Spring 2000 p. 3

VASTA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2000

The Bacchae in an Australian Quarry

Diving Vocal Challenges

by Dr. Kate Foy, University of Southern Queensland

A new translation and production of Euripides’ The Bacchae recently played in the disused city quarry in Toowoomba, Southern Queensland. The production featured a new translation by the director Dr Greg McCart. I appeared as the god Dionysos. The cast was also comprised of acting majors in USQ’s Department of Theatre acting conservatory program; all were my voice students.

The old quarry, a granite scoop in the earth played host to a 1996 production of Oidipous the King also translated and directed by Greg McCart. He had completed a research project prior to the Oidipous production. On a field trip in Greece he sampled, tested, and recorded acoustic feedback in several amphitheaters. On his return to Toowoomba, he found the conditions were uncannily similar to those of the Greek amphitheaters where focused, but relatively low volume, could be heard clearly around the orkestra. The first production drew big audiences in 1996. Many were fascinated by the unusual nature of the project and the rarity of a full production of classical Greek tragedy. Many went with the festival atmosphere and chose to bring a picnic rug and a bottle of wine to share in the bacchic celebrations.

You have to imagine the setting on a hillside overlooking a glorious valley (to the north and the audience’s left). It is late March in Queensland, and that’s ideal weather for outdoor theatre. We played at 5pm daily and the sunset and moon rise featured strongly in the natural lighting effects of the production. The western facing cliff wall towered some 120 feet behind the circular sand orkestra playing area—60 feet in diameter. It was our backdrop and the light of the setting sun played on the charcoal and golden colours of the cliffs. The light gradually crept upwards as the sun set with the darkening of the play’s action. The audience were seated in five banks of tiered seats that surrounded the orkestra in classical Greek amphitheater configuration.

An ongoing research project by USQ into the nature of masked performance has extended from experimentation with the full head masks used in Oidipous, to the half-masks used in the Bacchae made to the faces of the actors. These half-masks, based on red and black vase designs, revealed the liveliness of the oro-facial area beneath the passivity of the masked upper-face. For me, a “barefaced actor” until now, the freeing of this area (and the ears) from the confines of the full head mask came as a relief. It led eventually to a different speaking and acting style in this production—one that, despite the heightened nature of much of the text—made for a more “naturalistic” spoken delivery. The definitely athletic style—striding on soft sand around a 60 foot orkestra, filling the space with Euripides’ muscular verse and prose—ensured long post-show tub soaks and early nights for this actor.

The challenge to match the size of the text with the outdoors setting was obvious from the first. Our 6 week rehearsal period, staggered in intensity to build vocal and physical stamina, swung from the rehearsal room to quarry orkestra. Our first run outdoors led predictably to generalized “boom and shout” with little definition of intonation.

We were exhausted at the end of the hour and a half playing time of that first run. The Choros were also required to chant and dance, so physical and breath stamina would prove to be essential. The slight reverb from the surrounding quarry walls was accommodated easily enough. We could take the stichomythic passages at a relatively low volume without loss of clarity. We relaxed our vocal “attack” in time with the sympathetic acoustics. Tempo-rhythmic variation with well supported tone became much easier. When the seating was set up, we had a clear target for our breath energy. It all dropped in as they say. Every run and performance was preceded by a 30 minute vocal and physical warm-up—a derivative of the traditional Linklater breath/tonal release/diction sequence that we utilize in much of our vocal training in the program at USQ.

For me, the outcome of a switch in pedagogical method included the awful initial realization that my modelling had better be good; and the later recognition that it’s OK to fail, to flub a line, because it gave students another kind of experience of performance work. I did of course flub and fluster, but I gradually found the power in the body and the text and the clarity of thought and diction were coming closer together. One student at the post show party took time out from some frantic dancing to tell me it was great to find out that I was “a human being.” Backhanded
compliment, maybe, but I was delighted. I know what he means. Getting down and dirty in the sand pit with the students was a great experience for me too. It opened up the communication between us, convinced me of the necessity to practise what we preach and renewed my joy in giving voice in performance.

Greg and I are off to Cyprus during the Sydney Olympics break in September. Many Australians will be heading out as our international guests fly in. We will perform some “amputations” of the production at the biennial Conference of Classical Performance there. Far from home, I’ll be watching the moon rise over Paphos from behind the mask of the god of acting and wine. It’s worth missing the Olympics for.

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