I Am A Lake Theatre Analysis

I Am A Lake

Live theatre is an important part of our arts culture. I will be analysing the live performance of I Am A Lake directed by Jane Johnson and presented by Mudlark Theatre on March 1 at the Earl Arts Centre. I Am A lake focuses on the hardships of a domestic violent life and the way they survive and forgive each other, hoping to have a better life In a small excluded area in Queenstown, based in the 1980’s.The criteria I will be using to critic I Am A Lake is the performances by the actors, the director’s artistic decisions and the technical design.

The actors within I Am A Lake shaped the performance, making it a stronger ensemble piece and a success. One of the actors I am going to talk about is Travis Hennessy who played Nugget.

Trees were placed at either side of the set to frame the setting. Logs were also placed DSR and DSL, this was a representation of where the younger version of Alice would commonly go to play and look at the mountains with Nugget. There was a see through curtain at the back of the stage where each character placed themselves when not in the scene, this gave the characters purpose on stage. The table placed centre stage provided the main space for characters to communicate and connect. An example of the use of the table was when Nugget and Alice would sit around the table - he would tell her stories and helped Alice with her schoolwork. To represent the kitchen, a kettle and radio were placed USL and a tin box the mum had her alcohol in. In this performance, it was clear that some characters more commonly used certain areas of the stage and used the same to enter and exit most times when leaving. Nugget more frequently used DSR and the mum used USL. This was done to indicate when the characters were leaving the house, going to their bedrooms or a different part of the house. To show that Alice had a connection with both the actors she commonly used the whole stage, which served as a purpose of her movement. The use of sound effects in I Am A Lake engaged the audience by using voice overs. For example, Alice reflecting on the memories of her father helped the piece become successful as it had a powerful emotional effect on the audience. To make the lake credible the value of the sound effects shaped the audience to believe it was there. For example, instruments were recorded and played to make the entering and exiting more interesting. To allow the actors to embody their characters, the costumes were chosen wisely to make them come to life on the stage. To symbolise the characters coming from Queenstown, the Mum and Nugget wore plain and brown-based clothing.