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Scoop Review: Corner of 4am and Cuba
Corner of 4am and Cuba
Review by Lyndon HoodCorner of 4am and Cuba
The Wheelbarrow
Group
12 – 21 April
Bats Theatre
As the
publicity material puts it: "With his purple hair, green
fingernails and daring playfulness schoolboy Jeff added his
own colour to the Cuba Street milieu. Early on the morning
of the 8th of May 1999, he was found beaten and close to
death in a nearby side street. He died the next day. The
boot prints of his two killers remained on his scalp. Jeff
was 14 years old."
Corner 4am and Cuba was devised based research from court transcripts, media reports and interviews, some reproduced verbatim. It is presented in a series of short scenes in a range of styles, mixed in with music. That kind of presentation is common to both community and political theatre, and this production has qualities of both.
It is political in many of the questions about society it gives rise to, especially since there is evidence that Jeff's murder was tied up with assumptions about his sexuality. As is the way in political theatre, most questions (aside for some clear criticism of media behaviour and commentary) are left open. Solutions are to be found by action in the real world.
But mostly – at least for a Wellington audience – the production does not explicitly raise questions so much as tell the story, casting a broad net to catalogue reactions – from the school, friends, the press, members of the wider city and not least the justice system – to one horrific event. Most of the audience has some place in that community and this particular shared experience is a way of recognising that openly.
Also fitting in both traditions is a makeshift set. This one consists of a large number of recycling bins and a couple of wheelie bins, arranged to reflect different spaces as required. Aside from their utility as boxes and the implication of being out on a street, any purpose in this use of waste receptacles was entirely obscure to me.
The audience was brought into the theatre through a side alley, where there was something of a prologue – a tagger leaving a memorial stencil, and the actors leading a sombre sort of procession into the space. This doesn't seem to be enough of an event to justify the logistical problems of shuffling the people, but does mean that we all standing around on the stage when a school principal (Jean Copland) calls us to order an chivvies us into our seats.
The speeches she reads through the play are the words of the Principal of Wellington High at the time – as we take our seat we are actively placing ourselves in the role of students at a tragic time.
Though the play is full of reference to Jeff's life and death, the scenes are mostly set during it aftermath, looking back. The exceptions are a series of three scenarios of what happened in those last few minutes. These multiple possibilities raise those first basic questions (What happened? Why?) at the same time as recognising the answers as unknowable.
These have a certain unreality to the presentation – they go for a drive, without feeling then need to mime a steering wheel or foot pedal; Jeff's presence is indicated in the scene but he is not portrayed by an actor there or anywhere else. This last does not detract from impact of the violence. It also leaves open the questions that clearly interested the media and the public, where there was clearly speculation and jumping to conclusions about Jeff himself.
There's a sense in which any production like this will be 'too soon' while anyone is alive who remembers. At the time the scenes moved to remembering Jeff as a person with a history, not just as a victim, some intense audience responses brought home the fact we were dealing with very real, painful events.
But the fact that this was not something that happened in another time or another place is also what makes it important. If people die because they are different, if the wider response sometimes doesn't seem human, it's something we should face.
And the cast and crew, under director Ronald Trifero Nelson, has handled this delicate challenge well. The production is not exploitative or didactic, and traces the human and emotional consequence of a senseless murder with care and dramatic skill.
There is an invitation to join the cast the the bar at Bats after the performance. The opportunity to talk things over with crew or other audience members – often included in community theatre in a more structured way – is welcome after an unsettling and moving piece of theatre.
Corner of 4 am and Cuba Press Release
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