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The Last Five Years
Presented by: Doorstep Ensemble
Venue:
Blakiston Theatre, GPAC
Reviewer: Emmalee Bell
Date Reviewed: 13th June 2007
The opening
night of The Last Five Years was not merely the re-birth of Doorstep
Productions, it was an Extreme Makeover style reveal of the
innovative, sophisticated and now “grown-up” Doorstep Ensemble.
From the
moment I walked into the Blakiston Theatre at the Geelong Performing
Arts Centre I knew that I was not going to be getting a carbon copy
version of The Last Five Years. The stage floor was painted with a
beautiful artistic representation of a tree with swirling, tangled
branches in various shades of blue. The painting was carried through
from the floor across the multi-level platform set-piece, creating a
wonderful sense of the complex journey the audience was about to be
taken on.
The Last Five
Years is a contemporary song-cycle musical that ingeniously
chronicles the five-year life of a relationship, from meeting to
break-up... or from break-up to meeting, depending on how you look
at it. Writer Jason Robert Brown employs an unusual temporal shift
to tell the intensely personal story of Cathy, a struggling musical
theatre performer and Jamie, an up-and-coming writer. Her side of
the story begins from the end of their relationship, while his is
told from the beginning. Even more unusually, the two characters
only interact at middle point of the one-act piece, when the
characters marry.
I have heard
people write-off the unconventional time-shift as a gimmick and a
fundamental flaw of the piece. However, I think this opinion has
been formed by people viewing productions less skillfully directed
than this one. Darylin Ramondo’s vast directorial and performance
experience shines through in her handling of the challenges created
by not having your characters able to interact. The pattern of boy
sings, then walks off, girl sings, then walks off was broken up by
moments when both characters inhabited the space together and almost
seemed to be connecting with each other, while still continuing on
with their respective parts of the story.
This
production was blessed with two very accomplished performers. Recent
WAAPA graduate Kate Hanley presented a warm and spirited Cathy and
successfully managed to portray Cathy’s vulnerability and
frustration without making her come across as maliciously resentful
and bitter. I was also pleased to hear Kate avoid the temptation to
demonstrate her vocal prowess and really sing the emotion of the
songs. Jolyon James’s deep voice and confident acting gave Jamie a
mature quality, which significantly changed the way I felt about the
character. When Jamie is portrayed as immature, it (in a very small
way) excuses his infidelity, however Jolyon’s interpretation of the
character made the affair seem more calculated. I was extremely
surprised to be challenged by a show I know and love so
well…Thank-you!
While
technically the The Last Five Years is a two hander, credit must go
to a third “actor” – the Red Blanket who played the roles of
Shmeul’s love interest in the song “Shmeul’s Song” and the other
woman in “Nobody Needs to Know”. This production, if nothing else,
is worth seeing to witness how Jolyon’s incredible acting talent and
Darylin’s masterful direction can transform an inanimate object into
a character worthy of mention in a review.
Musical
Director John Shawcross handled the mixed bag of song styles
(including Yiddish, Latino, Sondheim and many other musical
influences) with ease. John should be commended for pulling together
an extremely tight musical performance from back-stage without
monitors. There was only a couple of brief moments early in the
performance where the musicians and singers were not perfectly in
sync.
An extra
special mention needs to be made of Bob McKenzie for taking on the
tasks of Stage Manager, Set Design, Set Construction and Lighting
Design. The lighting of the show was amazing, with the inclusion of
some ingenious effects and the creation of an intimate space in a
relatively open venue. At times the lighting was very bright,
making the scenes look overly exposed – however I feel that this was
probably a conscious decision rather than a flaw.
I cannot sum
up The Last Five Years any better than the Director’s note in the
front of the beautifully designed program – “Funny, sad and
completely enthralling, set to the wonderful lyrics of musical
genius Jason Robert Brown and with the caliber of actors in Jolyon
and Kate, this production fill Doorstep Ensembles commitment to
present quality, innovative, contemporary theatre”. The Last Five
Years only runs until this Sunday, so take the easy 50-minute drive
down to Geelong this weekend. You won’t be disappointed!
Emmalee has an
Arts Management degree from WAAPA and is currently working in
fundraising and sponsorship. As a performer, Emmalee spent fifteen
years performing with musical theatre companies in Warrnambool and
Perth before arriving in Melbourne in 2005. Since then she has
performed in Ragtime with the Monash University Choral Society,
played the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods with MD Productions,
played Maria in The Sound of Music with Altona Theatre Company and
was a Pit Singer for CLOC's Australian premiere of Cats. Emmalee
will next perform the role of Frauline Kost in ARC's production of
Cabaret. |