Oak Tree: theatrical twist III
The story is relatively simple, however the performance structure adds a brilliant theatrical and transformative layer.
Tim Crouch plays the hypnotist, but the father is performed by a different actor each night. An actor – male or female – who has not seen or read the play until the performance begins. [I think it may be better with a female, but did not get a chance to see it with a male.]
In this way, not only is there an honesty to the performance but the imagination of the audience that transforms the actor into the father in our minds is paralleled by the transformation of the oak tree into Claire by Andy (and by the glass of water into Craig-Martin’s oak tree).
Brilliant.
The piece examines:
The layers of grief and our reactions to them.
The power of the mind, to suggest, to imagine, to transform “ the fact”
The power of the actor to transform a performance
The imagination of the audience to transform the actor
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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