Group: Old Town Theatre Company
Production: Foxes in the Early Light, by Jeannie Palmer
Date: 25 February 2006

Adjudicated by Paul Fowler GODA

The Play

It is always great to see teams tackling new material and this piece is already a winner, having won the Playwrite competition supported by BBC Radio Swindon and the Evening Advertiser. But the task for me in adjudicating the piece for this festival is just how successfully this snapshot of a dark corner in a near-forgotten conflict makes the transition from page to stage.

The writer allows herself little time to put flesh on the bones of the starkly drawn characters who are thrown together in the aftermath of the Balkans conflict, and I wonder if the major story strand is given quite enough time to develop in a wholly satisfying manner, but these questions aside, this is an unusual and challenging piece for a group to explore.

Jeannie Palmer has provided opportunities here for actors, director and design team alike. It is rare for an amateur company to engage with a work in progress such as this – collaborating with the author to develop the play - and I whole-heartedly applaud the Old Town Theatre Company’s enterprise and courage in agreeing to stage whichever play won the Playwrite competition.

While I do feel there is more work to be done to fully develop the ideas and themes in this script into a completely satisfying piece of theatre the work in progress that I saw provided a thoroughly worthwhile challenge in every area of theatrical endeavour. I could hardly wait to see it take to the stage.

Stage Presentation

The script calls simply for a room in the asylum and there are any number of ways in which this could be interpreted. You made an interesting choice, in line with your directorial decision to introduce the Brechtian distancing device of making the actors visible outside the action all the time. I liked the jaqged, half-built walls defining the room but hinting at a wider world outside the confines of this “prison” and enabling the offstage actors to be seen. It also has the advantage of adaptability in that the same set could be used in a variety of different venues. The torn and unfinished panels gave just the right feeling of decay and neglect.

Thought had been given to costumes with Frank an unmistakable villain from the beginning in his black leather jacket, shabby clothing for the “inmates” and authentic looking uniforms for the soldiers. I thought Fata’s clothes were perhaps a bit too clean but this didn’t distract too much from a well-conceived costume plot.

It was a bold choice to use torches as sole light source in the opening sequence and I have rarely seen it work, however it was highly effective here thanks to the careful thought given to the positioning of the operators either side of the auditorium. There was a stark clarity of focus to the opening sequence that was greatly enhanced by this decision. Otherwise the lighting was conventional and competent.

I liked the live violin music, which added considerably to the atmosphere, though I would have preferred something rather more Balkan in style – Early one Morning was just too recognisably English for my money. Loved the cello at the end of the play.

Direction

There’s hardly a better way to begin a play than with a scream in the dark and this was some scream, followed by the disorientating torchlight, enhancing the sense of verbal and physical violence and abuse that is clearly going on between Frank and Fata. A highly effective beginning to the piece.

When the lights came up we saw the strange tumbledown set with glimpses of the actors within and beyond creating a sort of Brechtian alienation device. I think you could have taken this further – maybe play the inmates including Frank in a really overtly stylised way and make the soldiers ultra real, or even try it the other way around.

My feeling is that we need more of the Frank and Fata relationship before the arrival of the soldiers – perhaps an interruption by him of the long scene between Fata and Rusid might be appropriate. Also a wider glimpse of life in the rest of the asylum might be useful. But the most important relationship of all should be that of the Lieutenant and Fata – this is vital to the plot yet rather sketchy as it stands. I would concentrate on getting this right before anything else.

I have no idea why the first appearance of the soldier caused such laughter – personally I thought it was rather chilling – however unexpected laughter often signals that the audience is unsure what to think and perhaps a second look at that scene would be helpful.

I wasn’t completely convinced by the setting of the scene between the Lieutenant and Rusid. I think I might have seated them closer together. They need to gradually connect and the distance between them rather worked against this.

The laughter when Private Brown is divested of his rifle was another unexpected surprise – I really don’t think it should be funny. I see no reason why you shouldn’t show us this scene – perhaps in slow motion – taking place outside the walls of the room.

In the end the soldiers depart with Frank certain they have made no lasting difference, however for Fata at last a difference has been made and we hear the shot that will end this chapter of her suffering. This makes it all the more important that we, the audience, are left in no doubt about the handing over of the gun. We need a clear focus on this and it was fudged in this performance – many of the audience simply were not aware that the Lt had given the gun to Fata.

Acting

Fata

In the first few seconds of the play your terrified scream signalled volumes about the nervous, terrified, damaged, victim, physically shrinking away from Frank in the torchlight. I was impressed by your apparently fluent Serbian and thought you made a skilful transition to liberated spirit dancing with uninhibited abandon that was in turn brought to a sudden end by the arrival of Frank. Nice work.

Frank

A physically powerful bull of a man as strong vocally as bodily and with an underlying vein of barely controlled violence always just beneath the surface. This was a performance of great strength that successfully portrayed a dangerous brute who was as sure of his ground as can be, and totally unafraid of the transient visitors in the shape of the army. Very good work, well done!

Rusid

This was an intelligent, thoughtful performance as the amputee story-teller, an aesthete in the most unlikely of locations. I loved your slightly off beat delivery and your alienation was expertly conveyed in a somewhat unusual and stylised performance that admirably suited the mood of the piece.

Pt Brown

The nervous, perhaps inexperienced, squaddy came over well and you conveyed the restitution of order when told off by the Lieutenant. I would like to see you involved more in the action – particularly the sequence when your rifle is stolen.

Lt Lowe

The choice to play this role as a female does add another layer of significance to the piece – giving added relevance to her intervention in Fata’s life. This was good physical casting – a tall actress with good presence, however I wanted you to be more emphatic with the text giving the audience a greater sense of the professional soldier, very much in charge of the situation. I also think she would remain detached from the action for rather longer – it seemed to me she was rather too quick to be involved in the music making.

Milos

The violin player. The value of having an accomplished musician play this role cannot be underestimated. Though I have questioned the choice of main theme, your participation played a highly significant role in creating the fractured atmosphere. Excellent.

Conclusion

Foxes in the Early Light is a tightly written piece of theatre that takes an oblique look at a foreign conflict and the way in which normality can be broken down and then restored, at least in part, as order is slowly and insecurely restored.

I feel that this is a work in progress and more could be done to develop the relationships between the asylum clients both before the soldiers arrive and once they have entered this strange closed world.

We saw some exceptional performances, provoking horror and empathy in us, but one or two of our reactions came as a surprise – at least to me – and further attention is needed to direct our emotions and reactions just where you want them.

Nevertheless, a taut and thought-provoking piece that was a worthy competition winner and one that is well worth the further attention required to turn it into an even more successful and satisfying piece of theatre.

Paul Fowler
GODA

Report ©Paul Fowler, GODA, 2006