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Sanctuary
Director: Joh Hartog
Bakehouse Theatre
Sat 17 May
Until Sat 31 May
 'Sanctuary' premiered at the Playbox in Melbourne back in 1994 to mixed reviews and the director of the current production at the Bakehouse Theatre, Joh Hartog, states that David Williamson regards this piece of work as one of his strongest. The great playwright, of course, is entitled to his opinions about his own scripts, and I'm sure he considers 'Sanctuary' his answer to the criticism that he's a lightweight writing about the rich in the suburbs (ie his friends). I'm entitled to my opinion, too. While 'The Club', for its exposure of organisational dysfunction captured in the transition from amateur to professional footy, 'The Removalist' for its seedy realism, and 'Don's Party' for its perfect wit, will be performed for centuries, 'Sanctuary' can go straight into the bin.
The play begins with budding biographer John Alderston conducting a hostile interview with Bob King, the subject of his manuscript and a retired foreign correspondent and TV news presenter, in the sanctuary of his swank Queensland bachelor pad. Peter Green as King appears relaxed but annoyed at Alderston's first four chapters describing his actions as those of a moral coward and opportunist.
Kurt Murray as Alderston is badly directed as the young journalist. Borrowing too many of the weird mannerisms of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, Murray is a bid too twitchy from the get-go and gives the plot away. Actually, what you see at the beginning is what you get throughout the play. King is smug, smooth and unrepentant for palling around with murderous generals, while Alderston is self-righteous, na•ve and a little left of the Long March.
The polemic is poles apart and the lack of any self doubt in either party made the whole affair diatribe without respite. Williamson makes sure that nothing is left to the imagination with many points repeated for emphasis, including the characters calling each other smug and self-righteous. The set-up of the mature experienced rightist facing off with the young idealist leftist, and the old switcheroo in circumstances which tests the younger's moral stance is rather clichˇd. Williamson is good, though, at sucking you into a point of view, only to have it demolished by the antagonist.
Director Joh Hartog and his actors completely failed on opening night to build any tension or suspense, or make the action credible. The players' energies are mainly thrown away as static instead of employed in dramatic work, except for some of Peter Green's telling of King's more lurid tales. Tammy Boden's set is simple and functional although some signature of what's outside the unit would have been useful. And for citizens of the land of the free and the home of the brave, a warning - leave your stars and stripes at home because your country gets a shellacking.
David Grybowski
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