WOLF LULLABY from Blackout Theatre Company has sadly finished its run but the quality of, and the work that has gone into, the production is one of the reasons why I am such a champion of this community theatre. This production was very thoughtfully constructed and acted, it brought a good sense of mystery and the themes were explored at no expense of the story. Just all round good theatre-going.
Written by Hilary Bell, WOLF LULLABY has a complex theme at its heart, are children capable of evil? In a small Tasmanian town, we meet 9 year old Lizzie who is obviously naughty and over active. It is after school and she is hanging out at her mother’s hairdressing salon, being annoying when Angela is giving a cut to Warren who is Lizzie’s dad. Though the parents are divorced they appear to remain on good terms. The only other character is Sergeant Ray Armstrong, the local copper and it falls to him to investigate the murder of a two and a half year old who is found in one of the local kids’ hangout. Lizzie, who has nightmares about a wolf, may be implicated in the toddler’s death.
Director Jordan Anderson has foregrounded the interpersonal in his production and neatly sidestepped the more melodramatic aspects of the text. His casting has allowed him that luxury. As Lizzie, Maddie Furner does a great job and her early work which appears to be nothing more than unsettled childishness, takes on a grimmer resonance as the play progresses. Furner has that just right and it sets her character nicely for the later reveals and self-expressed confusion. Her watching and ‘fibbin’ also displays some excellent character choices as does Lizzie’s fear of unseen forces.
And Furner has a terrific scene partner in Jess Bell as Angela. It is a relationship full of subtlety, beginning when they are first alone. Their interactions are completely different without Warren in the room. Tender and protective, Bell gives every indication of being a loving parent struggling to bring up a difficult child alone. Her responses to events, her ‘mother’s instinct’ and her non-verbal work during the interrogation scenes is powerful in its realism. This gives her character true pathos and complexity.
Richard Tonkin also does a good job as a character who is not there to be liked. He brings the odium early but does temper the more unpleasant lines with some elements of compassion. He uses his voice to considerable effect to frighten or cajole and does give his character a strong sense that he has seen terrible things. David Emerson as Warren also does a good job of a father not cut out for the hard stuff, who is weak but tries to be loving. His exasperation when tensions rise and he is called on to make decisions or act in defence of his child is clearly evident.
The moderness of the friendship between Warren and Angela is well explored by Anderson and their scenes together really serve to explore the implication that Lizzie may well be a neglected child. In a rare misstep though, Anderson has allowed the second wolf scene to overwhelm the audience and the tone is less supernatural than one might hope for given the underlying importance of Lizzie’s dreams in explaining her behaviour. However, his movement of cast around the set works effectively as does his decision to put some out-of-scene characters in clear view behind the fencing.
The set is indicative of the vacant lot on which the murder happens and where the clues are assembled. With its fencing and vines, toys scattered about … including a disturbing and morbid crucifixion of a teddy, and general decay, it serves to endow the production with the abandonment hinted at in the text. The other settings are a complicated arrangement of distressed milk crates which were wrangled by the cast. Although a bit fussy, with a pleasant guitar arrangement behind it, the changes worked reasonably efficiently. There were some well-judged lighting states and audio/ music choices. The frogscape was particularly effective and there was no overuse of red, always a temptation in such a story, and a nice lavender choice for night-time. (Designer: Jack Thespourinthone; Lighting Design: Ken Buckley; Sound Design: Keiran Vella)
WOLF LULLABY was the usual high standard I see at Blackout Theatre Company [Facebook] productions and you can enjoy their work in their next show, SINGING IN THE RAIN in October.
