Co-directed by Anna
Johnstone and Luke Rogers
Canberra Youth
Theatre
Ralph Wilson Theatre
to 19 October
Reviewed by Len Power
17 October 2019
In “Possibility” at the Ralph Wilson Theatre in the Gorman
Arts Centre, three writers Ben Dillon, Jamie Johnston and Lucy Roberts worked
with twelve performers to “interrogate perceptions of themselves, explore
questions about their place in the world, and dreams for the possibilities that
lie ahead.”
Consisting of a number of very short scenes with blackouts
separating them, we witnessed a parade of mostly fractured and unconnected situations
in which individuals or groups declaimed their hopes and fears about themselves
and the world in general. Relationships
and communication with others from a youth perspective were also put under the
microscope. In addition, everyday slice-of-life
scenes were balanced with some deliberately absurd and even surreal moments.
There were some imaginative production values. The use of mirrors and lighting produced a
kaleidoscopic effect that gave us the opportunity to examine the situations
presented from various perspectives. Scenes
were presented in different styles to give the show some much needed variation
and the good sound design added another dimension.
With such stop-start short scenes, there’s no opportunity
for in-depth acting. It’s hard to feel
any involvement or empathy with the situations presented. Many of the scenes stop in mid-sentence
without making any obvious point at all and don’t add up to anything of real
interest.
The cast give enthusiastic and committed performances and it
all moves at a good pace but all that energy feels wasted on such thin material
as this.
It was difficult to see how it could all come under the
umbrella of the title of the show, “Possibility”. Co-directors Luke Rogers and Anna Johnstone
stated in the program that “‘Possibility’ is in itself an open
provocation”. If just presenting a range
of possibilities was the point and leaving it to the audience to decide, then
it was neither provoking nor satisfying.
This review was first
published in the Canberra City News digital edition of 18 October 2019
Len Power’s reviews
are also broadcast on the Artsound FM 92.7 ‘In the Foyer’ program on Mondays
and Wednesdays at 3.30pm.