OBSERVER: Spark
As part of this year’s Midsumma Festival, Frenzy Theatre Company in conjunction with Theatre Works produced Spark, an exploration of a gay man’s search for ‘Mr Right’ in today’s world of apps and online dating.
In brief, Simon (played by Ryan Henry) is nearing 30 and desperately searching for love. To help him, he uses Iris (Cassidy Dunn), a virtual assistant on his mobile phone. However, the phone’s battery is running down and a charger is nowhere in sight so the clock is ticking for Simon (and Iris), both literally and metaphorically.
Henry wrote the script, with Dunn acting as dramaturg. To complement their central characters four minor characters appeared as Simon’s lovers, with an ensemble of five completing the cast as a Greek chorus.
Spark used a mishmash of styles, from naturalistic narrative to surreal dream-like sequences. The writing was bold and earnest but uneven; moments of genuine insight into Simon’s plight afforded by poetic language sat alongside tired cliches and all-too-familar plot lines.
Critical to the play were the central performances of Henry and Dunn which mirrored the script in that they too were a mixed bag.
Both actors played certain scenes with nuance and subtlety but, elsewhere, played shrill caricatures.
Unfortunately, at times simple stage craft was missing as cast members could not be heard or enunciated so poorly as to be unintelligible.
However, some of the highlights of the evening were when text became irrelevant as song and dance pieces took over with some wonderful inventive choreography on display.
The direction by Belle Hansen, while having its moments, never fully got to grips successfully with what was admittedly a challenging script to realise. As a result, this led to the unfortunate unevenness in the performances.
So, great to see theatre this daring and adventurous while acknowledging that there is quite a way to go yet before it realises its full potential.
Review by Peter Murphy