Peter Carey's 1997 novel uses Charles Dickens' 1860 novel "Great Expectations" as a bouncing off point - taking the figure of Magwitch, one of the first literary appearances of an Australian expatriate, and exploring him more deeply, also using the life and work of Dickens in painting the figure of a novelist, Tobias Oates, who attempts to exploit Maggs' story and ultimately pays several costs. Samuel Adamson's adaptation theatricalises this in a rich and engrossing way as Maggs attempts to live among the english and realise his potential exposes him to greater and greater risks.
Carey and Adamson are both Australians who live and work overseas - Carey has lived in New York since 1990 and Adamson has lived in London since 1991 - both are deeply interested in the way an Australian Identity was forged in the early days of colonisation and of the harsh brutality it meted out to those original inhabitants, and the way they processed it as a longing for the home that had rejected them overwhelms anything else. There's also a brutal self-reflection on the nature of writes as parisites of other people's stories, the Dickens analogue in this one an exploitative shonkster seeking to suck out as much knowledge of Maggs as possible to tell stories he can sell without ever reflecting on his subject as a damaged suffering human being.
Geordie Brookman's production emphaises the theatrical nature of the event - starting with a largely blank stage as the actors warm up, and using direct address and a wide range of theatrical devices throughout to tell a fast and furious narrative - we're constantly reflecting back on this as a tale being told but also asked to centre Maggs as a man haunted by his past and unable to face the truth about the world that he's in now. It's a rich literate suet pudding for christmas with plenty of chunky food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment