Free Theatre bill

Press, 10 July 1987, Page 6

Free Theatre bill

Red Cross, by Sam Shepard, directed by Leonard Wilcox, and Takeaway, by Cynthia Brophy, directed by Peter Falkenberg for the Free Theatre. At the Free Theatre from Wednesday, July 8. Running time: 8 p.m. to 10.15 p.m. Reviewed by John Farnsworth. Christchurch theatre has recently been seized by an unaccountable enthusiasm for Sam Shepard’s plays, and both professional and amateur companies have eagerly pushed his work on stage over the last three years. Happily, his writing is varied and interesting enough to withstand this massed attention, and “Red Cross” is no exception. It appears here in a double bill with the premiere of a Christchurch one-act satire.

“Red Cross” recalls the strong vein of surrealism embedded particularly in Shepard’s early plays.

Here, in a stark white setting, three characters spin out elaborate, intermingled fantasies that range over ski-ing, pubic

crabs and swimming. In fact, the characters tumble out ambiguous, often ironic, symbols which not only reproduce the character of turbulent fantasising but also depict their ill-managed attempts to cope with both subconscious and natural forces in their inhumanely sanitised surroundings.

This is subtle and complex writing which is pointed up by direction that minimises the action, controls the tempo, and provides enough detachment to allow both the energy and irony of the images to emerge at their own pace.

From the cast (Bea Cheer, Charles Heywood and Chrissie Gray) it requires concentrated performances which it largely gets, although energy levels and delivery tend to fluctuate in places. At times, too, the overall effect is a little too studied, but the general tenor and the final image are very effectively handled.

It is small surprise to say that “Takeaway”/cannot stand muster against Shepard’s work. Nonethe-

less, and in spite of its billing as a satire, it is a glum piece. Some of this comes from the plot, which portrays the seeming flotsam and jetsam of Christchurch who drift into a Thai takeaway bar on an alcoholic ebb-tide.

Turning drunken, nostalgic, dislikeable characters into the stuff of engaging theatre is a tall order for any dramatist, especially when there is an element of allegory and social comment involved. In this case, the writing sees to collapse a little under the strain, in spite of some well handled, naturalistic exchanges.

For the rest, however, the script needs some major upholstering to integrate an unconvincing feminist theme and sharpen the cultural commentary. In performance, and apart from Leonard Wilcox’s and Cynthia Brophy’s roles as Mayo and Fries, the variously competent portrayals of drunkenness are mercifully rescued by Roy Montgomery’s late arrival as the gungho United States Air Force man.