Dead Puppet Society
Canberra Theatre Centre
Until October 26
Reviewed by Samara Purnell
Play by Rick Elice
Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Music by Wayne Barker
This wonderfully madcap story is fiddly to explain: In a nutshell: Two ships - The Wasp and The Neverland set out with a treasure chest full of starstuff. Aboard the ships are Molly, her father Lord Aster, three orphan boys, Slank, Black Stache, Smee, Mrs Bumbrake and Alf, along with various other shipmates. Treasure chest switches, a shipwreck and a beautiful bunch of creatures later sees everyone washed up on an island chasing each other and the elusive starstuff.
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| Peter and the bird |
This production boasts a stellar cast of high profile actors across stage and screen. Director David Morton has secured stage royalty in Paul Capsis as the scheming, slinking Slank who brings an easy flare, humour, facial expressions and a sleezy physicality to the role.
Colin Lane as Black Stache is an absolute treat. He engages the audience, who lap it up, as he prances and parades across the stage mangling the English language and engaging in verbal jousting. The Pirates of Penzance tongue twister I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General comes to mind.
The actors utilize a range of accents from British to Peter Helliar’s (typecast perfectly as Smee) casual Aussie accent. His projection and diction give away a lack of stage training. But he’s there for the gags and when Stache loses his hand, absolute farce ensues, with Helliar and Lane reveling in their element.
Alison Whyte gives a warm and stoic performance as Lord Aster, but having daughter Molly call her daddy was jarring. John Bachelor’s Alf was covered by James Haxby on the official opening night. He and Mrs Bumbrake (Lucy Goleby) bounced off each other nicely. Sometimes literally. Ryan Gonzalez as the Italian Fighting Prawn is brilliant. (Yes, Fighting Prawn…)
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| Molly and the orphans |
Olivia Deeble’s stage debut as Molly sees her bring an energetic and athletic physicality to the role. The character lacks softness and empathy, rather, she is determined to lead the missions and sort the problems. Otis Dhanji as the unnamed child, later Peter Pan, adopts a strange physical stance throughout the performance. He and his friends look (and are) older than the script implies but is likely required to carry off the roles. The bedtime story scene between them and the Italian chefs on the island was brilliantly timed and delightfully nuts.
The cast’s textured, layered costumes featuring burgundy, reds and greens were inspired by Alexander McQueen collections and the description of the characters by the director to costume designer Anna Cordingley.Smee, Lord Aster and Black Stache
The musicians are on stage to replicate ships’ bands and create the soundscapes from the recurring, haunting strains of O For the Wings of a Dove, to the campy Mermaid Outta Me. There are songs throughout, but mostly it is a spoken play. The sound was perfectly balanced between music, singing, sound effects and dialogue and reached a roaring crescendo to Act 1 of puppets and song.
The script is manic, with blink and you’ll miss them jokes - who knew Philip Glass and semicolons could be so funny. At interval a girl was overheard saying: “I don't necessarily get it but I like it”. A perusal of the program did little to explain or clarify the story, rather whet the appetite for the creatures to appear and the storyline to resolve.
Apart from the cast, the overarching appeal is the staging itself. Ben Hughes’ fantastical lighting design of slightly fluorescent blues, pinks, stars and fairy lights blend wonderfully with the cleverly utilised set and multilayered panels of blue sea. At interval, it closes to resemble stained glass window shards. The ships decks and quick rotations of sets and characters reveal entertaining vignettes of scenarios happening aboard.
The Dead Puppet Society has previously produced beautiful shows solely based on puppetry. Here, the puppets and props are gorgeous, although not the entire basis of the show, with the exception of the piece de resistance - Mr Green, the epic crocodile, comprised of lights and polytubes, nets and rope. The cat, birds (made to look like cockatoos for Australian audiences), stingray, sea creatures and butterflies are scattered throughout the production with the storm scene highlighting the clever use and aesthetic appeal of props and lighting.
Mermaids in dazzling costumes open Act 2 and just when you thought the script or storyline couldn't get any looser, a brigade of Italian chefs appear.The Mermaids
The emotional engagement that had been kept at bay for most of the show, came rushing in in the last few scenes and hit hard in the feels, to the point of tearing up. Thematically, Peter and the Starcatcher is an origin story of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Mary Darling and Neverland. It also explores themes of friendship, home, belonging and belief in dreams, rolled up in wonder, magic and star dust. Oh, and mermaids and focaccia.
Peter and the Starcatcher is a beautiful, visually rich and wonderfully physical, slick production. The cast relish in the movement created by Liesel Zink. The myriad experience of this quality cast may be lost on younger audiences, who will enjoy the humour, silliness and energy of the show and all will love the sumptuous feast of puppetry, staging, colour and fun.
Photos by Daniel Boud
