Sydney Theatre Company — Local services in Sydney

The recent Sydney Dance Company production of 'Louder than Words' was performed at the Sydney Theatre from 4-18 October 2014. We journey to Walsh Bay from Canberra one Thursday, to immerse ourselves in two works, choreographed by Raphael Bonachela and Andonis Foniadakis.

For the pure intention of theatrical bliss and the professional pursuit of primary school dance curriculum development, I was completely mesmerized and totally invigorated by the evening. 'Scattered Rhymes' and 'Parenthesis' were individually and interdependently interculturally alive. Each dance stood alone with it’s own relational and poetic narrative. Yet like the complexity of a classical willow, the evening was a kind of spiritual secret. These deeply intimate sentiments, shared with an audience of entire strangers, were profoundly private and yet so openly revealed.

With each phrase and every sigh, the motifs and combined sequences, created a montage that so perfectly articulated choreographic intentions. Absolutely, the evening was a complete feast of contemporary dance principles. Bonachela immersed us in a 14th century copella with Petrarch’s poetry. Unrequited love was so sensitively stitched into a fine tapestry of emotion. Foniadakis began with a pantheontic stage where somehow the Periclean ocean seemed to swirl. A movement chorus, lines of careful structure, and yet with primal rumblings, the piece was punctuated by fine costumed lines. Traditional overtones were carefully distinct, as if to make the Gods proud.

It was truly a beautiful...

One remarkable feature of Pier 4 is the long hike from the street to the actual theatres. (Not a welcome sight if you're running late!) The distinctive diagonal floorboards in this corridor are a legacy of the venue's history as a working finger wharf. Back during the opening season for the venue (Shorts at the Wharf, 1985), when the STC were running tours of their new home, I was told that the diagonal boards made it easier to roll barrels the length of the wharf.

Trivia time over, the review part? I love coming to the theatre here. Intriguing venue, beautiful location, pleasant facilities, small and intimate performance spaces.

Probably the only downside is accessibility from the closest public transport hubs. Between the Wharf and Circular Quay or Wynyard stations lies the Rocks, with its intricate network of streets on multiple levels. If you're happy to walk (including taking up to two flights of stairs) it's a pleasant and interesting walk, but check the map if you're going there for the first time, being aware that for pedestrians there are shortcuts (the aforesaid stairs) that aren't accessible to drivers. Alternatively, there are buses – including shuttles organised specifically for theatre-goers – but you have to do your research in advance and plan...

Saw White Pearl Thursday night. Highly critical of speech clarity. Dialogue substantially incomprehensible to me. Girls shouting unable to be understood. I was in the second row from the stage. Why was there no PA operating that would allow the actors speak more normally, forcefully but not shouting. Articulation I would consider to be essential to our being able to understand dialogue. Attempting articulation while shouting I would consider a particular skill. Indeed very difficult. I think I detected accents in some actors. The only section I heard clearly was the toilet scene where the two actors spoke loudly but more normally that ended with them breaking out in laughter. I would end my remarks by honestly admitting that I am 81 yrs old. I wear hearing aids but I have no trouble understanding normal human speech for example i have no trouble understanding speakers on radio without my aids in. I think that this is an issue that any director of stage production must take into consideration. No stage production is enjoyable if the speech cannot be understood. White Pearl could be heard but...