By Jennifer Kokai and Oliver Kokai-Means. Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta. Riverside Theatres Parramatta. Director: Warwick Doddrell. May 29 – June 5, 2021

Reviewed : May 29, 2021

Surveys tell us that more and more kids suffer from anxiety – and that the pandemic and its associated problems haven’t helped. When co-writer Oliver Kokai-Means was 9 he suffered so badly from anxiety that he couldn’t go to school. No one, including his teachers, understood how sad and alone he felt. He, and his playwright mother, Jennifer Kokai, decided to write a play to try and help people understand what it feels like to be so anxious when you are young – and to suggest some ways to cope with that feeling.

From this came Zombie Thoughts – an inter-active choose-your-own adventure based on popular video games and featuring anxiety-ridden Sam and his caring friend Pig. They are led through the game by the audience, who decide which actors will play each character, the hats they will wear, and which of Sam’s demons they will face.

First performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2018 when Oliver was 11, the play has had amazing success across America, with productions in Chicago, Washington DC, Maryland, Florida and Honolulu. A touring production in 2018 played at 50 elementary schools. In 2020, when the pandemic closed theatres, the Montana Rep Company liaised to produce a digital version with which kids can interact, just as they do in the stage version.

The play obviously strikes the right chord for kids, adults … and educators.

Firstly, it isn’t patronising.

Secondly, it doesn’t ‘water down’ just how debilitating anxiety can be. In fact, it goes pretty deeply into the frightening things kids imagine, often far more real than ‘tigers under the bed’.

Thirdly, it’s a game! The audience is ‘the player’ with the power. They decide which actors will play Sam and Pig, and which hats they will wear (all of pig’s hats have little pink ears!). It is they who guide Sam and Pig through the game and the scary levels based on Sam’s fears – like ghost houses, dark caves, deep abysses, vampire bats, zombies … or something happening his parents.

In this version of the play, the Machine is a real Narrator rather than just a voice behind a screen. This means the game seems more personal, and that the audience can feel even more involved, especially when someone like Monica Sayers is playing the part. Sayers is vibrant, commanding, expressive – and funny. She whips around the glitzy Minecraft stage, working the audience, demanding they make quick decisions that take them up the levels of Sam’s anxiety. She makes the ghostly noises in the haunted house, manipulates vampire bats on bendy poles, becomes the Shark or the Wolf (whichever the audience has chosen) in a scary mask, and the disembodied voice of ‘Mum’ who won’t come when Sam calls. Sayers pushes the pressure and urgency of the game, making it … real?

Sam or Pig are played by Jose Talite or Emma O’Sullivan, who has come late to this production following Annie Stafford’s reluctant need to give up the role. At the beginning of the game the audience decides which will be intelligent, anxious Sam, or goofy, calm, pun-loving Pig. Like the kids they portray, they must be fit and flexible. They are, after all, the avatars in a fast video game. They jump up and down the levels of the sparkly Minecraft set, as they are attacked by bats, a wolf (or a shark). They cringe away from zombie arms that reach out to grab them or the huge skull that dictates from the screen behind them. They are funny at times, breaking the tension that builds from Sam’s anxiety, but sustain the fear that bubbles constantly. Both find their ‘inner kid’ in very lively, physical performances.

The play is about Sam’s anxiety and it never detracts from the seriousness of the condition nor the difficulty of overcoming it. It makes some suggestions, including breathing slowly, “in through the nose, out through the mouth” … and Sam’s own insightful words: “I am the boss of my brain. It is not the boss of me”.

We all have fears. We all deal with them differently. Zombie Thoughts lets children know that they are not alone – that others understand, that there is a way out of the “abyss”.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

Adapted from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book. Choreography and Direction: Anne Tournié. Adaptation and Co-direction: Chris Mouron. Original Music: Terry Truck. Presented by the Sydney Opera House in association with Broadway Entertainment Group. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. May 26 – June 6, 2021

Reviewed : 27 May, 2021

The Little Prince, first published in 1943, tells the tale of an aviator who descends from the sky into the middle of a desert, where he meets a little prince who introduces him to a strange collection of characters and emotions. Writer and pioneer aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery based the story on the days he spent in the Libyan desert after his monoplane failed in 1935!

This extraordinary adaptation, on tour from Paris, has been co-directed by French choreographer Anne Tournié and singer Chris Mouron. With composer Terry Truck and videos designer Marie Jumelin, they re-imagine the Little Prince’s planet in a more contemporary, colourful multi-discipline production that combines dance, aerial acrobatics, music and video-mapping technology.

Tournié and Mouron tumble Saint-Exupery’s Aviator into a bigger world where video images move across the sky and envelop the ground; where stars and planets twinkle and twirl; where little volcanoes puff clouds of white smoke; and computers and calculators flash in a sea of lights and figures.

In this world figures drop gracefully from the sky or twist on lamp posts, or like the Little Prince himself, tread precariously on a spinning sphere – and dancers leap, cartwheel and jump from each other’s shoulders in quirky picture book costumes, designed by Peggy Housset, that that swirl and sparkle and shine.

“We made it a little more modern,” says Mouron, but in doing so, the original premise of the story and its gentle, philosophic wisdom have been preserved. To do this a narrator has been introduced, played by Mouron herself. Using Saint-Exupery’s beautiful, simple language, she gently introduces each fragment of the story, which is then retold in graceful dance, fluid gesture, lithe movement, and gentle humour.

“Draw me a sheep” she says in the words of the Little Prince – and a small flock of sheep appear moving warily towards the Prince and the aviator. On the blue sky above them a drawing of a sheep appears and one of the sheep moves closer. “Not that one,” Mouron narrates for him, and draws his attention to a crate in which he sees another sheep. “That is just the kind I wanted,” Mouron says, and the sheep appears from the crate and dances with the Little Prince.

Thus voice, dance, acrobatics and technology are blended in a way that enhances the simplicity of Saint-Exupery’s original words – and the quintessential characters with which he peopled his story.

The King, for example, balances on the shoulders of his courtiers, whilst a fleur-de-lys of stars floats above his kingdom. “Do the stars obey you?” Mouron narrates. “They obey immediately. …”. And the “stars” line up obediently across the back of the scene.

The conceited man dances in a narcissistic kaleidoscope of colourful “selfies”. The lamplighter sways on his lamp post. The snake winds down from the sky and a moonlike planet. Flowers burst into bloom in the form of elegant dancers swirling in red and gold. “All I own is an ordinary rose,” Mouron intones.

The choreography is such that even leaps and acrobatics seem gentle. The characters the dancers portray are endearing – just as they are in the original text. Even the drunk man and the businessman are portrayed with humour. The sheep and the fox are especially loveable – and memorable …

This vibrant retelling of The Little Prince will stay in the memory of those who see it.

Adults will remember the vivid video mapping and the stunning dancing. Little people will remember the Prince himself with his yellow pants and white hair, looking up to the sky as he hangs, suspended above the stage. They’ll remember the king’s ridiculous puffy hat and red nose. They’ll remember the funny antics of the sheep, the soft gentleness of the fox as he begs – “If you tame me, we’ll need each other .”

That this French production is here in Sydney at all is a little miracle considering the state of our planet at the moment.  Perhaps Antoine de Saint-Exupery was a little prescient when he wrote in 1943: “On the Little Prince’s planet, there had always been very simple flowers, but this one had grown from a seed brought from who knows where”.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman. Sydney Theatre Company. Director Shari Sebbens. Wharf 1 Theatre. May 21 – June 19, 2021

Reviewed : 25 May, 202

You can’t go back”, the Woman says in the final moments of 7 Stages of Grieving.

Yet Sydney Theatre Company has gone back mount a fourth production. What is it about this play that makes a company “go back” to it again, and again? STC Artistic Director Kip Williams explains some of the reasons:

“It is a formally revolutionary landmark of Aboriginal theatre.”

“It has left an indelible mark on the arts landscape.”

“It is chillingly effective and powerfully radical.”

“It … continues to resonate with such urgency.”

“One performer taking the time and space to tell the story of First Nation Resistance.”

That one performer is a woman, a “sole, Blak performer: going deep into grief every night and handing it over to a majority non-Blakfulla audience” writes director Shari Sebbens. She acknowledges the enormous emotional weight this puts on the performer. The stories she tells are distressing. The way she tells them varies. She must move from pathos to humour. From storyteller to stand-up comic. From raconteur to reading a police report. She must be strong, fierce, passionate, touching, real. She must, in fact, be … “deadly”!

Sebbens found all those qualities in Elaine Crombie: actor, dancer, singer with experience across stage, screen and television. Someone who could adapt, improvise, and engage.

Crombie plays ‘The Woman’ with courage, compassion,  deep empathy, and her own deadly sense of humour! She identifies strongly with each ‘stage’ of grief, each compelling message. She finds every nuance of sadness and celebration in the story of “Nana’s” funeral: the solidarity of the family, the reactions of the white neighbours, the distress of putting her grandmother’s photo away. She swings into a practised and fast paced stand-up routine to perform the very satirical “Have You Ever Been Black?” She describes the silent march in Brisbane against police brutality with controlled restraint.

Every message in this play is important – and very sensitive.  Striking the balance between performing and identifying with the stories isn’t easy. Fortunately, Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman managed to find that balance in their writing. Every ‘stage of grief’ they describe is a strong statement – but they don’t preach! They share. They inform. They explain. They ask for change. Yet in the 26 years since 7 Stages of Grieving was first performed, so little has changed.

That’s why this play is still being performed. Why its messages are still so relevant. What foresight Enoch and Mailman had to write it in a form that could be adapted and revisualized …  as Shari Sebbens and designer Elizabeth Gadsby have done in this production.

Gadsby has symbolised indigenous history with a series of middens covered with shells. One becomes a grave that Crombie establishes with a cross of brilliantly coloured flowers that tinkles as she puts it in place. The brightness of the flowers reflects the bright colours in which Crombie dressed, the glitter on her shirt another symbol which Sebbens describes as “a sparkling reflection of Blak joy amongst the grief”.

A huge screen is used as a creative – and compelling – backdrop. On are projected the many words associated with grief that introduce the play … and later the dates of 475 black deaths in custody… and even later a list of “7 Actions of Healing” that bring the play right into the present. During “Nana’s Story” the Words of “Delta Dawn’ are projected so the audience can sing along!

As Crombie grabs a microphone from stage left to begin  “Have You Ever Been Black?” a red curtain drops suddenly to transform the scene, then disappears just as suddenly as that ‘stage’ in the story finishes.

Sebbens and Gadsby have used innovative ideas to highlight the sensitive messages that Crombie performs so perceptively. 7 Stages of Grieving will continue to be performed whilst ever the changes it asks for still need to be made. As Shari Sebbens sees it …

To me this play feels eternal

which makes me happy.

But also, this play feels eternal,

and that makes me furious.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

Devised by Mikala Westall and Adriane Daff. Red Line Productions. Old Fitz Theatre. May 15 – June 6, 2021

Reviewed : 16 May, 2021

The title is suggestive. The publicist’s words even more so …“A devised, lo-fi science fiction, dark comedy about how our sense of worth, wellbeing, and meaning-making in a technological world cater to anxiety, doubt, and existential dread.”

Nearly every noun they’ve used has multiple connotations, undertones, nuances! Multiple inferences in a single sentence. Multiple triggers for a world beset by conspiracy theorists and influencers and truth seekers. Multiple triggers that might inspire people with original ideas and the imagination, talent, and skill to realise them.

Hyperdream trips every trigger. Using a combination of video technology, fast-paced, tightly choreographed acting and a weird, almost futuristic script – four performers rush the audience recklessly through a series of  bizarre scenes that could be real, could be surreal, could mean a lot, could mean nothing.

This is what theatre of the 21^st century can be. Innovative; using technology more creatively; mixing different bits of the new with different bits of the old. It might be a little confusing; it might even upset conventional expectations! But isn’t that what theatre has always done when the old ways become a bit stale and predictable? And new ways allow theatre makers to say what they want to say more effectively?

The creatives behind, in and around Hyperdream are doing just that. Adriane Daff, Angela Mahlatjie, Josh Price, Matt Abell-King, Mikala Westall and Nat Jobe, with sound designer Julian Starr, have devised a theatre experience that is strange, funny, provocative and dark.

It uses lights, strobe, cameras, a screen, torches and strange combinations of sound. It uses aluminium foil, green walls, grey track suits, towelling slippers and a wedding veil. It uses short, sharp bursts of dialogue in short, sharp scenes, interspersed with quick, carefully choreographed changes that have been meticulously rehearsed. And, it stretches the imagination about a really unnerving theme:

“If you could re-do a moment in your life, a moment whose memory haunts you … would you do it?”

For most of us, probably not. But if you could, you might go on “a journey through obsessions, coping mechanisms and our understanding of reality”. Hyperdream covers all those possibilities … and more.

Hyperdream is a stimulating and inventive piece of theatre and it’s fun as well. It would be an excellent experience for HSC Drama students studying Multi-Discipline  theatre. I do hope that message gets to Drama teachers!

First published in Stage Whispers magazine.

By E.M. Forster, adapted by Martin Sherman. Director: Mark G. Nagle. Genesian Theatre, Sydney. 15 May – 19 June, 2021.

Reviewed : 15 May, 2021

British writer E.M.Forster travelled extensively in India between 1912 and 1913, and returned there for a short time as a public servant in 1921. His novel A Passage to India, based on the political, social and spiritual divisions he observed during his visits, was first published in 1924. Set in a fictitious Indian city called Chandrapore, it was originally adapted as a play in 1960 by Santha Rama Rau. The 1984 screenplay, written and directed by David Lean, starred  Judy Davis in the leading role of Adela Quested, while Dame Peggy Ashcroft won the Academy Award for best supporting actor in the role of Mrs Moore.

Martin Sherman’s 2002 adaptation is true to Foster’s intricate plot, his portrayal of the British Raj and the characters he created. A cast of twenty British and Indian characters tell the story of Miss Adela Quested’s desire to see the real India and meet real Indian people. The complications that follow include a strange ‘bridging the social gap’ party, a trip to a system of unsupervised caves, a false accusation, a wrongful arrest, and a trial that accentuates the racial tensions and prejudices inculcated by the Raj.

It is almost an epic. There are so many scenes, so many characters, so many directorial and organisational challenges! Depicting the time and place authentically. Finding just the right cast. Choreographing twenty actors in an early 20^th century Indian street scene. Creating a dark claustrophobic cave with an insistent, eerie echo.

Mark G. Nagle is to be commended for having the courage to take on those challenges. He and his creatives – costume designer Andrea Tan, lighting designers Sarah Gooda and Michael Schell,  sound designers James Julian Wilson and Vishal Shah, choreographer Akshat Gupta – have recreated a little bit of India in summer in the early 1900s. They have also used imaginative ideas to depict some tricky scenes.

The overall tenor of the play is set by an opening tableau. There is a huge Union Jack. The cast is arranged, as if for a photograph, in racially distinct order. From a photograph above them, King George V looks benignly over one of the ‘jewels’ in his Empire and the rousing, imperial words of “Land of Hope and Glory” sound righteously above them.

Gaurav Kharbanda as Professor Narayan Godbole then assumes the role of narrator, pundit and would-be comedian. Kharbanda carries this role effectively. He is both funny and engaging, and links the facets of the story effectively.

On the set, colourful hangings break the harsh light of summer heat and the climate-sensible fashions of the Indian fashions accentuate the unsuitable stuffiness of the British uniforms. The costumes have been carefully sourced and add to the authenticity of the period. Miss Quested (Christine New) looks beguiling in cream silks and lace.

Some of the difficult scenes are handled inventively. With the help of several cast members, the enormous, heavy duty Union Jack becomes a swaying elephant, then is ‘vacated’ to lie on the floor as a (potentially dangerous) floor covering.

The claustrophobia of a dark, threatening cave is achieved by a low canopy of interlocking rods held by cast members above the head of Mrs Moore (Susan Jordan). Dark lighting and a constant echo add to the menacing scene. A similar echo frightens Miss Quested as she ventures into another cave.

The court scenes, too, are effective. While Dr Aziz (Atharv Kolhatar), accused of ‘interfering with Miss Quested in the cave, stands in a dock made of bamboo rods, the judge and notaries stand on levels above the body of the court.

Nagle’s direction, too, takes into consideration the differences in customs and culture. The British characters stand and sit aloof. Their speech is stilted (their accents just a little too contrived) and they treat the Indian characters with disdain. Away from that contempt, the  Indian characters are relaxed and cheerful.

The many scene changes – and establishing the complications of inter-locking events and relationships – make this a long production. The choreography of the scene changes will become smoother as the run proceeds, and this will improve the pace of a production that is, perforce, multifaceted.

The cast plays 39 characters – and an elephant!  And carries out most of the many scene changes.  They bring theatre and music experience from India, Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to the Genesian stage. It is great to see such a diverse and multi-talented cast in such a testing production.

Congratulations to Mark G. Nagle and his team for bringing his ambitious vision to the stage.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

ImproAustralia, Enmore Theatre. Sunday 9th May, 2021.

Reviewed : 9 May, 2021

What a treat! The beautifully renovated Enmore Theatre with its custom-designed, monogrammed carpet, all clean and ‘unsticky’, the art deco reliefs all newly painted and picked out in gold – and sixteen improvisation  “All Stars”  introduced and compered by none other than Mr Mathematics, Adam Spencer, himself another Theatresports All Star! What more could one wish for!

Well, a great night of improvised theatre for one thing. And that’s what we got!

A wonderful supportive audience for another thing. We got that too!

There’s something about Theatresports audiences. They’re inter-generational for a start – old, young and every age bracket in between. They’re multicultural, multigender, multi-everything. There are families, groups of schoolkids, Drama teachers, theatre buffs, Theatre sports buffs – and people who heard about the show on the ABC! (Your ABC interviews and little ‘radio impro with cow’ last Thursday night really worked guys!)

And to the credit of every one of the actors, the whole performance is family friendly! I’m no prude by any means, but a whole improvised performance with no gratuitous swearing – in fact no swearing at all! – and no smutty innuendoes despite plenty of opportunities in fourteen imaginative and clever scenes? That’s got to be something unusual.

In fact, the whole performance was clean, clever, pacey and theatrical. Every improv ‘rule’ was followed! Offers were made, accepted and extended. New characters were introduced. No idea was ‘blocked’. Yes, I know I’m using ‘jargon’, but every Drama student and Drama teacher in the audience will know what I mean!

They will also appreciate the fact that, despite their experience and talent, these Theatresports Stars performed some of the original one, two and three minute Theatresports games devised by Keith Johnson and his students in Calgary, Canada in the 1970s. ‘Death in a Minute’, the ‘Alphabet game’, ‘Emotional Replay’, ‘Double Figures’ are still basic games used to develop the inter-school Theatresports Competition teams that prepare Drama students for the rigours of the drama syllabuses.

All in all, as usual, this was a great night of improvised theatre performed by some of the best known Impro actors in the country – and organised by a team of similarly skilled actors who are the creative, collaborative team that is Impro Australia.

Want to understand and learn more about Theatresports? Want to see more?  There are plenty of opportunities. Just go to improaustralia.com and check out classes and performances – like that on the first Monday of every month at the Cat and Fiddle Hotel in Balmain. And check out the other performances like Celebrity Theatresports coming up later in the year. You’ll be surprised just how popular imrovisation is – and how much fun.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

Reviewed : 7 May, 2021

It’s a brave company that takes on NSW’s first amateur production of any musical, especially one that is as demanding as Beautiful. Carole King’s story covers over half a century of musical styles, song writers and singers. It’s complex vocally in so many ways – just fancy taking on the role of a singer as talented and internationally loved as Carole King for a start! Or Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann! Or The Drifters! Or The Shirelles!

It’s just as complex technically. It requires a twelve-piece band, including three keyboards, two guitars, a bass, drums, percussion, two reeds, a trumpet, a flugelhorn, a trombone and a bass trombone. There are multiple microphones and microphone changes. In this production there are two hundred points of audio connect and one hundred and eighty lighting cues. An extra one kilometre of cabling was required in order to stage the production in the venue!

Yet, Blackout Theatre Company took on this mammoth project at the end of 2019 and was well and truly into production mode when the pandemic struck. Undaunted, director Jordan Anderson, with musical director Koren Beale and choreographer Lauren MacKinnon, and a committed cast and crew, waited patiently, and are at last able to bring the state’s first amateur production of  Beautiful to the stage, with Elisa Vitagliani in the leading role.

Anderson describes Vitagliani as “incomparable” and she certainly lives up to his description. She brings a wealth of musical training and musical theatre experience to the role, as she takes King from a hopeful teenage composer to an internationally celebrated performer. Whether diffidently offering “It Might as well Rain Until September” to  a New York producer or playing and singing at Carnegie Hall, Vitagliani shines stunningly in this role. She embodies the warmth that is so characteristic of King and her music, as well as personifying King’s vocal strength, range, energy and sincerity.

Christopher Melotti plays King’s lyricist husband Gerry Goffin. Melotti takes Goffin  from cocky teenager and confident collaborator to a troubled depressive who forsakes his wife and family. Melotti plays the role with thoughtful expressiveness.

Fellow musical collaborators Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann are played by Fiona Brennan and Timothy Drummond. These two performers work well together, both highlighting the humour that has been written into the roles. They play off each other well, whether acting or singing, and make their characters very believable.

Donnie Kirschner – music publisher and rock music producer – is played with restrained energy by Anthony Chester. Jodie Thornton plays King’s very supportive mother, Genie Klein, with bubbly energy.

In dialogue and song, these six performers tell the Carole King ‘story’, taking her from a hopeful, starry eyed sixteen-year-old composer to wife, mother, friend and celebrated performer. They are supported by a strong cast who sing – and dance – with vibrant enthusiasm, whether playing backing singers or harmonising as the very dapper Drifters or the very sparkly Shirelles.

Backing them (in another room in the venue) is the band conducted by Lindsay Kaul. The sound and video are ‘transported’ to the auditorium by network connections – and considering how little time the company is actually in the venue prior to opening, bringing off-stage sound, on-stage action and lighting cues together in only a few rehearsals is always frenetic. Then there is backstage frenzy of co-ordinating 28 performers, making over 150 costume changes, changing 40 wigs and manipulating 130 props.

Blackout Theatre Company took on a major project with this production. That they have managed it so successfully is a credit to Jordan Anderson, his creative team, a very gifted leading lady, and a strong, enthusiastic cast and crew. Their production is yet another example of the artistic heart that beats so strongly in western Sydney.

Also published in State Whispers magazine.