The Peculiar Case of Clara Parsons at Galatos

Reviewed by SHANNON HUSE


One of the most peculiar things about multimedia story The Peculiar Case of Clara Parsons is that such a thematically unsophisticated work was three years in the making. It was such an enticing concept, a mixture of soundscape, physical theatre and traditional performance with four actors, three video projectors and 12 speakers.

Created by Christchurch collective, the clinic, the show promised to unravel a universal tale of love, betrayal and madness in a precarious love triangle soaked in lies and fantasies. A technological presentation with a deeply moving story - fantastic, bring it on!

Instead, it was frustrating and demonstrated that before you can make progressive theatre you need to get the basics right.

The story starts with the love affair between the naive Clara and testosterone-fuelled Greg. Their bliss is interrupted by the arrival home of Victoria from Europe after a failed attempt at an opera career.

Victoria is Clara's older sister and more importantly, Greg's girlfriend. When Victoria and Greg betray Clara, the younger sister descends into madness and is visited by Crouch, a creepy clown.

For a work about a love triangle between two sisters there seems little interest in investigating the complexity of human emotion. Instead, cliches abound as little girls just want fairy princess white weddings, men want to get their end away and mad people roll around on the floor.

It didn't help that none of the characters in the love triangle was particularly loveable - Clara is a sulky, soppy lump, Greg is a sex-obsessed Kiwi bloke who is gutless under pressure, and Victoria is not only obnoxious but also a bullying control freak who is possibly more crazy than her mad sister.

A sympathetic performance can make even the most ugly character endearing but in this case performers Lucette Hindin (Clara), Anastasia Dailianis (Victoria) and Rhys Latton (Greg) rely on shouting and emoting - they tell us who they are and what they are feeling rather than reveal it.

The exception is Gareth Reeves, who plays the mad clown Crouch and appears on film only and not live on stage. He communicates with only his facial expressions and movement, and with the help of sound effects he creates an interesting character who makes madness seem appealing.

The performers are not served well by Glenn Ashworth's lighting which is weak and badly focused, robbing emotional scenes of impact.

Naomi Smith's costumes try to capture the characters' personalities - Greg is all trousers while Clara has a floaty cape in one scene and shorty pyjamas in another that suggest a fragile moth. Victoria wears lacy pantaloons and a bustle which highlight her pretentious allusions to European culture. They are ugly and unflattering with a naive mix of naturalistic and stylised looks that was confusing.

Clara Parsons is inventively staged with pre-recorded and live footage mixed with the live performance to show the thoughts, memories and desires of the characters.

It is effective in two memorable and touching moments. In the first, Clara turns a hand-held camera on herself and Greg and the large screen behind the actors reveals the couple smooching in the sand dunes - it lights up the room and brings the beach into the theatre.

In the second, a projection of Greg calls to Clara, she embraces him and he appears to respond but ultimately disappears. It is a poignant reminder of Clara's madness and loneliness.

Unfortunately these moments are far between and not enough to sustain the show. Ultimately, The Peculiar Case of Clara Parsons has plenty of tricks but little magic.

* When: August 5 to August 21