Full Circle at The Oval House Theatre
Thursday morning I received a phone call from an old friend asking me if I fancied a trip to the theatre with him and his Sixth Form english set to see a play directed by a friend from my own days in Sixth Form. The play was Full Circle by Kobus Moolman (who gave a short lecture afterwards), it is set in Post-apartheid South Africa and follows a white farming family who are, of course, not all they would seem.
The farther of the two children had been murdered while they were young and they were raised by their Uncle Oom, whom in true Charles Manson fashion uses sex, violence and his own brand of religion to control his family and lead them into his own personal war - in this case against the ‘blacks’ who have been given control of ‘his’ land. However things take an unexpected twist when the slightly unnervingly nice Inspector Zuma, who is apparently investigating Oom in connection with his planned coup, is recognised as having been present on the night their farther was murdered…
The show was stolen by Sarah Caltieri who’s portrayal of the blind little sister could have been thought of as unconvincing if it wasn’t for the fact that she herself was blind… in many ways for me, I am embarrassed to say, the play became a demonstration in exactly how capable blind people actually are.
The tiny set was used very well, the only time size became a problem was in the scenes where the inspector was observing the farm house through his binoculars, which in reality was probably no more than four foot away. I think I would have had him looking out into the audience at the front of the stage and had the the action he was observing going on upstage of him… but then that’s just me. I loved the pixelated African panorama on the cyc, to me it represented the sister’s blindness but I did read in another review that it represented the haze of the South African climate which could also be true.
All in all I really enjoyed the evening, we stayed to listen to the author’s thoughts on his work… listening to them remind me of myself trying to explain how an idea for some computer code works, somethings can’t be put into words and are best left to screams.
Slava’s Snow Show
Today at lunch I saw a poster for one of the most amazing pieces of physical theatre I’ve ever seen. It’s called Slava’s Snow Show, it’s the work of a Russian clown known off stage as Slava Polunin, who was studying mime and the art of clowning in Leningrad at the age of 17.
In 80’s Slava formed The Theatre of the Art of Modern Clowning which gave birth to his Snow Show, which combines traditional clowning with theatrical expressionism and Russian avant-garde. The show explores imagination, loneliness and ends with one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen…
I can’t recommend it enough, I’ve seen it 3 times!