Reviewed Wednesday March 3rd 2010 (continues until March 6th)
Presented by Back to Back Theatre
www.adelaidefestival.com.au
http://www.thenecks.com
Venue: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
Season: March 3-5 at 8pm & March 6 at 6pm
Tickets: $25-$49 (plus booking fees) available through BASS
Bookings: BASS 131 246 or www.bass.net.au
With long silences, static movement and repetitious music, it seems almost impossible for Food Court to work, and yet it does.
Inspired by a conversation overheard in a food court, this haunting expose of bullying and abuse is enacted by five intellectually disabled actors. What begins as two characters taunting a third leads to physical abuse when they later force their victim to strip before a crowd then beat her.
The cast features Mark Deans, Nicki Holland, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price and Sonia Teuben. Director Bruce Gladwin uses delayed surtitles not only for clarity but to echo the sharp cuts of dialogue and to hammer home the cruelty of the act.
It is an uncomfortable, thought provoking night of theatre well realised by Mark Cuthberston’s sparse design and Andrew Livingston’s stellar lighting. Together they create visuals that take us from the starkness of a public space to the evocative living shadows of a forest. The extensive use of a scrim is eerily effective.
The repetitive rhythms of award winning band The Necks are perfectly tailored to a show such as this, allowing the music to build and unravel in their typical fashion as the story progresses. Chris Abrahams on piano, Tony Buck on drums and Lloyd Swanton on bass are superb.
This is the kind of event that lingers long after the lights have gone out.
Review by Rod Lewis, Glam Adelaide Arts Critic.
More News
