Skip to main content

Review: The Norman Mailer Anecdote - Queensland Theatre (Door 3)

Written by Grace Wilson

The Norman Mailer Anecdote, produced by Big Scary Animal kicked off Queensland Theatre’s Door 3 program with hard-hitting questions, complex narratives, and well-rounded performances. The Door 3 program, new to Queensland Theatre in 2024, gives space for emerging artists to create and perform pitched work with support and space contributed by Queensland Theatre. For a premiere program of this size, it was a waiting game to see how high the bar would be set, and Big Scary Animal set the precedent for Door 3 works to come. 

The Norman Mailer Anecdote by Anthony Mullins explores ideas of sexual assault and the relationships that come apart in times of crisis. The work itself was confronting - it tackled these ideas through a lens of upper middle-class Australia, specifically Brisbane, and used both the lens of legal terminology and creative writing to create a wide scope when approaching the program. 

The cast itself was intimate and connected - standout performances were delivered by both Hattie Cleg-Robinson and Zoe Houghton. Cleg-Robinson nailed the teenager-angst that Mullins set out with their creation of Samantha, and Houghton followed through as a strong mother figure but also a smart and witty businessperson. Together as mother and daughter, their connection was complex and well-fleshed out, and both performers shared a genuine respect for one another on stage. Christopher Sommers delivered a strong performance but lacked the visible connection that their cast mates shared. It felt like watching an outsider who had stepped onto the stage - there was definitely room for improvement. 

Lighting design by Teegan Kranenburg was well thought out and masterful - using LED strips and poignant coloured lights to set the feel of the show. Set design by Madeleine Barlow was well executed and detailed, giving an immediate sense of upper-class Brisbane that we all know in some shape or form. Asymmetrical design, obnoxiously large artworks - the production design was what cradled this show together. However, it was the music composition and sound design by Morgan Francis that gave so much depth to the show - using beautifully composed tracks that sent us spiraling into this world and into the turmoil that these characters faced. 

The production team should be truly commended as the backbone of this production. The Norman Mailer Anecdote has set the bar high for what else emerging and independent artists in Brisbane can achieve with state company backing. Considering the complex nature of this text, all creatives on this project handled it with wisdom and insight that should be commended by all who see this production.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Freshblood Festival - Vena Cava

Written By Thor Morrison Upcoming creatives need a place to experiment, to prosper, to explore, and even to sometimes miss the mark. It is essential that spaces that allow this to happen exist, especially in a world obsessed with perfectionism. The Freshblood Festival is an annual event run by QUT Student Theatre Company Vena Cava, focused on young writers and performers, and it does just that. It provides a space for the new and upcoming creatives of Brisbane and surrounds to experiment, have fun, and create really exciting performances. Held at BackDock Arts in Fortitude Valley, and running over two consecutive weekends, it is a massive endeavour Vena Cava have given themselves. 14 independent shows, two play readings, and 8 music acts ensure that Freshblood has something for everyone to enjoy, and shows the variety and scale of the Festival itself. Drama Dispatch was able to attend most of the second weekend, seeing a total of seven shows and a play reading, and was greatly impresse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Article: The Empire Young Artist showcase original production

The Empire’s youngest artists have kicked off rehearsals for their original production, Our Egg Named Larry to be performed from July 12-13. Now in its 14th year, the audition-based elite performance program IMPACT sees a Junior Ensemble cast of eight aged 13-14, dive into the funny, heartwarming and at times ridiculous story of a group of students who are assigned to a project to keep a fragile egg named Larry in one piece. An original theatre piece, Our Egg named Larry was written by The Empire Youth Arts Lead Grace Sankey and co-writer Sheldon Mcloughlin, with ensemble members to contribute to the script writing process, drawing on discoveries they make about their own characters as rehearsals continue. “This year’s Junior Ensemble has a mixture of experience levels with some members who have done this program before and some who will be going on stage for the very first time,” Miss Sankey said. “I am so grateful to be in the rehearsal room with these amazing young people, creating ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Hair - Gold Coast Little Theatre

 Written by Mark Rickell   “Back in the late 1960s, the artists of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway had been complaining that the professional theatre was dead, and even worse, that it was boring. Hair was the revolution they had been waiting for. With very little plot, a unit set, plenty of four-letter words, explicit sexual content, rituals, drugs, lyrics that didn’t rhyme, music that didn’t follow the rules, and the sound of genuine rock and roll on the Broadway stage for the first time, this musical knocked Broadway on its collective ass.” - Scott Miller, Rebels with Applause: Broadway's Ground-Breaking Musicals   Gold Coast Little Theatre has faithfully continued the tradition of knocking theatre on its ass. With themes and topics that remain just as relevant today as they did in 1967 at the show’s original release, GCLT has absolutely smashed this Broadway classic. At a time when theatres across South East Queensland seem to be falling back o...
2 comments
Read more