Written by Grace Wilson
The best kind of theatre is theatre that makes people question, reflect and consider how uncomfortable questions encourage people to act and change. There are not many theatre pieces out there that can make an audience consider whether to laugh or cringe, smile or grimace. However, The Reaction Theory’s ‘Scenes From a Yellow Peril’, as a part of Queensland Theatre’s Door 3 program, masterfully manipulates the uncomfortable with the comedic, the angry with the heartfelt, and asks the audience if uncomfortable questions are worth the discoveries that come with them.
‘Scenes From A Yellow Peril’ by Chinese-New Zealand writer and poet, Nathan Joe, can truly be described as poetry on stage, a turbulent experience of communication and heightened emotions. The audience is exposed to complexities and challenges of BIPOC communities across the world in a way that does not fit the traditional theatre mould. There is no way to predict what Joe writes next; each scene chops and changes and masterfully interweaves a connected narrative that resonates and holds the audience in a strong grip. Comedy and glee is broken up by moments of history and reflection, this work is not one that anyone can walk away from and immediately understand.
Chelsea August and Egan Sun-Bin should be applauded for their incredible dedication and service to the script itself - holding moments where the poetry and lyric of Joe’s writing is left alone to sing. There is no over the top tech and movement to compete with the work itself, instead they work in perfect harmony. Not one element overpowers the other, there was no moments where the audience yearned for more from either side. The stage was in harmony at all moments of the work, it was encaptivating.
Performances by Jazz Zhao, Chris Nguyen, Peter Wood and Daphne Chen were what pushed this work to the extreme - each actor bringing their own history and heritage to the work that shone through. Zhao and Chen mastered comedy, exploring a detailed online search exploration that had the audience howling, while Wood and Nguyen mastered their incredible deep and personal monologues that stood out as remarkably moving. The work felt deeply personal to the actors, and effectively drew in the audience as no moment felt staged. Live segments where the actors were allowed to break the fourth wall provided brevity and felt extremely personal, only elevating the already strong performances across the board.
Special consideration should be given for the technical crew behind the scenes of this production. Lighting design by Brianna Clark heightened the sensory experience of the performance, as was met with similar intensity and skill by sound designer, Emma Burchall. Alex Riley’s set design was simple, allowing the performers to truly take centre stage with the work and let the text shine through. The use of video design by Imperfect Creatives within this performance added another layer to the storytelling of this work, assisting the transition between scene to scene and emphasising certain spoken text. However it was costume design by Frances Foo which solidified the creative work by this team, effectively interweaving practicality and culture into unique and specially designed garments that represented the heritage of the actors themselves. Together, this creative team served both the text but also the performers themselves, creating a sense of fullness surrounding the performance as a whole.
Overall, ‘Scenes From A Yellow Peril’ asks complex and nuanced questions that the arts sector needs to grapple with. Through the work of the creatives and their authentic response to Joe’s work, and the raw performances of the cast, this work is one not to be missed and has a long and powerful future ahead of it.
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