Closet Land: The Stage Play Review

 There was something undeniably creepy about ‘Closet Land – The Stage Play’. Something inherently sinister and altogether eerie, though incredibly eye opening and dramatic.  As soon as I settled into my seat in the cosy Adelaide Bakehouse Theatre and the play begun, I closed my eyes and ears to the outside world and immersed myself into the story. A young children’s author is dragged out of her bed in the middle of the night and accused of embedding political allegory into her manuscript, Closet Land, where a young girl is locked in a cupboard and befriended by her clothes who magically spring to life and befriend her. Tormented and tortured until the interrogator literally beats a confession out of her, the woman eventually reveals the story is merely a tool of escapism used as a coping mechanism to deal with the past trauma of childhood abuse. 

 

  Growling Grin’s production of ‘Closet Land’ is a gritty, confronting play based on the 1991 cult classic debut by the same name. With a simplistic set and characters without names, the play illustrates a realistic scenario that could occur at any time, in any place, and in any country. Benjamin Orchard, who plays the interrogator, is chillingly sinister, where Melissa Rayner, portraying the victim, is both doe-eyed and fiercely unrelenting. Orchard, who has starred in titles such as Marlowe’s ‘Faust’, whodunit play ‘A Party To Murder’, and pot-apocalyptic sci-fi parable ‘Obernewtyn’ was born to play this role, with his uncanny knack to convince the audience that he really wants to physically and psychologically torture newcomer Rayner, who’s background is mainly focused in the visual arts. Despite Rayner’s lack of acting experience, one would assume she had starred in previous productions, as her courage and conviction certainly sent just as many chills down my spine as Orchard did.

First-time director Olivia Jane Parker certainly put a lot of gusto into the production, creating a nail biting, hair-raising atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire 80-minute gruelling and jaw-dropping psychological thriller. With a fantastic team on her side, including artwork from Heather Mill and Jan Burns, sound and photography by Lucie Baker, cinematography by Daniel Vink and Andre Shank, lighting design by Stephen Dean, set design and construction by Greg Spence, Rayner and Parker, the project was funded over a six month period by various grants, including the Crowdfunding platform, Pozible. 

  I made the lengthy flight from Brisbane to Adelaide to see the production, and I’m so incredibly glad that I did. ‘Closet Land – The Stage Play’, rated MA 15+, contains explicit content and scenes not suitable for children, and apparently not for some adults, who decided to leave mid-production as the realistic imagery and confronting messages were obviously just too much for them. Well, it’s their loss! ‘Closet Land – The Stage Play’ is not to be missed. But be warned! It’s not for the feint-hearted (although everyone should just suck it up and watch it anyway!). Definitely worth the 2 hour flight!

 

Isobelle's first birthday, 50 Shades Of Awkward, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, and Closet Land.

Life is going very well at the moment! My little daughter is turning one tomorrow, and I have been invited to contribute to an exciting new project! Isobelle will be having a party at an amazing wheelchair-friendly park not too far from my house, which I am so excited for. I'm usually more meticulous with planning parties, but with Izzy's party I picked a place and told everyone to rock up at a specific time. I don't really think there's a lot of planning you can do for a one year old's party. They won't remember it as they grow older, yet it needs to be entertaining enough so they don't get bored and ball their eyes out as you sing Happy Birthday.

  Another exciting thing that has just recently happened is my involvement with '50 Shades Of Awkward' - a collaborative book about twisted love stories. Here's the link! I'm really excited because I've never been involved in any type of major writing project before, and certainly not one endorsed by Pornstar Ron Jeremy! 50 shades has 16 days to go to pledge the $1,000 goal! So far we have $548, but I am sure with more advertising we can reach our goal! (Maybe) haha
 I have also finished uni for the year, which is a major relief. The exams weren't extremely stressful, but I studied and I am happy with the effort I put into this semester. I think this year has been really different, since I've undertaken studies from different degrees to spice things up. Some of the subjects were really full on, but I liked the challenge, as it made uni more interesting and exciting. I would love to get involved with some more clubs at uni, but a lot of them meet at really obscure places in far away towns that are just too hard to get to. One of the funny things is that the '50 Shades Of Awkard' project is run by members of the UQ Writers Club, and I don't even go to that university. Whenever I tell someone about the project I feel like someone from 'Mean Girl's' is going to yell..




    I haven't gone to any meetings yet, but I am sure there is bound to be at least one person who'll shout it out! I know I would!

  Hmm...what else is exciting? Oh! The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary!

I am seriously so excited! For those who don't know the story, the special is being shown at select cinema's (and also on TV), and is called 'The Day Of The Doctor'. So far, we don't know a lot of things about the special, but what we do know is:
* A hint given from Matt Smith was the word “paintings.”
* Later set pictures showed that the Doctor is summoned to a a very important gallery. Scenes from the Time War are thought to take place.
*Moffat dropped some hints on the storyline: “Something happens to [the Doctor] that changes the way he thinks and the way he will adventure from now on… This is where the story really starts. This is where he finds his mission, he finds his destiny…. We’re not fibbing – this one is going to change the course of the series.
*“In this, [the Doctor] is the story of the week. This is the day of the Doctor. This is his most important day. His most important moment. This is the one he’ll remember.”

I, for one, am pretty excited. I really liked the last series, and although I didn't like how Moffat split the series between Amy and Rory and Clara, I really liked not knowing who Clara was, and seeing all the cool versions of her. Clara is such an enigma, and I'm so excited to learn more about her!

I am also so excited for Closet Land. The Bakehouse theatre will run the play from the 27th of November to the 30th of November. I've been following this project for so long now that I almost don't want it to to finish! I love seeing all the new behind the scenes rehearsal pictures, but I am really excited to meet up with people, and see a friend I haven't seen for such a long time. I've had such a great time promoting the play, and conducting the interviews. I'll be writing an article on it after I've seen the play, which I am so eager to begin!

Anyway, I need another drink :) I'll report back later on more news surrounding 50 Shades of Awkward and Closet Land!

Claire

P.S. The photo of the day is.....

Exams, Supanova, Breaking Bad, and Sherlock

End of your exams have begun! *Lurch plays ominous music on the harpsichord* Today was my Negotiation exam, which was surprisingly different than what I thought it would be. We were allowed to bring in a page of typed notes, but most of what I wrote was from memory, as a lot of my notes had virtually nothing to do with the essay question. I'm glad that's over and done with. I have two exams left: my News and Politics exam (MCQ) and my accounting exam. I'm thinking of faking an aneurysm for my accounting exam. I'm sure I can make it look authentic.

  I know I've ranted about Supanova before, but it's so exciting! I'm getting more and more excited as the date closer. They've had a few changes in the guests, so now they have Lena Headey, Michelle Fairley, Liam McIntyre, and Todd Lassance. So I'm pretty certain this will be the best Supanova yet. I'm pretty sure I'll be going as Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice, but there's still time for something yet! There's just so many possibilities! This is me from my 21st birthday. It's a pretty good costume! It's just a dress that I dyed red, and I had the make-up done by my friend. If I don't go as Lydia, I do have an outfit for Betelejuice himself :)
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  I've started watched Breaking Bad. At first, I thought it was going to be boring, but it's so amazing! 
For those unfamiliar with the show, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White, a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine, in order to secure his family's financial future before he dies. He does this by assuming the alias of Heisenberg , and teams up with his former student, and drug addict, Jesse Pinkman. The show is so good that it's been called the greatest television show of all time. I think it's really good. It took a while for me to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. One of the things I like about it is that it manages to keep the humour in while concentrating on really serious themes, such as drug addiction, death, family, and deceit. Walt and Jesse could be out in the middle of nowhere cooking some meth, and it still manages to be funny. They could be in a shoot out, and Walt still cracks a joke. There's something terribly creepy about Walter, though. As the show progresses, his character becomes more like a villain than a hero. He becomes dark and tiptoes on the line between morality and crime. Though that is what makes him so likeable as a character. You never know what he'll do next. I'd give the show a 10/10 :)



  I've also re-watched the first and second seasons of Sherlock.I'm so excited for the third season to finally come out! It's been so long since the end of the second season. I want to know how Sherlock survived the fall! I can't figure what the clue is that everybody missed. Oh, I've scoured the internet message boards for answers, but there are just so many possible explanations. I know Moffat and Gatsis have been busy with other things, namely Doctor Who, but Sherlock has been on hiatus for so long! Apparently the new series will premiere on PBS in the U.S. on 19 January 2014, as part of its Masterpiece anthology series, but I'll have to wait till it comes out on dvd to watch it here in Australia. It's not fair!






The photo of the day is....*drumroll*

  Breaking Bad and Adventure Time!! What's not amazing about that???