10 Days: A cautionary tale …

Kylie Eastley, Stephenie Cahalan and Anica Boulanger-Mashberg

Title: A Cautionary Tale for Mothers
Show name: The Lunch Box
Company name: IHOS Music Theatre and Opera
Venue: The Playhouse
Dates: March 26, 27, 28

Reviewer: Stephenie Cahalan

Opera is intimidating for many people, largely due to a lack of familiarity. Add to that a foreign language and frequently formulaic plotlines and there are barriers to overcome between the company and the audience. However, Tasmanian audiences are not new to contemporary opera after enjoying many years of IHOS productions.

Thanapoom Sirichang, the Thai-born and Tasmanian-trained composer overcomes all those things in his chamber opera The Lunch Box. Monique Klongtruadroke (soprano) and Saran Suebsantiwonge (baritone) have glorious voices and the composer gave both singers ample opportunity to show off their classical training. Accompanying them was an accomplished small orchestra, who shared the stage with the performers — a nice change from being stuck in a pit below. Indeed, the orchestra members became part of the drama which helped to create a warm atmosphere that flowed out into the audience. The use of traditional Thai percussive instruments was exotic, discordant and melodic all at once.

The story has resonance today in a world of overindulged children and the length of the opera was appropriate given the content of the material. The Playhouse hosted the production well offering the opera a little old world charm, without the stuffiness that comes with some of the more ornate theatres. It made for a comfortable meeting of cultures.

The time setting of the opera was ambiguous, which could be fair given that Thailand is a country where old practices exist in the modern world and that the libretto is based on an old folktale. The montage of images that brought us to the introduction of the characters was sepia-toned, and while rice paddies are timeless, the cooking stove was decidedly now.

The mother would also have benefitted from just a little artificial ageing, even though she carried the maternal persona well. Her character is maddening in her submissiveness and her culpability in raising a petulant brat is clear. However, the failure of the son to honour his mother is equally unsettling and both performers do an excellent job of acting their parts.

Tasmanians are well disposed to Joey Ruigrok van der Werven, following his contribution to the extraordinary production of Dream Masons at Salamanca. This is a far more modest project, but still beautiful in its simplicity. The set changes were slightly distracting and, without knowing the wing capacity of the Playhouse, it may have been less disruptive to the audience if the house element had have been moved onto the stage without having to drop in down into place. The simple costume design worked well in the minimal staging environment and was nicely contrasted by the orchestra’s loud shirts. Joey Ruigrok van der Werven should be pleased with his debut as a director and Tasmania will no doubt be pleased to see him back again in the future.

The ending is visually dramatic and the departure of the orchestra is beautifully executed. The Lunch Box is an operatic treat to savour … just make sure you have booking at a Thai restaurant for after the show.

Stephenie Cahalan is a Hobart-based writer and editor.

This review is part of arts@work’s Critical Acclaim program, designed to increase critical analysis of the arts.

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Title: Delicacies in a Lunch Box
Show name: The Lunch Box
Company name: IHOS Opera
Venue: The Playhouse
Dates: 27 March – 5 April
Reviewer: Anica Boulanger-Mashberg

Ten Days audiences are lucky to be treated to the world premiere of The Lunch Box. Composer Thanapoom Sirichang’s small, well-formed opera is elegantly staged and sensitively performed. IHOS draws together a fine team of local, national, and international artists, and the result is a production where the technical and artistic elements work together in a harmony which is as peaceful as the gentle music of the opening scene.

The Lunch Box is the simple story of a mother/son relationship, and also the complex story of the human experiences of compassion, love, greed, misunderstanding, struggle, miscommunication, and loss, which all underlie such a relationship. The narrative itself is a retelling of a Thai Buddhist story about a petulant son who fails to appreciate his mother’s packed lunches until it is too late. Frankly, to expect this sparse story to provide the libretto for an entire opera – even a one-hour opera for only two singers – is a little bit audacious. It is only lunch, after all. Accordingly, the libretto (of which a simplified version is surtitled) is laboured at times, with the economical Buddhist parable crushed under the considerable artistic weight of the opera. But this is a small concern in an exciting new work.

Director Joey Ruigrok van der Werven’s design is minimalistic and bold, and his stage incorporates a clever folding bamboo structure, a rice field, and also the small instrumental ensemble and the conductor. The ensemble, under conductor Michael Lampard, is tight in the rhythmically complex score, melodically sweet in the often pensive harmonic tensions, and sensitively supports the singers. It is a privilege to be able to watch the musicians onstage rather than losing them to an orchestra pit, as they are as much a part of this opera as the singers.

Monique Klongtruadroke (The Mother) and Saran Suebsantiwongse (The Son) are both compelling, and are served beautifully by the flawless amplification and clean mixing (the radio mics, so frequently disastrous in a small space like the Playhouse, are characteristic of the mutual technical and artistic support in this production). The focussed performances, careful intonation, and musical clarity allow the rather thinly-sketched characters a basic humanity which carries the work, and sidesteps the problem of what is really a rather awkward relationship (why is the son so irritable, yet simultaneously content to make small talk about his friends’ business affairs; and why does the mother seem fearful of the spoilt son she loves so dearly?). Their beautifully balanced duet at the end of the third scene allows both voices to shine, and Klongtruadroke’s final high note of the work is simply a revelation.

The first half of the show lacks contrast, relying on the strengths of its graceful gentleness (both musically and in the stylised, dream-like movements of the singers), but the climax and conclusion almost make up for it. This is new music that is both accessible and challenging, and it deserves to reach much wider audiences than this short season permits. After such a directorial debut, I look forward to seeing more from Ruigrok van der Werven.

Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a Hobart-based performer and writer.

This review is part of arts@work’s Critical Acclaim program, designed to increase critical analysis of the arts.

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Title: More than a Morsel
Show name: The Lunch Box
Company name: IHOS Music Theatre & Opera
Venue: The Playhouse, Hobart
Dates: 27 March – 5 April
Reviewer: Kylie Eastley

Based on a true story, The Lunch Box is the story of a mother and son dealing with the grief caused by the death of the father. The character’s struggle is played out through conflict created over the son’s packed lunch.

The conflict between mother and son is reflected in the physical presence of the characters and variation in their voices and the tension in the opera builds with ramifications for all characters.

This is an enjoyable and delightful collaboration of two very difficult cultures that works to create a humorous and tragic contemporary opera.

The piece opens with familiar traditional tones melded with the unique but unmistakable sounds of Thai instruments. The small ensemble includes flute, clarinet, violin, cello, keyboard/electronics and percussion.

The opera opens with a progression of old faded photographs depicting family and working scenes moving across the rear of the stage.

Baritone, Saran Suebsantiwongse enters the stage and quickly establishes himself as the hard working, but ultimately spoilt, son, who spends his days working on the farm. Grieving for his father, the son lives with his mother, played by soprano, Monique Klongtruadroke.

Suebsantiwongse portrays his character well, demonstrating his emotional journey through a consistent and unwavering voice. His confidence grows as the work progresses and changes to suit the drama of the story. Klongtruadroke’s presence and voice mesh to create an impressive performance that evokes empathy. She spends her days gathering and cooking to please her son by providing tasty lunches. The son resents his mother and particularly her lunches that never seem to satisfy him and like a schoolboy in a playgroup, prefers to swap lunches with other farm workers. He is cruel towards his mother, and his regret later in the piece comes all too late. Hobart’s Playhouse Theatre is suited to this work that presents us with a range of tasty morsels.

The musical composition changes to the suit the pace of the characters and narrative. Lighting incorporates a clever combination of overhead and floor lighting to create a range of landscapes to suit the story.

The Thai language translates well to the opera and there is cohesion between the musicians and performers. This well-directed piece represents a small but satisfying treat to be enjoyed by most audience members.

Mechanisms used throughout the piece that work well include the set design that is simple but very effective. Rice fields are constants on the stage along with the musical ensemble, while a fold-up Thai hut is wheeled in and out without distraction. It is refreshing to see the musicians being seamlessly included in the story as well as providing a cohesive and consistent narrative.

This is a successful collaboration between Australian-based director, Joey Ruigrok Van Der Werven and Thai composer, Thanapoom Sirichang, presented by IHOS Theatre & Opera, at the Playhouse Theatre as part of Ten Days on the Island.

Kylie E Eastley is a freelance arts consultant based in Hobart, Tasmania.

This review is part of arts@work’s Critical Acclaim program, designed to increase critical analysis of the arts.