The Rape Of Lucrece, Camille O'Sullivan, Review

(Photo from The Guardian, UK)

The Rape Of Lucrece

By William Shakespeare.

Performed by Camille O'Sullivan and Feargal Murray.

Directed by Elizabeth Freestone.

MTC until Feb 10.

It's Shakespeare, Jim, but not as we know it. Or, it's Camille O'Sullivan, Jim, but not as we know her.

Okay, so there's more truth in the former than the latter. This is Shakespeare, but it's a lesser known work, a very long, tragic poem. It was not written for the stage and was not written as music and song. And yet...

And it is Camille O'Sullivan, just not the unpredictable wild cat of cabaret that we're used to. But it is the dark Camille who sometimes turns her brooding gaze and devastatingly, powerfully, emotional voice upon us.

The story is legendary and partly historical, although it's debatable how much of Shakespeare's version is accurate. Lucrece is the chaste wife of Roman nobleman Collatine who is raped by the king's son Tarquin when he hears of her purity and decides to put it to the test. Devastated by the act, Lucrece kills herself, in doing so bringing about the fall of the Roman royal family and the establishment of the Roman republic.

It's a big story. It's a long poem. But this Royal Shakespeare Company production has it pared back to around an hour and a half with the emphasis not so much on the political as the personal. Here, we get an insight into the mindset of rapist Tarquin and victim Lucrece, both played impressively by Camille O'Sullivan. The result is unsettling (Tarquin is portrayed with a degree of sympathy, regretting his crime) and unrelentingly compelling.

Where this reviewer went along as a fan of Shakespeare, I went along as a fan of Camille. In reality, this is a perfect match. Murray and O'Sullivan have done a fine job of turning the Bard's words, at times, into contemporary-sounding songs. I guess the text lends itself to song so well due to the rhythm of the prose, which is not to take credit away from the two musical collaborators on stage; they have done an impressive job.

But for me it's the performance that shines. Poetic recital gives way to to song, Camille inhabits these two extreme opposites, and when she unleashes that raw emotion... well, it's breath-taking stuff. You don't doubt for a second that she is feeling the emotion she is conveying because you feel it too; the standing ovation was not unwarranted.

It was nice to see Camille return to the stage as the applause broke out and smile and scratch the air with her cat claws. I look forward to seeing humour in her next show, but I wouldn't have missed this one for anything.

 Go to Australian Stage for my recent interview with Camille.

Getting My Geek On

The above is soon to appear in the real world.  Having these cards printed to use for promotional purposes. They should be in my sweaty little hands this week, maybe next week. My friend The Design Assassin has put it all together and I'm pretty happy so far. Especially the QR code, that weird square pattern thing. It's a little bit of Shit That Is Amazing.

Got a smart phone? Download a barcode scanning app, then aim your camera at the square of Shit That Is Amazing and follow the prompts.

QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) are already out there and have been for a few years now, but it's new to me and therefore the newest, coolest thing ever. I love that it was a barcode invented by Toyota for factory purposes, but someone realised that with smart phone technology they would be perfect for marketting.

Shit is amazing.

Two weeks tomorrow and The Dreaded One and I take off. How do I feel about that? A bit strange... but it's strangely familiar. Only eight weeks this time but a lot of ground to cover in that time. Then back to Melbourne with no home and no job. Scary. Reckless. But living. Proper living.

Also, read my interview with Camille, who I happen to think is a gorgeous human.

Camille Is In The Spiegeltent

Long interfering work-days, they are poo. They get in the way of the real stuff. But I saw Camille at The Spiegeltent a couple of nights ago, and that was the real stuff. So far I think it is my favourite performance of the year. Perfect performance for that venue. I'd be happy to twattle on for a bit but I think the link I've given you perfectly captures the vibe of the show. The clip is, I think, a Nick Cave Song... although I thought at the time, based on the writing, that it was Tom Waits. I don't think I've heard the original. I think she handles it really well... catch the perfectly timed glints in the eye. Hard to believe she's a trained architect and not a trained singer. She's a total natural onstage.

As downbeat as this moment was in the show, there were plenty of upbeat ones as well, and some really funny sections where she played the crowd wonderfully. I loved this show and I loved that I saw it in the Spielgeltent. I almost don't want to go back and see any other performances because this was just such a perfect one. Also check her out and listen to some more here.

I have what I call Big Night moments. Years ago I was at the cinema watching a movie called The Big Night. It was about am Italian restaurant struggling to survive. The owners, a couple of brothers, were food purists sticking by their guns while restaurants all around them used gimmicks to pull business. These guys were passionate about their food and hoped that the quality of the food would be enough. Somehow a big star, a singer, I think, was due to eat at their restaurant and they knew that if word got out, this could swing business so they set about creating an extraordinary dinner.

There was a moment in the film that I realised it had sucker-punched me and I was really moved. I was moved by what was going on in the movie - there was lots of love, passion and celebration - but I was also moved by the look of the movie. Some of the shots were just gorgeous and I knew that a lot of passion had gone on behind the camera too. I'd been moved before by sad stuff in movies, but that was the first time I realised that I could be moved by someone really throwing themselves into something to create a thing of shining beauty.

So yeah, experiencing Camille in The Spiegeltent, I had several Big Night moments.

Hmm. I appear to have twattled on anyway.

And if there are tickets left I think I'm going to go along again tonight.

PS: Okay so I've heard the original now because it's there on the scrolly bit on the bottom of the youtube screen. Definitely Nick Cave but very Tom Waits too. Now go back to the scrolly bit and check out Camille doing Not In These Shoes. Brilliant.