BATS Theatre
January 10-19 | Reviewed by Kate Blackhurst

IN THE Bacchanals latest production, the life and poetry of John Donne is given the Blackadder treatment of history, in which salacious rumour and humour is preferred to cold hard facts. It is set at the beginning of the seventeenth century, but the comedy comes from the liberal sprinkling of anachronisms and the modern style of acting. In this historic pastiche, Simon Vincent has given real people a contemporary twist.

After an amusing voice over which sounds like a film trailer and refers to ‘futuristic devices’ such as cellphones and pagers, we are informed that this is England in 1599 and to the strains of lute music, it is iterated that the battle in the land rages between Protestant and Catholic and those on the loosing side are liable to lose their head. The flogging scene sets the tone of menace – it turns out that the victim is John Donne’s brother, Henry, a Catholic martyr, played by Alex Greig.

The power of faith is balanced by the passion of poetry and the two are frequently compared. Donne complains that poetry has no purpose and he only writes it because he has no choice. He would rather have money and advancement, but like faith, he can’t control poetry and it is often painful. Whereas his contemporary, Sidney, writes of ideal, courtly romances, Donne writes of the real thing, and the sex scenes are forceful to the point of bestial.

Sidney courts Anne More (whose whining voice and cloying demeanour he quite understandably despises) with a cycle of poems. He addresses them to Stella, whom Anne believes is her, but really it is the wife of the Earl of Essex. Donne delivers the poems to Anne, but when she discovers she is not the inspiration, she rejects Sidney and succumbs to Donne’s advances. Donne also uses his verse to seduce Stella, while secretly spying on her husband, Essex, and the partner swapping becomes almost farcical.

The play has a slight dichotomy in that it is not sure whether it is serious or silly. It is hard to believe in the terror of the times when the dialogue is mixed up with modern references. The inquisitor, Campion, could be a terrifying figure, but the muffled voice, due to the beaked mask dulls the impact. The opening dialogue about belief is overwrought and the solemn, anguished tone tends towards monotony. There is a suggestion that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, but the idea is lost in too many pointed asides and knowing glances towards the audience.

The swashbuckling Earl of Essex (Gavin Rutherford) is a delight – moulding his character on Lord Flash-heart, he is a ‘big scary bear’ with perfect comic timing. Philip Sidney (Allan Henry), all sunglasses and swords, has great physicality and oozes sex appeal. He tells Donne, “Your job is to transcribe, not to beautify’, which Phil Peleton takes almost too much to heart. Regardless of his words, it is hard to see him in the role of the great seducer – I guess that’s the magic of theatre! To complete the contrasts, Stella (Rachel More) is earthy and sensual, where Anne (Erin Banks) is simpering and annoying.

The show is a physical extravaganza with sword fighting scenes superbly choreographed by Allan Henry, who co-created last year’s spectacular Footballistic. The two-tiered stage makes the most of Bats’ limited facilities and performance area, and props are well-utilised so that tables become writing desks, beds and sailing ships. The costumes (Rachel More and Sharon Mathews) are a glorious mix of classic and contemporary with crushed velvet pantaloons and Y-fronts.

Whereas these aspects work, the cinematic references and the modern musical bursts don’t. But this is the play’s first outing on stage and it has a lot of promise. This is a very short season and hopefully it will return for an extended run later in the year when it has been polished through performance. There is so much crammed into the ninety minutes, including oblique references to Shakespeare, Edward de Vere and Guy Fawkes, that there is plenty of material for a sequel.

You don’t need to know anything about 17th century drama and poetry to enjoy this play (as my husband confirmed), although it might help. What will get on your nerves is the child in the middle row repeatedly asking, “What did he do?” “What happened then?” “Why did she do that?” If your child is too young to understand adult drama, why bring them to the theatre, unless you particularly enjoy annoying the rest of the audience?

That personal quibble aside, this bold new production sets a high standard for New Zealand drama in 2008. Once again BATS should be commended for staging emerging works of passion and energy. I wish my university lectures had been written by Simon Vincent!