So with a new week, we draw ever so closer to exam time here at the university, and with this new week we are brought a brand new helping from Allen Hall’s Lunchtime Theatre season. This week’s Lunchtime Theatre is a piece put together by the soon to be 2015 Performing Arts graduates, Khan Francis Smith, Clement Cizadlo, and Megan Wilson. The graduating students of this course combine the disciplines of Music, Theatre, and Dance, to produce a devised performance, in this case, Happy in Theory. As I understand, the title of the show was chosen first and then the students were required to devise their performance around the title, which has led to an interesting piece.
Where to begin? First of all, it must be said, I really loved the format. Using a musical theatre setting to deal with important issues can be extremely effective. Starting off with what seemed to be an introspective monologue examining the definition of the word “happy,” Wilson sets the scene for what is for the most part an effective and engaging show. This is followed by the entrance of Cizadlo, whose first song starts off perhaps too timdly, before being rectified as he gets more comfortable on the stage. After this opening song, we are introduced to Cizadlo’s character, the bitter, heartbroken drag queen, who only wants to have a mature conversation with his ex-boyfriend, and snidely comment on his receding hairline. Following Cizadlo’s monologue is Francis Smith’s story, one of a pair of lovers in the 1920’s, who after meeting and falling for each other begin an alcohol-fuelled party binge, or so I could tell from the 20’s slang. Francis Smith takes the character of the man, heart-broken and full of regret, sitting alone at the bar, sipping on a whiskey, perhaps not the wisest choice, and telling his story to the audience. At the end of Francis Smith’s monologue, the audience are treated to a bit of Britney Spears, in the form of “Toxic,” in three part harmony.
As I said earlier, Wilson provided a very strong start to the show with her opening “Happy” monologue. It was well developed and it gave the piece a very clear base-point to work from. Wilson’s other appearances came in the form of an infomercial salesperson, attempting to sell her “Happiness Elixir” (Smirnoff vodka), which for the most part she pulled off well and came across as quite funny. The main jarring moment I found with Wilson was during her song “Little Bird (Happy Girl),” in which she seemed to lose her pacing and momentum. It wasn’t terrible by any measure, but it did pull me out of the action. The other moment that Wilson’s character was given her spotlight was prior to the finale song when her character begins hearing noises again (she heard them during the beginning “happy” monologue as well, I forgot to mention). I assumed that Wilson’s character was a woman suffering from mental illness, possibly schizophrenia, and using alcohol to cope with it. I also assumed that she was a 1950’s housewife, secretly dissatisfied with her marriage and unfulfilling life. If this was the case, I think Wilson did well to portray her character, and the sound elements were used scarcely enough to have impact when they needed to. It would have been nice to see a bit more about Wilson’s life, and possibly a bit more about her actual character, behind the salesman mask, but I guess lack of character exploration kind of goes with the housewife image.
Next up was Cizadlo. As I said before, Cizadlo’s performance began a bit timidly, which was only noticeable because he was playing a drag queen, possibly the least timid character you could play. Also, keeping in mind this was their opening show, it was understandable that it took him a little bit to warm into character. However, as he pushed through his first song, “After Taste”, his confidence built and his performance began to feel a bit more like a proper cabaret. Cizadlo’s character revolved around the bitterness he felt towards his ex-boyfriend, and this was what he played on for more or less the whole show, how people deal with loss and the stages that we go through. It was also implied (heavily) that Cizadlo’s character’s mother was an alcoholic, a fact that links Cizadlo and Wilson’s characters. For the most vocal of all the characters, it was interesting that his character had the least to say, and only began to open up at the end of the play during the final song, “I Swear I’m Happy.” I took this to be a reflection on the fact that he had built himself into an emotional shell to be strong because his mother was an alcoholic and couldn’t protect him like a mother normally would. On the whole, Cizadlo effectively portrayed his character and his moment of connection with Megan near the end was a nice moment of catharsis for the audience. Oh, and the rap battle? That was so cool. Clement, I think entire audience would’ve had your back in a fight after that.
And last, but in no way, shape, or form least, Khan Francis Smith. I’ve said all I need to say about Khan really, the smooth talking, cool cat from the 1920’s who fell in love with a fine dame. The most striking thing about Francis Smith’s performance I found was the fact that she sat on the bar stool for the first 10 minutes of the show and hardly moved, which really built anticipation for the time when she finally did move. When her time finally came to move, she brought to life her character through slang, gesture, and a surprisingly good period accent (surprising because accents are hard, not because she was shit). Francis Smith’s clear three-part story was a great anchor for the rest of the show as it kept everything moving though its clear dramatic arc. My favourite song of Francis Smith’s was “Man in Love,” a dub/reggae-influenced piece that added a nice variety to the show music. Also, her voice was en pointe with that song, and it was clear that she has an aptitude for that kind of singing. It would have been nice to see a bit more variation in gesture from Francis Smith, as some of the motions she used in excess became a bit too comical for my liking. Also, some of the pauses in her speech let the energy of the action drop, which became a bit jarring, so it would have been good to see a bit more work done on carrying through those pauses, but aside from these issues, it was a rather great performance from Francis Smith.
The final person I should probably mention is Jeremy Mayall, the University of Otago Mozart fellow for 2014. His minimalist instrumentation and tracks accompanied the singers, and although not really my taste, worked well with the songs that, Cizadlo, Wilson, and Francis Smith had written. All in all, there were some fantastic moments in this week’s Lunchtime Theatre, Happy in Theory, and I stand by what I say, musical theatre can be an awesome medium with which to tackle serious subjects, in this case alcoholism. Perhaps Dunedin could do with a bit more of this sort of thing, or maybe a fusion would be nice, “musical verbatim theatre.” I’d pay to see that.
