Tim Crouch

This is theatre as good as it gets. I saw it in 2008 and wrote:

In a Melbourne Festival with little to attract me in terms of theatre, I happened to stumble upon An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch. Yet another piece of theatre which managed to be structurally and technically different, and yet content and acting are important to it. How easily could this be doomed to be filed under failed novelty.

Tim Crouch plays one of two roles in the play. The other is taken on by an actor who knows nothing of the play until he steps onto the stage at its start. At that point everything he does is determined, not improvised. He is given a script, he has sound in his ear which occasionally directs him, the other actor tells him what to say. Blatantly, right in front of us. ‘Now you say “….”‘ and then the mystery guest actor says “….”.

One of the remarkable things about this play is that it makes it quite clear that we believe what we see in the theatre even though it flaunts its made-up nature in front of us. As an audience we were deeply moved by what was a harrowing story, while the actors all but said ‘hello, we are just pretending here’.

One doesn’t know whom the second actor will be until the play starts. The night I went it was Kim Gyngell. I couldn’t help feeling it was the perfect choice, but I dare say most audiences think that on the night. Approximately 250 actors have taken on the role, often women. In the Melbourne four night run, the other actors included Geoffrey Rush and Jane Turner.

At the end of the performance my companion and I hadn’t even left our seats and were already regretting that we could not see at least one more performance of it for contrast. Bravo Tim Crouch.

To this I will add, I don't altogether understand how this will work as a reading experience, but if you get the chance to see it, no excuses, go!

Oh yes, and this was an interesting point. Usually when you see a stage work you take it for granted that the actors will be perfect. Anything less is a talking point. 'Did you see Geoffrey Rush muff that...' Here, you barrack for the second actor. You can see they are as professional as actors get from the names of those who appear around the world and yet, if they made a 'mistake' - not knowing exactly what that might be in the context of this play - one would feel nothing but sympathy. This is another way in which we are entirely conscious that we are watching something 'made-up' by people 'pretending' and yet despite this, not for one moment are we anything but at one with the story, as in all good theatre.… (mer)