‘Phèdre’ – Bell Shakespeare

PHEDRE – BY JEAN RACINE
DIRECTED BY PETER EVANS
BELL SHAKESPEARE – PLAYHOUSE, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
6 – 29 JUNE 2013

Lea: First overall impressions of Phèdre. I loved the mood that was created by the set.
Sybil: Ah the set is absolutely awesome.
Lea: It’s gorgeous.
Sybil: It’s that kind of dilapidated, run down, glamour.
Lea: What is it? Baroque?
Sybil: It’s kind of a nod to French Baroque. And the colours! The silver and the turquoise, and…
In unison: …the tiles.
Lea: I just love them. It’s so beautiful to see that texture, you know without it just being a painted floor. I haven’t seen tiles used very often on a theatre set, it’s beautiful.
Sybil: Also the details – the whole in the roof, and the leaves that you pointed out…
Lea: The leaves – oh god! (in admiration)
Sybil: Did you notice the rust stains down the windows and on to the couch?
Lea: Yes, yes. Down the window sills.
Sybil: So it’s really, really detailed.
Lea: Everything has gone to shit since Theseus has been gone.
Sybil: But they don’t notice.
Lea: Like the decay has set in, but no-one’s noticed.
Sybil: And that’s basically what the story is as well – there’s this decay.
Lea: Yes, yes.
Sybil: In their relationships.
Lea: Which they aren’t noticing until now, until it’s so far gone and they’re all of a sudden like “Oh, shit!”. I thought the staging was really interesting – how still everyone was at the start.
Sybil: I’m not sure it worked all the way through. There were moments where I was like “Oh come on already!”
Lea: *laughs*
Sybil: You feel like the emotion should have moved them. But that first scene, where they just didn’t move, and there were some fairly lengthy monologues.
Lea: I was actually fairly engaged through all that.
Sybil: But I felt like the power that was building up inside them was like a head of steam and I just wanted them to be able to move, and they didn’t, and they kept it really, really controlled.
Lea: Controlled and contained. I was willing to go with it and fight against my desire for more passion, and to experience what they were going through. My god – Catherine McClements (Phèdre)! She’s amazing!
Sybil: Un-be-lievable! She’s fantastic.
Lea: Her first massive speech – monologue – was FILLED with…
Sybil: Angst.
Lea: Oh and her ups and downs, I could feel every little nuance… and it was just like… I was watching a movie. I was completely engaged by this one shot of her, just going through this torment. It was exquisite. And I thought, I thought, we are just in this…
Sybil: Masterclass. Absolute masterclass territory. I’ve actually been really impressed by all the voice work.
Lea: Actually that’s very true. Everyone is very good.
Sybil: Even Catherine, when she just had this tiny, tiny moment, where she was sitting on the edge of the stage and she was speaking to the Gods, and it was just so quiet…
Lea: But it still went to the back of the theatre. And even… Ismène (Olivia Monticciolo), even her small scenes hit the back wall.
Sybil: What do you think of Aricia (Abby Earl)?
Lea: Ummmmm, I’m on the fence with her. She’s beautiful. She looks like a dancer.
Sybil: She does look like a dancer, but that’s one of my issues. I think she’s a bit – and this is not going to sound right – I think she’s a bit posey. She poses.
Lea: Yes – “I look beautiful standing like this. And I look beautiful posing like this.”
Sybil: Here’s my arms, here’s my back, here’s my neck… She’s got a beautiful voice, but she was slightly over-annunciating for me.
Lea: So my expectation of the second half was that it would explode in terms of how the story came to a head, how the staging operated, the way the characters would interact with each other, that it would be less stayed and become more passionate, or violent, or…
Sybil: That’s interesting because I thought it did.
Lea: Well it did, but…
Sybil: It wasn’t frenetic.
Lea: Yes, it wasn’t frenetic, and it didn’t break the mould of the first half. But I think I wanted it to burst. One thing I really hate to mention, but I really wasn’t a fan of Theseus (Marc Chiappi).
Sybil: As neither was I. Do you know what? This encapsulates what I didn’t like about him – he says his son has just died, his wife’s just died, he’s realised that’s he made the most phenomenal mistake, and his response is, “We. Must. Go. To. The. Graveyard.” and I thought, you could be in Robots vs Art!
*laughs all round*
Lea: What was so peculiar, is that he chose – when he was in his non-agitated state – to use the depths of his voice, and an almost Australian accent… Theseus dropped into this really low register, which I found really disingenuous. I couldn’t connect with it.
Sybil: “I am going to be Richard Burton now.”
Lea: I only had a few moments when I genuinely believed in his emotion. In comparison, when I listened to the story, by that wonderful actor, who plays like the right-hand man to Hippolytus…
Sybil: Yes, he was fantastic… (referring to cast sheet) it must be Bert (LaBonte – Théramène). He was absolutely outstanding. I can’t wait to see him in something else.
Lea: Oh exactly. His description of how Hippolytus had come to die was…
Sybil: …so evocative. I saw everything.
Lea: I know. The imagery was intense and he never went over the top, or was self-effected, he just related this phenomenal story. Did you notice Theseus in the background listening to the story?
Sybil: Every now and again.
Lea: Yeah, there was not a lot going on, and then some heaving of his shoulders, which didn’t look like it had been felt internally. Then when he stood up and walked over and gave those sobs, again it was just…
Sybil: It was very physical.
Lea: His hunched shoulders and his neck…
Sybil: It was like he had made a physical choice, but it didn’t come from an emotional place.
Lea: Or a place of truth. He had held on to that physical notion of the character and had never let go of it or found the truthfulness in it. We have seen some really good examples in this production, of people making the classical text their own.
Sybil: Oh god yeah.
Lea: Bert (LaBonte).
Sybil: And I thought Oenone (Julie Forsyth) was quite good. The way she was playing with her character was quite refreshing in this production. I thought what was quite interesting was that she went from the maid – who was a bit of light relief, but did care – to being a manipulative bitch.
Lea: It was a good arc.
Sybil: Think about Phèdre, Catherine did an awesome job. Very, very powerful.
Lea: You know the only bit I didn’t like, was in the scene she was deliberately making herself really ugly, and in doing, so she was clutching her torso and it just went on and on. When she came out of that and let go of her inner turmoil and spoke to the Gods, that was so powerful and beautiful. Just that bit – felt a bit self-indulgent.
Sybil: But, you know, it’s a fucking self-indulgent character.
Lea: Absolutely. Good point.
Sybil: I mean she’s kind of the poster girl for self-indulgent characters. You can’t get much more self-indulgent than Phèdre. You know, I thought Hippolytus (Edmund Lembke-Hogan) improved in the second half. I thought the scene where his father had accused him and he was trying to convince his father otherwise, he was really connected. He redeemed himself for me.
Lea: I agree, I really enjoyed him in the second half. I was much more onboard with his journey.
Sybil: How about Ismène (Olivia Monticciolo), who essentially played The Chorus.
Lea: She was really disciplined and her presence was great.
Sybil: Bless her. She had to stand in the same spot – still – for probably a third of that show.
Lea: I actually quite liked that idea of the presence of a character, who is about to enter the action, being just on the edge of the stage, present, before they actually entered. There’s a sense that something is about to happen. Her presence was great and it was metered correctly. And there was Panope (Caroline Lee), she was really good. She was focussed and she really fulfilled her part in the story.
Sybil: So a mixed bag. Some brilliance and some, who, I think just came down to lack of experience.
Lea: And possibly also the path of the direction.
Sybil: True.

IN SUMMARY

Lea: In summing up, I’m really glad I saw Phèdre. I must say that my attention did not wane, I was definitely engaged. I’m also really happy to have seen Catherine McClements performance.
Sybil: Yes she was great.
Lea: It was full.
Sybil: I think the show was good. I think it’s one that is going to stick with me. One I will be thinking about.
Lea: One we’ll measure future Classics against.

WHERE WE HAD POST SHOW DRINKS: That bar I never remember the name of along the walk to the Opera House.
OUR HANGOVER STATUS: All clear for Syb (unlike Phèdre’s conscience) as her detox is almost over. Lea was very respectable this evening.
MORE INFORMATION:
www.bellshakespeare.com.au/whatson/past/Phedre