"Venus and Adonis". Oxford Playhouse
Theatre has always depended on illusion. Few productions remind us of its power more beautifully than this one. If an actor moved like a puppet, we would (quite accurately) describe them as 'wooden'. Movement in acting is a combination of natural, inbuilt character and rehearsed technique fitted to the character being portrayed. With puppets, it's the other way around. There are no accustomed traits or quirks. The best actors aim to move with absolute precision. Marionettes don't move at all. Or rather, they only move when they mean to. Human performers can never quite eliminate the accidental twitch, the unconscious shift of weight, the involuntary scratch of an eyebrow. A puppet has no such problem. It possesses only those movements deliberately bestowed upon it by its makers. Watching Greg Doran's exquisite production of Venus and Adonis is a lesson in theatrical economy. Nothing is wasted. Every gesture means something. Every tilt of a head, every bend of a wri...