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| The Cast of "MANSION". |
Produced,
Written and Directed by Bass G. FAM
Choreographed
by Josephine Magliolo and Jordan Charles Herbert
Lighting
Design by Jack Pryce – Set, Costume and Sound design by Bass Fam Creative.
Sydney
Spiegeltent- Moore Park until 19th November 2023.
Performance
on 1st November 2023 reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
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| "Mansion" in The Sydney Spiegeltent. |
Originally
created in Belgium in the late 19th and early 20th
century as travelling dance halls, spielgeltents, with their unique ambience of
old-world elegance, have become established as favourite venues around
Australia for a variety of purposes, but mainly for the staging of risqué
cabaret, burlesque and circus presentations.
Currently
located in the Moore Park Entertainment Quartet, probably the largest
spiegeltent in Australia, the Sydney Spiegletent, is offering a tantalising summer
program of shows designed to challenge and extend popular concepts of
burlesque.
The first of
these was “The Marvellous Elephant Man – The Musical”, which drew on the unique
ambience of the spiegeltent to enhance a story which itself was set in the
world of 19th century circus side-shows.
Now comes “Mansion”,
written, produced and directed by Bass G. Fam, which tackles a much darker
subject.
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| Lukas White as Levi in "Mansion". |
With a large
cast of experienced dancers and acrobats, “Mansion” attempts to tell a gothic
horror story set in a mysterious mansion in which a newly widowed mother named
Mel Walker (Skylar Delphinus) and her children, Levi (Lukas White) and Rachel
(Issy Fox) take refuge, hoping to make a new beginning, only to find that the
mansion is already inhabited by a malevolent caretaker, Mr Emsworth (Bass G.Fam
himself) and a collection of ghouls, zombies and demons. All seem intent on subjecting
the new occupants to all manner of indignities.
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| Bass G Fam as Mr Emsworth in " Mansion" |
At least, that was the promise of the pre-publicity. However, very little
of this could be deduced from the performance itself and it was difficult to escape
the thought that this show had been concepted for an environment rather
different to that offered by the Sydney Spiegletent.
As the lights dimmed, the show commenced promisingly with a strange figure stomping his walking stick loudly as he moved unsettingly among the audience. Then a heavily-amplified voice-over began to intone a detailed story-line which was augmented with pumping versions
of re-mixed popular songs, loud screams and howling wind sound effects.
The live
performances mostly consisted of dances; acrobatic adagios including one
in which Levi danced with his dead father, solos and large group dances. But how the characters related to each other and how the various elements illustrated the narration was not always decipherable, especially as the dances were choreographed
in an abstract contemporary dance style which felt at odds with the premise, and were punctuated by competently performed circus acts on a variety of apparatus including
silks, Cyr wheel and chairs which had obviously been shoe-horned into the concept.
The fact that the faces of many of the performers were covered by rubber horror masks or grungy wigs and they were wearing ill-fitting, unflattering costumes which appeared to have been rescued from a wardrobe throw-out bin or local op-shop, did not assist in building empathy for, or interest in, any of the characters.
Even the dark lighting plot seemed designed to distract attention away from the paucity of scenic elements which might have helped the audience imagine that everything was taking place in a haunted mansion. Given the possibilities offered by the spiegeltent's mirrors and leadlights, perhaps if the whole show had been set in a haunted spiegeltent, it may have been easier to succumb to the concept.
In fairness though, it should be noted that there were many in the audience who embraced the Halloween vibe, seemed unfazed by any of the above and rewarded the performance and the performers with enthusiastic applause at the conclusion.
Images by Tim Levy
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au