Friday Five: But Wait, There's More Theatre

Lima Prichard as Ste and Nick Dyball as Jamie in Beautiful Thing

1. Beautiful Thing - Everyman Theatre, ACT Hub: The coming-of-age exploration of sexual orientation drama is sensitively directed by Jarrad West although some of the class issues and geo-political context is lacking. Sandra (Amy Kowalczuk) is a single mother in 80s Britain (southeast London, and the accent ain't bad) with all the social connotations that implies. Dressed in short leather skirts, chain-smoking and both seducing and repelling her latest hippie lover, Tony (played with cringe-worthy 'think-of-me-as-your-mate' pseudo cool by Colin Giles), Sandra is desperately concerned with appearances while pretending she doesn't care what the neighbours think. Her world order is challenged when her son Jamie (Nick Dyball, who does some great work when he isn't shouting to portray emotion) develops feelings for Ste, the heartthrob next-door. Liam Prichard has remarkable confidence in the role, delivering a subtle performance full of troubled teen vulnerability. Liv Boddington plays Leah, the drug-taking, Mama Cass-loving expelled adolescent with peculiar naivety rather than as an ASBO waiting to happen, in keeping with the sanitisation of the whole. Some of the blocking and sight-lines are questionable as the traverse set is problematic depending on where the audience member sits, but on the whole this is a heartfelt and touching production. 
2. Cyrano - Melbourne Theatre Company, Southbank Theatre: The production directed by Sarah Goodes is original and immediate, switching genders, updating language, and consolidating characters to make this a story for our times rather than an historic piece. Playwright and performer, Virginia Gay writes, "The stories that we tell have enormous importance... I don't think entertainment and fighting for something more are mutually exclusive; if you can do them both at once, then that is the sweet spot." This is smart and sexy, with many a self-aware wry comment on the nature of theatricality - often directly to the audience - enhanced by a plain, back-stage set. Gay is superb as the titular character with all the best lines and the nuanced personal development, Tuuli Narkle works hard with limited material as Roxanne, and Claude Jabbour brings the buff in contrast to the brains as the alternate love interest. The supporting chorus (Holly Austin, Robin Goldsworthy, Milo Hartill) guide us through the story with music, humour and theatrics, as they have heard it many times before, but the interpretation makes it feel fresh to our eyes and ears. 

3. Murder on the Nile - Tempo Theatre, Belconnen Community Theatre: Jon Elphick directs another Agatha Christie for Tempo Theatre - this is the eleventh time that he has done so, and it's pretty solid with no frills. First performed in 1946, Murder on the Nile is the play of the novel (and subsequent film versions) of the film, Death on the Nile. The staging here is all on a boat - mainly portrayed by a couple of port holes in the set - on the Nile - a missed opportunity for some dramatic lighting to portray the vivid sunsets mentioned in the script. Regular stalwarts of the company, Garry Robinson, Marian Fitzgerald, Paul Jackson and Kim Wilson return to play a variety of roles they've played before. If you've seen one Tempo production of an Agatha Christie play; you've seen them all - this isn't a bad thing because it makes Christie comfortable and familiar and sometimes that's just what's required from a night at the theatre. 
4. Come Alive Festival of Museum Theatre - The National Library of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, NPG: Come Alive is a student festival that gains its inspiration from the exhibits and collections of the National Library of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, creating  theatre performances that have drawn on characters, events, objects and items in the two galleries' vast collections. Peter Wilkins, artistic director of Come Alive, works with teachers and students to create the original and inspired performances in which students pursue their passion for the performing arts and engage with their nation's cultural heritage. Over a week, eleven groups presented fourteen performance through theatre, movement and music, as well as visual media. I saw St Clare's College perform Clowning Around (an abstract exploration of the association between clowns and mental disorders through movement and masks) and Colour My World inspired by the sculpture of Dr John Wu and his drive to create spaces for young patients that brought light into a world of darkness. I also saw a surreal and fascinating short piece by St Edmund's College called Life is Like a Box of Chocolates and inspired by a tin box of chocolates sent by Queen Victoria to her troops serving in South Africa in 1899. Nigel Palfreman is the teacher behind this memorable work which ranges from Buckingham Palace to the soldiers on the front line, and incorporates the legend of Banjo Patterson. Ashleigh Nguyen performed a dance piece based on the portrait and story of Anna May Wong, who 'reshaped the way Asian roles in American cinema could be conceived and created.' The bold work combines dance, text and video all choreographed and curated by Nguyen herself to confront stereotypes and challenge expectations. This is an excellent festival which should be encouraged and supported by all who care about engaging young people with their history and culture in original and exciting ways.
5. Sunshine Super Girl - Performing Lines, The Q - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre: I remember watching the Wimbledon Women’s final in 1980 and knowing I was watching something special. Written and directed by Andrea James, Sunshine Super Girl follows the life, challenges and achievements of Evonne Goolagong Cawley, acted with a well-judged blend of charm and grit by Ella Ferris. All the other players in her story from her family to her coaches to coaches, competitors and journalists are given vibrant life and interpretation by the spectacular skills of the ensemble (Sermash Bin Saad, Jacqueline Compton, Lincoln Elliott, Katina Olsen). Katine Olsen is also credited as the movement director, and she has created an almost balletic interpretation of the drama of sport. Moments of humour and pathos are given equal weight as the highs and lows reflect the parrying back and forth of the ball over the net and into the angles of the court. The set, designed by Romaine Harper suits the purpose superbly as it represents the physical court, with movable fixtures, an umpire's chair, and metal benches representing everything from the family car to a hotel bed to a trophy cabinet. It would have been even more appealing if this were performed in the traverse setting as that would enhance the audience engagement and experience of the ebb and flow of the game(play). Sunshine Super Girl at The Q is a spectacular production of a play about a remarkable woman, and I’m all out of superlatives.

Ella Ferris as Evonne Goolagong Cawley in Sunshine Super Girl

Friday Five: Top Theatre Picks of 2018

P.J. Williams as Poprishchin in Diary of a Madman

I saw 23 works of theatre this year across four cities. I saw a lot of comedy too, but I'm not including that in my reviews (apart from the one that was performed at the Comedy Festival and is, therefore, a cross-over). Obviously, we all know that a review is one person's opinion so my favourites may well be different from others' - that doesn't mean that anyone is right or wrong; just that we are different. For the record, my top five productions this year are (in alphabetical order):

1. Diary of a Madman (produced by The Street at Street 2) - With an excellent set, technical design (Imogen Keen), controlled direction (Caroline Stacey) and superb acting (P.J. Williams and Lily Constantine), this brilliant piece of theatre is both claustrophobic and expansive. The two actors occupy the entire space and their own minuscule territory, while the issues raised are both intimate and universal. Nikolai Gogol's bleak commentary on the madness within bureaucracy is sharply tuned by David Holman's stage adaptation. As an exploration of the way we mentally process mundanity and turn the monotonous into the momentous, this is scintillating drama. It deserves to be seen and discussed at length.
2. Exclusion (produced by David Atfield at The Street Theatre) - Imagine Closer meets Macbeth drenched in politics and The Pet Shop Boys, and you'll be somewhere near an appreciation of this play. It's a privilege to see new, local work of this calibre on stage. Well-written and sharply executed (David Atfield is the writer and director), it focuses on the big issues of honesty, ambition, integrity, sexuality, self-awareness and motivation; whether in the personal or public sphere, being true to oneself is often the hardest thing to face. And if these sound like weighty issues, don't worry; the cast carries them with passion and empathy. With searingly honest performances from Craig Alexander, Tracy Bourne, Ethan Gibson, Fiona Victoria Hopkins and Michael Sparks, we are in safe hands.
3. Proof (produced by FREEFALL Productions at The Q, Queanbeyan) - Ylaria Rogers excels as Catherine, exhibiting all the vulnerability of a young woman with a brilliant mathematical mind whose father, Robert, has just died after she has cared for him in his latter years. Julia Christensen portrays the other daughter, Claire, as the one who got away, returning now to sell the family home and try and force Catherine to move on, even if she doesn't want to. Alexander Brown as one of Robert's students deftly walks the line between social awkwardness and competitive manipulation, and Gerard Carroll as Robert puts in a controlled and controlling performance. Bluntly addressing the nature of genius, academia, sexism, sibling rivalry, grief and insanity, this production manages to be amazing, moving, and overwhelming: I loved it.
4. Shit-Faced Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet (produced by A-List Entertainment, UK at The Street Theatre) - This was presented as part of the Canberra Comedy Festival, so it was always going to be a riot or a write-off. Fortunately, it is very much in the former camp. The troupe consists of six classically-trained actors who perform the Shakespearean play, one of whom is plied with alcohol before the show - it is a different actor each night who interrupts the performance of the others by missing lines, skipping ahead, changing the plot, tripping over and basically behaving as an inebriated person does. On stage. One cast member acts the stage manager/ MC to manage the risk, and has to ensure that the actor does no harm to himself or anyone else. It could be completely irresponsible, but it is instead clever and very funny i'faith. These guys know their shit as inspired improvisation leads to excellent entertainment. 'So raise your glass and have a drink/ Cos it's much better shitfaced, don't you think?'
5. Wild (produced by Melbourne Theatre Company at The Southbank Theatre, Melbourne) - Described as a psychological thriller for the digital age, this is a brilliant piece of theatre. Mike Bartlett's dark and comic twist on the Edward Snowden story literally turns the world upside down. A whistle-blower, Andrew (Nicholas Denton) hides out in a hotel room, terrified of the consequences of his actions, while believing in his convictions. He is teased and taunted by a characters known only as Woman (Anna Lise Phillips) and Man (Toby Schmitz) until he is no longer sure of the truth and the nature of reality. The acting and direction (Dean Bryant) are totally solid, while the set is artfully deconstructed as the blinds are drawn and walls removed in more than just metaphorical ways. It is creatively stunning and a mind-blowing exercise in bringing the truth to light.

Anna Lise Phillips as Woman in Wild

Honourable mentions for:

• The Aspirations of Daisie Morrow (produced by Brink Productions at The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre) - Four actors (Paul Blackwell, Lucy Lehman, Genevieve Picot and James Smith) play a number of characters and narrate events in this adaptation of a Patrick White story. The physical shifts and slight changes of costume, props and vocals, make it beautiful, moving and touching in its simplicity. With an innovative setting, fantastic design elements, consummate acting and a gorgeous musical accompaniment, this is a spectacularly engaging production.
• Henry V (produced by Oregon Shakespeare Festival at Thomas Theatre, Oregon, USA) - in which director Rosa Joshi incorporates innovative costume and set design to keep the pace moving briskly and precisely. The lead performance from Daniel Jose Molina is supremely confident (verging on psychotic) and the American accent and modern delivery ruins the rhythm but it sharpens the humour and militancy.
• Venus in Fur (produced by The Street at The Street Theatre) - I've read the book; bought the single; now I've seen the play. Perhaps I should get the T-shirt: mink or sable? Faux, obviously. The post-modern play by David Ives explores the sexual politics of the original novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch as a director, Thomas Novachek (Craig Alexander), has adapted it to the stage. As he attempts to cast the part of Wanda von Dunajew, he auditions a young actress, Vanda (Joanna Richards), in a disturbingly contemporary power play. His dominance is questioned by the performance of Vanda who subverts his expectations by presenting a variety of versions of the play within a play within a play. It's challenging and immediate, and director Caroline Stacey is always in control of the audience and the text. 

Daniel Jose Molina as the titular role in Henry V at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival