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Mechanicals provide feast of plays
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July 28, 2009
By Terri Dunbar-Curran
THE MECHANICALS: THE BRITISH LINES TOUR.
At the Little and Intimate Theatres until August 22.
TERRI DUNBAR-CURRAN reviews.
It really is a treat to sit back and watch a superbly performed piece of theatre. Cape Town is awash with cabarets, dance performances, musicals and comedians, but it's great to be able to go out to the theatre every now and then and enjoy a classic, well-written play.
The Mechanicals more than satisfy with their latest repertory season The British Lines Tour at the Little and Intimate Theatres. Having already tackled a couple of American plays, this season they bring some British classics to the stage with Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party and The Dumb Waiter and Sarah Kane's Blasted. Also thrown into the mix are Steven Berkoff's Decadence and Edward Albee's The Zoo Story.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a popular comedy and the full cast of the Mechanicals create charming and witty characters with laughs aplenty.
Under the direction of Luke Ellenbogen they managed to capture the fabulously pompous and privileged air of the upper Victorian classes.
Indeed, it's the characterisation that really makes this play a success. From the formidable matriarch Lady Bracknell (Guy de Lancey) and the stoic John Worthing (Scott Sparrow) to the complete cad Algernon Moncrieff (Nicholas Pauling), the confident Gwendolen Fairfax (Gina Pauling) and the flighty Cecily Cardew (Tinarie van Wyk Loots), Wilde's characters are wonderfully portrayed.
Wilde's script is entertaining and clever and The Mechanicals do it justice. Pauling and Van Wyk Loots are brilliant when they face-off over their Earnest - from gently simmering to explosive anger - their confrontation is one of the high points of the play.
Ellenbogen's set design is versatile and fits the period nicely, but ensures that the characters remain the focus point.
In Pinter's The Birthday Party it's all change as the performers take on different characters, some of them switching to either larger or smaller roles.
It's an interesting play which lends itself to some very intense acting and more than a few edge-of-your-seat moments.
Adrian Collins switches from Earnest's Dr Chasuble to Stanley living in a boarding house with Meg (Van Wyk Loots) and Petey Boles (Sparrow). He is darkly unpredictable as his wild mood swings torment the strangely unhinged Meg. Van Wyk Loots's Meg is the polar opposite of Cecily as she worries and frets with her cardigan.
Jason Potgieter and Pauling are suitably creepy as Goldberg and McCann and they whip the play to fever pitch as they confront Stanley. The scene is frighteningly invasive and riveting, leaving hardly a moment to breathe. It's that raw emotion that captures Pinter's play so perfectly.
Weare has designed the look and feel of the play to heighten the sense of foreboding which gradually grows as the drama unfolds and, coupled with the clever use of lighting, he succeeds in creating the perfect setting for Stanley's nightmare to unfold.
The range of works The Mechanicals have chosen this season is varied and allows for each of the actors to explore the various characters without any overlap.
It's impossible to select just one of the plays this season to see. It's recommended you try to see as many of them as you can to fully appreciate the feat the company accomplishes.
The Birthday Party will be staged on Wednesday at 3pm and The Importance of Being Earnest at 8pm. The Dumb Waiter will run at the Intimate Theatre until August 21, Decadence until August 20 and The Zoo Story until August 22.
Tickets are R60 to R80. For information and bookings, call 021 480 7129, or 082 537 8890.
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