LITTLE BEAUTY.
Designed and directed by Kim Carpenter. Choreographer. Julia Cotton. Sound designer. Ross Johnston. Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image. National Portrait Gallery. July 3 – 22. 2018. FREE!
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
A figure clothed in black, and
bent with age moves slowly into the centre of the National Portrait Gallery
foyer. It is the haunting image of the witch in Grimm’s fairy tales. A young
woman (Holly Austin) gazes on, curious
as the figure slowly stand upright to reveal a man’s face beneath the hood.
Four year old twin girls sit transfixed as the black clothing is removed to
reveal a young man (Adriano Cappeletta). An image of assumption is replaced by
an image of anticipation. Little Beauty
is the magical, enchanting and transfixing children’s theatre offering from Kim
Carpenter’s Theatre of Image. Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, Little Beauty is a beautiful portrait of
a young couple’s love and devotion on life’s journey. Performed in the foyer of
the National Portrait Gallery, Little
Beauty creates a world of wonder for young and old alike. The black cloak
becomes a symbol of the Australian landscape. Gradually,
objects reveal the developing society of a nation on the other side of the
world. Cars, planes, buidings, Captain Cook and the Endeavour, a waving queen
anmd the unique animals of the Australian bush construct the world as we know
it.
It is the world that the man and
the woman inhabit, it is the world in which they meet, fall in love, marry,
live together and travel full circle from their first meeting to their
inevitable parting at the end of life’s journey and experience. Throughout the performance the image of
portraiture paints a picture of beauty, emotion, experience and relationship. Cappeletta
and Austin are ideally cast to capture a young audience’s imagination through
their physical theatre, stylistically choreographed by Julia Cotton, and
clowning skills. If a picture can paint a thousand words, then Little Beauty would fill a bookshelf with stories of our history,
our land, its people and their lives. It is all told with an eye and image for a
child’s understanding of their world. The characters play I Spy and Hide and Seek
and the twins gaze entranced as boxes of presents are slowly unwrapped before
their eyes. Mime and physical theatre under Artistic Director Kim Carpenter’s
carefully staged business creates a simple but expressive love story.
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| Holly Austin and AdrianoCappeletta in Little Beauty |
Successful children’s theatre
holds the power of storytelling to enchant child and adult alike. Carpenter is
the magic maker, layering his show with child-like simplicity and adult
sophistication Quotes by artists are played over a not entirely effective sound
system, at least to this reviewer’s less acute ear. Charles Blackman’s “I want
life to be a perfect circle” is the cue to unify the universe by moving sticks
that spell out IMMORTAL at the front
of the stage into a circle that transforms into the universal life cycle of
experience for the two characters. Listen carefully to hear quoted comments by
Nora Heysen, Chrissie Amphlett, Ian Thorpe, Lloyd Rees and astronaut Andy
Thomas, who teaches us that what is most important in life is being there. Love
and beauty are immortalized for all time through the magic of portraiture, as
the young man strives to capture the eternal beauty of his love.
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| Holly Austin and Adriano Capeletta |
As a portrait of life and
relationships, Little Beauty colours
the mind and eye from a richly daubed palette of images, mime, clowning and
gentle sentiment. For forty minutes, the twin girls sat rapt, silent at times,
laughing at others and gazing in wonder at the large colourful balloons.
Through the physical antics of the young characters come the recorded voices of
experience. Carpenter’s thoughtful and sensitive direction is perfectly
accompanied by Ross Johnston’s soundtrack. Only the presence of a stagehand,
whom I suspect is a member of the gallery staff, detracted from the visual
delight of this show. A touch of inconspicuous costuming would have added a
nice element of theatrical mystery.
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| Holly Austin in Littlre Beauty |
That aside, this charming, exquisitely
directed, simply staged and cleverly performed
show at the National Portrait Gallery is a little beauty for young and old
alike. Don’t miss it. It’s a real school holidays treat!