Reviews
Adelaide Theatre Guide Review
Maurits Cornelis Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts and lithographs. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was neglected in the art world even in his native Netherlands. In the 21st century he has been celebrated in exhibitions throughout the world. He explored concepts of alternate realities, impossible objects and infinity in his works. This was the inspiration for the play, Escher's Hands by Dawson Nichols. 'Drawing Hands' is a famous lithograph where the left hand draws the right hand and vice versa.
Director Kym Clayton was able to directly correspond with Dawson Nichols during the rehearsal process which provided valuable insight.
The play begins with a recorded message from the author asking the audience to 'enjoy the play. Thanks for supporting live theatre.' The message may not seem profound but given the events of the past twelve months it is indeed a very important message.
Andrew Clark gives a well-rounded and consistent performance as Gary, a writer for a computer firm, who is more interested in the 'action' than the motivation. Brittany Daw is compelling as Sandy, also a writer who is all about 'motivation'. Their job is to collaborate on a writing project for a fiction class.
They create the characters Steve and Gab and the writers take turns in motivating the actors. Thomas Filsell plays the role of Steve with conviction while Rose Harvey as Gabriella embodies her character with energy and believability. Ultimately the characters take control. This refers to Escher's sketch of the two hands. Who is ultimately in control of the writing process? What can go wrong?
This is a very thought-provoking play and well worth a visit to Galleon Theatre where you will always be welcomed.
Reviewed by Janice Bailey
GLAM Adelaide Review
Maurits Cornelis Escher was famous for his intricate drawings, woodcarvings and lithographs. All mathematically inspired, exploring symmetry, perspective, reflection and infinity presenting seemingly impossible objects and fascinating pieces of art. The audience of this play have a moving representation of an Escher style artwork to consider while they wait for the production to commence.
The set, designed by Brittany Daw, is deceptively simple using bold lines and lights to confine the acting area. The premise is also deceptively simple: two writers involved in a creative exercise to produce a script incorporating their ideas. Things are never that simple. The two writers want to take the scene in different directions and develop different emotions - a tense struggle for control of the piece ensues. As the play evolves, the characters they created take on unintended traits and ultimately take control of the narrative.
Andrew Clark characterises Gary as impatient, frustrated and eager to facilitate the script. Clark brings all his experience to this part and his unique facial expression are well used. Brittany Daw makes Sandy, the other writer, seem forceful and wanting to take charge; resistant to ideas that don't fit her preformed concept of what the script should be. Daw has a wealth of experience and shows her adaptability in this role. As the characters acting out these scenes, Rose Harvey (Gabriella) and Thomas Filsell (Steve) are constantly changing with whims and disagreements of their creators leading to further confusion. Both master the range of emotions and ideas their characters face.
This is deliberately a difficult play to follow. All four actors give fine performances and director Kym Clayton has done well to keep the plot from dissolving in the confusion. The technical aspects of this production have been well handled by Warren McKenzie (sound design), and with Madeleine Deane and Brittany Daw creating the Video animation.
It's been a long break, but Galleon are back with their usual fine level of production.
Reviewed by Fran Edwards
Stage Whispers Review
M.C. Escher, the Dutch artist who explored concepts of alternate realities, impossible objects and infinity in his works, provided the inspiration for Dawson Nichols' Escher's Hands. Named for Escher's well-known artwork 'Drawing Hands', which depicts two hands drawing each other, Escher's Hands explores ideas of control, of cause and effect and of freewill.
Gary, by day a technical writer (played by the ever-delightful Andrew Clark) and Sandy, a copy writer (Brittany Daw), are both involved in a Writer's Workshop where they have been tasked with writing a collaborative piece. They quickly agree on a piece about a prostitute and a pimp, with a love twist. That is where any agreement seemingly ends. Gary takes a stereotypically masculine approach in his keenness to explore the rawness, passion and violent tension between the characters. Sandy, on the other hand, is keen on a more sensitive and romantic, almost Pretty Woman, approach to the storyline.
Tensions between Gary and Sandy ebb and flow as they bring the characters of Gab (Rose Harvey) and Steve (Thomas Filsell) quite literally to life. Clark and Daw bring a wonderful rapport to Gary and Sandy, offsetting moments of high tension with touches of heartfelt camaraderie.
Gary and Sandy bear witness to the fictional world they are creating, shaping and leading it like brushstrokes on a canvas. Then towards the end of the first act the audience begins to glimpse moments of disdain between Gabriella (Rose Harvey) and the writers that have brought her and 'inexperienced' pimp Steve (Thomas Filsell) to life.
The characters of Gabriella and Steve are far less believable than those of Gary and Sandy. This is through no fault of Harvey and Filsell, who do a great job, but rather as a result of the characters being tossed from pillar to post by the machinations of their divided writers.
In the second act, which does drag a bit, the interaction between fiction and reality quickly becomes further blurred causing us to question who is indeed in control of the situation. Who came first? The character, or the writer? Are the writers the puppeteers that they believe themselves to be or merely the puppets to the characters they have created?
Director Kym Clayton has drawn together this piece ably, supported by a clever set design (also by Brittany Daw) and a beautiful and nuanced lighting design (designer not credited but operated by James Allenby). The sound design (Warren McKenzie) supports the action and serves to draw the audience further into the suspense and action. The use of the rear screen mostly works well, but a poorly thought through gun firing substitution unfortunately reduces tension by giving the game away at other moments.
The costumes are contemporary and fit for purpose but not inspired. As an obvious example, Gabriella may have been more believable in the clothes that she herself states that she would not miss, 'the snap-crotch teddies, high heels and vinyl' rather than the jeans and ballet flats.
Clayton and the Galleon team once again give the audience an entertaining night out with Escher's Hands. It's a thought-provoking piece, and a challenging one for the actors but ably pulled off by all.
Reviewed by Jenny Fewster
The Adelaide Show Podcast
Where does a writer end and a character begin?
This is an idea explored intriguingly by playwright, Dawson Nichols, in the Galleon Theatre Groups production of , Eschers Hands.
The title is drawn from a fascinating lithograph by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, called Drawing Hands, in which two hands have arisen from a sheet of paper and are engaged in the paradoxical act of "drawing one another into existence" (Wikipedia).
And so, in Eschers Hands, we have two writers engaged in a collaborative writing exercise in which they not only have been tasked with creating a story, but also with developing characters jointly.
It sounds straightforward until each writer observes the direction the other is taking, and the characters the other is drawing, and use their "turn" to steer things back towards their version.
Our writers, Gary (Andrew Clark) and Sandy (Brittany Daw), are almost instantly engaged in a dynamic of creative tension. On one hand (so to speak), they pledge openness and flexibility, while on the other they harbour urges to control the narrative. Clark and Daw capture this chemistry well. Clark oozes world weariness, while Daw has a deep, magnetic presence that locks our eyes onto her whenever theres a hint of her speaking or reacting.
Our "actors", Gabriella (Rose Harvey) and Steve (Thomas Filsell), are drawn before our eyes and just like puppets on strings they shift and change gear at the whim of each writer. Until they dont. Harvey brings a curious and complex mix of behaviours and dispositions to her role as the "hooker". At once she is self-conscious and awkward, then equally as self-assured and dominating. Her costume choice was perfect with her blouse set in a casually provocative manner that matches the myriad of defensive and offensive positions she adopts throughout the performance.
Likewise, Filsell brings a kaleidoscope of characters to his roles, albeit his are played within a much more reserved and subtle range. His is the least drawn of the characters and is moreso the object of dramatic developments rather than the prime mover.
Director, Kym Clayton, has created a believable and surrealistic world that is a joy to witness at Marion Cultural Centre. A simple set of writers desk, bed, coffee station, and bathroom, on a bare and open stage area defined by outlines and lighting, leaves the story on centre stage. And a video message from playwright, Dawson Nichols, at the beginning of the show gives us a great sense of being "in" on the journey we are about to undertake.
Eschers Hands is a night of sophisticated fun with a smattering of belly laughs and gasps. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Steve Davis
Theatre Association of SA (TASA) Review
The framing of this intense and demanding play was a personalised video welcome by the playwright, Dawson Nichols, screened on the stage's rear wall. It was a clever idea, which pleasantly engaged the audience, and at the same time familiarised us with the notion of displaying the illustrative animations which came at strategic moments of the action.
Director Kym Clayton achieved a lot with this production. He had cast it well and used the Domain's large performance space to good effect, within the simple, cleverly stylised set designed by Brittany Daw. Warren McKenzie's musical underscore also unobtrusively complemented the dialogue and action when appropriate.
The premise of the play is that two writers, Gary and Sandy, are collaborating on a fictional story. They create a scenario and two characters, Gabriella, a prostitute, and Steve, her pimp. The action thereafter concerns the mostly conflicting views and "voices" of the writers. Central to the plot is the complex nature of the various interactions, both between the writers, and with and between the characters they have invented. The conventional dramatic notion of appearance vs reality is explored and profoundly extended in this script, to the point of having us wonder which is which.
The cast handled the complexities well. Andrew Clark as Gary, and Brittany Daw as Sandy, sustained their intense roles admirably. They bounced off each other's character's ideas and feelings with conviction. As each writer gained a degree of dominance in the creation of the story, it was the other's reactions - often subtle, but always compelling, that took our eye. Mostly they relied on a good variety of facial expression, but occasionally they skilfully used whole of body physicality to enhance the dialogue. It was not a matter of upstaging, but integral to the development of their unusual relationship. Although Gary and Sandy were very different in energy and intensity, Clark and Daw were well matched, equal to each other's strengths and demands. Between them, they sustained interest and credibility, even as the plot took strange and scarcely believable turns.
The characters we saw them creating were Gabriella, confidently and compassionately played by Rose Harvey, and Steve, whose wildly varying behaviour was well captured by Thomas Filsell. These, too, were challenging roles, often dictated by the conflicting and changing views of the writers, but also requiring them to display a degree of independence. They certainly did a creditable job in that.
Choosing and working with this script was a successful step in a new direction for the Galleon Group, and while it provided moments of humour, it was a serious piece of theatre which asked entirely justifiable questions of both cast and audience.
It is well worth seeing.
Reviewed by David Smith