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19th April - 5th May
After hearing a synopsis of “Travels With My Aunt” I feared the play would lack substance and did not feel strongly compelled about the subject matter perhaps partly to do with the fact that central to the piece is a fifty year old man who has never really lived. Of course when I say lived he has been alive, however what the play examines is whether simply going through the motions, existing as is expected, loving as is required, is really enough.
I must say something about the way in which the play is performed in order for me to explain it in any comprehendible way; Brechtian theatre is unconventional compared to what you would call normal stage performances. Bertolt Brecht believed that audiences should not be patronised into thinking what they see on stage is in fact real life but should be reminded that it is a play, and in this instance the Brechtian twist was translated through the four actors of the cast continually shifting in and out of the lead role of Henry Pulling. The three actors who weren’t playing him at the time would take up another role that the witty and rather charming script demanded and so the continual rotation left none of the audience asleep in their seats.
The four actors, who carried this discerning piece with ease, were Tom Anderson who made his mark as a young woman in jodhpurs, Everal A Walsh, Christopher Etridge the utterly corrupt Aunt, and Alan Perrin. Being an avid fan of anything challenging ideas about what theatre should be, I soaked this play up and despite being a fairly young member of the audience, well, youngest, I certainly came away with a barrel of questions to mull over on my return to school.
The comedy that was gently injected throughout from a cast of loveable charters did not however detract from my real disappointment of the play the dropped lines. Never have I seen in professional theatre performance as many lines stumbled across as last night. Of course I make it sound like it was every five minutes but it could not have been more than five times however to me it was five times too many and led to great disappointment in what was otherwise a slick and incredible production more than ably directed by Douglas Rintor.
I cannot finish without commenting on the multimedia device which did add colour to the minimalist set and may certainly have aided in keeping the interest of some members of the audience. However in my opinion they detracted somewhat from the low key way in which the play was presented, which was forcing us as an audience to use our imagination.
There were so many perfect little moments in this production that I just wanted to bottle and take home with me. This was a play that forced you to read between the lines and use your imagination really like no other I have seen.
Christina Sutton
26 April 2007
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