[2013041] Sage
Chloé Eckert [writer, director] @ Century Theatre Immanuel College
12:00pm, Fri 22 Feb 2013
It had been at least twenty years since I’d last been at my alma mater – I’d attended Immanuel College for a couple of years in my high school career – and I took in the changes to the campus with mixed feelings; the wide open spaces shared with the neighbouring primary school were lovely, as was the new sporting centre, but the old boarding house lawns were now cramped and enclosed by the Performing Arts Centre – my destination for today.
Writer / director Chloé Eckert is performing triple duty, acting as front-of-house, and we have a lovely chat prior to the crowds (a smattering of adults and Fringe-goers, but mostly student groups) turning up; the Century Theatre is a pretty impressive space, with a guesstimated capacity of around 350, and there was a pretty decent audience this afternoon. The set is presented as a large elevated platform – a cliff – nearly three metres tall; disheveled photos form a collage on the face of the platform.
A girl, Grace, walks gingerly to the edge of the cliff; there’s no mistaking the fact that there’s darkness in her thoughts, and that leaping off that cliff was very much on the cards. As she trembles at the edge, Charlie saunters past; spying her, and sensing her plight, he sits down next to her and begins to talk. Whilst Grace responds with trepidation at first, as his queries become more pointed and challenging she responds in kind; Charlie, too, had a reason to be on this cliff-top, and as the two needle each other the audience are taken on a tour of the events – physical and mental – that led them here.
The only time that attention is dragged away from the two central characters is during an odd flashback sequence, performed adjacent to the cliff-face; it’s a jarring (but thankfully short) scene that manages to conjure a surreal dream-like quality, but it almost felt like it showed too much of the past; I was happier not knowing what it described. That (and some of Grace’s shrill notes that triggered my tinnitus) aside, I found the text of the play to be really engaging… but I am a sucker for pseudo-psycho-babble, and the references to Plath‘s poetry – coupled with the sense of suicide in the air – was a thoughtful piece of symbolism.
The Q&A session that followed was a fair bit of fun, with students posing some insightful questions about the creative process – both on the writing and performance front. Nic Cutts (Charlie) revealed he was afraid of heights (necessitating a careful rehearsal process), Eckert described her writing and envisioning process, and the entire cast discussed the minutiae that helped contribute to filling out the characters. My question about the prevalence of Plath was side-stepped, but – upon reflection – I’m happy that it was; it’s almost as if the uncertainty makes my memory of the piece more enjoyable.
And I did really enjoy the trip out to my old school to see Sage; it was a suitably weighty piece, with thin threads of humour permeating a dark subject, well performed and produced. And, more importantly for me, it highlighted Chloé Eckert as a writer to keep an eye on in the future.