Presented by Foul Play
Reviewed 29 October 2015
Yasmin Gurreeboo’s company Foul Play, was specifically formed in order to present works which deliver the classics through a feminist filter. Sara Ruhl’s Eurydice is prime example of that. Ruhl has taken the legend of Orpheus and retold it from the point-of-view of his wife, Eurydice.
Gurreeboo has chosen to stage this production in the industrial wasteland of the old Clipsal plant number one, at Bowden. Working with it, rather than against it, was the kind of genius we have come to expect from Foul Play. With the assistance of Meghann Wilson on design and Alexander Ramsay on lighting, she has delivered staging that is interesting, spectacular, in a bleak way, and apposite to the text. All this, whilst avoiding being quirky for the sake of it.
Annabel Matheson is energetic, delightful and tragic, as Eurydice. Antoine Jelk gives a beautifully measured performance as Orpheus, and Patrick Frost delivers vulnerability and gravitas, in equal measure, as Father. Eddie Morrison, Graham Self, Katherine Shearer and Brittany Plummer complete the cast: Morrison playing two, different roles (and guitar), whilst Self, Shearer and Plummer worked together exquisitely as the Hadean chorus of Stones.
This is theatre at its best: innovative, exciting, meaningful, fresh and yet grounded in the best traditions of story-telling. Some bigger companies could learn a thing or three from Foul Play.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
Venue: Plant One corner of Park Tce and Fifth St, Bowden
Season: 29 October – 7 November 2015
Duration: 90 mins
Tickets: $20.00 – $30.00
Bookings: www.trybooking.com
Click here to visit Foul Play on FaceBook
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