Theatre review: Yellow Moon

Belvoir Street Theatre (Downstairs)

Until September 26, 2010

There is a very famous blues song called Stagger Lee (and other variants) that has been recorded by James Brown, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, Duke Ellington, Mississippi John Hurt, Beck, Elvis, Woody Guthrie, you get the picture. The song tells the story of the murder of a man in a saloon in St Louis on Christmas Eve in 1895. Two men got into a political argument, one took the other's hat and the indignant, hatless one shot the other, boom boom boom went his 44. Yellow Moon recasts this incident as its point of departure to weave a contemporary tale set in Scotland in which the young and troubled Lee finds himself on the run after an altercation with his stepfather. Lee teams up, Bonnie and Clyde style, with the introspective, at risk Leila and together they head north to the lochs and rocks to hide out. In a strange and not entirely convincing metaphorical twist, the great stag elks of the north find their symbolic way into this story, written by celebrated Scottish playwright David Greig, and directed by Susanna Dowling.

The importance of the Downstairs Belvoir Street space to Sydney theatre culture cannot be underestimated. It provides a valuable stepping stone to bigger things for theatre makers emerging from the Old Fitzroy, the Darlinghurst and other small, vibrant theatre spaces. Brendan Cowell's highly successful Ruben Guthrie, for example, moved Upstairs after a debut season in the tiny Downstairs space. Like any theatrical venture intent on fostering emerging talent, Downstairs also has its misses and, in my opinion at least, Yellow Moon, is one of them. The production team and cast are more than competent and bring energy, inventiveness and commitment to the stage. The writing, however, is worrying. I say this in part because it reads more like a short story than a performance text, which in itself is not an insurmountable problem, but on this occasion the linear, expository style of the present tense narrative clashes badly with the directorial imprint.

When the text is explaining the action to us in considerable detail, it is not wise for a director to then have the actors mime that same action. But this is what we get in this production, actors engaged in illustrative action that too often saps the text, and indeed the subtle aspects of the actors' craft, of latent power. For example, given that the play hinges on a violent crime, it follows that the staging of the crime should at least have a powerful impact on the audience, such that it resonates throughout the action that follows. Sadly, there is very little dramatic power in this production, despite the best efforts of those involved and, as much as I feel like a slightly more articulate Kyle Sandilands for saying it, I have to disagree with the many critics who have praised this production. Yellow Moon breaks one of the cardinal, 101 rules of directing and from that it never recovers. There is talent here but it just doesn't fly.

First published on www.artshub.com.au