Critical Acclaim
Show name: Hatch
Company name: Auckland Theatre Company
Venue: Hobart Town Hall March 27-30 other venues until April 5
Dates: 27 March – April 5
Reviewer’s name: Kylie Eastley
Hatch is the story of Joseph Hatch, born in England, undertaking his apprenticeship as a druggist in Melbourne and emigrating to New Zealand, where he became a successful chemist, Mayor of Invercargill in 1877 and Member of Parliament. It was during his migration that he developed an interest for Macquarie Island and its natural resources.
Taking on the lease of the island he produced an industry rendering down seals and penguins, with a reported 3 million penguins killed over a 30 year period.
This one man performance at Hobart’s Town Hall is akin to a re-enactment of the original magic lantern lecture presented by Hatch in 1919 in an attempt to regain support for his now discredited venture. Elderly Hatch, played by New Zealand actor, Stuart Devenie, enters this ideal venue in character and is consistent throughout. His interaction and engagement with the audience is believable, at one point eliciting a ‘hiss’ from the audience.
It is well documented that Hatch was a charismatic public speaker. A skill he utilised when attempting to regain public support. Devenie equally elicits such charisma and humour, leaving the audience teetering between disgust, empathy and admiration.
Creating a sense of British Empire, Hatch’s character paces the stage aided by a few simple props and an impressive slide show. The photographic slides compliment his enigmatic oration, and create a theatrical and fascinating representation. Hatch oscillates between ruthless entrepreneur and vulnerable old man with a history of personal calamity and entrepreneurial hardship.
Devenie performs Hatch extremely well, touching on elements of his personality without becoming labored and sentimental. The inclusion and reference to other ‘colourful’ characters of the time such as Baron Rothschild, depicted in a buggy being pulled by a zebra, reinforces the type of world Hatch inhabits.
Devenie successfully conveys a sense of a man who is losing his grip on what he believes to be right. But the tide of public opinion is moving against him.
The script is extremely well written and well executed by the actor. There are moments of great tragedy in this story, but the script is loyal to the context in which this would have been presented. While there are moments of reflection, these are not over -sentimentalised, but assist in creating further depth to the character and the story.
The pace of the performance suits the content; with Hatch’s anger about what he feels is the injustice of his predicament giving way to moments of silence, reflection, grief and maybe even regret.
More than 70 years on from the days of stacking dead penguins ‘like bricks’ into the Macquarie Island digestors, the issue of humans plundering stocks of fish, animals and birds is one that is debated globally.
Kylie E Eastley is a freelance Arts Consultant based in Hobart, Tasmania.
This is a production from Aukland Theatre Company, which has toured throughout New Zealand and will tour to several towns as part of Ten Days on the Island 2009.
This review is part of arts@work’s Critical Acclaim program, designed to increase critical analysis of the arts.
Company name: Auckland Theatre Company
Venue: Hobart Town Hall March 27-30 other venues until April 5
Dates: 27 March – April 5
Reviewer’s name: Kylie Eastley
Hatch is the story of Joseph Hatch, born in England, undertaking his apprenticeship as a druggist in Melbourne and emigrating to New Zealand, where he became a successful chemist, Mayor of Invercargill in 1877 and Member of Parliament. It was during his migration that he developed an interest for Macquarie Island and its natural resources.
Taking on the lease of the island he produced an industry rendering down seals and penguins, with a reported 3 million penguins killed over a 30 year period.
This one man performance at Hobart’s Town Hall is akin to a re-enactment of the original magic lantern lecture presented by Hatch in 1919 in an attempt to regain support for his now discredited venture. Elderly Hatch, played by New Zealand actor, Stuart Devenie, enters this ideal venue in character and is consistent throughout. His interaction and engagement with the audience is believable, at one point eliciting a ‘hiss’ from the audience.
It is well documented that Hatch was a charismatic public speaker. A skill he utilised when attempting to regain public support. Devenie equally elicits such charisma and humour, leaving the audience teetering between disgust, empathy and admiration.
Creating a sense of British Empire, Hatch’s character paces the stage aided by a few simple props and an impressive slide show. The photographic slides compliment his enigmatic oration, and create a theatrical and fascinating representation. Hatch oscillates between ruthless entrepreneur and vulnerable old man with a history of personal calamity and entrepreneurial hardship.
Devenie performs Hatch extremely well, touching on elements of his personality without becoming labored and sentimental. The inclusion and reference to other ‘colourful’ characters of the time such as Baron Rothschild, depicted in a buggy being pulled by a zebra, reinforces the type of world Hatch inhabits.
Devenie successfully conveys a sense of a man who is losing his grip on what he believes to be right. But the tide of public opinion is moving against him.
The script is extremely well written and well executed by the actor. There are moments of great tragedy in this story, but the script is loyal to the context in which this would have been presented. While there are moments of reflection, these are not over -sentimentalised, but assist in creating further depth to the character and the story.
The pace of the performance suits the content; with Hatch’s anger about what he feels is the injustice of his predicament giving way to moments of silence, reflection, grief and maybe even regret.
More than 70 years on from the days of stacking dead penguins ‘like bricks’ into the Macquarie Island digestors, the issue of humans plundering stocks of fish, animals and birds is one that is debated globally.
Kylie E Eastley is a freelance Arts Consultant based in Hobart, Tasmania.
This is a production from Aukland Theatre Company, which has toured throughout New Zealand and will tour to several towns as part of Ten Days on the Island 2009.
This review is part of arts@work’s Critical Acclaim program, designed to increase critical analysis of the arts.
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