FOOLS ISLAND
FOOLS ISLAND, Tamarama Rock Surfers at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre, Bondi Beach, March 31-April 24, 2011.
DARREN GILSHENAN is a performer who has become an overnight star and popular and critical success after slogging it out and paying his dues since 1988, when he graduated from NIDA. Renowned for his comedy skills and as a physical actor and clown, in recent times he has appeared in dramatic roles too – Strange Attractor at the SBW Stables springs to mind, for instance – and he was disturbingly good as the nasty mining executive in that 2009 play. So, in short, expectations are high for Fools Island and it’s not really surprising that he exceeds them.
Fools Island, written and devised by Gilshenan with another over-achiever, English clown-actor Chris Harris, is the first production by TRS at their new beachside headquarters and quite simply, it’s brilliant. The idea is at once simple and complex, as befits a man who’s steeped in the deceptively childlike world of mime and clowning, on the one hand, and on the other, has become one of the finest Shakespearean actor-speakers in the country, via serial appearances with Bell Shakespeare Company. Two survivors of a crashing meteorite find themselves on a tiny, barren desert island. They are twins – one good, the other bad – both are played by Gilshenan through the absurdly simple device of a battered hat whose brim is goofily up for “good” and snidely down for “bad”.
Good ’un takes a while to realize he is not alone, not least because initially he’s too busy figuring out how to be a person: how to make his rubbery legs do what legs are supposed to do – as in how to stand up. Meanwhile, Bad ’un lurks behind a convenient palm tree – which also doubles as Good ’un’s only companion, an imaginary voluptuous houri. When Good ’un’s attempts at language finally evolve into words they are of the “Zounds!” “Forsooth!” and “Gadzooks!” variety that any intelligent alien would pick up from a Shakespeare-literate world. The Fool is born and he speaks in snatches of the plays, ranging from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Othello with a lot of the others inbetween.
Good ’un is also heavily influenced by many other aspects of western popular culture. In one of the show’s many dazzling highlights he and Bad ’un enact an entire early silent movie: it’s the one where a mustachioed villain ties a helpless damsel to the railway lines while the almost equally helpless hero tries to signal and stop the oncoming express train and loosen the damsel’s bonds. Not a word is spoken during this thrilling epic – none are needed as Gilshenan enacts each and every part and moment to the disbelieving delight of the guffawing, gasping audience.
As well as humour – broad and sly – there is much poignancy and some profundity too. Gilshenan inhabits his characters with extraordinary depth and fluidity and the 75 non-stop minutes on the island are a seamless and rivetingly interesting pleasure. There is no knowing what will happen next and expecting the unexpected is a must. Part of the unexpected is the second performer in the solo show: Rose Turtle Ertler. This magically named musician and techno-whiz sits behind a sound desk that’s constructed of elderly suitcases and cabin trunks and is, in effect, Gilshenan’s aural shadow. She also plays guitar and ukelele and operates the FX that underline his transformations and various activities (eating his own eyeballs among others).
Directed by Jo Turner, the show is a winning combination of silliness and seriousness that showcases Gilshenan’s unique talents without gilding the lily. It sits well in the refurbished Bondi Pavilion theatre but it’s easy to see how it could travel – easily and well – to anywhere in the world where divine comedy is appreciated.
