Sydney Reviews

Subjects, prepare to enter the court of Queen Christina of Sweden in Queen C, a feverish and smart (albeit a tad frustrating) production which is part of Belvoir’s B Sharp season.

By all accounts this royal figure was a fascinating creature – incredibly intelligent, sexually ambiguous, and a bit of a drama queen. She, indeed, did wear the pants. With lack of any male siblings she was crowned Queen of Sweden at age 6 after her father’s death, and because of her boyish ways, was often referred to as the “Girl King”. She wore men’s clothes, and had very close friendships with women, especially her lady-in-waiting (endearingly played here by Nicole da Silva).

Written by Finnish playwright Laura Ruohonen, this playful production has a lot of verve, and dynamic performances to boot. In the lead Viva Bianca has all the bravura and machismo suitable for such a role – she swaggers and admonishes and is sometimes too haughty for her own good. As her mother Genevieve Mooy is an absolute delight. She is a version of Lewis Carroll’s Red Queen (down to the red satin gown), hilariously melodramatic and lights up the stage whenever she enters. As the philosopher Descartes, who was one of the queen’s many tutors, Ona Nurkkala also gets the laughs, and charms the audience as the slightly bewildered, and not very well, thinker. Representing the male thinking of the day, Anthony Weir is great as Christina’s cousin (and spurned suitor), Karl Gustav.

Cleverly staged in the very intimate downstairs theatre at Belvoir, the play seems to take place in a giant toy box, a theatrical playground, where the cast climb and do some theatrical somersaults. There’s a ball game, blindfolds, lots of water and it’s nice to see those overhead projectors from high school put to effective use. At one point there’s a dance sequence that would make David Lynch proud. However, it does verge on the case of a little too many gimmicks spoiling the broth, and the use of a second actress (Natalia Ladyko) to represent the queen’s feminine side, isn't perhaps as effective as expected.

And, unfortunately, maintaining such wit and pace in this heightened reality does place a strain on the piece and it slows about three quarters of the way through, there’s only a certain amount of Chrissie’s strutting and fretting that one can take. The play poses questions and throws out riddles, and there are not a lot of answers given. The symbol of the eel is used to represent this raging regina’s slippery approach to gender. It also becomes a bit of a symbol of the play itself – unwieldy, a bit hard to grasp, slithering here and there.

However, the play does pick itself up as it heads home and tells of the end of Queen Christina’s reign, although it again chooses not to give any particular explanation as to why she exited stage left as she did.

Overall, Queen C is a valiant effort to find a smart new way to present history in a modern and savvy audience. But in its efforts it does get a little too tangled, and we lose some of the fascination for its subject.


Sauna Productions and inc. studios in association with B Sharp present
Queen C
by Laura Ruohonen | translated by David Hackston

Directed by Kate Gaul

Venue: Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
Dates: 27 November – 21 December
Plays: Tues 7pm, Wed-Sat 8.15pm, Sun 5.15pm
Tickets: $29/$23 (Cheap Tues Pay-what-you-can min $10)
Facebook: www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10176838585
Bookings: 9699 3444 or www.belvoir.com.au