Die Winterreise
ThinIce
Malthouse Theatre
July 20 – July 31
Tickets $26 – $58
malthousetheatre.com.au
I consider myself to be a regular theatre goer. My friends often comment about the fact I am either to be found at a gig or a play most night’s of the week. Yet, strangely I still consider an outing for entertainment to be a treat and as such I have high expectations for the journey I am about to taken on. Having fallen in love years ago with Schubert’s Die Winterreise, I was ecstatic to find a pair of tickets land in my lap for Malthouse Theatre and Thinice’s theatrical exploration of his compositions. Yet, as you may able to tell from the tone of this introduction, my floating feeling has been stifled by the production.
Both conceived and directed by Matthew Lutton, the problem with Die Winterreise is two-fold; vocalist Paul Capsis makes for uncomfortable viewing, his hunched presence seemingly cold and nervous, which when added to lack of journey undertaken by George Shetsov’s elderly character forces an audience to shy away from seeking either connection or enlightenment.
To say that Die Winterreise was contrived would be a major understatement. The piece centres around incarnations of a male character, with his story portrayed primarily by Capsis’ rendition of Schubert’s material. With Capsis providing the storyline, Shevstov is left to portray the present day with a series of movements, which do little to capture attention. Especially once gifted dancer James O’Hara enters the stage representing another time in the eldery man’s life. O’Hara offers moments of redemption. His performance is electrifying and he steals attention at every turn. Sadly, the story he tells differs to the tone already set and confusion ensues. Yet there is worse to come, as the ’til now relatively silent Shetsov delivers a baffling monologue. Though his performance is startlingly believable, a third and very different tale is now added into the equation.
In essence, Die Winterreise is a recipe gone wrong. Lutton clearly had at his disposal a talented group of performers, but when mixed together in this order, it has been cooked into a brash, unbelievable mess.
