The Rabble in association with CarriageWorks 25 June – 3 July
A smokey haze fills the air as we walk into the space, we make our way past the set which is a big cube with 3 wooden sides and the 4th front side is Perspex so we can indulge our voyeurism. Once seated we wait in anticipation for what seems like ages, possibly anything up to three minutes. We sit in silence and watch the haze creep over the set. We stare through the Perspex 4th wall at 5 figures in this box. This is quite effective and looks like a painting. With white, stark walls, figures in black and a microphone downstage right.
Once the piece starts to develop I find myself completely frustrated. Initially I was annoyed at the pace, then at this metronome which starts ticking then at the realization that the artists were never going to come out of the box. They stay the entire time in this claustrophobic type ‘panic’ room.
Cageling is directed by Emma Valente and Kate Davis of ‘The Rabble’, a group of highly experienced and broadly diverse theatre practitioners. The performers in this work have performed and trained all over the world and are fully equipped to deliver this style of work.
Cageling is based on Lorca’s text The House of Bernada Alba written in 1936. The play focuses on a time of mourning, in which Bernarda Alba, the mother, exerts total control over her five daughters. The play explores the themes of repression, passion, and conformity, gender and sexuality, plus the aspects of and the effects of men power over women.
It’s important to note the context surrounding this play. Lorca was a Spanish poet and theatre director and was involved with the Surrealist movement and formed close friendships with Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. Therefore this work is evident of the types of works these theatre practitioners were making, with a focus on the avant-garde, taking a stance against the bourgeoisie.
Having an understanding of that helped me appreciate this piece but I personally didn’t enjoy my theatre experience. I was irritated and at times wondering how much longer there was and I wasn’t the only one, I caught some other audience members looking at their watches. I found this whole play completely agitating, I found my teeth grinding. Perhaps this is what the objective was – experiential, so I would generate the same feelings as the characters, perhaps?
I would suggest having a good idea and background on Cageling before you go. It is challenging, it is confronting and it has made an impression. Although I did not personally enjoy it, I will never forget it.
