Chasing The Lollyman Play Analysis

Chasing the Lollyman, an amusing one-man show is devised and performed by one of Queensland’s most dynamic and humorous Indigenous performers, Mark Sheppard. The piece generates a cheerful sharing of stories, a celebration of Indigenous culture and identity and takes a satirical look at today’s media and popular culture. Playing a variety of characters, weaving stand up with storytelling and clown, Sheppard performs take-offs of Australia’s soap opera ‘Neighbours’ to Australia’s current political standpoints. However, in order to execute this ethically, Sheppard has intertwined the incorporation of the dramatic elements to create meaning and purpose to the performance. These include character and language, symbolism and place and space, all …show more content…
Symbolism in theatre can be achieved via characters, colour, movement, costume and props. A symbol implies a greater meaning than the literal suggestion and is usually used to represent something other than what it is at face value. The audience’s main focus aside from Sheppard is the components that make up the stage and that of which surround the main actor. A scene in the performance which demonstrates a discerning use of symbolism is the “Stirring It Up” cooking show segment where it can be inferred that Sheppard transforms into a chef as his costume transitions to a baking apron and chef hat. Sheppard’s fusion cooking becomes a metaphor for reconciliation. At this time Sheppard begins to bake a traditional and contemporary murri cake using a variety of ingredients. The ingredients consisted of melted dark chocolate, skinny ankles, traditional language, song lines, rum and more. The ingredients symbolised humour and elements of the Indigenous values and teachings. The end result of both cakes represents a person that has adapted to Australia’s modern day society and has become a successful Indigenous Australian being. Sheppard uses symbols to enhance the dramatic meaning of the performance as Sheppard aims to create a conversation about the stories that connect us to each other and to discuss how we can explore our sense …show more content…
Grouping, Levels, Pathways and Personal Space are all important aspects of this convention. In order to set the context of an episode, Sheppard added and removed various props and objects from the space in accordance with the issue being discussed. The set became part of creating different locations in between scenes. In order for the transitions between scenes to be coherent, multiple linking devices were used, and these included the opening and closing of the door, the “finding your aboriginality” jingle, and many others. The multiple doors and the use of one stage kept the audience focused on the issues, this allowed the audience to have elements of consistency opposed to constant change of episode props. The opening and closing of the doors exemplified a celebration of Sheppard’s life to date, as each door opened was a representation of who he is and the attitudes, values and beliefs Sheppard possesses. It is through the use of place and space that the performance was able to educate and celebrate the long-standing indigenous culture. Space was managed effectively through moments where there was no dialogue and Sheppard was performing a tribal dance. At these times Sheppard was seen dancing in various directions, dance is seen as an occasion to entertain and to be entertained. It is for this