CLOSER @ Brightspace

Reviews

2008-07-17T03:09:00.000-07:00

Review by Chris Boyd in the Herald Sun on 16 July 2008

Online reviews available at:

Arts Hub (Members Only)
"TaDaa Productions' Closer is nonetheless a well-formed presentation of a classic piece of modern theatre. A fresh look and a talented cast make it enjoyable, if not exceptional, to watch."

Australian Stage Online
"Marber's structurally intense writing is inventively transposed for the stage by director Beng Oh"

AussieTheatre.com
"Closer was impeccably presented and professionally delivered ... the audience enjoyed the show and connected from the first scene with the witty dialogue and familiar characters."

Photographs

2008-07-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

James Taylor (Larry) and Lily Hall (Alice)

Lily Hall (Alice) and David Kambouris (Dan)

Lily Hall (Alice)

Amanda Kingston (Anna)

Media Release

2008-06-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

MEDIA RELEASE
30 June 2008: for immediate release
TaDaa Productions present Patrick Marber’s Closer (recipient of the 1997 Evening Standard Best Comedy Award and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play), directed by Beng Oh at BRIGHTSPACE, St Kilda on Fridays to Sundays from 11 - 27 July 2008.
Closer is a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever been in love or thought they were in love, and forensically charts the deceptions of the human heart, where the characters follow their hearts and are led astray ... none of it leads to happiness.
TaDaa Productions was initiated by James Taylor and Amanda Kingston, recent graduates of the National Theatre Drama School, who were keen to enter the industry and create opportunities for themselves.
Rather than waiting for that perfect play to perform in - Taylor, Kingston and actor Lily Hall established TaDaa Productions, producing plays that not only interests the company, but also targets a demographic audience who may not always consider spending a night at the theatre.
"We feel the best way to introduce an audience to experience live theatre is to produce a piece that they can easily associate with the key themes and situations of a play," Taylor said.
For director Beng Oh, the central themes and working premise of Closer is simple: women want love and men want women.
"Since men and women don’t want the same thing their interests are never exactly the same, and to presume or pretend that it is will lead to disaster," Oh highlighted.
In a 1999 interview, Marber identified his idea about Closer "... was always to create something that has a formal beauty into which you could shove all this anger and fury ... the dramatic power of the play would rest on that tension between elegant structure."
On preparing for this production of Closer, Oh explained, "This fusion of structure and emotion is unusual in that one is normally done at the expense of the other and like Marber, I believe that they belong together and are an explosive mix."
Publicity & interview inquiries Ben Starick 0411 029 393

2008-06-19T23:22:00.001-07:00

CLOSER by Patrick Marber

Presented by TaDaa Productions

Women want Love, Men want Women.Patrick Marber's "Closer":The play that won the 1997 Evening Standard Best Comedy Award and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. (Playbill News: Closer comes Closer to Film Adaption as Mike Nichols set to direct)Marber described the play's "construction" in an October 1999 interview:The idea was always to create something that has a formal beauty into which you could shove all this anger and fury. I hoped the dramatic power of the play would rest on that tension between elegant structure – the underlying plan is that you see the first and last meeting of every couple in the play – and inelegant emotion. (National Theatre : Platform Papers : Patrick Marber (October 1999)

Closer is a work that gets the audience to consider relationships in a different light. Desire being a key theme throughout. How similar are each others desires ? From uncomfortable honesty to hilarious misunderstanding this play looks at the lives of 4 people (two couples) that follow their hearts in and out of love. "Pleasure and self destruction, the perfect poison".

With Director (Beng Oh), lighting (Michael Jewell) and musical score composed by Jerry Lau this play is sure to entertain and engage the audience.