Jane Howard

As soon as you step into the Space Theatre for Man Covets Bird, you are transported into another world, much the same as the theatre has done itself. Gone are the chairs and rows you would expect from a theatre, instead, the ground is covered in real grass, and the audience is invited to take their shoes off and take a seat on the picnic blankets or in the 1950s lawn chairs behind. As soon as they step in to the theatre the audience is invited to look into a shoe-box theatre to see the train to catch to the show, lollies are handed out, and actor Nathan O’Keefe walks around talking to the audience and instigating competitions as to who can make a block of ice melt the fastest (for the record: I was beaten by a very talented young ice-melter at the picnic blanket next to me).

 

With the original concept by director Andy Packer, Finegan Kruckemeyer has penned a beautiful and poetic script; the journey of one person from nearly-a-man to a man, and what his life brings as he moves to the city, with only his bird for a friend. While the world and the city the man lives in can be sad and lonely, he still manages to find joy, and he discovers how to spread that joy to the sad and lonely people in the city. Narrated and acted by O’Keefe, the story is also interlaced with songs composed by Quincy Grant and performed live by a three-piece band - Grant, Steve Lennox and Gareth Chin. The interplay between the dialogue and the songs is beautiful, each working to support one another and lift the production to high heights.

 

It is a delight to watch O’Keefe going from narration to acting the roles of the different characters the man meets in his life; characters which become so clearly etched it is as if they were truly in the theatre. The imagination in the play is incredible: the main focus of the set (designed by Wendy Todd after initial concept by Geoff Cobham) is a simple and visually stunning rotunda, with park benches and flowers expanding the garden of the stage, and yet with the descriptions of Kruckemeyer, lighting of David Green and large-scale animations from the People’s Republic of Animation, the city and the people which populate it come to life.

 

The magic which is Man Covets Bird cannot possibly be described in writing. It is a show that truly needs to be seen by everyone. Leaving the theatre, I was privy to a child telling her mother, “When I catch the train home, I’m going to talk to everyone on it.” It is theatre like the work Slingsby produces which makes us all imagine a better and happier world. If more theatre were like this, the world would be a magical place indeed.

3:30 AM Mar 12th, 2010

Patrick McDonald

FINEGAN Kruckemeyer's poetic script for Man Covets Bird is like a beautiful children's book, a treasured bedtime story with illustrations which come to life before our eyes. Adelaide's Slingsby Theatre Company has created another truly magical, moving, all-encompassing world which is a mysterious as its title and enchants young and old alike.

 

As they enter, audience members are invited to peer inside a small wooden box, where scenery appears to roll past the window of miniature railway carriage, before taking a seat on or around one of the picnic blankets on the grass floor.

 

Delivering what is essentially an hour-long soliloquy, actor Nathan O'Keefe is a one-man dynamo, dressing himself on stage as he grows up before our eyes, from a newborn babe-in-arms to a gentle boy, an "unsensible" teenager and, before we know it, a man.

 

His movements are as poetic, fluid, funny and occasionally absurd as Kruckemeyer's story, a true tour-de-force.

3:31 AM Mar 12th, 2010

Barry Lenny

In its short life, Slingsby has quickly become accustomed to success. The company’s first work, The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy, was a winner with audiences and critics alike, right from the start, and has since travelled around the world, to continuing rave reviews. Their second production, Wolf, has toured regional towns in South Australia. This latest work looks set to have a similarly rosy future ahead of it.

 

From Andy Packer’s original concept Finegan Kruckemeyer wrote the script and then it was passed back to Packer to direct the work. Quentin Grant was enlisted to compose the music and he, with Steve Lennox and Gareth Chin provide live accompaniment as Nathan O’Keefe tells the story. Geoff Cobham came up with the original design concept, with Wendy Todd doing the detailed design and Dave Green realising the lighting design. The People’s Republic of Animation created the visual images that are projected onto a large screen at the rear of the stage.

 

All that, however, gives no indication of what a beautifully uplifting and thoroughly engaging production this is. The floor of The Space has been covered in real turf, with a rotunda prominently at centre stage and chairs and benches placed around, as though set up ready for a brass band concert in the park. Younger audience members happily sat on the grass near the front, close to the action. The musicians played throughout the performance, sometimes from the stage but occasionally strolling around the grassed area. They provided background music as well as illuminating the story with songs.

 

Nathan O’Keefe then weaved a delightful tale of a boy who wakes up one day to find that he is older, a ‘nearly-man’, and a stranger to his parents. He finds a small bird that cannot fly and befriends it, putting into the inside pocket of his jacket, where it is warm and safe. Together they travel to the city to find a new life. He finds himself in a soul destroying, repetitive job in a factory where many people work on one huge machine, each responding to their own signal by taking the same action, over and over. He attempts to communicate with those near him, but is ignored and rejected. He constructs a way of listening to the song of his bird when he is at work. Eventually he shares that song with others, irrevocably changing their dreary lives forever. Finally, he can return home and the bird, having grown, can fly free.

 

The first thing that strikes the audience is the total immersion one feels in this performance because of the physical collocation within the man’s world, created through the extremely clever and evocative set design, to which the lighting and animations add a great deal. The music suits the production impeccably, enhancing the atmosphere of this gentle and moving narrative. Then there is Nathan O’Keefe in what must be his finest performance so far. He completely captivates the audience, the younger member hanging on his every word, enthralled by his impeccable sense of timing and immense skills as a storyteller.

 

This is a production of which all concerned can be justifiably proud. This is definitely one to take the entire family to see.

 

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Glam Adelaide Arts Editor.

Rating: 5.0/5 Rating: +5 (from 5 votes)

3:33 AM Mar 12th, 2010

Jamie Wright

A young man finds a small bird which he befriends; together they move to the city where they discover - while working in a factory - they can change lives.

 

From the moment you enter the Space theatre you are immersed; you'll be offered a box with a miniature projector inside to view, or a cone which produces birdsong to put to you ear, or an ice-cube or a lolly to suck upon. As you sit down on the blankets or the folding chairs or the benches you'll realise that what is beneath your feet (or seat) is not artificial lawn but actual turf, living grass cut and laid on the theatre floor. And that is only the beginning of a truly magical experience.

 

The story (Original Concept/Director, Andy Packer; writer Finegan Kruckemeyer) seems so simple a concept – but it is transcendent in its realisation. In the single speaking role – one that would seem trite in the hands of a lesser performer – Nathan O'Keefe is spellbinding; his combination of charm and energy and sheer sense of wonder is both contagious and captivating.

 

Quincy Grant (who also composed the music), Steve Lennox and Gareth Chin are a trio of wandering multi-instrumentalist minstrels whose non-stop playing - either as background music or whole songs between scenes – add an extra dimension to the production.

 

The set - by Geoff Cobham and Wendy Todd, with lighting by Dave Green - is simply stunning. As well as the aforementioned turf, there is a huge rotunda upon which much of the action takes place and includes moveable compartments to create the backdrop for the factory scenes; the entire east wall of the theatre becomes a screen upon which breathtaking projected animation appears.

 

It is an amazing, evocative, magical theatrical experience. This reviewer’s only complaint is that the shortness of the season; perhaps if we ask them nicely – and put out some birdseed – they’ll fly back...

3:35 AM Mar 12th, 2010

Jo Vabolis

Four wriggly boys settle quickly on the grass, stretching themselves out on a picnic rug. Nearby, a flock of squawking teenage girls plonk themselves in front of a rotunda, giggling and talking too loudly, looking around to see who’s looking back.

 

Less youthful audience members make a beeline for the deckchairs as grey-coated “workers” stroll about, distributing a range of strange objects for peeping into or listening to. Those who didn’t take the lolly offered on entry are tempted by a plate of toothpicked hors d’oeuvres.

 

It’s a sensory warm-up for Man Covets Bird, a charming production which skillfully integrates live music, voice, physical theatre and projected animation to create a miniature world within the Space Theatre.

 

Slingsby, Adelaide’s internationally recognised, award-winning theatre company creates works which “acknowledge the pain that is often a feature of human experience”.

 

Man Covets Bird is Slingsby’s third production (following The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy and Wolf) from the creative team of artistic director Andy Packer, writer Finegan Kruckemeyer, composer Quentin Grant and designer Geoff Cobham. They’ve got the formula just right, with elegant, humorous writing enhanced by set design and direction that immerses the audience in the action from the beginning to the final scene.

 

In addition to featuring in the 2010 Adelaide Festival, Man Covets Bird is also a part of the Adelaide Festival Centre's inSPACE Program.

 

A “nearly-man” (the immensely talented Nathan O’Keefe) grows up overnight and wakes to discover everything has changed. As he attempts to make a new life in a relentless, impersonal city, he finds security and companionship with a young bird. The relationship frees them both, and helps others to find connection within their previously indifferent society.

 

Birdsong lifts this soaring tale of yearning, courage and the importance of finding one’s own place amid the crowd. Cleverly constructed and absolutely delightful.

3:38 AM Mar 12th, 2010

Matt Byrne

This is brilliant feelgood family theatre with a depth that speaks to any generation. Finegan Kruckemeyer continues his exciting development as a writer with this illuminating look at the coming-of-age story of a young man finding his way in the world.

 

Director Andy Packer has created a heart-warming piece of theatre that excites the soul and the imagination on a superb set from Wendy Todd.

 

Nathan O'Keefe carries off this delightful character of The Man who finds a friend of a feather to flock together, with a terrific performance guaranteed to put a smile on your dial. This show should be an international hit if given the opportunity.

3:41 AM Mar 12th, 2010