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Reviews - Bare
"...this new season of Bare takes the cake... Vowell and O’Reilly are superb." Gilbert Wong, Metro "An energetic and fervent production."
BARE by Toa Fraser Toa Fraser, writer of the play Bare, also wrote and directed the recent hit film No 2. There is similar content in both: Fijian life and culture (Fraser has a Fijian father and a British mother); both No 2 and Bare feature contemporary New Zealand Communities (predominantly working class); and both have the skilled writing that combines comedy and tragedy through clever and subtle observations of human behaviour. Bare features just two actors but 15 characters whose lives are interwoven. Actors Curtis Vowell and Morgana O’Reilly multi-role played this myriad of people with confidence and great accomplishment. Vowell was particularly brilliant as Smokey the graffiti tagger, a furiously fast speaker all fired up with streetwise anger and ego. Then Vowell aged 80 years to portray the dying Fijian grandfather who wished to meet his teenage granddaughter Venue for the first time, the lighting beautifully helping to create this poignant and exquisitely observed characterisation. O’Reilly was equally compelling to watch, with her characters also being well defined and sustained vocally and physically. My favourite was when she played the poodle-owning, angry neighbour who wanted to use fire torches to deal with the local graffiti taggers. She effortlessly switched later to play a patronising wannabe-cool anthropology lecturer. The play was predominantly a series of alternating character monologues but when it featured the two actors in duologue, the audience loved it. This was mainly when Venus (a young Fijian gym instructor) was interacting with new boyfriend David, a cinema box office worker. When the two staged awkward sex on a way-too-small sofa the results were hilarious. Bare explores ways in which humans connect with each other: within families, as workers, as neighbours or as lovers. We see how our interconnectedness, even though not always immediately obvious, begins to surface when we share our stories and our secrets. A complex and finely crafted play, delivered with skilful acting, ensured this was a great show. Playwright Toa Fraser was in the audience the night I was there and he looked very pleased with himself, as well he might. Much has changed since he was a bored multiplex usher with an ear for dialogue. The programme for Bare runs his name emblazoned above the play’s title and Fraser deserves the accolade. He’s an alt theatre wet dream made real. A struggling writer devises a play with street cred. It becomes an international hit. He later helms the jump to cinema of another of his plays. Bare made his name and launched the careers of Madeleine Sami and Ian Hughes. It happened thanks to the silo’s then artistic director Sharyn Duncan who commissioned Bare 10 years ago. As birthday presents go, this new season of Bare takes the cake.
Considering the history of Toa Fraser's Bare and its legacy, the first element that strikes me in the Silo's 10th anniversary production is the number of props onstage. Having witnessed the original production nine years ago at the Silo, and a graduation production of the same play in South Auckland last year at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, this current incarnation is already in sharp contrast. What seems like an inner-city theatre office is now onstage, with the addition of two actors, casually hanging out on the couch. What: Bare It’s comforting to return to a much loved childhood home but at the same time its funny how everything looks smaller. The same effect is in play with the silo theatre’s restaging of Bare by Toa Fraser – a special season that celebrates the silo’s tenth decade. Ten years ago Bare was a phenomenon that got the theatre noticed and helped to launch the careers of playwright Toa Fraser and actors Madeleine Sami and Ian Hughes. A decade on the play is still good but somehow smaller. Maybe it’s because the memory exaggerates or maybe it’s just that we’ve got more used to seeing ourselves in primetime. As the updated text in the play notes, now we’ve got Naked Samoans, Bro' Town and Number Two. It’s probably not very useful to compare the two shows but it is a natural human reaction to ask if something is “as good as” the original. In this case the only answer can be that they are different. Director Oliver Driver wisely moves away from the original in a new design and a different style of performance. Where the original had only two chairs for props this new version has a stage full of bits and bobs. Part student flat, part home office there is stuff everywhere piled on every table and every bench and spilling off the shelves. And in a nice touch for the train spotters in the audience there are even references to the silo history - the names of past productions are written on the floor, there are cast photos on the fridge and emails and reviews of other shows hang on the walls. Bare is effectively a serious of monologues where different characters reveal their relationships with each other while riffing on everything from fast food and movies to the metaphysical nature of being a parking warden. Driver gives actors Morgana O’Reilly and Curtis Vowell more opportunities for interaction than the original staging. As they listen to each other they roll a cigarette, drink a coffee or heat up some food. At its best it helps to draw the audience into the action but at times it is a little too fussy and can detract from the performances. For such young actors it is no doubt a daunting prospect to take on a much-loved piece and on opening night it would have been doubly hard with the original actors in the audience. But Morgana and Curtis rose to the occasion with gutsy and engaging performances that showed only the tiniest evidence of nerves. Bare at the silo theatre is a light and funny night out. It won’t offend lovers of the original and if you missed that version then make sure that this one doesn’t pass you by. It’s great to see authentic Auckland characters on stage and it’s a nice reminder of how good it is to laugh at ourselves. WAIKATO TIMES, THURSDAY 3 JULY 2008 What: Bare We kiwis seem to love looking at ourselves, watching what we do and how we act. It’s refreshing to see people we relate to, or people who we can see a little bit of ourselves – or our friends – in. Hence the success of shows like Outrageous Fortune.
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