Extracurricular Reading - Articles published in the Media Magazine
Requiem for Change, directed by David Glass and performed by the East 15 acting school, is described as a play representing the “struggle between late-Capitalism and Climate Change; potentially the last great story of humanity”. Not only does it do a perfect job of displaying this relationship between economy and environment , but it also presents the audience with a beautifully intense depiction of a couple battling nature to conceive. Within the show, the students’ talents are only exemplified by not just their acting skills, but by also performing live vocals and music (a student, Rupert, playing the bass), dancing (with multiple individuals taking to aerial silk) and taking on the role of tech crew all with a minimal cast for a production of such magnitude.
The first aspect I have to mention is the stunning staging and lighting of this production. Throughout the stage is covered by a sheet of clear tarpaulin that the actors, who are not directly in the scene, used to simulate various locations and environments. My favourite example of this was in the first scene of the play where Gaia emotionally recounted the story of her family (including her mother’s drowning) whilst the tarpaulin was manipulated to become the very sea her mother died in. Although not a typical practical effect, the result completely reformed the old church (at which the play was held) into the wild oceans that could so easily take a life. The tarpaulin was also used to present a beautifully intimate (though fully clothed due to the age rating) sex scene between Naomi and her husband as they fruitlessly attempted to conceive a child. The couple were covered by the tarpaulin whilst a flood light situated at the back of the stage allowed the audience to only see their shadowy outlines, representing the absence of emotion between the two partners. Another technique I could not help but be at the wonder of was the use of mirrors. To end an intensely beautiful scene, actors appeared holding an array of mirrors that when angled just right, shot a blinding beam of light into the audience. This paired ingeniously with the previous scene and enhanced the emotions portrayed by the actor, directing them into the audience.
To carry on from this, equally as spectacular was the pairing of stark lighting and overwhelming sound in the most dramatic scenes. In only the second scene of the play, the audience were drenched in darkness before a hazy orange spotlight followed a group of holocaust victims (as many recurring characters in the play were of Jewish heritage) in sheer panic attempting to escape. With the thrumming of gunshot echoing in the audiences’ ears, one could not help but feel their heart race in fear for this group, who were acting almost as if they were one fluid body. Later in the first half, similar techniques were used to horrify the audience at the sight of a protest. The oil protestors, who held two naïve activists hostage, were highlighted by red spotlights as they slit their throats to a soundtrack of industrial racket. Despite no practical effects being used to assimilate blood, the audience felt as if these actions were truly being carried out in front of them with no regard for human life. Although I chose to highlight these two examples, the entire play was elevated by the skill of its lighting and sound work to fully engross all those watching.
Despite being an extremely hard-hitting production, Requiem for Change still had its fair share of comedy. A musical scene depicting a stock market crash had the actors dressed in ill-fitting business suits grinding against piles of money. The humorous metaphor accurately communicated the crude behaviour of those too engrossed in the stock market in New York, whilst also entertaining the audience. A continuous string of humour was facilitated by pastiches of the Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy and Heath Ledger’s Joker (specifically disguised as a nurse as seen in the Dark Knight). These two figures haunted Klein (the protagonist and real-life inspiration for the play) offering wise cracks and one liners as she travelled to unveil the truth of Capitalism’s affect on the climate.
The second half of the production held a greater focus on Klein and her sister’s grandfather, a Polish Jew who moved to America after the defeat of Germany in World War Two. This character produced some of the most memorable quotes of the night when criticising the Capitalist environment of the country he immigrated to. After watching the crucible with his wife and a teenage POC girl who he acted as a father to, he went on a spiralling speech about how the Americans “stole it. Then (they) built a system to sell it”. This quote made me personally, and I would assume many other audience members, question the ethics of capitalism and the divide between those at the bottom, the producers, and those at the top, the benefiters. However, this was met by the unfiltered force of McCarthyism seen throughout America at this time, as he and the girl were told to “go back to where (they) came from”. Later, whilst arguing with his wife, he stated that “when she became American, she died,” insinuating that the culture of America deprived his wife of all the life in her and extending this to all those who called themselves American. I think these quotes can only be topped by Klein gutturally screaming “No one is flying the plane!”, literally referring to the catapulting plane she was on but metaphorically referencing the utter lack of direction the modern world faces when it comes to the environment and ‘fixing’ climate change.
The final scene perfectly topped off the emotional journey produced by the play and its messages. The entire cast, bar Gaia, emerged in darkness carrying unlit candles. Then one by one, each had their candle lit as they sung a powerfully emotional ballad. Finally, Gaia adorned the stage to recount the story of her parents’ deaths before declaring “(she) will remember everything” as the production ended to the roar of applause.
Despite the show being sold out, the students were able to convey the raw emotions of their characters, with no evidence of nerves or anxiety breaking through. And for one, Rupert, it was not the end of their performance for the night. Immediately following the show was an intimate session held by Rupert with the Director of the play, the local Green councillor and a local climate activist. Each took it in turn to explain the importance of spreading awareness of the issues facing our environment, but I think David Glass summed it up perfectly by saying “We need art more than anything to spread these messages”.
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