Review: NIDA showcases young talent

Any Sydneysider with a vague interest in theatre can probably roll off a list of NIDA graduates: Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Judy Davis to name a few; but how many of you can boast you saw them on stage before they became famous?  Well you’ve got until Wednesday the 24th of June to get along and check out the talent currently being nurtured at NIDA. Having made it along to two of the five productions that make up this mini festival the productions are to be recommended.

Each production utilises a mix of 2nd and 3rd students under the guidance of a professional director.  On the basis that nearly all involved in the production is a student, you have to give an enormous amount of credit to the various directors who’ve taken on the task of creating new productions of some challenging works. The two productions I saw, The Tempest and The Roaring Girl were quite different productions, though both were published within a few years of each other.

Jim Sharman’s Tempest has a stylish and simple set. Something that is beautiful to look at. My only complaint would be that the wave to the right of the stage that you see in the image below was well utilised by the cast but the constant leaping up and off the mound resulted in a very noisy set. These are actors not dancers and their foot thuds were not the lightest.

Jim Sharman hasn’t created a radical reinvention of the play, it’s a crowd-pleasing production with enough modern touches to make it feel current yet remains faithful to the text.  The costumes were wonderful and I found Ariel to be particularly well drawn out.  It’s something that may be unique to me, but I frequently find the role of the sprite in Shakespeare to be a poison chalice.  Whether it be Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Tempest it’s rare that there isn’t a sense of the ridiculous in the acting.  Sharman’s direction has suppressed the more ethereal flights of fancy for the character of Ariel and created something with a bit of the carnival about him.

Ariel

Andrea Moor’s production of The Roaring Girl by Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton provides an interesting contrast to The Tempest. Her staging consists of a number of large boxes on stage that are frequently in flux, opening to reveal a boudoir, a shop, or even a park.  In a less considered production the constant set changes would start to tire, however the effective use of music and cast to move the set seems to aid the production.  The play itself is a delight, I’m ashamed to admit to have never encountered the work – in fact Andrea did suggest that it could be an Australian premiere for the play.  If that’s so, then she’s done us a great service.  She has reworked some of the play in order to add a little emphasis to the feminist credentials of the work.

The lack of familiarity with a work makes it a little harder to follow and there were moments when I struggled to keep abreast as to who was plotting what. However her use of the small stage space and the way she managed to draw out such performances from such young actors was impressive.

If both works are indicative of the rest of the productions then I’d be surprised not to see the director’s get the opportunity to give their shows a longer run the productions were refreshingly enjoyable. In fact I’m not sure I’ve seen many other plays this year that have kept their audiences so easily entertained for the length of the performance.

Details

Price: Tickets are around $20.

Where: One production is on at the Bangarra Dance Company, down at the Rocks. The rest of the productions are held in the various venues within NIDA, Anzac Parade Kensington.

Access: NIDA has plenty of free parking next door as well as being next to the main UNSW  bus stop.

https://www.nida.edu.au/events/nida-presents/nida-student-productions

Another showcase of NIDA students will take place in October.