Pulling the strings on an old classic
By Lynda Hansen
BRISBANE — Sixty years after its first publication, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit has been brought to life. After six years of lobbying for funding, puppet design and construction and lighting technology research, Skylark Theatre Company's production featured more than 80 puppets operated by a mixture of pulleys, people and hydraulics.
In Act 1, we met the reluctant hero Bilbo Baggins, whose comfortable hobbit-hole is bombarded by angry dwarfs armed with a secret map of a mountain that contains their stolen gold.
Legendary wizard Gandalf guides Baggins and the dwarfs through hostile countryside to demand their gold, stolen by the evil fire-breathing dragon Smaug. When the dwarfs are captured by the elfen-king, Baggins, who is separated from the dwarfs, stumbles across a magic ring.
The ring, owned by the slimy Gollum, has the power make the wearer invisible. Baggins' invisibility enables him to carry out his first heroic act — freeing the dwarfs under the nose of the elfen-king.
The group, reunited, arrive in Laketown, where they meet the villagers, who are demoralised by the gold theft and the ransacking of their town by Smaug. The groups unite and slay the evil dragon. But, realising that their battle is only half won, they organise against the goblins, wargs and wolves who have a stake in the claim.
Directed by Christine Anketell, this production of The Hobbit was a major artistic feat with spectacular displays of master puppetry and special effects lighting.
Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins was pulled from this mundane life to perform socially conscious acts. Unfortunately, the goblins, wargs and wolves wasted time waging war for the gold. With better leadership and some democracy, the treasures could have been equally distributed amongst all disenfranchised parties. But in this puppet fantasy, it depends on who is pulling the strings.