reading – New Zealand Arts Review

An Enemy of the People: Ibsen’s drama set in rural New Zealand

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Peter Stockmann (Sam Bunkall), Thomas Stockmaan !Fraser Hofmann. and Katherine !Grace Cullen) Image: Lucie Everett-Brown

An Enemy of the People

By Henrik Ibsen

Flyleaf Theatre Production

Q Theatre

Until 22^nd August

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

In this new version of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” adapted by Aaron Richardson, Dr Thomas Stockmann (Fraser Hoffman) has discovered that the local spa, Te Wai Puia is poisoned from rural runoff and industry. He attempts to inform the local residents and civic leaders through the local newspaper and its sympathetic editor.

Initially he has some support but then there are attempts to cover it up, and the local people turn against him. However, Stockmann still pursues the truth which leads to him being discredited, losing his job and wife. He is also faced with an interfamily drama as his brother Peter (Sam Bunkall) who is also the mayor is opposed to his comments and opinions.

This modern reimagining relocates the story from nineteenth-century Norway to present-day Aotearoa and our own water crisis. This emphasis on water, the commercial and rural use as well as the concern for safe drinking water becomes a real issue. This is emphasised by the large water pipes surrounding the roof of the stage with water dripping into buckets and a small flood in the final act.

As the sole beacon of truth Fraser Hoffman gives a great performance with speeches which are filled with crusading zeal and inspirational lines – “You can’t ignore the truth” and “the public has to hear the truth even if they don’t believe it”.

While he is the hero of the play, he ultimately becomes the lone voice crying in the wilderness. His standing for truth and his zeal is not sufficient to convince everybody, so even his wife Katherine (Grace Cullen) who gives a fine performance as the conflicted wife is forced to leave him.

There is also a well-judged performance from Sam Bunkall who plays Peter Stockmann the brother of Dr Stockmann. Sam Bunkall and Hoffman complement each other wonderfully as they argue on what is best for the town and their onstage physical fight was wonderfully orchestrated.

Joseph Wycoff as Hobson the editor of the local newspaper gave a polished performance as did Matt Chamberlain as Martin whose Everyman approach to was convincing.

Director Grace Augustine has created nuanced production where the characters take on the subtly of real-life politicians as they take up their positions in their investigations of the truth / facts / opinions. Even the audience is left with conflicting views on who is best at protecting the town and the environment.

The minimal set (also Aaron Richardson) works well especially the final scene where the audience becomes the onlookers at a Town Hall meeting, and we feel we are part of the cast.

The ambient sound designed by Laika Rountree initially seems to add to the plays emotional impact but used throughout becomes something of an irritation, detracting from the emotional power of the play.

HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamar

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamar

Written and performed by Heather Massie

Q Theatre

March 13- 16

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

While she never got an Oscar, Hedy Lamarr was considered the most beautiful woman in the world and was one of the great movie stars of the mid twentieth century. She starred in many films including “Samsom and Delilah and the Czech film “Ecstasy” which featured a controversial orgasm scene which was banned in many countries.

She was divorced six times, making her one of the most divorced women of the twentieth century, a distinction beaten only by Elizabeth Taylor with seven.

But, in many ways, her greatest distinction was her invention (along with George Antheil} of a “Secret Communication System,” which was a radio-guided device with anti-jamming frequencies which would have had the capacity to interfere with torpedo guidance systems during WWI. The US Navy declined to make use of it.

This device is a component of present-day satellite technology and cellular phone technology.

Her work as an inventor was eventually recognized in 1997 with the Sixth Annual Pioneer Award bestowed on her by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

These are some of the highlights of her career which were revealed in Heather Massie’s one-woman autobiographical show, “Hedy Lamarr”.

Lamarr reminisces about her life, her father, her time in Vienna and later her career in Hollywood. There are her relationships with the various men in her life – an armaments producer, a count, Louis B Meyer and various director and actors.

Many of them were presented by Heather Massie using a of range voices to create to give depth to her performance, although she gave most of the men pretty much the same clichéd accent. Her account of Jimmy Stewart, however, was a delightfully, breathless portrait of the actor.

The various events and activities referred to showed the range of Lamarr’s interests and encounters with her quotes indicating a shrewd mind and a keen observer of life.

Massie managed to turn Lamarr into a remarkable complicated but simple figure who seems to know a lot about life, men and the workings of the world as well as making shrewd observation about her life and her inventions.

However, Massie galloped through her “tutorial” about her guidance system with not much time to appreciate just how important the invention could have been to the war effort.

Massie’s presentation has Lamarr engage the various people in her life over the phone or in having on stage conversations so effectively that in retrospect it seems they were with there on stage.

She also engaged with the audience as a whole and in many cases with individual audience members, a technique which worked as a means of creating Lamarr as well as providing a classy example of how to create a character.

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