MTC's production of Madagascar was on the whole, uninspiring, confusing and a little wasteful. Despite having Noni Hazlehurst of Playschool fame acting her pants off, the material just didn't cut it. Or maybe wasn't realised.
The set, being bland beige and boring was a stark contrast to the insanely modern approach to the direction.
The three characters, who turned out to be a Mother, her Lover from an affair and her daughter never one talked to each other, just lived out three separate intertwining narratives.
It was basically about a Mother's inability of letting her children go, her disappointment in their failures and pride in their wins, and helplessness when they leave her.
This would have been fine had it not been confusing. Or if the set had prepared us for this. Or if anything had prepared us, for example the opening tone perhaps.
It just fell short of its full potential. Even when the floor parted to reveal a thin layer of water the actors proceeded to walk over, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the Victorian window frames, I was still underwhelmed.
The 2 women next to me commented post performance "Well, it was modern". One of them asked me if it had made sense. I replied it had, as the use of repeated dialogue between the three characters showed how they were the same character, and why they all suffered the same fate in the end despite the difference of time between their narratives. I also went on to explain how the absence of the brother character further emphasised this, as he was the one which lived for himself, rather then because of someone else.
It made sense. But only if you had a tendency to pick up on narrative devices and common themes in family orientated drama.
Fruit of the moment: Baby Baked Beans
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