La Mama Exploration Season 2017 & Review of The Cave

La Mama is Carlton’s very own 50-year-old contemporary theatre, famously known for their small yet powerful showings of emotionally striking and often abstract performances. With shows that promote post-modernist ways of thinking, the audience is often left to identify and deconstruct the messages depicted on stage to their own artistic sense of interpretation. People leave with discussions that expand from, ‘Yeah, that was really good!’ to the depths of the play crew’s decisions, such as, ‘I love how the flashing lights was used to symbolise the frantic nature of the family’s dismantling relationships.’ Though you can sit back and enjoy pure theatre professionalism unwind up-close, what I find beyond notorious of La Mama’s style is the ability to subconsciously engage the audience into a deeper sense of thinking, to regard the stories and characters in a subjective interpretation that is not always strictly defined in script. Original playwrights, dedicated directors and passionate actors set this theatre apart from all others in Melbourne, proving that the Inner North truly outshines in the community’s artistic vision.

La Mama is currently running their 50th Spring & Exploration Season, progressing through to mid-December. The Cave, written by Jack Currie and directed by Justin Nott, does not surpass La Mama’s famous reputation for showcasing an incredible and unconventional performance. Across three nights, the story of Jordan (Aleksandr Salaydev) was told, accompanied by the heightening tension developing between his parents played by Kate Stones and Adam Cass. As fights prevail, Jordan sinks into a dream-like fantasy represented by sensory sounds (designed by Edwin Cheah) and soft yellow lighting. His characterisation comes to light in these segments, as he narrates the invisible scene with an effervescent use of voice and physicality, whilst his parents wander slow-motion in the dark of the stage, as though on-edge with his thoughts designed to escape. This is an absurdist play that relies on expressionism to convey the abstract conventions of Jordan’s reality, dream state, as well as the blend of both which gradually interweave, representing the chaotic and indistinct nature of the situation. Though his fantasy is painted with a mental imagery of someplace beautiful, with a lake, tree, panthers, and his friend Jade and Patty (played by Jordan’s parents) it begins to crumble into a land of danger, anxiety and fear. Jordan is left to deal with ‘the beast’ that threatens his perfect world and Patty and Jade’s relationship. The distinction between reality and fantasy blurs in a frenzied fashion, the play ending with the unanswered question of what’s real and what’s fake.

A small stage with a simplistic set, consisting of a table, chairs and a pile of Styrofoam, gradually gets messier in lieu with the building spiteful relationship between Jordan’s parents and his battles with his mental demons. The limited set extrapolates the devote professionalism of the actors and actress to artistically incorporate movement, physicality, facial expressions, voice, and timing to create a sinister yet imaginative world that is unseen to the audience. Salaydev effortlessly pulls off three different types of Jordan: Jordan as a narrator, an overt Jordan in dream, and an introverted Jordan in reality; as well as the small part of the beast. Though the dream segments can be long in duration, Salaydev doesn’t fail to engage the audience – his acting skills tested yet successfully impressive. Cass plays Jordan’s somewhat bogan, self-absorbed father stuck in a mid-life crisis, leaving and returning as he pleases. He transitions to Patty, a stone-faced neutral character that slowly wanders through Jordan’s dreams. Likewise, Stone plays Jordan’s frustrated mother who switches to Jade, a calm, strong figure lacking emotion. Cass and Stone’s performances equally shine through these segments and transitions, synchronising their perfectly timed, slow creepy movements to juxtapose Jordan’s sporadic nature. Both give off a haunting performance to build tension not just onstage, but within the audience also.

It’s plays like The Cave that uphold La Mama’s nationally and internationally acclaimed reputation as being Melbourne’s cutting-edge, contemporary theatre. The artists involved seek to pull off performances that expand beyond traditional, mainstream theatre, to create shows that can be, at times, controversial and creatively empowering. Exploration is the annual season of a range of new theatre, running for roughly two months. Shows that explore issues within dimensions such as social, cultural and economical, from comedies and dramas to the weird and whimsical.

“It gives new works a chance to be shown to a public,” says Dennis Coard, actor and front of house at La Mama. “Some of the shows hopefully go on to form productions.”

This is the case for Last Years Eve, which was first shown across three nights in Exploration 2016 and was reshown this year as a season.

“[Shows that] have never been previously done, [they’ve] got potential, what looks like it might have a life,” Coard says in regard to how shows are chosen in Exploration to be selected for season.

2017 Exploration at La Mama is the perfect night out to wrap up your year of enjoyable and profound theatre. A number of intricate professional shows are running until mid-December for $15 each. For more information about the shows, head to http://lamama.com.au/2017-explorations-program.