Review: Belvoir's Take On LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Attempts To Present Caryl Churchill's Dramatization Of The 17th Century English Civil War For A Modern Era

Tuesday 19th April 2022, 6:30pm, Belvoir St Theatre

Caryl Churchill's LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is given a modern Australian makeover with Eamon Flack and Hannah Goodwin's (co-directors) interpretation for Belvoir St Theatre. Political fights and blind faith in a second coming in 17th Century England play out with the hope of drawing comparisons to contemporary struggles as capitalism has well and truly taken hold and government retains a firm hand over society.

Presented in repertory with WAYSIDE BRIDE, LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE shares the same base set design by Michael Hankin, resulting in an environment with little to identify its time and space as historic events apart from the theatre Marquee sign indicating the milestones of the demise of King Charles I. Trestle tables and the same plastic chairs form the sparse set dressing while the occasional graffitied slogan and protest poster reinforce that civil unrest is unfolding. Ella Butler's costume design is drawn from op-shop racks to indicate the masses but the lack of costume variation for the character doubling does lead to confusing transitions as performers shift social standing and gender with little more than a brief, if at all, reference to their new character.

This play has historically been a challenging piece with a history of mixed reviews and the simplification of set and costuming along with the challenge of clarity from some of the performers makes this work even more of a struggle to follow for anyone not intimately acquainted with the underlying English history. The presentation of the Putney Debates resembling a community committee planning meeting in a run-down townhall with little movement is equally as taxing on the attention span as said community committee meeting. The gathering of the poor and homeless 'Ranters' has a more animated expression, but the detail of the text is often lost in the wailing.

Presented as a solid 2 hours without interval, a deviation from the original work which was presented in two parts, this expression of LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE takes a challenging work and makes it even harder to absorb and enjoy as confusion outweighs the intended contemplation revisiting history should garner as progress over almost four centuries is contemplated.

https://belvoir.com.au/productions/light-shining-in-buckinghamshire-2/

Images Credit: Teniola Komolafe

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