'Dentity Crisis/Endgame (2008)

Poster by Maria Bates

Performances: Tue 3rd - Sat 7th June 2008, Bell Theatre

The June double-bill presented two contrasting pieces of 20th Century drama.

'Dentity Crisis

By Christopher Durang

Directed by Catherine Ellis

Introduction

‘Dentity Crisis is an absurdist comedy about the convalescence of Jane, a young woman who has attempted suicide by slashing herself in the thighs. We see Jane struggle to distinguish reality and recognise identities. Or do we? Her Mother, Edith Fromage, brazen coquette and self-proclaimed inventor of cheese, conducts countless (and occasionally incestuous) affairs; her brother appears also to be her father and grandfather; and her psychiatrist, Mr Summers, adds to the confusion by swapping genders with his wife. Just who is having the crisis?

Cast

Jane - Naomi Liddle
Edith - Anna York
Robert - Charles Doyle
Mr Summers - Michael Wilson
Woman - Carole Coyne

Crew

Stage Manager - Lauri Morgan
Assistant Stage Manager - Kay George
Wardrobe - Hannah Gabrielle
Music - Gerard Johnson
Set Photographs - Mark Davies
Props - Alan Buckman

Endgame

By Samuel Beckett

Directed by Jeanette Hoile

Introduction

Two men, master and servant, exist in a post apocalyptic shelter, with an aged couple inhabiting two dustbins nearby. The two protagonists are mutually dependent, with Hamm the tyrannical older man, blind and crippled, bullying his younger servant, Clov, who suffers disabilities of his own.

Hamm and Clov form a challenging and at times, farcical, double act, with Nagg and Nell interjecting sharp and poignant reminiscences of their own. “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness” opines Nell tellingly.

The play is full of surprises and the tragedy of the situation is offset by a fairly steady tone of burlesque and farce. The play will linger in your memory long after the curtain has fallen.