In spite of all the theoretical nuance that surrounds the theatre, one of its more difficult tasks is to adequately tell a story. Of course, there is a variety of ways in which a story can be told. Straightforward dialogue is one method, a performance score comprising sounds, images and actions is another. Entries from a personal diary however, tend toward being a literary device. Consequently, when used in the visual medium that is the theatre, diarised entries can fall flat. (They contain too much verbose and unnecessary detail and the telling of the tale therefore suffers). But if the diary has been adapted and dramatised in such a way so as to elicit the drama inherent within a particular landscape, the prosaic becomes dynamic. Furthermore, if the character who occupies that landscape reveals surprising and unpredictable character traits, this dynamism can infect the sensory appreciation of an audience. In effect, what we are left with is the inspired simplicity of a tale well told.
Peter Finlay descends the stairs at La Mama like Captain James Cook himself must have descended the bridge of The Endeavour, upon first sighting Van Diemen's Land. We hear in Finlay's hushed description of the landscape the personal isolation Cook himself would have felt upon his arrival. His Yorkshire accent is reminiscent of Fred Trueman's passion and Geoff Boycott's stoicism. Immediately, this makes Cook an endearing figure. A naval captain charged with a duty toward his king, but also, a working man.
Not much appears to happen upon his journey up the east coast of Australia. There is the consistent talk of fire and smoke emanating from the coastal interior, and constant referencing of wind direction and the stability or otherwise of the weather. Cook is portrayed as a literal minded person. Botany Bay receives its name because of a proliferation of the botanical, and the odd appearance of a kangaroo is to Cook, reminiscent of a mouse coloured greyhound. He cannot understand why the local inhabitants treat his offers of clothing with contempt or why they much prefer the consumption of turtle rather than European foodstuffs. But after a shaky start Finlay is soon inspired by his material. In doing so, the actor is transformed. Still the performer on stage delivering an apparently prosaic monologue, Finlay becomes the stoic yet bewildered Cook; a man vested with the authority to explore an eccentric landscape, yet one condemned to forever skirting its coastal edge.
But the success of this play is not all due to Finlay's delivery. Cook's complex response to his surroundings, a response concealed by the banality of the everyday, is also present in the adaptation and dramatisation of his diaries. The tale is a thoroughly unremarkable description of an exploration up the east coast of Australia, one delivered by a functionary of the British empire. But Cook becomes a compelling figure. We see and feel his struggle with a world that is completely and utterly alien to him. In doing so, there arises from this portrayal an admiration for the man, as well as an understanding that if not for people like Cook, Australia would be a very different place today. Above all, there lingers a sense of an impending attempt at genocide upon Aboriginal people. By choosing not to foreground this, the Makers of Cook... invoke a lateral appreciation and deeper awareness of the current plight of Aboriginal people. Just as this naval man from Yorkshire contributed to making white Australia what it is today, it becomes clear that Cook's well-meaning intervention into so-called Terra Nullius has become an attitude so ingrained in Australian life, that its paternalistic presence continues to resonate today. The more things change, the more they remain the same. It is the tragedy associated with this historical awareness that makes Cook: an exploration, such a compelling and well-told story.
Cook: an exploration
Adaptation & Performance: Peter Finlay
Direction, Dramaturgy & Design: Laurence Strangio
Stage Management: Christine Scott-Young
Light: Francesca Nunziati
Sound: Roger Alsop
Set: Ray Triggs
Costume: Angela Berrigan
Voice Over: Robin Cuming
Videography: Peter Finlay, Laurence Strangio,
Karen Kasey, Laurence & Oscar Strangio, Roger Alsop
Sep. 9 - 20, La Mama, Melb.
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