Directed by
Sophie Benassi – Set and costume design by Sophie Benassi - Movement direction
by Ylaria Rogers - Lighting designed by Stephen Still – Sound designed by
Neville Pye
Presented by
Chaika Theatre Company – ACT Hub 4th to 21st May 2022
Performance
on 18th May reviewed by Bill Stephens.
Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “Three Tall Women” proved an auspicious choice by Chaika Theatre Company to stake its claim for attention among Canberra’s burgeoning theatre companies.
Written in 1990
the play won Albee his third Pulitzer Prize and was hailed by commentators at
the time as a return to form by the playwright after a period in which it was
feared his creative powers had begun to wane. Also noted at the time were the
similarities of events in the play that reflected Albee’s own life experience
of leaving home as an 18 year-old to escape the disapproval of his conservative
adoptive parents who disapproved of his sexuality.
“Three Tall
Women” revolves around a wealthy, cantankerous 92 year-old woman, (Karen
Vickery). In the first act this woman is
being attended by a kindly, bemused 52 year-old carer, (Lainie Hart) and being
questioned by a 26 year-old women, (Natasha Vickery) who has been sent by the woman’s
lawyers to clear up some perceived irregularities in her accounts.
The elderly woman dominates the conversation with
sometimes confusing recollections of the events in her life, while also demanding
attention from the others to painfully arrange herself in her chair, walk her unsteadily
to the toilet, or re-arrange her in her chair when she returns. The first act
ends when the woman has a stroke mid-conversation.
The ages of
the women are important because in the second act it becomes obvious that the
women now represent the woman at different stages of her life. Behind them,
through a gauze curtain, can be seen an inert figure in a bed, representing the
woman either dying or already dead. During the course of this act a young man (Blue Hyslop),
presumably her estranged son, enters and sits wordlessly by her bedside, while the
three women continue to discuss their lives seeking to define “the happiest moment”.
 |
| Karen Vickery - Lainie Hart - Natasha Vickery in "Three Tall Women" |
Sophie
Benassi has produced a handsome, thoughtful production, casting three of the
city’s most accomplished actresses, clothing them in elegant costumes and
surrounding them with carefully chosen décor to reflect the wealth of the
central protagonist. Benassi’s direction is clear and appropriate through-out
and despite the wordiness of the play, she never allows the action to become
static.
As the oldest
of the three women, Karen Vickery commands the stage with a finely-observed
performance that is a continuous joy to watch. However she by no means steals the show as
Lainie Hart and Natasha Vickery match and compliment her every moment throughout
the play.
Indeed one
of the chief delights of this production is watching the wordless interplay and
body language between the three actresses as they deliver and respond to Albee’s
acerbic, often confronting, dialogue.
With this
production of “Three Tall Women”, Chaika Theatre Company has set a high
benchmark for future productions at the ACT Hub.
Photos by Jane Duong.
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
