Manna by Dan Spielman - at Wharf2Loud

Manna is defined as the food that was miraculously provided to nourish the Israelites in the desert as stated in the book of Exodus.

Manna at Wharf2Loud is a performance of poetry and sound. Attempting to challenge much of the traditional, technical conventions of theatre, the lighting and sound equipment is exposed and the audience is illuminated for the actors to gaze into it, as the performance dives into the heavy theme of grief.

Dan Spielman, known for his acting in the 2006-07 STC Actors Company and the television series The Secret Life of Us, now presents his poetry. In a somewhat humourless setting, there are suggestions of Chechnya, the Holocaust, and other war-torn states dealing with a communal sense of grief.

Spielman joins forces with Max Lyandvert as director, composer and sound designer, as well as visual artists Kate Davis and Marisa Purcell and five performers. Sounds that are normally added to enhance a performance are amplified to become the star of the show. Narration and storyline are replaced with seemingly random words and carefully crafted sounds and images, as an abstract creation leaves the audience to read into it as they will.

Manna works more as a post-traumatic mood rather than a tale and leaves behind any hint of narrative for a series of tasks-based vignettes, deep sounds and an overly meditative pace.

Scattered instruments, furniture and shoes; hanging microphones, onstage lighting and radioplay sound equipment; war, love, death and loss. It is not an easy piece of performance to relax into. But the deep and dark mood is frequently lightened with inspiring musical moments by Jamal Rekabi and his other-worldly voice and intriguing instruments – the Santore, Damanche and Daef. Seemingly separate from much of the performance, Rekabi’s ephemeral presence alleviates the burdening theme of grief through the performance.

Manna, as a more European style piece of abstract theatre, says something of the new direction Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton are taking with the Sydney Theatre Company.

Let’s trust they provide the food that will nourish the Sydney theatre tradition.