Bare Feat Theatre, Someone Has Been Disarranging These Roses

Review in Issue 11-3 | Autumn 1999

Bare Feat Theatre present a show using elements of repetition, movement, language, and non-linear narrative, that takes its audience into the magical world of Gabriel Garcia Márquez. Heat, sex, hope, lust, wishes and dreams, play out before us, as three performers (Bram Williams, Helen Tennison and Alexandra Hingst) conjure the story of a sweltering village and the hope for rain. It's a story about a boy who keeps praying for rain and a girl who is infatuated with him; a young man who's bursting to get laid and an obliging prostitute; and an angel who's shot down by the village children.

The company create a strong sense of place, so that the heat is tangible and the audience share the experience of the long, repetitive, boring days without in turn being bored. Comedy is found in observation, character and relationship with Tennison in particular finding the joy in play. The central focus of the piece is the hope for rain, as a boy arranges a crucifix of roses on the floor and begs San Pedro for rain with religious devotion. Alexandra Hingst finds great integrity in this child with a mission, and manages a very subtle portrayal of early masculinity without falling into cliché. Bram Williams finds the unemotional neutrality that one might expect of an angel and the requisite earthiness of the lascivious slob.

Overall, the piece is full of keen observation and notable moments. However, perhaps because of the blurring of narratives and mixing of styles, I found it difficult to fully identify with the characters, and was left, consequently, feeling more like an observer of, rather than a participant in, the piece.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Jul 1999

This article in the magazine

Issue 11-3
p. 20