Photos Jamie WilliamsRuhe is the kind of show that Festivals make possible. Perhaps too niche or unconventional to viably import as a one-off, the Sydney Festival atmosphere makes audiences more willing to take a punt on something just because it sounds interesting and curious, as well as being more likely to notice that it’s actually on in the first place.
“Unconventional” is a fairly apt description for this intriguing, yet slightly confounding piece. Although lumped into the Theatre category it could just as easily be classified as Music, and indeed if one were to go by a breakdown of the running time it would probably be a more accurate designation. And even if the Festival had such a category, “Musical Theatre” would be even more misleading, as it is essentially Music with Theatre, as neither element is directly integrated with the other.
This production by the Belgian opera company Muziektheater Transparant uses the tenets of verbatim theatre in concert with unaccompanied choral singing to bring us not so much a story as a theme, a topic. It addresses the morally ambiguous and emotionally challenging reminiscences of those amongst the Dutch populace who voluntarily collaborated with the occupying Nazis and who, even in retrospect, are not particularly ashamed of the fact. Surrounding these stories is a collection of beautiful choral pieces by Schubert, exquisitely sung by the group Collegium Vocale Gent.
Upon entry into Sydney Uni’s suitably European-looking Great Hall, the audience is left to choose where to sit amongst a collection of individual, unmatching chairs strewn about in a rough circle. As the performance begins, the choir is revealed to be scattered amongst us and simply rises, standing on their chairs as impromptu singing platforms. When the beguiling harmonies give way as the time comes for the monologues, the singers resume their seats while the actors prowl through and around the audience, making the event seem as direct as possible, like a small, informal community meeting.
The experience of attending Ruhe was a mixed one, frankly. While some of this was not the fault of the producers per se, there were unfortunate factors that should have been anticipated, such as choosing a poorly-ventilated venue with no air-conditioning for this sweltering January run, or scheduling a choral performance to clash with the all-too-audible Australia Day fireworks. Indeed, for a show relying almost entirely on the human voice there were a raft of audio problems, ranging from the aforementioned fireworks to malfunctioning microphones, and while the acoustics of the hall worked wonders for the choral segments, the spoken word was often lost, even though amplified and relatively intimate.
The production itself had a somewhat surprising structure, featuring only two monologues nestled amongst all the surrounding Schubert. Although given the oppressive conditions one probably wouldn’t have actually wanted the evening to go on any longer regardless of how interesting these tales were, it nevertheless seemed odd that the whole show consisted of only these two. While compelling and quite different from each other, featuring only this pair felt rather inadequate to flesh out a well-developed theme – four tales at least, even if shorter ones, would have surely had a more satisfying effect.
That said, the two monologues that we did get were excellent, each as moving in their own way as the captivating musical framework. Performed in English by Truus te Selle and Han Kerckhoffs, they presented challenging first-person retrospectives of the events, attitudes and self-justifications that influenced two ordinary civilians to join the local National Socialist Party. Compelling material, when you could hear it clearly.
An engrossing show seriously hampered by some regrettable (and honestly foreseeable) production problems, one way or another Ruhe is an experience to be remembered.
Muziektheater Transparant
Ruhe
2010 Sydney Festival
Music Franz Schubert, Annelies Van Parys
Concept and direction Josse De Pauw
Musical direction Christoph Siebert
Text Armando Sleutelaar, Hans Sleutelaar
Text adaptation Tom Jansen, Josse De Pauw
Venue: The Great Hall, The University of Sydney
Dates/Times: January 25–29 at 8.30pm; January 27 at 2pm; January 28, 29 at 6.30pm
Duration: 1hr 15mins, no interval
Tickets: $75 / $70
Bookings: Sydney Festival 1300 668 812 | Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
Web: www.sydneyfestival.org.au/ruhe