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meteordustShaun Tan is one of my absolute favourite artists, and I'm always excited to see adaptations of his work. So when a stage production of Cicada was announced, I was keen to go.
When I told my friends, they were like, "But it's so sad!" and I was like, "What, really?" I'd only read the book once, so my memories were kind of fuzzy. I remembered the catharsis and transformation, and somehow forgot the gruelling journey to get there.
Shaun Tan notes the ambiguity (summary from his website):
Sydney Theatre Company presents it in a more upbeat way (summary from their website):
This puppet show is a collaboration between Sydney Theatre Company (where I saw it at Wharf 2 Theatre, The Wharfs) and Barking Gecko Theatre (who originally staged it at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia). The cast were two puppeteers: one who performed Cicada, and one who performed most of the other characters. They were also costumed as office workers in suits, and played those roles in a few interstitial scenes.
Since they were expanding a 32 page picture book into a 55 minute stage play, I assumed that they would have to invent new content. And yes, secondary characters and subplots were fleshed out. But rereading the book afterwards, so much of it was already there! Just that a single line was unfolded into a full scene. It was a delight to see how it was done.
The play made full use of the language of theatre and the magic of stagecraft - the best of adaptation. Like scene setting through the puppeteers taking pictures out of a briefcase, which progressively zoomed in from a cityscape to street level to the interior of a single office building. Or portraying movement via a character running in place while objects moved past them.
Cicada is a cicada in a business suit. So cute and expressive! He has a glossy green carapace and big black eyes, but his face can't move, so it's really his body language that conveys all his emotion. The joy he starts off with, with his new job and his own desk, and then his reactions to everything that happens.
His nemesis is the Faceless Manager, aka Peterson Jr, of Peterson & Peterson. All the human characters are portrayed as two-dimensional walking suits, with no faces. He bullies Cicada relentlessly, including leaving a can of insect spray on his desk. But we see he also suffers from insecurity and daddy issues, and is trapped in the rat race.
Devastating moments:
* When Cicada needs to use the toilet, he finds a sign on the door with a picture of a cicada, crossed out. He has to run for blocks downtown to use a public toilet instead.
* When Cicada finally complains to HR, the Faceless HR Rep tells him, "I can't help you. See this sign? 'Human Resources'. You're not human."
* When Cicada hits his 17 year anniversary, no one comes to his retirement party. And when he returns to his desk, his beloved pot plant is lying broken on the floor. Long, long hold on that moment. And that's when he goes up to the roof.
Hopeful moments:
* When Cicada sees a doco on TV all about cicadas, and learns that they spend 17 years underground, before emerging to fly away. Suddenly the basement office makes thematic sense! And the clock counting down the days.
* The darkest moment - literally! - is when Cicada climbs to the top of the office building, and stands on the edge of the roof. The lights go down. But then a glowing red winged cicada emerges from the shell of his old body. He flies off into the sky, along with dozens of other glowing red cicadas. And one of those other cicadas joins him for a shared flight.
* And then, the back of the stage opens up, to reveal a beautiful tree against a sunlit sky, where countless cicadas are flying. And the two puppeteers stand facing it, hand in hand. And it's like, are they symbolising the cicadas, finding freedom and finding each other?
* The coda - This was new to the play. It's a brief scene of the Faceless Manager, now with the pot plant on his desk, reaching up a hand towards the skylight, the same way Cicada did earlier. And it's like - is he also a Cicada? Are all the humans Cicadas? (Are we all Cicada?) I love the ambiguity, and the circularity, and the hint that maybe he too will find a way out.
I have to wonder what the kids in the audience made of it. A distorted depiction of corporate life? Or an accurate one?
Links:
Cicada (Shaun Tan's website) - Illustrations from the book, and an essay about his inspiration and ideas.
Digital program (Sydney Theatre Company's website) - Background on the stage play.
Trailer:
When I told my friends, they were like, "But it's so sad!" and I was like, "What, really?" I'd only read the book once, so my memories were kind of fuzzy. I remembered the catharsis and transformation, and somehow forgot the gruelling journey to get there.
Shaun Tan notes the ambiguity (summary from his website):
Cicada is the story of an insect working in an office, and all the people who don't love him. It's a very simple 32-page picture book about the unspoken horrors of corporate white-collar enslavement... or is it? You never can tell what a bug is thinking.
Sydney Theatre Company presents it in a more upbeat way (summary from their website):
Cicada spends his days dutifully working away in a grey office. Overlooked by his superiors and overworked by his colleagues, he is getting very close to the end of his tether. But one day, looking out over the city from the rooftop of his office building, Cicada has an epiphany.
This puppet show is a collaboration between Sydney Theatre Company (where I saw it at Wharf 2 Theatre, The Wharfs) and Barking Gecko Theatre (who originally staged it at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia). The cast were two puppeteers: one who performed Cicada, and one who performed most of the other characters. They were also costumed as office workers in suits, and played those roles in a few interstitial scenes.
Since they were expanding a 32 page picture book into a 55 minute stage play, I assumed that they would have to invent new content. And yes, secondary characters and subplots were fleshed out. But rereading the book afterwards, so much of it was already there! Just that a single line was unfolded into a full scene. It was a delight to see how it was done.
The play made full use of the language of theatre and the magic of stagecraft - the best of adaptation. Like scene setting through the puppeteers taking pictures out of a briefcase, which progressively zoomed in from a cityscape to street level to the interior of a single office building. Or portraying movement via a character running in place while objects moved past them.
Cicada is a cicada in a business suit. So cute and expressive! He has a glossy green carapace and big black eyes, but his face can't move, so it's really his body language that conveys all his emotion. The joy he starts off with, with his new job and his own desk, and then his reactions to everything that happens.
His nemesis is the Faceless Manager, aka Peterson Jr, of Peterson & Peterson. All the human characters are portrayed as two-dimensional walking suits, with no faces. He bullies Cicada relentlessly, including leaving a can of insect spray on his desk. But we see he also suffers from insecurity and daddy issues, and is trapped in the rat race.
Devastating moments:
* When Cicada needs to use the toilet, he finds a sign on the door with a picture of a cicada, crossed out. He has to run for blocks downtown to use a public toilet instead.
* When Cicada finally complains to HR, the Faceless HR Rep tells him, "I can't help you. See this sign? 'Human Resources'. You're not human."
* When Cicada hits his 17 year anniversary, no one comes to his retirement party. And when he returns to his desk, his beloved pot plant is lying broken on the floor. Long, long hold on that moment. And that's when he goes up to the roof.
Hopeful moments:
* When Cicada sees a doco on TV all about cicadas, and learns that they spend 17 years underground, before emerging to fly away. Suddenly the basement office makes thematic sense! And the clock counting down the days.
* The darkest moment - literally! - is when Cicada climbs to the top of the office building, and stands on the edge of the roof. The lights go down. But then a glowing red winged cicada emerges from the shell of his old body. He flies off into the sky, along with dozens of other glowing red cicadas. And one of those other cicadas joins him for a shared flight.
* And then, the back of the stage opens up, to reveal a beautiful tree against a sunlit sky, where countless cicadas are flying. And the two puppeteers stand facing it, hand in hand. And it's like, are they symbolising the cicadas, finding freedom and finding each other?
* The coda - This was new to the play. It's a brief scene of the Faceless Manager, now with the pot plant on his desk, reaching up a hand towards the skylight, the same way Cicada did earlier. And it's like - is he also a Cicada? Are all the humans Cicadas? (Are we all Cicada?) I love the ambiguity, and the circularity, and the hint that maybe he too will find a way out.
I have to wonder what the kids in the audience made of it. A distorted depiction of corporate life? Or an accurate one?
Links:
Cicada (Shaun Tan's website) - Illustrations from the book, and an essay about his inspiration and ideas.
Digital program (Sydney Theatre Company's website) - Background on the stage play.
Trailer:
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Date: 2024-11-04 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-11-08 12:57 pm (UTC)