Contrast does theatre companies proud

We glimpsed Steven Berkoff's talent.

There was a bipolar quality to the Auckland Theatre Company's programme for the year, with the productions swinging between the appealing frivolity of Taking Off and High Society and the existential anguish of The Duchess of Malfi and Disgrace.

Such an approach risks falling between the bar stools. Audiences want theatre to be both entertaining and challenging and this is a perfectly reasonable expectation.

The company struck the right balance with the revival of Peter Shaffer's Equus. Although the show was written 32 years ago, Colin McColl's direction was fresh and innovative. The production threw a clear light on Shaffer's coruscating analysis of the way despair haunts a society that has abandoned any sense of the sacred. Staging and design came together seamlessly and the pairing of Peter Elliot and Kip Chapman captured the visceral tension between youth and old age.

For original New Zealand work there were several highlights, among which Stephanie Johnson's Strange Children announced the presence of a distinctive voice and articulated a level of subtlety seldom found on stage.

In securing the rights to adapt J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace, writer Carl Nixon pulled off a coup to make any playwright proud.

But the brilliance of the original may have been the obstacle because the play struggled to escape from the long shadow cast by the novel, although it did provide a perfect vehicle for Stuart Devenie's remarkable talent.

His descent into a state of absolute wretchedness suggests that tragic theatre becomes possible once a culture sheds the belief that all problems are susceptible to social remedies.

In similar vein, Silo's production of The Goat or Who is Sylvia expounded the idea of tragic theatre in a contemporary setting.

The play's relentless exploration of the inexpressible inspired memorable performances from Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand and confirmed that Edward Albee must be on any list of greatest living playwrights.

Australian writers scored some impressive hits on the Auckland stage during the year.

Up for Grabs at the Maidment was probably the year's funniest show, with David Williamson's brash humour demonstrating that comedy is the best weapon for puncturing the pretensions of cultural elites.

Equally impressive was Reg Cribb, a younger Australian writer whose play The Return was given a robust production by A Lethal Set.

Among the many highlights of the Auckland Festival, Steven Berkoff's one-man show gave a tantalising glimpse of his idiosyncratic talent and left us longing to see him in a more substantial work.

There can be no doubt about the quality of theatre offered but the quantity is an area of concern. It is a civic embarrassment that Auckland only just manages to support two professional companies.

But the prospect of a new venue opening next year offers a ray of hope.

Aucklanders are voracious and adventurous in their patronage of restaurants and cafes - here's hoping they will turn out in comparable numbers for the theatre.