Year 4 Play Critical Review

Synopsis

Now... due to the lack of programme notes, the plot was a bit of surprise... lurching from one unexpected twist to another. There wasn't even a declared title for the play... but something that would be approriate would be "The Two Kingdoms of Joy and Anger".... or something along those lines. Anyway, the lack of programmatic reading material, whilst saving on costs in what was evidently a low budget production, gives the perception of amateurish-ness... actually, this would be a criticism that would apply to most aspects of this production!

So, the plot... as far as I could glean (lack of audio projection or theatrical voice projection... and the problem of a non-native language might have contributed to misunderstandings...).

There was once a Kingdom... divided into two halves by a magical gate. On one side, there was a Princess who would be always happy... until she reached the neighbourhood of the gate, at which she would feel inexplicably angry. She was always scared of this gate, and what it might have represented... as she would always prefer to return to the joyful mood that she felt when she was out of sight of this magical barrier.

However, curiosity did one day take over... after all, little girls are of a scientific questing mind... and she dragged a caravan full of provisions to the gate and bravely walked through to the other side... to find herself in a land where all the denizens were completely angry all the time... these people were scared of the gate and the odd feeling of joy that they felt when they approached the gate.

At this stage... for some reason, a banana jumped out of the caravan and turned into a Prince (don't ask... I have no idea...). Perhaps this Prince was a denizen of the Angry Kingdom who had been brave enough to walk through the gate and was mysteriously turned into a Happy Banana... (sorry, that's the best explanation that I can think of that makes some narrative sense... wave hand, magic....).

When he discovered that the Princess had braved the gate and brought him back to his beloved land of Anger... he was completely smitten (not sure how that plays out in the Land of Anger...)... and took out his Heart from his chest (or perhaps that was not a literal representation of his heart...) and proposed to marry the brave Princess by yelling "I Love You, Marry Me!" and then throwing the Heart at the bewildered girl (this will make a great proposal story for the kids....).

Together, the Princess and Prince destroyed the Gate that separated the Twin Kingdoms... and allowed the two states of Joy and Anger to finally combine.... and thus was the Great Balance restored and peace reigned happily ever after.

As I said... a set of written program notes would have cleared up my confusion....

Presentation

Despite the lack of recognisable star power and low budget... the cast did a pretty good representation of the story! For those who have been following this particular theatre troop for a few years... it's a great step up from previous attempts at the stage. There were a some classy dance numbers and thankfully no singing in this latest production... and the attempt to build a narrative into the presentation was a new addition which did lend some much needed climax and denouement (not too much, but an arc was there!) to the proceedings.

The acting side could have done with some vocal projection development and/or some audio amplification... although, the idea that the words were only partially comprehensible could have been a post-modern choice to allow the audience to partially create their own individual versions of the story. If it was, well, then this was an interesting experiment into the avant-garde forms of theatre that is up there with interpretive dance and inexplicable nudity.

One highlight was the musicians (musicians are always THE highlight... no bias...). There was a pretty good solo violin who represented the music for the Joyful Kingdom... however, the choice of music was strange as it was a very sad sounding piece written in a minor key... could that have been the juxtaposition of Joy and Anger, and the fact that Joyful Dance represented something more than pure Joy, but the emptiness and lack of a counterbalance?

On the side of the Anger Kingdom, we had some Electric Guitars (obviously the embodiment of angst and anger), Percussion and Piano... again, there were hitting some pretty hefty metal sounds... but in a MAJOR key... normally associated with happiness... I'm starting to think that this wasn't a co-incidence... Subtle, and quite possibly subliminal as it would be a message that would be understood on an intuitive level by the audience, without making the point too obviously.

Verdict

This production was a step up from the last few stage outings by this troupe. I'm excited for future productions... as the group matures into more difficult narrative and topic choices. Perhaps we will have more subtle social commentary in the next outing... or perhaps something akin to one of the more established troupes, which in this particular double billing performed a story about a time-travelling Earthquake which transported a group of unlikely heroes into the Medieval era.

Unfortunately, this particular production was a once off... they didn't have the marketing budget to pitch it to major theatres and impresarios, so it is unlikely that you will see it at a playhouse near you. However, the idea for making a direct to Netflix adaptation is in the works... as this is the sort of story that lends itself to an episodic development... perhaps with the first series encompassing the narrative arc that was in a shortened form here (roughly 12 episodes that would cover the Princesses' journey to and through the gate... and perhaps a pre-quel or spin-off that explains the presence of the Prince in the Joy Kingdom). After this, there would perhaps be the discovery of other seperated states of consciousness that would need to be reunited for the complete Universal Balance to be restored.

The future is bright!