate director of Black Watch which I loved at the Sydney Festival a couple of years ago. The Frantic team apparently did a bunch of research into the syndrome in putting together the production and the choreography.
Performances are tight. The music is great and the set was utilised really well. While I could get where the choreography was going it sometimes the actual dance sequences seemed a little forced. This might have just been me - or tonights performance in particular. That aside - I still really enjoyed this performance and would recommend it. Enjoying my subscription series so far this year - even if the mental health theme seems to be continuing this year.
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