This is a great night of theatre. Stunning performances, superb direction, and a fascinating, original and adventurous theatrical work. I need to say that at the outset because the layers of thoughts, associations and impressions which follow might otherwise obscure that overriding judgement.

Free Theatre specialises in avant-garde and experimental productions and is now in its thirty-eighth year under the artistic direction of its founder, Peter Falkenberg. Compared to mainstream theatre, The Black Rider certainly fits the ‘experimental’ description, although it was first staged in 1990 (Hamburg) and has enjoyed considerable success, and won many awards, in North America, the UK and Australia, in English language productions primarily by Michael Scholar and the piece’s original creator, Robert Wilson. I’m reluctant to call The Black Rider a play or a musical because those labels might imply a particular theatrical genre, whereas the piece deliberately sets out to blur the boundaries.

Based on a German folk-tale, Der Freischütz, The Black Rider also acknowledges the story’s 1821 operatic adaption by Carl Maria von Weber. This production takes that acknowledgement a step further by including a performance of an aria from the opera, ‘Und ob die Wolke’, at the appropriate point in the plot; more of that later.

But it is the music and its performance that brings the positive impact of this production right from the start. Tom Waits’ opening sequence of songs, for all its folksy simplicity, is a sheer delight. The title song, followed by November immediately establishes the admirable musical talents, not only of the onstage cast but especially of the four instrumentalists who support the show.

“Support” is almost the wrong word for a band that sets the tone for the entire performance. With versatility, imagination, resourcefulness and subtlety or fiery drama as required, led by Hamish Oliver, they accompany the songs, sprechgesang, dialogue, mimes and ‘knee-plays’ (Wilson’s term for the occasional interludes between the scenes where he suggests alternative perspectives to the main text).

A particular musical highlight is ‘Gospel Train’. This is sung (Delaney Davidson), played and staged with such wit, expressive projection and imagination that it totally outshines the 1990 Austrian TV performance available on YouTube. I had also wondered how Weber’s famous ‘Wolf Glen’ scene, which Gustave Kobbé described as “the most expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical score,” could possibly be replaced by anything as effective. However, in the context of The Black Rider, this staging of ‘Gospel Train’ matches it brilliantly.

Delaney Davidson, a guest performer with Free Theatre, establishes his credentials as both a musician and an actor right from his first entrance in ‘Just the Right Bullets’, where he accompanies himself on banjo. He also contributes to the musical direction and instrumental performances of the show. Both his singing and his insidiously insinuating spoken delivery as Pegleg, the devil, are major assets to the production.

But this is very much an ensemble performance with all six members of the onstage company contributing strengths that make this potentially very challenging piece (for the audience) meaningful, entertaining and consistently engaging. More than that, director Peter Falkenberg has drawn on the talents and strengths of his cast in ways that make their respective characters believable, individual and freshly imagined. One exceptionally effective example was the introduction of an element of Maori spiritual belief/culture/tradition from Aaron Hapuku as Wilhelm, when he calls on the supernatural (Pegleg) to provide him with another magic bullet.

Another very effective use of a particular cast-member’s talents is Emma Johnston’s performance of Agathe’s (Käthchen in this adaption of the story) prayerful aria from Weber’s Der Freischütz. The operatic quality of her voice has already been evident earlier, but here she demonstrates full mastery of the style and vocal qualities that such an aria demands. And the faster-than-usual tempo, along with the clever adaption of Weber’s original orchestration, enables this insertion to fit seamlessly into the character of the production. Johnston shows she is also an ideal performer of Waits’ original songs. Her singing of ‘I’ll Shoot the Moon’, another highlight, is, once again, notably superior to other versions available online.

In fact, I generally prefer the more ‘musical’ way the whole cast handles the songs, even compared to Tom Waits’ own versions. Others may find Waits’ other-worldly approximation of notes, and his grainy voice (which critic Daniel Durchholz described as sounding like “it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car”) characterful, individual and original, but I doubt Waits himself would be anything but delighted with the interpretations by this Christchurch cast.

George Parker’s drolly characterised Bertram, Greta Bond’s anguished and sympathetic Anne, and Marian McCurdy’s overtly expressionist and distorted Robert-the-hunting-boy all contribute valuably and distinctly to the ensemble nature of the production. 

Mention of expressionism reminds me that, despite its experimental impression, The Black Rider brings many familiar influences to mind. Chief among these are suggestions of Kurt Weill’s earlier theatre works, particularly Mahagonny and The Seven Deadly Sins. I’ve already mentioned the acknowledgement of Weber’s opera, but The Black Rider’s rather Faustian storyline is also directly referenced, at least in this production, by a depiction of ‘Mephistopheles’ Night Ride’ from Goethe’s epic drama. I also wonder if the musical and textual mentions of “Crossroads” are references to the 1986 movie Crossroads in which blues musician Robert Johnson sells his soul to the devil in return for a new hit song. And is an Ophelian reference intended by the lute-song Käthchen sings as she dons her bridal dress and expresses her doubts regarding the certainty of her marriage to Wilhelm?

I’ve read varying reviews of the experimental and expressionist nature of The Black Rider as a piece of theatre but, in this production, no such doubts emerge. Peter Falkenberg has adapted the piece very effectively, making it relevant and absorbing for its unbroken two-hour duration. How lucky we are in Christchurch to have such a depth and variety of theatrical talent and opportunities.  

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