An Oak Tree
- Written by: Tim Crouch
- Directed by: Andrew Foster
- Circa Two
- 02 July − 30 July
A new guest actor every night!
An Oak Tree is a remarkable play for two actors, one of whom is played by a different actor - at each performance. They walk on stage having neither seen nor read a word of the play that they're in... until they're in it.
A man loses his daughter to a car. Nothing now is what it is. It's like he's in a play - but he doesn't know the words or the moves.
The man who was driving the car is a stage hypnotist. Since the accident, he's lost the power of suggestion. His act's a disaster. For him, everything is now exactly what it is.
For the first time since the accident, these two men meet. They meet when the Father volunteers for the Hypnotist's act. And, this time, he really doesn't know the words or the moves...
An Oak Tree is a bold and absurdly comic play about loss, suggestion and the power of the mind.
NZ Premiere.
Glasgow Herald Angel Award.
Winner Special Citation OBIE.
Starring Tim Spite.
Featuring:
Tue 26 July - Carrie McLaughlin
Wed 27 July - Carmel McGlone
Thu 28 July - Jonathan Hendry
Fri 29 July - Jane Waddell
Sat 30 July - Nick Blake
Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes (no interval)
Check out the trailer for An Oak Tree, from the BSharp, Downstairs Belvoir Street Theatre production.
Cast and crew
Starring: Tim Spite
Featuring:
Fri 1 July - Hadleigh Walker
Sat 2 July - Darlene Mohekey
Sunday 3 July - Richard Chapman
Tuesday 5 July - Simon Smith
Wednesday 6 July - Gavin Rutherford
Thursday 7 July - Anya Tate-Manning
Friday 8 July - Michele Amas
Saturday 9 July - Geraldine Brophy
Sunday 10 July - Nigel Collins
Tuesday 12 July - Jackson Coe
Wednesday 13 July - Jessica Robinson
Thursday 14 July - Emma Kinane
Friday 15 July - Sophie Hambleton
Saturday 16 July - Chris Brougham
Sunday 17 July - Simon Vincent
Tuesday 19 July - Miranda Harcourt
Wednesday 20 July - Paul McLaughlin
Thursday 21 July - Martyn Wood
Friday 22 July - Jason Whyte
Saturday 23 July - Heather O'Carroll
Sunday 24 July - Phil Grieve
Tue 26 July - Carrie McLaughlin
Wed 27 July - Carmel McGlone
Thu 28 July - Jonathan Hendry
Fri 29 July - Jane Waddell
Sat 30 July - Nick Blake
Show times
02 July − 30 July
Tuesday to Saturday 7.30pm
Sunday 4.30pm
Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes (no interval)
Ticket prices
$46 Adults
$38 Concessions
$33 Friends of Circa (to 14 Jul)
$39 Groups 6+
$36 Groups 20+
$25 Under 25s
$25 Specials Friday 1 Jul and Sunday 3 Jul
Reviews
Profoundly Entertaining
By John Smythe, Theatreview, 2 July 2011
I confess to feeling trepidation at the premise of this show: two performers only one of whom has rehearsed; the other is different every night yet plays a crucial role. Is it just a gimmick? Has live theatre become so desperate that a good story well produced is not enough?
Rest assured An Oak Tree fully justifies its multi-layered self as a rich theatrical experience; intriguingly complex in its conception yet simple in its execution. It is something you could only possibly find in the theatre and that alone is reason enough to go.
Tim Spite, who chats with audience members as they arrive, introduces himself as himself and plays the role of The Hypnotist. His guest actor – Darlene Mohekey on opening night (it was Hadleigh Walker for the preview, it'll be Richard Chapman for the Sunday matinee) – plays the ‘Father'.
Having a woman play Andy – the father of daughters Claire and Marcie; husband of Dawn – becomes entirely convincing and is bang on theme because at every level, from every angle, the play is about the power of suggestion, as in hypnotism, as in theatre, as in the ways we cope with life.
Why call it An Oak Tree then? Well, apart from its being a multi-branched thing that has grown from a core idea, it is the site of a life-changing event. And it becomes a 12 year old girl, because the father needs it to.
Confused? Don't be. It unfolds very clearly on the night. Spite explains the who, what, where, when and a bit of the why as we go – including the small detail that the event has not yet happened; it's a year away – and he coaches his guest, with openly stated instructions, things whispered into a mic for Father's ear-phoned hearing only, and with scripted sequences plucked from a piano stool.
With all this going on you would think the credibility of the hypnotist's show would be impeded and the core story – the event involving the tree – would have trouble gaining traction. But no. Despite all the artifice around it the story (which has not yet happened) is deeply affecting.
Much could be discussed about the psychology of the human behaviours and the metaphysics embedded in the work but I don't want to give any more of the show away. Trust me: you will be entertained; profoundly, if you are of a mind to enquire into how something so artificial can simultaneously be so real.
Carl Orff's ‘Carmina Burana' adds majesty to the proceedings and some solo piano pieces gain in poignancy as the real (if yet to happen) story unfolds. Ulli Briese's lighting design and technical operation enrich the experience and director Andrew Foster pitches proceedings at just the right level.
Tim Spite slips subtly into his character and out again as occasion demands, and with an ease that belies the complexity of the process, supports and reassures his guest while sometimes having to challenge the Father and be confronted by him. The question or who might be manipulating whom arises too, adding more intrigue to the mix.
It was particularly intriguing to see Darlene Mohekey step up to this role as her strong suit has always been wacky characterisations and here she is stripped of any chance to revert to the tricks of her trade. Just go with the flow, be true to each moment and let it evolve is what is required; a proposition both simple yet terrifying. It may well be failsafe (it's tempting to go a few more times to check it out) yet it feels like a great achievement on the night.
Enough said. Just go. This is what theatre is all about.
