"Like a kids' nativity play gone bonkers".
That is an odd descriptive drawcard for an Adelaide Festival show - but then again, a theatre company which dubbed itself Stan's Cafe after the cafe in which it met, is hardly likely to be hidebound.
Hence, as Stan's Cafe brings a production with the deeply earnest title of ‘The Cardinals’ and even presents it in a church, it is anything but old-fashioned theatre. It is a religious experience of the most alternative kind. According to Stan's Cafe artistic director James Yarker, it is as good for atheists as it is for Christians. It can be interpreted in many ways, even as a "Marxist construct."
It tells the story of the world's creation but, at the same time, it sends it up just a little bit. The audience gets to see not only the actors performing their given roles but also the actors in their backstage environment - simultaneously.
"There are dozens of costume changes going on backstage," explains Yarker from the company's base in Birmingham, England. This is all because the three cardinals were intending to present their religious story with puppets and went to the trouble of making wonderful sets for them. When the puppets went missing, the crimson-robed cardinals turned on the show without them - doing a lot of it wordlessly.
"They are massively keen on doing the show but they are not good theatre makers and they make a lot of kids' errors like tweaking the curtains to look out on the audience,' says Yarker.
"They're very earnest but also absurd.
"The show looks ravishing but their performance style is quite naive.
"To get Jesus walking on water on top of the set, they have parallel bars.
"While the audience can concentrate attention inside the proscenium and it is beautiful, you also see the cardinal struggling to keep his position above.
"It is inside/outside, slapstick, with lots and running around outside while inside a beautifully serene scene is taking place."
Yarker says that it was talks in the British media about British presence in the Middle East and the Crusades which sparked his interest in creating The Three Cardinals. "It got me reading about the Crusades, old and current situations in the Middle East and their parallels. The Crusades are not that fascinating but what excited me was that when the Crusades were not happening, people got on really well and it was so peaceful. Why there were crusades needed explaining."
Onwards from the beginning of the world to the end of the world and this unusual production of Bible stories.
But there is one other element - a woman. And she is a Muslim. She is the company stage manager.
"The cardinals take her for granted but she is crucial to the show," says Yarker "When she downs tools, their show falls apart.
"Her part allows us to show how much the Bible is shared in both religions. It allows us to reflect on the notion of martyrdom and that one person's martyr is another person's terrorist."
The Syrian-born performer who usually plays this role encountered visa problems and can't tour so one Rochi Rampal, a Birmingham actress has learned the part in a hurry.
Among the cast, there are varied religious stances - one practising Anglican, one non-practising Roman Catholic, one whose father is a Methodist preacher and an atheist.
But, while the cardinals had an evangelistic hope with their puppet play, Stan's Theatre Company sees ‘The Cardinals’ more as a play that is interested in religion's place in society. "Provocative but not controversial" is how the company wishes to come across. Hence, such a grand concept as the hand of God is shown as a hand appearing from aloft to the Bible characters on the set but, aloft, for all the theatre world to see, is the actor playing the cardinal, reaching his hand down from above.
This Festival event will be the first Adelaide appearance for James Yarker but the company has a history here. "We've done a couple of WomAdelaides," he says.
"Those who came had a fantastic time here."
Their last appearance was at the Earth Station in Belair National Park, Stan's Cafe presented ‘Of All the People in the World’, a work which revolved around grains of sand representing populations of the world. And after the Festival, they are off to Tokyo and their next project about when Japanese silent film had live commentators.
Samela Harris
The Cardinals. Part of the Adelaide Festival 2015
When: 11 to 14 March
Where: Flinders Street Baptist Church
Bookings: bass.net.au or adelaidefestival.com.au
