Seeing the opening night performance of PIPER presented by Frenzy Theatre Co and Theatreworks has renewed my faith in live theatre as a place of exuberance and joy. The show takes the Grimm fairytale, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and uses it as a springboard for an exploration of power, exploitation and survival in a way that stimulates the audience to engage and think whilst being thoroughly entertained.
Directed by Belle Hansen and co-created by Dora Abraham, Piper is indeed the extravaganza it sets out to be with a vibrant ensemble cast of 20 female and non-binary actors who are also singers, dancers and circus artists. It is a visual and aural feast with so much going on that you will want to come back and see it again.
The pre-show foyer entertainment features the eight rat dancers/circus artists who perform an ensemble floating rat movement. They move as one in their rat pack until one-by-one they spook and run into the auditorium. Inside, the audience are invited to step onto the stage and interact with other cast members – Hamelin town councillors, the children, the townspeople. The costumes by Harry Gill and Jessamine Moffett and makeup signal that this is a very colourful but fractured hyper-real world of Hamelin. We vote on which rats get to live, get a Taro Tarot card reading , receive and write mail distributed by the town florist and play a loaded card game with a town councillor. It is Disney-esque and captivating.
Frenzy Theatre Co chooses to be “pop culture-based, and grounded in its commitment to dynamic physical theatre, ensemble devising and maximalism”. For Piper, this is a commitment well and truly kept. Big moments with a lot of action (including an aerialist on a rope) and pumped music beats contrasted with quieter, poetic text-based scenes that take inspiration from Greek tragedy and chorus.
Jack Burmeister’s sound design and composition is integral to the success of the transitions and story-telling as is Sidney Younger’s lighting design. Hannah Jennings’ beautiful cinematography adds to the mood and spectacle. Despite the dark nature of the themes, overall the tone of this thought-provoking show is light and humorous. Rats will die, but why and how? In this version, there is no Piper. Then the children want their turn in the limelight but end up exploited by a different power altogether.
Despite a cast of 20, each performer has their moments to shine and all give solid performances. There is a cohesiveness within each ensemble group (rats, children, townspeople and councillors) so that no one performance steals the limelight. Rather, each performer supports the unity of purpose of their group which in turn supports the performance as a whole. This is remarkable and would have to be a strength of Frenzy’s approach to group devised theatre and ensemble development.
Frenzy Theatre Co was established in 2020 by Belle Hansen and Matilda Gibbs and are now joined by Jack Burmeister and Anna Louey as Company Artists. Their youth is their strength and they dream big. But they also have years and a depth of experience which means their crazy big ideas actually come to fruition! It is worth noting that Frenzy are committed to nurturing and up-skilling early career artists. If you love theatre, you should keep an eye on them.
I absolutely loved the experience of watching PIPER. I had been smarting from seeing a very bland, wordy production with no subtext at unnamed state’s flagship theatre company. I was bored out of my brain. It was predictable and all the loose ends were neatly tied up so there was nothing to have to think about. But PIPER exploded with life and had me hooked every minute. My mind was filled with things to discuss and mull over. So if you want to see the full gamut of what live theatre can be, go and see PIPER!
Disclaimer – I had the privilege to work with Frenzy Theatre Co in their last production, The Roof Is Caving In, as an actor/musician. I know first-hand how professional, inclusive, respectful and nurturing they are and also their incredible work ethic. These people work hard and still have to have day jobs. Yet they produce work far more compelling than some of the work that comes out of flagship companies. But that’s just my opinion.
Tickets available at https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2024/piper
DATES + TIMES
Tuesday 13 August – 7:30pm
Wednesday 14 August – 7:30pm
Thursday 15 August – 7:30pm
Friday 16 August – 7:30pm
Saturday 17 August – 7:30pm
Tuesday 20 August – 7:30pm
Wednesday 21 August – 7:30pm
Thursday 22 August – 7:30pm
Friday 23 August – 7:30pm
Saturday 24 August – 1:30pm (MATINEE)
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
