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Good to see you guys getting stuck into some newer stuff than the Old Bart, and the joys of interpretation, rather than comparisons.. hence the gushing reviews.

Well Done Skaven. Running the gambit of critics must be a daunting thing!

Once you have achieved stardom in the theatre world, don't forget to leave back stage passes for your Auscelebs mates.

VANITY FAIR

WILLIAM Thackeray’s satirical look at his London society under the Bunyan inspired alias of Vanity Fair is directed with a suitably light touch by Brian Knott in Declan Donnellan’s adaptation for seven versatile actors.

The story is told fluidly as the actors change character, costume, accent and gender in full view of the audience, moving from The Battle of Waterloo to the more intimate conflicts of human society, a society based on image and impression where it is possible to contrive to live on "nothing a year".

The strong contrast is between the calculating and unstoppable Becky Sharp, brought convincingly to life by Belinda Knott and the limp and romantic Amelia Sedley of Abi Devries.

Lindy Le Cornu takes on a range of women with neat changes of accent and approach.

Alex King is suitably dissolute as Becky’s husband and very funny as the melancholy spinster Glorvina O’Dowd.

James Whitrow brings a quiet and sympathetic nature to the doggedly faithful William Dobbin.

Mason Willis plays the father and son George and Georgy Osborne and SKaVeN contributes several cameos of seedy aristocrats and wealthy fools. Together they are a well matched ensemble and come together at various times to act as chorus to the play.

It’s a good looking production, a few chairs, simple frocks, uniforms, brocade weskits, some songs and cannon fire giving a few extra touches of Georgian style and historical atmosphere.

The first act needs a nudge but the second act rolls along.

Not even the confidence of the production can hide the fact that page to stage shows frequently lack the structural underpinning that allows the story to develop a major dramatic arc.

Here though the artful theatricality and engagement with the audience is very successful.

VANITY FAIR

Declan Donnellan’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s doorstopper sized “novel without a hero” makes for surprisingly coherent and intelligible two hours traffic on stage. This surprise is due to the unusual demands that it places upon the players – all of the story’s 34 characters are brought to life by a cast of 7 actors, who also take turns delivering the narration and re-arranging the minimal props. This is the kind of material that absolutely demands a cast and crew to be at the very top of their game in order to avoid falling short. Fortunately, the Adelaide Rep under the clearheaded direction of Brian Knott, is well up to the task. Although the unusual staging may be an acquired taste, this production is bursting with energy and it’s hard not to be won over by the obvious enthusiasm of the ensemble.

Belinda Knott is gleefully, unapologetically wicked as scheming social climber, Becky Sharp, and when her character is called upon to entertain the guests assembled in the parlor with a song or two, she gets to show off some pretty impressive pipes. Knott is the only member of the cast who isn’t required to play other characters, but when it’s her turn to narrate she delivers Thackeray’s various authorial asides with suitably sardonic flair. Pleasantly, Abi Devries is an equally strong presence as Becky’s principled friend: Amelia. The part could have been carelessly played as a one dimensional ditz, but Devries manages the delicate balancing act of plausibly conveying Amelia’s naiveté without coming across as outright stupid. Knott and Devries have a very sweet chemistry together, ensuring that their relationship forms a solid emotional centre for the play, amidst all the postmodern self-awareness and dark satire.

Alex King, SKaVeN, Mason Willis, James Whitrow and Lindy LeCornu play the dozens of supporting characters who weave in and out of the lives of these two women over the course of twenty years or so. They ensure each role they play has its own distinctive voice and set of mannerisms, so there is no risk of the audience getting confused as to who is who onstage. The chameleonic ease with which they switch from one role to another, is often simply breathtaking.

The experience is enhanced by the colourful, eye catching costumes (courtesy of Bev George, Sarah Kinghorn and Jean Walker) and Patsy Thomas’ minimalist, but highly evocative set design. The blocking is also quite inventive, and in some instances neatly underlines the humour of a given scene.

The only weak spots of this production arise from Donnellan’s script, rather than anything specific to this production. Although he does a reasonably good job of capturing Thackeray’s biting wit and the dialogue is generally quite snappy, the strain of condensing such a long book into such a short time frame does show at times. Much of the character development is drastically simplified or glossed over in very broad strokes. Still, it’s not as bad as it could’ve been in this respect.

Also, it must be said, the deliberately transparent approach to scene transitions and costume changes, as well as having such a small cast play so many multiple roles, may be a barrier to some people in forming an emotional attachment to the story, or just disappoint those expecting a more “normal” staging of it. If you’re one of those people who find self-awareness in theatre off-putting, then consider yourself warned.

But if you’re in the mood for something a bit different or are looking to be bowled over by some virtuoso acting, “Vanity Fair” might be just the ticket.

Well done SkaVeN, good work mate. Any plans on bringing the production down my way to Melbourne?

Great to see the hard work rewarded

William Makepeace Thackeray subtitled his mid eighteenth century story, Vanity Fair, "a novel without a hero", as every one of his characters has flaws, some more than others, which he makes clear in his tale. This adaptation for the stage is by Irish writer and director, Declan Donnellan, co-founder, with Nick Ormerod of Cheek by Jowl Theatre Company. He has adapted a number of literary works over the years.

This is not, by any means, a full dramatisation, more an extraction of sections of the book, as though we are being read aloud a Reader's Digest version. It feels like a radio play, rather than a stage play. It shares the narrator's job between all seven of the performers, who then jump in and out for short sections, in character, as thirty years is condensed into a couple of hours.

We follow the lives of two supposed friends, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, starting on the day that they graduate from Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies. At this stage we discover that they have very different circumstances ahead of them, Amelia returning to the arms of her wealthy parents in Russell Square, and Becky becoming a governess. Becky stays briefly with Amelia and meets her betrothed, Captain George Osborne, and her brother, Joseph Sedley. Becky sets her cap at Joseph, but nothing develops and she leaves for her job.

Brian Knott has given his cast plenty of physical comedy and lots of action that, along with a whole range of great costuming, and some clever cross-dressing, ensures that this does not become a static reading of the script, which could be a strong risk in the hands of a less experienced director.

Belinda Knott and Abi Devries play Becky and Amelia, respectively, Knott being the only member of the cast who only plays one role as Becky is in every scene. Knott is a crafty and conniving Becky, filling her character with energy and charm, while Devries gives us a sweet, naïve, and somewhat dim young lady, providing a good contrast and enabling some clever interactions between the two.

All of the others take on a range of characters with Lindy LeCornu once again bringing her experience to bear in such diverse roles as the unpleasant Miss Pinkerton, Mrs. O'Dowd, and Lady Steyne. Alex King, SKaVeN, Mason Willis, and James Whitrow cover a great many roles between them. King's main role is as Rawden Crawley, who Becky marries, but his hilarious Miss Glorvino O'Dowd will probably stay with you longer. SKaVeN is Joseph Sedley, and he is suitably buffoonish in the role, equally convincing as the horrible Sir Pitt Crawley. Willis is convincing with his interpretation of a brash, confident George Osborne, Amelia's gambling, womanising husband, as well as his own son, Georgy. Whitrow plays the ever constant William Dobbin, in love with Amelia, but saying nothing, caring for her from afar and only offering marriage long after George is killed at the Battle of Waterloo. He gives the character a sympathetic reading, endearing Dobbin to the audience.

There is plenty of fun to be had in this production, with performances that overcome the inherent awkwardness of the script itself. It is an audience pleaser.

There are a few reasons why Nineteenth Century classic romantic, historical novels don’t necessarily make good stage plays: more narrative than dialogue; numerous locations; multi-plot threads; and many and varied characters.

Declan Donnellan’s stage adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair has managed to solve some of the above problems, by making the whole production very theatrical – a fairly bare stage, costumes and props kept to a minimum, and seven actors narrating and portraying the majority of the novel’s characters (as well as some of the stage furnishings).

Does this style of adaptation succeed? To an extent.

Does this Adelaide Rep production succeed? Again, to an extent.

There are some very clever touches (actors portraying river banks and portraits; chairs being made into carriages), but not enough; and in the end the show still tends to come across as a ‘talking book’.

Director Brian Knott paces the show fairly well, but most of the characters tend to come across two rather than three dimensional, and very stiff-upper lipped and unemotional (although this was the British attitude in the 1800s).

What does make this version delightful to watch is the wonderful ensemble cast (Alex King, SKaVeN, Mason Willis, Belinda Knott, Abi Devries, James Whitrow and Lindy LeCornu). King and Whitrow make delightful French servants, with Whitrow giving beautiful and much needed emotion and poignancy to Act Two. SKaVeN and Willis have their wonderfully portrayed moments; Devries and Knott do well, but both could differentiate their emotional changes more; and the lovely LeCornu proves once again why she is one of Adelaide’s most sought after actors – all her characterisations are humorous and gloriously realised.

The Adelaide Rep’s Vanity Fair is a fair production, but may appeal more to fans of the novel than the normal theatre goer.

Cool skaven, how long does/ did the run go ?