Venus and Adonis - Malthouse April 2008

Postmodern deconstructive (or whatever the current catch phrase is) theatre is often lost on me. Assumedly there was a lot of workshopping that went into this piece where the actresses would subconsciously respond to the text, attempting different physicalities and deliveries with the director picking out the ones that she/he most liked. The problem is for the audience on the whole it is random. Why is this particular line hissed? Why the sudden dog-like panting? And the simulated solitary sex…don’t get me started on that! The audience reaction to this postmodernism seemed to be awkward chuckles not sure whether to take it as a joke or as a serious statement on…something.

Venus and Adonis is a poem of female obsessive desire. Thus it was appropriate that it was performed by two women, leaving Adonis up to the imagination (or in some cases projected onto the audience) was appropriate. But unless you are familiar with the poem, there is confusion as to which of his lines I have been appropriated by the female leads.

But here are the things I liked:
a) the musicians in a jungle cage – the only visual reference that the original tale took place in the wilderness (unfortunately we do not get to see Adonis’ battle with the boar)
b) the actress’ floorlength ponytails – an example of over-exaggerated symbols of femininity
c) some of the singing – except when I thought they were going to break into ABBA’s Mama Mia

Updating Shakespeare’s work to modern contexts has been a trend for a number of years, of course the best known example being Baz Luhrman’s film Romeo and Juliet (as well as a number MTC productions). Certainly Shakespeare’s work lends itself to this with its universal themes and a need to make it accessible to contemporary audiences. I love my Shakespeare. I love it to wash over me, to enjoy the delivery. This washed over me so completely I nearly fell asleep. The delivery was disjointed and at times plain rough, obviously intentionally, but the joy of Shakespeare is in the rhythms of his writing. When you hack up the text like this it loses that.