unseen theatre company: the truth

It's been a year since we last returned to the Discworld with the Unseen Theatre Company, and this time it's back to Ankh-Morpork and the creature of the Disc's first newspaper with The Truth.

Hugh O'Connor, usually hidden behind the grinning skull of the anthropomorphic personification of Death in Unseen productions, steps up as William de Worde, the unlikely and, as is often the case in Pratchett's work, somewhat unwilling hero of the piece. I especially enjoyed his (some would say childish, I would say very funny) choices towards the end of the play, when he's coming up against the unstoppable force that is Sam Vines (played once again by Mike Shaw).

I did notice that they condensed a lot of the first part of the book down to essentially "man runs into dwarf in the middle of the street, accidentally creates first newspaper"... which is essentially accurate, but definitely one of those moments when a knowledge of the source material comes in handy. But while many of the details are condensed, the rest of the play remains fairly faithful to the original.

Stealing every scene they were in... in order of stealingness... were Danny Sag (last seen as the Patrician in Feet of Clay) was absolutely hilarious as Otto Chriek, the tea-totalling vampire photographer (sorry, iconographer) who joins the newspaper. Everything Sag does as Otto is fantastic and he's clearly very comfortable both with the accent and just with being present on stage as well.

Next up would be Aimee Ford as Gaspode, the "clearly that dog didn't just speak because dogs definitely can't talk" talking dog. Ford has been great in all her Unseen roles and she briefly reprices Corporal Nobby Nobbs, but her timing and attitude are perfect for Gaspode. Bonus shout-out to David Dyte as Foul Ole Ron for his accompanying cried of "Millennium Hand and Shrimp" and "Bugrit".

Last but by no means least are Nick Andrews and Paul Messenger as Mr Pin and Mr Tulip respectively. The characters have more than a little Pulp Fiction/Reservoir Dogs DNA in them, and Andrews and Messenger play this up beautifully.

Natalie Haigh, Leighton James and Alycia Rabig (in dual roles taking over as Corporal Angua of the Watch, and Boddony the very blonde dwarf) fill out the staff of the newspaper, and do a great job.

The set is the more "complex" version from the last show with the two raised platforms and the doors and works fairly well here (although the doors really don't get a lot of use), I will say that there's perhaps a little too much removing and replacing of the main table and printing press towards the end of the show when things need to take place in other locations which slows things down a little.

Also, given that this was opening night, there were only a few stumbles with lines and the like which is totally understandable.

It's perhaps not the most... exciting or visual of all of Pratchett's work, but they've managed to make it into a decent night of theatre.

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unseen theatre company: feet of clay

It seems like the latest Unseen Theatre Company production of Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay features a number of actors from the 2015 Adelaide Fringe production Inconceivable.

Mike Shaw who was both the director and starred as Westley plays Sir Samuel Grimes, Belinda Spangenberg (Buttercup) takes on a number of smaller roles including the vampire Dragon King of Arms, and Josh Mitchell (Count Rugen) plays both the titular golem(s) and the Dragon King's flunky. I knew I knew their faces, but I thought it was just from previous Discworld shows.

Shaw is impressive as Vimes, who I've always had a soft spot for, but the show is really stolen by both Kahlia Tutty who plays the City Watch's resident werewolf Angua and returning cast member Alycia Rabig as the Watch's newest recruit Cheery Littlebottom who goes through some changes.

Tutty really nails Angua's fierce yet sensual aspect and is very believable in those moments when Angua taps into her inner "bitch" (as she puts it in the show). And Rabig really plays up the comedy of Cheery's transformation from the outer dwarf to the inner dwarf without going over the top (the costume changes help).

And both Natalie Haigh and Aimee Ford who featured in Wee Free Men earlier this year as "No' as Big as Medium Sized Jock But Bigger Than Wee Jock Jock" and Wentworth respectively return with great comedy performances... Haigh in various roles including a gender swapping turn as Head of the Thieves Guild and Ford most notably as the Watchman who is more monkey than man, Nobby Nobbs. I also think that Hugh O'Connor is pretty much a perfect choice for the "perfect policeman" Captain Carrot... especially with that booming voice.

The set is also one of the more complex that I've seen from Unseen... including a pair of raised platforms, one for Lord Vetinari's (played by Danny Sag) palace office, the other for Vimes office, and between them a pair of doors. This also gives the opportunity for perhaps a wider variety of comings and going for characters, including coming out from under the palace office platform.

Often a lot of the setting is left to the viewer's imagination in Unseen productions, so it was nice to have a little more detail.

Likewise the costumes had some nice details, especially the aforementioned transformations for Cheery and Mitchell's orange foam golem costume (especially the head which had a lot of business to do and, I'm guessing, next to no visibility), but also Angua's gladiatrix-inspired look and Vetinari's robes.

As for the story, Feet of Clay isn't one where the original book really sticks in my mind, so while I know that they have, understandably, had to cut down a lot of the extraneous plot (although to be honest, the Wikipedia synopsis sounds pretty much spot on for the version we saw). But there were a couple of spots where if you weren't paying attention you may have missed a plot point here or there.

Overall though this was one of the better produced Unseen productions, if not one of the more memorable stories.

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unseen theatre company: the wee free men

Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels can sometimes appear be fairly easy to turn into a stage production, but at other times, they seem like they'd be next to impossible.

The latest production from the Unseen Theatre Company, The Wee Free Men (the first of the Tiffany Aching novels) is definitely one of the latter... if only because a large number of the main characters are six inch tall, predominately blue/tattooed little redheaded men/pictsies. Plus another character is a talking toad.

And on top of that, there's a trip to Fairyland and various supernatural beasties.

For the most part, the Wee Free Men or Nac Mac Feegle are dealt with by making them full sized humans, with only a single, blink and you'll miss it, line referencing the fact that they're supposed to be six inches tall.

They're played by Harold Roberts as Rob Anybody, Dalestair Kidd as Daft Wullie, Natalie Hugh as (deep breath) "No' as Big as Medium Sized Jock But Bigger Than Wee Jock Jock" and David Dyte as William.

Of the four, Kidd is the by far the most charismatic... in the books Daft Wullie is just, well, daft, but Kidd manages to make him just this side of insane every time she's on stage and she completely and totally stole just about every scene she was in... to the point where you're supposed to be watching the characters talking on stage left, but your eyes just find themselves creeping over to watch her wordless antics on stage right. More than once.

The blue skin/woad/tattoos of the Feegles is perhaps best described as... inconsistent. Some of the actors seemed to have applied a perfect, Smurf blue coat to their arms and faces, others it seemed the makeup just didn't like them. And there were more than a few times were the blue just didn't go far enough and was a little distracting. Minor quibbles to be honest, but still.

Toad is handled much the same way that they dealt with the Great God Om in last year's Small Gods... with an appropriately sized prop substitute and an actor, in this case Hugh O'Connor (who usually goes unseen but very much heard as Death) in a yellow suit and suitable toad facepaint. I kind of wish they'd dealt with him a little more like they had with Om, where the other actors all address the prop not the person, but O'Connor is fantastic, very dry and sarcastic and with pretty much all the best lines.

Josephine Giorgio plays the lead character of Tiffany Aching, and does a fantastic job in her first Unseen Theatre production. She manages to embody all of Tiffany's determination, stubbornness and anger quite well... and I'd be intrigued to see her take on the role of Death's granddaughter Susan at some point, as I think she'd do it well.

As both director and adaptor, Pamela Munt has managed to make one of the more difficult to stage Discworld stories work pretty well for the stage, although much of Tiffany's inner monologue (which, to be honest is most of my favourite stuff about the Aching books) and some of the more fantastical parts had to go.

Whether or not they can manage to do all five of the Aching books or not, I don't know... the second one is mostly predicated on Tiffany's inner monologue, so that could be difficult, but it'd be nice to see them try.

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unseen theatre company: small gods

I won't lie, Small Gods is the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels I have the most... complicated, I guess, relationship with. Most of this stems from the fact that this is Terry's satire on religion, and I find myself annoyed by certain characters and frustrated by the religious dogma, even while it's been made fun of.

It's also a difficult novel to turn into a two hour play, due partly to the complexity of the story, but mostly because of the fact that one of the characters is the Great God Om, currently manifesting in the body of a very small tortoise.

The Unseen Theatre Company get around this with some creative casting in the form of Alycia Rabig and what appears to be a tortoise shaped garden ornament. Rabig plays Om with all the frustration and annoyance you would expect from a deity reduced to just the one follower, and is present through all the scenes involving Om/the tortoise, but the other actors only ever address the tortoise.

And it's works very well, also in part due to the fantastic Timothy Tedmanson as Novice Brutha, who's a little bit simple, remembers everything and is the only person who can hear Om. Tedmanson is brilliant in the role plus the fact that he's seventeen helps with the character's sense of innocence and naivety and he makes Brutha a delight to watch.

I was a little surprised that the cast were pronouncing Brutha's name as "Brootha", when I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a homophone for "brother"... especially as in later novels characters use his name in prayers/curses as "Oh, Brutha"... like the Discworld country of Djelibeybi is actually pronounced "jellybaby".

The villain of the piece, Deacon Vorbis, is played with a wonderful Machiavellian quality by (the brilliantly named but difficult to say... and fitting as he may have been named after a Pope) Adeodatus McCormack. From the moment the audience enter the theatre and he's already on stage, peering down his nose at everyone with withering disdain is just perfect for the character.

I'd also love to see McCormack take on the role of another Discworld character, Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork... he's perfectly built for the role, both physically as well as a decidedly commanding/intimidating presence.

It would also be interesting to see what else David Haller is capable of, he takes on a number of small roles here, but his energy and enthusiasm are fantastic, especially as Urn.

As always the props and scenery are functional and minimal, although good use is made of a throne on wheels throughout the play. And the projected backgrounds are better than in previous Unseen plays (although the light could still do with being a little brighter... and the battle background was decidedly anachronistic). The costumes are simple, mostly robes and togas, although the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition costumes for Vorbis and the other members of the Quisition of Omnia give exactly the right feels... but Om's Grecian inspired dress is quite lovely.

Overall though this was an enjoyable trip to the Discworld featuring performers I hope return again.

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unseen theatre company: the last continent

The Last Continent is our fourth outing to see the Unseen Theatre Company perform an adaptation of one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

Given that the original novel takes place in Fourecks (or Ecks, Ecks, Ecks, Ecks), a thinly veiled parody of Australia, Pamela Munt's adaptation manages to slide in even more Australian references than I remember from the novel.

A number of the stars of previous Unseen shows were back... the always watchable Hugh O'Connor, who does double duty as both Death and the wizard Ponder Stibbons, which is all the more amazing considering the vocal differences between the two characters.

And I always enjoy David Dyte as fellow wizard, The Dean along with a number of incidental characters... and Samm Blackmore's roles as the Island God and the Archchancellor of the Fourecks university were great.

Oh, and Michelle Whichello definitely deserves a shout out for her turn as The Librarian, an orang-utan who used to be a wizard... the costume wasn't exactly cutting edge, but she acted the living daylights out of it.

But the real star of the show was Chris Irving as the magical equivalent to the number zero, Rincewind the "wizzard". He definitely embodies the personality of Rincewind, although I have a feeling he's a much better dancer than Rincewind ever could be.


As always the sets were simple but effective, especially the red sand that filled three quarters of the stage, and the "fold out" jail cell which was brilliantly done. And it was nice to actually see the bullroarer from the story in action... I never quite understood it before, but it was quite a thing to see.

All in all, it was a good night out... and definitely a fun adaptation.

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unseen theatre company: thief of time

Thief of Time is our third visit to The Bakehouse Theatre for a play by the Unseen Theatre Company.

The book the play is based on is one of my favourite Discworld novels and one that is very, very grand in scope and I was curious to see how they would pull off some of the more exotic elements.

The plot is incredibly complicated, but generally it involves the History Monks, specifically their most venerable sweeper and his apprentice, a clockmaker trying to fashion a clock that ticks in time with the Universe assisted by an Igor, the Auditors (who show up in more and more Pratchett stories) and one of my favourite characters, Death's granddaughter, Susan... as well as Death himself trying to get the old band (of horseman) back together.

I will say that the play really could have done with a real life narrator on stage. I understand (from the program... she was a founding member of the company, and was in town for a limited period of time) why the narrator is pre-recorded and projected onto the screen at the back of the stage. The fact that the sound for the narrator wasn't the best in terms of volume didn't really help, plus the fact that it didn't really help to distract from the stagehands setting up for the next scene like I think a live narrator would have (and which worked successfully in Reaper Man). Plus I kept getting distracted with her eyes flicking off to the side where I'm guessing her cue cards were for the video.

The projected elements are the least successful part of the play to be honest. It works okay in place of sets for the most part, but given that it was being projected onto a curtain rather than a stretched screen or a bare wall (again, as happened during Reaper Man) meant it didn't work as well as it could have.

However the negatives were outweighed by the great performances from the cast, who, as in previous plays, put their proverbial heart and soul into it.

There are three major shout-outs... firstly Lewis Baker as both Igor and the Horseman Pestilence. He absolutely stole every single scene he is in as Igor with the crazy wig, ripped pants and sibilant s's. Seriously he needs to be the Igor in anything Unseen does from here on out. I also loved him as a surgical scrubs wearing Pestilence... not least of all because medical is a very good look for him.

Hugh O'Connor also gets props for the third time running as Discworld's anthropomorphic personification of Death. Yes, he has the occasional bit of trouble with the hood (somebody needs to attach it to the skull mask with some double sided tape or something) and the robe, but you forget all that when O'Connor's big booming voice emerges from inside the skull head.

And partly because she's one of my favourite inhabitants of the Discworld, Amelia Lorien gets a mention for her portrayal as Susan. Partly for the accent, partly for the wig, but mostly for giving Susan's Death voice a damn good go.

I also have to mention Daniel McInnes, who was great in Reaper Man, and returns with two small(ish) roles as a ninja and as War, all World War I muttonchops and blustery voice to match. I have a feeling that McInnes could make an excellent Moist von Lipwig... at the very least, it'd be nice to see him in a larger role within the Discworld.

And anyone who works as hard as Leighton James, playing two major characters in the same play, definitely deserves some love. Especially playing characters who are completely different, but then again, not.

Oh and Samuel Creighton as the highly camp Famine made me laugh on more than one occasion.

The rest of the cast did a great job as well, and on the whole they got the balance of Pratchett's humour exactly right.

So while it wasn't without it's hiccups here and there, overall it was a very enjoyable night out.

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unseen theatre company: reaper man

After seeing Pratchett Pieces Three by the Unseen Theatre Company during the Fringe I said that I'd have to keep my eye out for the next full length Discworld play that they did.

That turned out to be Reaper Man.

The story is typical Discworld fare... Death (Hugh O'Connor) is "fired" from his job by the Auditors of Reality and finds himself working on the elderly Miss Flitworth's (Pamela Munt) farm at harvest time.

At the same time, Windle Poons (Leighton James) a 130 year old wizard at Unseen University dies... but due to Death being unemployed, finds himself returning as a zombie.

In the original novel the "B Story" involving Poons is much more involved, but for the play that's simplified down to mostly reinforce the main Death story.

The script itself contains all the genuine laughs of Pratchett's work, aided by some very strong performances from the small yet versatile cast.

O'Connor makes for a brilliant Death... seeing him in a secondary role as one of Poons' fellow wizards you would never guess that he also plays the anthropomorphic personification of Death (I love saying that)... his has the perfect monotone yet booming voice for the character, as well as great comic timing. But there was one moment when he's standing right at the front row where looking up into his blank skull mask was genuinely intimidating.

James does well in a predominately comical role as Poons, particularly with the undead zombie shambling of an undead wizard. And the scene between Poons and Mrs Cake (Michelle Whichello), as a psychic who's precognition reaches about ten seconds into the future are genuinely hilarious.

Other standouts include some of the actors in the same roles as Pratchett Pieces Three, Samm Blackmore as the dryly humorous Footnote (aka the narrator) and Paul Messenger who has found his groove in the role of wizard Archchancellor Ridcully.

Messenger, James and Michael Coumi are also great in their brief appearances as the three Auditors... they've clearly been inspired by the vocal performances of the Auditors in the Hogfather miniseries, which just felt right.

In fairly minor roles both David Dyte as Modo the dwarf gardener of Unseen University (as well as a couple of other roles) and Danniel McInnes as both the Dean of the University and Lupine (a "reverse" werewolf) are worth watching... particularly McInnes' physicality as Lupine even if the character only has a single scene.

As always the black walls of the Bakehouse Theatre are easily turned into any space required, but the idea of projecting a still image of a scene onto the back wall worked brilliantly, especially for the opening "Auditors in Space" sequence as well easily defining other interior locations.

If there are any criticisms beyond the occasional slightly clunky line delivery, it would be the movement of items by the stagehands between scenes. Usually this was covered by Blackmore's Footnote speeches, but there were occasions where it was a little distracting.

All in all though it was a worthy adaptation and an enjoyable night of theatre.

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fringe: unseen theatre company's pratchett pieces three

This is the first time I've seen anything put on by the Unseen Theatre Company, who specialise in Discworld plays by one of my favourite authors, Terry Pratchett.

I've seen their work advertised before (and plastering almost every available surface in the Bakehouse Theatre, which seems to be their usual home), but never gotten around to seeing anything.

And I don't mean this in a bad way, but it was about what I've come to expect from amateur theatre. The costumes are always a little questionable, something always goes wrong but everybody is incredibly enthusiastic.

Fortunately enthusiasm does count for a lot and often carry across some of the bumpier elements.

As the name suggests, it's not one full length play, but five separate plays that take anywhere from about five to 45 minutes (the "Three" in the title comes from the fact that this is the third one of these "Pieces" plays they've done).

Of the five, I think the second one, The Trial, starring Discworld's witches was probably the best (although I do confess that the witches are my favourite Discworld characters, and of them, Esme "Granny" Weatherwax is my absolute favourite... with the anthropomorphic personification of Death coming in a close second).

Pamela Munt (who also directed and adapted the original stories) does excellent work as Esme... full of fire and pride, if a little sharper than the Granny I have in my imagination.

However, it's Michelle Wichelo as Nanny Ogg who seems to steal just about every scene she's in effortlessly. True, she gets all the funny lines, but she just seemed to have setttled into Nanny's skin like a worn old jacket.

The other standout, not only during the witches play, but in all of her small roles throughout the play, was Kate Hall. She's mesmerizing as witch Mistress Shimmer even though her part is only a handful of lines... and she's hysterically funny as the monotone "Research Officer" during the Hollywood Chickens section.

Samm Blackmore as the Footnote (ie the narrator) and James Loader (in a variety of roles... including unintentional eyecandy) also do excellent jobs.

The other play that I though worked most effectively was the second to last piece, Turntables of the Night, where Death (played by Hugh O'Connor) stalks a seventies disco for the ultimate record collector (played by James Loader... I think). Yes, it was a little chaotic and some of the staging wasn't the best... but overall it worked quite well.

The pieces that I don't think worked as well were the opener, Death And What Comes Next, and Hollywood Chickens.

Both pieces probably work better on the printed page than as a play, although there are some very good moments in Hollywood Chickens... I just felt like it lost a few of the subtleties of the story, as well as feeling a little bogged down towards the end section.

Rounding out the five plays was A Collegiate Casting Out of Devilish Devices... a chance for the men of Unseen Theatre to have their moment in the sun as the wizards of the Unseen University in the same way the women did with the witches.

Which essentially involves a lot of overstuffed armchairs, pointy hats and fake beards.

But even with the occasional issue (at one point during the witches section I think two market stalls are set out incorrectly... unless it's on purpose... but I don't think it was), mostly with some of the staging (things happening way too far off to the side), it's an entertaining and enjoyable production with a lot of laughs and I think that I'll have to keep my eye out for when they next do a full length Discworld piece.

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