| THE WOLF’S LAIR |
| Written by Sian Rafferty |
| Wednesday, 26 August 2009 10:44 |
 To the average outsider, New Zealand’s theatre crowd can seem a bit like a Berlin nightclub, circa 1920. Centre stage sits Michael Hurst, in a black bowler hat, impishly grinning to a new starlet he is about to toss into fame. The spotlight’s on Antonia Prebble’s musty velvet dress and ripped fishnets, as she waves a Chinese fan coquettishly. Michael Galvin and Craig Parker talk 'Shortland Street' over sips of impossibly expensive French champagne... This is a world the average independent theatre-goer sees in the society pages, and can maybe fool themselves into fitting into at a post-show party, but a few talented people can ever really belong to. In this scene you will find Sophie Roberts and Willem Wassenaar in a dark and smoky corner, two of the brains behind the ever-up and coming ‘Almost a Bird Theatre Collective'. Here you find yourself not caring that you will only ever be staring through the grimy window into this colourful world, because when these guys get together, being in the audience is simply the greatest pleasure you could possibly want. ‘THE WOLF’S LAIR’ is dazzling performance which you will find in a little basement off the bright lights of Queen Street. Made by the guys who have performed ‘Antigone’ at the International Arts Festival Oerol in the Netherlands, and put on a stunning performance of 'Angels in America' in Wellington, ‘The Wolf’s Lair’ is just another reason why theatre in New Zealand has all the cool kids. Trudl Junge (Sophie Roberts) was the maybe naïve, but more probably youthfully disinterested, 22 year old secretary to Hitler. Only ever wanting to be a prima-ballerina, she steps into a world where she claims she had no other choice. ‘Wolf’s Lair’ deals with her evolution over the years as she moves from a young girl, dazzled by this new and glamorous world, and a man who was only ever nice to her, to a woman who can no longer fully believe she acted under youthful innocence. The idea of that tricky grey area between good and evil has been one never really explored in film and theatre regarding the Nazis. We like our bad Nazis bad and our good guys good. So to see one ordinary and definitely not evil young woman struggle with this scheme feels slightly jarring and uncomfortable, yet is in reality, totally and brutally honest. The juxtaposition of ideas and perceptions was never going to be easy, especially when you have one stage, one costume and one woman. Therefore Roberts compensates with experimenting with different voices. Naturally this could all go very wrong, over-dramatic, and overdone. Yet it is absolutely fair to say that the extraordinary control of Robert’s in reining in her characters with a twitch of her face or a stomp of her foot, is an incredible ability. Props to the direction of Willem Wassenaar for what we can only assume is a partnership between director and actress so seamless, that they could possibly even share a mind. The simplicity of the set design, as well as the functional, cracking music definitely compensate for the lack of other characters in the play, and I found myself never needing anything more than the scene, the music and the multiple faces of Miss Trudl Junge to make the night worthwhile. So if you are a smart young thing, always on the scout for the next cool scene, head over to The Basement for a taste of the true New Zealand talent lingering on everyone’s lips. |
