Reviews

Presented by Papermoon; Written by Arthur Schnitzler Directed by Christa de Jager Set Design by Brian Sudding. ANU Arts Centre until Dec 5 This play is about sex. When dealing with sex, theatre deals with fear. Real fear derived from social conditioning, experience, shame and perhaps a sense of the mortality and infinity! Fear for the individuals presenting the work and fear for the audience being presented with it. The choices one has in presentation relate to the degree of stylisation used to shield and protect both the presenters and the audience. Comedy and titillation are common options used by writers and presenters. La Ronde certainly uses comedy and a measure of titillation in its text.Though it also goes deeper into the psyche than the production attempts. The company worked competently in the large space of the ANU Arts Centre. Diction was superb. Actors worked with clarity in their body movement and gestures. Costumes were thought out well and added to the detailed design of the over-all stage sculpture. De Jager’s design concept provided a visual base for stylised presentation of the sexual merry-go-round of La Ronde. One could quibble over the merits of the dance sequences or the bright lights in the eyes to signal sexual encounters or even the setting of the actors visible on the wings of the set while the action of central characters took place. These directional choices had their functions within the shape of the over-all production. I think most of the audience enjoyed these aspects. The problematic area for the production lay in its fear of its subject; in the failure of the work to face its own fears relating to sex and sexual encounter; and the failure to challenge the audience to go beyond cliched reactions and situations that are safe to portray. The text certainly gave scope for this. Presenting it within the boundaries of very safe theatre conventions ignored the cultural dynamics of living in 2004. With very frank films, mostly from Europe and Asia, depicting ever increasingly complex aspects of sexual psychology, fantasy, needs and the realities confronting hetro-sexual relationships one might have expected something more from a play that seemed to promise more than standard safe theatrical fare. With a brilliant poster and image, audiences might have expected a sharper and more sexually charged eroticism. Apart from Isaac Reilly’s detached voyeuristic Master of the Carousel, none of the male actors went any distance in creating sexual energies beyond cliched stereotypes. The women went some distance. Veronica Hobsbawn presented some very fine moments of telling insight into the darker recesses of motivation in sexual play. Ruth Pickard’s portrayal of spontaneous playfulness was engaging. Tain Stangreb’s Dresser was beautifully naive as an unnoticed Eros present at all time during the performance. This said, the production has much to recommend it to audiences seeking a theatrical diversion from mundane encounters. And they can do it in a non-threatening enjoyable way. Each person experiences their Eros in a unique way. Perhaps I am being a little harsh. Why not go to this production and see what you think.