Review: One-woman-play the tale of a wife and mother making a difference

Easther encapsulates a strong sense of Perrine Moncrieff in her portrayal. Photo / Woman's Day NZ

REVIEW

A Rare Bird

Written by: Elisabeth Easther

Directed by: Kerryn Palmer

On at Hamilton Arts Festival, March 2-4

Reviewed by: Cate Prestidge

Tickets: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2023/a-rare-bird/hamilton

Have you heard of Perrine Moncrieff? It’s a question posed to the audience by Elisabeth Easther at the start of her one-woman-play, A Rare Bird.

A few hands wave acknowledgement, but only a few. It’s partly this lack of recognition that prompted Easther to bring her story to the stage once she became aware of Moncrieff’s significance herself.

Why don’t we know more about this amazing woman? Hers is a tale of keen observation and enjoyment of our natural environment, and of determination and dedication to its preservation. It’s also a tale of a woman, a wife and a mother who faces challenges and who succeeds in making a difference.

In the debut performance, Easther is delightful, warm and affectionate. She immediately puts the audience at ease when she appears, pottering about the stage and arranging props. As the audience hush, she grins: “No, no, don’t stop talking, I’m just setting myself up.”

The backdrop of the Indian Char Bagh Garden was a wonderful setting for this debut performance.

Clad in a delightfully eccentric ensemble which draws chatter from the crowd - “Ooh, I like the pockets” - Easther moves to-and-fro between character and actor as she outlines to us how and why she came to the play and what we might expect.

The next minute, she has dropped seamlessly into character, and we realise we’ve already begun.

The backdrop of the Indian Char Bagh Garden, surrounded by trees and birds, with the river flowing in the background, was a wonderful setting for this debut performance.

Easther is an absolute pro and the audience is along with her, enjoying the moments of direct address inviting us into her process, and the performance and characters.

Easther has selected highlights from Moncrieff’s long life to support her narrative, carefully picking up defining moments both personal and professional. There’s some effective use of puppets to represent the supporting cast, and lovely character turns as a local farmer. A gentle soundtrack and a spare but evocative set are used well to punctuate key moments.

It’s a lovely play, and while Easther says it’s still “a work in progress”, she encapsulates a strong sense of Moncrieff in her portrayal.

I’ll leave it to her to tell you more of her story, but I’d love to see this play travelling to theatres and schools, and hopefully shining further light on this important and visionary conservationist.