This week on Theatre Notes:
The Black Swan of Trespass by Lally Katz and Chris Kohn. Directed by Chris
Kohn. Stuck Pigs Squealing at The Tower Theatre, Malthouse, until August 7.
Stalking Matilda by Tee O'Neill. Directed by Chris Bendall. Theatre@Risk at
Theatreworks, St Kilda, until August 21.
People speak easily about the poetry of theatre, as if it were self evident,
as if it were merely an ornament available to those who might choose to
employ it. But poetry is not an easy thing. It is the pith and passion of
plays, the molten spine of them; it is the profundity that is summoned by
the carnality of language, the mystery of the corporeal and the mortal: this
particular body in this specific time, speaking what cannot be repeated.
The Black Swan of Trespass and Stalking Matilda are very different plays;
but both have been described as "poetic". It must be said that the poetry
of theatre differs, markedly and importantly, from poems: but it is also
related, in ways which are not necessarily obvious but which remain
profound. Predictably I suppose, given my own predelictions, what struck me
in both productions was a conviction that theatre practitioners would
benefit from a better understanding of poetry.
Read more at http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Very best
Alison
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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