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  Art Murmurs - Wellington Reviews

Reviews

Double Falsehood

20/6/2019

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Jenny Nimon

Picture
Lonely Shakespeare Collective, the company that focuses on Shakespeare’s less popular plays, raises the stakes this year by presenting a tragicomedy that sparks debate over authorship. Double Falsehood is a play that I had only heard vague historic ramblings about—it is officially attributed to Lewis Theobald but is thought to be adapted from the lost play The History of Cardenio. It’s new territory for me, going into Shakespeare blind, but it’s satisfying to see the all too familiar plot devices crop up along the way.

When we enter the space the cast are already there, milling about and interacting like they are in a silent film. I think it’s an effective way to introduce the audience to the world, but it’s gone too soon as the actors retreat backstage before the show begins. I would have liked to see this held through to the show’s opening in place of the light show that bridged the gap. The show’s lighting design as a whole doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. Crystal Pulkowski battles a malfunctioning light valiantly, but there are still a few blackouts that feel unnecessary and add clunk to transitions.

The set design is distinct, which is both interesting and problematic. We open in a café, and this provides a strong foundation for the company’s chosen modern context, but what helps to provide a social setting and class structure quickly becomes an obstacle. One of the markers of Shakespeare is how transformative the worlds are. That adaptability is a trend in traditional costuming (using a simple base and adding and removing items as necessary to the story), and it should be for the setting as well. The geography of Double Falsehood gets confusing when it comes time for scenes that can’t take place in a coffee shop, such as scenes at home or in the woods, but the stage remains a coffee shop with its glaring ‘reserved’ sign to remind you that something is out of place. Director Ivana Palezevic, along with the cast of shepherds, does a wonderful job of working to build a sense of place with one herder going as far as urinating on the viney fence, transforming it into wild shrubbery, but it still feels too rigid a set for me to believe that we have shifted location. The modern context, while interesting, doesn’t seem to add any new layers to the play either. At times it even feels at odds with the text, because the actors’ character work doesn’t quite reflect people of the modern world, so it seems like a shame to waste the main strength of the set on it.

Jane Paul, Leonora, plays her character with vibrancy. In a cast that struggles at times with physical characterisation, with the exception of Charlotte Dodd’s Camillo, Jane Paul crafts a precise and captivating Leonora and plays off her scene partners well. But while physicality, character subtext and connectedness waver at times, the voice work of the ensemble is strong, with great projection from Charli Gartrell’s (Henrique) and Jess Brownwell’s (Violante) soliloquies. Hamish Boyle should also be commended for his construction of a convincing Duke, especially considering he joined the ensemble late in the rehearsal process.

Double Falsehood is showing at BATS at The Random Stage until Saturday 22nd June, at 7pm. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit the BATS website. This show depicts sexual violence, suicidal ideation and coercive control and may upset some viewers.

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