Review: The Wider Earth, Sydney Festival

17 January, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

A production from the Queensland Theatre and Dead Puppet Society, depicting Charles Darwin's journey on the Beagle and his formulation of the theory of evolution.

There's much to admire about this play: the revolving stage that fluidly turned from interiors to exteriors, the video backdrop, and most of all the puppets.

All the animals are puppets - from pigeons and puppies through to tropical birds and, most impressively, a life-size, lumbering Galapagos tortoise. The puppets don't aim for realism but instead all have a wonderfully steampunky, skeletal air. I didn't feel they were always integrated well into the production, but they were really impressive.

I like the ideas in this a lot too, the way we see Darwin connect the theory of tectonic plates - a physical world that's constantly undergoing the act of creation - and his own burgeoning ideas about evolution.

So I liked a lot. I just didn't like… uh… the script.

Kudos to Tom Conroy as Darwin, a familiar face from the Sydney stage scene who did his best, but there wasn't much to work with. This felt very simplistic, with each character falling into quite a neat little box - the religious one, the skeptic, the scientist - they seemed like the ones adhering to some grand design rather than being allowed to live and breathe.

Good ideas, good design, lots of good elements, but this never came close to hitting the mark for me.

Trailer
Limelight Magazine

Review: Tree of Codes, Sydney Festival

9 January, ICC Theatre Darling Harbour

A contemporary ballet, choreographed by Wayne McGregor - supposedly an interpretation of Jonathan Safran Foer's experimental novella of which I know very little.

So let's begin with what I saw. It started in the total dark, from which lights began to emerge - attached to dancers, as we soon realised, outlining their bodies like constellations or, as they began to move, like fireworks. As a concept, it's great but as it went on I really just wanted to see the dancers - movement is one thing but shape and form, all those things were lost to the dark.

When the lights did come up, I was really thankful - the dancers of Company Wayne McGregor were excellent. I also found the set design by installation artist Olafur Eliasson alternately impressive and interesting - utilising mirrors, glass enclosures, reflections across the walls of the auditorium - and the music by Jamie xx quite powerful.

And yet, even at only 75 minutes, I also found this - a bore? I could admire most of the separate elements but when put together, with the rather repetitive and fragmented choreography that only rarely seemed to coalesce into moments of focus, I grew… a little sleepy.

Yes, I micronapped.

Was there a narrative? Was there a point? For me, this was less than the sum of its parts, let's say. Mileage clearly varies. There was a standing ovation at the end. Obviously, I didn't partake.

Shout out to the very congested scenes prior to entry thx to security check which then caused a fifteen minute delay to the start of the show. Props to the social media manager who replied to my snarky tweet so politely.

Shout out also to the ICC having not one but three different theatres, none of which are particularly clearly labelled. Props to Sydney Festival for having volunteers on hand to redirect people.

Tree of Codes program

Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes
Time Out review