Book, Music, Lyrics Richard O’Brien. Rocky Horror Company. Director Christopher Luscombe. Theatre Royal, Sydney. Opening Night: April 3, 2024

Reviewed : 3 April, 2024*

Richard O’Brien calls his creation “a celebration of wonderful rainbow joy and toe-tapping happiness” – but he knows it’s really much more than that. It’s brazen and boisterous; cheeky and colourful; loud and lively! And though I was probably one of the oldest people in the audience at last night’s opening performance, I was just as hyped as any of the other excited Sydney siders who packed the Theatre Royal to celebrate fifty years of The Rocky Horror Show.

Since it opened in a little 63-seater theatre upstairs in the Royal Court in London in 1973 it’s been wowing audiences around the world. And it has s special place in Australian theatre history. It was Australia’s ‘showman’ Jim Sharman who directed Richard O’Brien himself as Riff Raff in the original London production; Sharman who directed it for Harry M. Miller a year later in Australia; and Sharman who encouraged Australia’s original Frank N Further Reg Livermore to be, in Reg’s words, “the fearless embodiment of all that is unspeakable”.

Jason Donovan does Livermore’s “fearless” Frank proud in this glittering production that sparkles with all the pizzazz of 21^st century technology, creativity … and inclusivity. Because it is superstar tennis Paralympian Dylan Alcott OA who plays the Narrator, spinning his wheelchair on a different stage and, in his usual, confident style, returning the serves of hecklers with crisp, cross-court cuts.

From high above the stage, almost hidden behind the backdrop of a giant strip of celluloid film paying tribute to the B-grade Science Fiction “late night, double feature, picture shows” on which the musical is based, the musicians strike up and the Usherette – Voice finalist Stellar Perry – appears, and with her tray of ice creams to open this anniversary production.

Nick Richards returns to Sydney to light the show with multiple contemporary effects. Gareth Owens matches them with exotic wrap around sound, and Sue Blane adds more spangles, sequins, feathers and weird wigs to her original designs, to make them even more daringly bold and suggestive.

Wearing them is a cast that appears just as lively and excited as the audience that awaits them. Blake Bowden replaces his Opera Australia Phantom mask with black-framed spectacles to become a very bewildered 1970s Brad, and Deidre Khoo is, as she proclaims in her bio notes, a “loud and proud Asian Janet”. Both find the naïve simplicity of their characters with some nice ‘engagement’ harmonies and excellent comedic timing, especially as they enter the laboratory of Dr Frank N Furter and his strange staff.

Henry Rollo sidles and simpers as Riff Raff, his lithe suppleness emulating the wraithlike spookiness with which O’Brien himself imbued the character. His Phantoms – Josh Gates, Hollie James, Nicolas Van Litsenborgh and Erica Wild – slither and snake as his dark minions, always in perfect time and voice. Stellar Perry returns as his sister, the alluring Transylvanian temptress Magenta, and Darcey Eagle is a feisty and spirited Columbia who follows her transvestite hero with lusty vocals and driving energy, especially as she joins Riff Raff, Magenta and the Phantoms for the much-awaited “Time Warp”. Nathan M. Wright’s fast, contemporary choreography delights the audience, especially in the reprise at the end of the show where the Narrator adds a surprise!

Ellis Dolan rocks in the role of Eddie – yet plays things much more sombrely when he returns to the stage as a slightly ‘restrained’ Dr Scott.

Who have I missed? Oops! The mad transvestite scientist Frank N Furter himself  … and his ‘perfect’ invention Rocky.

Jason Donovan is a dynamic, decadent Frank who owns the stage from the moment he strides in and throws off his black coat to reveal the corset, fishnets and pearls that are Frank’s ‘livery’! Strutting in high heels, he menaces the audience, never missing the opportunity to wriggle his eyebrows, flick his tongue or lustily lick his lips. Donovan brings a wealth of theatrical experience to the Rocky Horror stage.  As well as playing Frank for the twenty-fifth anniversary production, he has sung for a monarch, and played characters as diverse as an Egyptian pharaoh and a drag queen. This performance shows he has lost none of the energy or charisma with which he has captured audiences here and overseas.

And Rocky, the mad medical transvestite’s “favourite obsession”? That’s Daniel Erbacher! He emerges from the circle of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man in sculpturesque splendour, complete with glittering gold bikini briefs and boots. Fresh-faced and wide-eyed, he poses innocently – well almost! – setting Janet’s heart fluttering and Brad’s fists clenching. Erbacher does a fine job with this role, making Rocky gloriously guileless and just a little god-like!

This “golden” anniversary of the Rocky Horror Show is a celebration of how a crazy idea based on some third-rate movies has become a musical theatre ‘icon’ that can be ‘dressed up’ in all the glitter and glam of modern theatrics, but never loses its original wicked artless appeal.

Written and performed by Debra Oswald; Director Lee Lewis; Ensemble Theatre; 18 Sept – 14 Oct

Reviewed : 22 September, 2023*

Debra Oswald chose as the title for her own story the words of a child who saw her crying in the aisle of a supermarket. What brought her to tears, she explains in her performance, was the song playing over the loudspeaker system as she did her shopping! Why it brought her to tears was the memory of it being used in the original production of her play Gary’s House – and her love for the flawed character of Gary who dies halfway through the play.

I understand Oswald’s feelings for that Gary – as did, I am sure, anyone else who directed the play – or taught or studied it for HSC Drama in NSW in the 1990s. Gary was battler, a struggler who eventually gave up, but who inspired others. As did so many of Oswald’s characters, especially ‘Therese’ in Mr Bailey’s Minder, another struggler, but one who didn’t give up!

Oswald’s love of theatre began early – but she never wanted to be on stage. She wanted to create the characters, write the words they said to each other. From Gary and Mr Bailey to the cops on Police Rescue, from two Bananas in Pyjamas to the medicos and their families in Offspring, Debra Oswald has created characters with whom audiences identified, believed in and loved.

Hearing her talking about creating and watching them come to life on stage and screen is a privilege and joy. Her description of working in “the writer’s room” is exhilarating, full of the satisfaction of collaboration, sharing ideas and jokes and decisions – as opposed to the isolation of writing alone.

Hearing her talk about the realities of being a writer is not quite so joyous. Without really complaining she tells of the hurt of rejection, and the even greater hurt of scripts or novels being ignored. Of being requested to write a series that never gets up. Of how easy it is to give up – and almost give in.

Oswald share more than her professional life. She shares memories of her parents. Of growing up Sydney’s northwest. Of watching medical programs on TV that led her to imagining all sorts of illnesses. Of romance and love, motherhood, grandchildren. Her strange in-laws and their obsession with teddy bears. And her handsome dog Clancy.

Is There something Wrong with that Lady? is more a memoir than a performance. A memoir written by a writer of dialogue who knows the importance of sequence and rhythm and pause. When to use rhetorical questions, humour, and asides. With director Lee Lewis, Oswald puts her own words into action, relaxing into the role of storyteller so that her ability to communicate personally and honestly shines through.

In her program notes director Lewis explains how unusual it is for a writer “to step out of the shadows and remind us that it all starts with a person sitting in front of a blank screen or sheet of paper.” To do so on stage is even more unusual. “It is generous,” Lewis says, “and brave, touching and slightly scary.” But Oswald overcomes any scariness with the power of her own words and her warm, outgoing personality.

*Opening Night

By Giuseppe Verdi and Antonion Ghislanzoni. Opera Australia. Director David Livermore. Conductor Stuart Stratford. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. 19 June – 21 July, 2023

Reviewed : 19 June, 2023*

Giuseppe Verdi rose from humble beginnings to become one of the world’s greatest composers. His “big, beautiful melodies and expressive dramatic orchestral music” are performed continuously in opera houses around the world. He composed 26 operas and his famous Requiem – all of which led to him being so loved and respected that 200,000 ‘fans’ lined the streets at his funeral in 1901.

Verdi wrote about strong characters who displayed real emotions. They were not necessarily important people in the society, but he raised them to importance in the stories he created with his librettists.

In this opera, the heroine, Aida, is a captive Ethiopian princess who is enslaved to Amneris, an Egyptian princess. Aida’s lover, Radamès, has been chosen to lead the Egyptian army against Ethiopia. Amneris also has her eye on him!

When Radamès returns, victorious, the Egyptian King offers Amneris to Radamès in marriage, leaving Amneris exultant and Aida miserable, a misery exacerbated by the fact that her father, Amonasro, is among the prisoners of war Radamès has captured.

Amonasro convinces Aida to get information about a further invasion from Radamès. When Radamès realises he has betrayed his country, he hands over his sword, is tried for treason and sentenced to be buried alive. Aida joins him in his tomb and, as they fade away, Amneris prays for Radamès.

It’s a sad story, embellished by beautiful music, especially the famous “Triumphal March” where the orchestra and the people of Egypt, and a massive fanfare of brass instruments, salute the victory and the Glory of the god Isis.

In this production, trumpets sound from the boxes in the auditorium as well as from the stage, making the victory even more triumphant.

Along with the wonder of the music and those who perform it, technology has inspired contemporary opera productions to become more and more spectacular. This production by director David Livermore is no exception. Livermore is renowned for his “high-tech sets that create impressive three-dimensional backdrops”, along with LED lighting effects and video projections. In Aida, he uses all of these impressively.

Metres high illuminated flats encase the stage or move across it. Projected images frame every scene – billowing red clouds, leaping yellow flames, metres high soldiers, tall, posed naked women, a giant black cat – rise above the action, a powerful example of modern theatricality juxtaposed with nineteenth century music and the Kingdom of Egypt in 2200 BC.

It is an impressive display – breath-taking at times – but it can become distracting!

The spectacle and movement – of the flats themselves and the images – though they fuse and blend with the tempo and emotion of the music and the voices, seem often to pull focus from the action … and Gianluca Falaschi’s incredible costumes.

Gold and turquoise, geometrical shapes, sparkling bejewelled gowns, gold and black battle dress, gold headdresses and helmets, a silver suit of armour. Gold and more gold!  Shiny fabrics and lace strikingly fashioned into flowing skirts, cloaks and long embroidered coats.

Skimpy white fabrics worn by dancers who contort themselves before the gods. What creativity and imagination went into Falaschi’s designs! What fun those who made them must have had! What a thrill for those who wear them!

Leah Crocetto and Elena Gabouri grace some wonderful gowns as Aida and Amneris. Najmiddin Mavlyanov is resplendent in a gold embroidered coat as Radamès. Roberto Scandiuzzi shines in gold and silver vestments and a tall headdress as the priest Ramfis. David Parkin, as the King, is encased in silver and gold metallic armour, his face hidden behind a silver helmet as he stands regally on an intricate gold dais.

Soldiers and the court are similarly garbed, their costumes opulent and glittering – as are their voices as they wish Radamès and the army well – or welcome them victoriously home.

Crocetto and Gabouri, whether singing together in harmony, or alone, are spellbinding in their range and the powerful strength of their voices. Mavlyanov finds the loyal ambition and patriotism of Radamès in his solos – and both love and confusion in duets with Crocetto and Gabouri.

Parkin and Warwick Fyfe, who plays Amonasro, are great favourites with Sydney opera goers – and when they sing it is easy to see why.

Stuart Stratford conducts the hidden but superbly heard ninety musicians of the Opera Australia Orchestra – and the Off Stage Banda trumpets, trombones and tuba that herald the “Triumphal March”. Verdi’s music is magnificently glorious in their hands.

This production of Aida stuns with its theatrical innovation, its spectacular costumes – and with the power and operatic experience of its stellar cast. It is a production opera audiences will long remember.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

*Opening Night

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson. Genesian Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Richard Cotter. 27 May – 17 June, 2023

Reviewed : June 2, 2023

Following the style of the oft’ staged The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridg’d and the popular adaptation of The 39 Steps, Steve Canny and John Nicholson condense Conan Doyle’s story to a comedy played by 3 actors. Richard Cotter cleverly leads the audience into the spirit of his production with his guileful choice of ‘mood’ music and wry program notes!

With the tone thus set, the curtains open to a sparsely set stage – some stairs, a free-standing door, an armchair! Here we meet Kate Easlea who, as the elementary Dr Watson, will guide the audience through the story and introduce Alyona Popova and Oliver Harcourt-Ham who play all the other characters that people Conan Doyle’s very convoluted plot.

As the perspicacious Sherlock Holmes, Popova – pipe in hand, cloak flowing and manner supercilious – sends Watson to Baskerville Hall to report on the strange death of Sir Charles Baskerville. This gives Popova the opportunity to play a bevy of other characters including the Barrymores (both husband and wife), the retainers at Baskerville Hall, the Stapletons (brother and sister) and an odd man hiding in the marsh, who is really Holmes in disguise.

As do some of the costume changes. Harcourt-Ham handles his with coy, expressive appeals to the sympathy of the audience! Popova manages hers with the same sort of aplomb with which she changes her characters. Her comic timing is excellent – and Cotter ensures he makes the most of her talent to push the pace and cheekiness of this irreverent adaptation.

Animals feature by sound rather than sight in this production. The howl of the hound, of course, pervades the action! Other animals whose voices haunt the mirey moor are deftly dealt with by Easlea’s Watson, a revolver and careful timing by Amy Roberts operating sound effects – and lighting. Roberts also gives ‘voice’ to the live lamb and cow which Harcourt-Ham, as a rustic peasant, shoulders villainously in a hessian bag.

Cotter’s approach to the production extends the commedia conventions suggested by Canny and Nicholson’s script – masks, walks, stances, voices, accents, comic routines, a love story, even a dance! He directs his cast to achieve all of that at a pace that sustains the comedy as well as the progressing the plot. A double whammy which they attack diligently.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine.

By Melanie Tait. Sydney Festival 2023, at The Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Janine Watson. 26 January – 4 March 2023

Reviewed : February 2, 2023*

Melanie Tait is a playwright who respects the intelligence and empathy of her audience. She ensures that her themes are relevant, thought provoking … as well as being entertaining. She knows her subjects, writes convincingly about them. She also respects her characters and the actors who will portray them. The characters have depth and layers of dimension that give their actors – and directors – much with which to work.

So cleverly written was her play The Appleton Ladies Potato Race that it has toured nationally, become the new ‘go to’ for many community theatre companies, and will soon be released as a film. A Broadcast Coup is equally clever, albeit just a little more confronting … for some.

Tait turns to her experience in the broadcast media for this play – and to the many stories about life in the ‘on air’, dog eat dog – Jock eat Jock? – competitive realm of radio. She sets the play in the studio of a national radio station. Makes it the morning show. You know the drill: a popular ‘host’; interviews on topical events; newsworthy guest spots; all put together by a quick-thinking, intelligent, well-organised production team.

Written in the wake of the international reaction to the Harvey Weinstein disclosures – and just into rehearsals as the 2020 lockdown hit – A Broadcast Coup explores in Tait’s own words “the grey areas of life after the 2017 #MeToo reckoning”. Questioned by a male friend about the relevance of the play after that “reckoning”, Tait writes “I would love A Broadcast Coup to be irrelevant …(but) … in December, yet another media star was sacked from his job in Sydney after harassing colleagues at a Christmas party” …

The relevance of the play remains – and this production by a very perspicacious director and an equally astute cast, finds the humour as well as well as the discomfort in the complex issues Tait raises

Firstly, Janine Watson leads her cast with insightful direction to realise the picture Tait paints of the broadcast studio. The pace and intensity of getting to air each day. The background work of the production team: topics, phone calls, time slots, background research, station IDs, ratings, meeting Board requirements, keeping to budget.

That frantic rush, every morning, each weekday is realised in tight, astute direction, made easier by Tait’s economic, realistic dialogue and the clever set designed by Veronique Benett and lit by Matt Cox. Two kidney shaped desks swivels constantly to suggest different locations – the studio, a bar, an apartment. A huge electronic weekly diary is the backdrop. Microphones descend to take the show to ‘air’ and two digital clocks pace each live interview. All occur in perfect synch with the pace Watson has set.

Sustaining that pace are five perceptive performers. There is long time host Mike played with calculating guile by Tony Cogin. It’s not easy playing a part it’s easy for the audience to dislike and judge, but Cogin does it well, breezing in from a week-long anger management course as if from a summer holiday, a bit brash, in charge, cocky – an arrogant sort of confidence that he falls back on whenever challenged.

Sharon Millerchip is his long-term, hard-working producer, Louise. Millerchip knows this character well – as do Tait and Watson. Loyal, stalwart, she is the backbone of the program, planning, the show, fielding complaints, keeping Mike’s diary in check, keeping Mike himself in check, even ensuring he has a clean shirt in case of an all-night ‘outing’.

Millerchip finds every subtlety written into this role. She is in every moment, reacting to every change in tone, every nuance in every word or action – at the same time becoming increasingly aware of the precipice on which the program hangs, including the vulnerability of the young production intern, Noa, played by Alex King.

King gives Noa the assurance of an intelligent, smart graduate. She knows her stuff, she’s  keen, she wants to learn, especially from Mike because she’s admired him for years. Because Noa is ambitious and King makes this very clear in strong dialogue, precise movements and clear, adroit reactions.

Ben Gerrard plays Troy, whose job is to ensure everyone, especially Mike, meets all the requirements of ‘management’. It’s not an easy job, especially as Mike belittles him constantly, but Troy is determined, and Tait has made that relentlessness Troy’s real strength. Gerrard plays to it cunningly, giving his Troy the dogged belief that right will eventually win, and using his excellent comedic timing to add levity to the role..

The “fly’ in the carefully mixed elements of the plot, played by Amber McMahon, is feminist activist Jez, whose podcasts on women’s issues have become increasingly popular and hard hitting.  All are based on very solid research, including a series of interviews she has collected from other women who, like Jez herself, once worked on the program.

McMahon plays a Jez who is self-assured, persuasive, who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She plans carefully, knows when to strike and how to do it most effectively. But until she goes to air with her latest podcast, she’d like Louise to come on board – for a particular reason ….

Put these five characters together in a rising media maelstrom deftly contrived by a clever writer, and you have a work where Janine Watson felt she “needed to pay great attention to time, pace, rhythm, both in the physical and verbal language elements”.

A play indeed where she felt her main task was “to create a sense of immediacy so you, in the audience, might feel like active participants in the seeking of an answer to the questions it asks. Where you feel included in the story and its unfolding.” “What’s the point of being a spectator”, she asks, “if we can’t see ourselves in their story?”

She leaves it up to you, you see, to bear your own witness – based of course on how you react to the events, how you identify with the characters – and how valid you feel Tait’s message to be. And that’s the kind of direction this play requires.

*Opening night

By Harold Pinter; Director : Iain Sinclair. Ensemble Theatre;  14 Oct – 19 Nov.

Reviewed : 19 October*

Before I begin, I must say that I am a great fan of Harold Pinter. I love his work. I love his characters. So, I when I saw who was involved in this production, I went to see it with great hope. A strong director. Very experienced actors. An intimate theatre space. I wasn’t disappointed!

Harold Pinter made an indelible, mark on the lives of actors, directors, critics and audiences in theatres, cinemas and English and Drama classrooms. He delved inside the characters he created, giving them a depth that went beyond the printed word and hung in unfinished phrases, unanswered questions and strange, sometimes menacing, relationships.

His stage directions and meticulous descriptions placed his characters clearly in a specific time and place. He gave directors and actors much with which to work. Perhaps none of his many plays shows this quite so vividly as The Caretaker.

Director Iain Sinclair says in his program notes: “It’s the director’s job to help actors best implement a playwright’s dramatic code and Harold Pinter’s is the best. We have followed it to the letter”.

Pinter’s “dramatic code” includes the setting and designer Veronique Benett’s has deciphered it in fastidious detail. A small room in an empty dilapidated house is crowded with two beds and a collection of miscellaneous paraphernalia including overflowing boxes, drawers, old kitchen appliances, an ancient lawn mower and a rolled- up strip of carpet. A mouse trap sits innocuously on one corner of the stage.

Two suitcases and pieces of wood are stacked under one bed. An old bathroom basin lies on the other. A chair is overturned on the floor. The window is dingy. A china Buddha sits on top of a gas stove. A bucket hangs from the ceiling. The atmosphere is seedy, lonely, fusty, augmented by Matt Cox’s moody lighting and Daryl Wallis’ ominous, lonely sound design.

Into this crowded, disconcerting space, Sinclair brings a distinguished cast. Darren Gilshenan as the garrulous tramp, Davies, Anthony Gooley as the shy, vulnerable Aston, and Henry Nixon as his more confident, intimidating brother, Mick.

Sinclair says, “It has been a lifelong dream to work on this particular play with actors of the calibre of Darren, Anthony and Henry” and he certainly works with them punctiliously in this fine, carefully controlled, beautifully timed production.

Director and actors have honoured Pinter’s “dramatic code”, respecting every possible implication in the dialogue and every implicit suggestion in every pause. On the intimate Ensemble stage, the characters they have uncovered are real and close, hovering hauntingly at the edge of the fourth wall.

Darren Gilshenan’s Davies is restlessly twitchy, edgy, always watchful. His eyes move nervously, canvassing the space cautiously. Never really at ease and never really relaxed, he is constantly aware and cannily observant. This Davies has learnt from experience and puts it to good measure as he cunningly plays the brothers against each other. Gilshenan brings his wide experience, creative intelligence and immaculate timing into creating a canny, crafty Davies who wears his torn coat, holey socks and soiled underclothes with a sort of swaggering pride.

Anthony Gooley finds a hovering frailty in Aston. It’s there in sad his eyes as they stare beyond the room into things neither Davies nor his brother see. It’s there in a wistful turn of his head, or in the hesitant way he hands Davies a pair of shoes. It’s there in his halting, bleak description of undergoing electric shock therapy – and in the despair it has left behind. Gooley makes that quiet, despair a pervading influence on the Aston he portrays. Its appeal is unnerving.

Henry Nixon, as Mick, introduces Pinter’s ability to nonplus the audience in the first few moments of the play. He enters the desolate room, sits on the bed and stares long and menacingly at the audience. Then leaves. He does not reappear until late in the second scene, where he surprises and tries, successfully at first, to intimidate Davies. Nixon sustains the menace of this Mick with a stiff poise that infuses every gesture and intonation. He holds himself tightly, ready to spring – a total contrast to his quiet, submissive brother.

Veronique Benett follows Pinter’s detailed description of the way his characters are dressed, showing the contrast between these three men who are struggling to find a way to survive in seedy, 1960s London. Aston wears a shirt, tie, jumper and coat, hiding his nerves in shabby respectability. Mick wears turned up blue jeans, a leather jacket, white canvas shoes, brazenly trying to be modern, upbeat. Davies wears the clothes of a down-and-out, but does so with a sort of insolent swagger.

Inside these disguises, Gilshenan, Gooley and Nixon bring their characters to life. With Sinclair they develop the strange trio and their even stranger relationship. They find the drama, the absurdity  … and the tension that can be built into a comedic three-way game of ‘pig in the middle’ with a shabby leather bag.

Three men, three portraits, three intriguing characters inter-relating in a production that is totally perplexing, totally mesmerizing … totally Pinteresque.

*Opening performance

By Mike Bartlett. Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre. Seymour Centre, July 29 – Aug 13, 2022.

Reviewed : July 27, 2022*

Unlike many contemporary plays, (one act, no interval, 70 to 90 minutes in length) Albion is more a ‘modern classic’ – think plays Arcadia, August: Osage County, Hotel Sorrento, When the Rain Stops Falling. It is long (3 hours) and whilst not a ‘family saga’, it takes a family through memories, hopes, loss, failings and falling outs.

Mike Bartlett sets his play in modern Britain. Audrey (Joanna Briant) has sold her London home to buy ‘Albion’, an old seven-bedroom country home in Oxfordshire where she spent holidays in her youth. She aims to revitalise the estate and its gardens as a memorial to its original owner and ‘designer gardener’, and a place to scatter the ashes of her lost soldier son, James. In doing so, she uproots her tolerant husband Paul (Charles Mayer) and reluctant daughter, Zara, (Rhiann Marquez) from their happy life in London, and along with her son’s girlfriend Anna (Jane Angharad), instils them as part of her dream.

Bartlett uses the effect of Audrey’s single-minded determination to infer some of the political, social and economic instabilities of Brexit Britain and, ambitiously, the effects of changing attitudes to class, status, immigration, same sex relationships and the ethical possibilities of IVF. A difficult task indeed, but one Bartlett handles skilfully in words and relationships, extrapolations … and a little bit of caprice.

Lucy Clements acknowledges this with a directorial vision that allows the caprice to permeate the production. The garden, artfully created by designer Monique Langford, combines realism and imagery to suggest a lost past that may defy restoration. A tree trunk reaches high, its branches suspended above a rectangle of green lawn edged by narrow flower beds. Its Englishes-ness is as definitive as Audrey herself. Lighting designer Kate Baldwin enhances this with wispy, soft effects to which sound designer/composer Sam Cheng adds gentle birdsong – and some sounds that are a little less gentle, but startlingly effective.

In keeping with the changing colours of the garden, Langford and assistant costume designer Aloma Barnes accentuate the touches of eccentricity in the plot and the characters with costumes that mix contrasting colours, flashes of light and quirky accessories with more sombre, grounding shades. Paul’s grey beanie contrasts with Audrey’s ‘woman of the manor’ style – and her friend Katherine’s (Deborah Jones) quirky headdresses.

These production concepts provide a cunning vehicle for Bartlett’s characters to relate in an environment ruled by a dominant woman who allows her rigid resolve and conservative values to turn her daughter, her son’s partner, her oldest friend, her new neighbour and a small village against her.

Lucy Clements fosters the strain of those relationships in direction that uses carefully blocked distances and watchful stillness to heighten emotional response. Wherever the characters are, they are constantly aware of each other, aware of rising tension, attune to what might happen next – whether they are part of Audrey’s London ‘incomers’ – or the staff and neighbours who feel a long-time proprietorship of Albion and its gardens.

Briant’s Audrey is a powerful presence permeating the mood of the production with her uncompromising opinions, persuasive coercion tactics and careless classicism. It is not easy to empathise with this character, until Briant eventually shows a little of the loneliness that comes with inflexibility and intransigence – and how much she really appreciates the unwavering devotion of her husband … and, ultimately, her daughter.

Mayer’s Paul is a strong, quiet presence. He listens and watches patiently, stepping in only to avert an escalating argument. Marquez creates a Zara who fights her resentfulness with restless energy and eventual defiance as she leaves Albion to return to London with Katherine.

Deborah Jones makes Katherine a formidable figure. A recognised author, she is strong, approachable. Very aware of Audrey’s personality, she is prepared to accept her shortcomings – but only to a certain extent!

Anna, though not officially part of the family, is determined to fulfil the promise she shared with James before he left for his final tour. To do this, she accepts Audrey’s invitation to visit – and stays. Angharad finds Anna’s unyielding resolve as well as the raw, empty hunger of lost love.

Mark Langham and Claudette Clarke play the gardener Matthew and housekeeper Cheryl, who have been loyal retainers at Albion for twenty years. They are county folk, who know their place, but are used to being treated with respect – something that Audrey does not understand nor practise. Their hurt is manifested with quiet dignity until Cheryl dares to question Audrey.

James Smithers is appealing as Gabriel, the boy next door, who writes poetry and becomes increasingly confident as he develops friendships with Zara and Katherine.

Emma Wright is Krystyna, a Polish migrant whom Audrey ‘installs’ over Cheryl in the house. Eric Ebert is the next-door neighbour who is disappointed in Audrey’s decision not to open the gardens of Albion for a local festival. Ash Matthews appears as manifestations of James.

Albion the stately home establishes the time and place and background of Albion the play. Lucy Clements sees, however, that:

 “Despite Albion being so specific to its English setting, these politics and values have rung true for us here too. Above all, the play’s debate regarding romanticising the past feels even more loaded and relevant when staged in Australia”.

That may be so, but the Albion Clements has directed does stand fast in its English-ness. She and her cast and crew have created a little bit of England that rings clear and true. Perhaps that’s why she chose  ‘The World in Union’ as part of the music prior to the opening of the play! Though it’s oft’ regarded as the ‘Rugby Song’, it’s words suggest the tenor of Batrlett’s play:

We face high mountains
Must cross rough seas
We must take our place in history
And live with dignity

* Opening Night

A play by Peter Yeldham. Play reading at the Australian Film, Television & Radio Theatre, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney. 26^th June 2022.

Carol Wimmer reports on the history of this Australian play, banned in the 1960s, and its recent re-discovery.

26 June, 2022

Twelve professional actors meet in a small theatre on a Sunday afternoon to take part in a play reading of an Australian play written 60 years ago. A play that has never been performed in Australia … yet was filmed and broadcast by the BBC back in 1962! With an Australian cast including Ron Haddrick and Ray Barrett! There’s got to be a story there!

There certainly is – and it involves censorship and political interference. In Australia! Fancy that!

Australian theatre and television in 1962 was fairly conservative. There had even been some adverse reactions to Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Alan Seymour’s The One Day of the Year. Yet today both plays are regarded as harbingers of the ‘new wave’ in Australian drama. Not so the BBC’s production of Peter Yeldham’s Reunion Day. The Liberal Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, objected to some characters and language; the Chief Censor C.J. Campbell felt “the language may be all right for soldiers but it is all wrong for a suburban sitting room.” Frank Packer, who owned the television network TCN9, felt it would offend the RSL.

So the film languished and was eventually erased. All that remains today is the script, some photographs – and Peter Yeldham’s papers – which were publicised by Susan Lever in a paper which hailed Reunion Day  as “an important part of our cultural history”. Historian Stephen Vagg picked up on her article, read the play, and between them, 60 years later, on Sunday 26^th June 2022, in a small studio in the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the play was, fittingly, ‘revived’.

Reunion Day is set in Sydney. It’s Anzac Day and old mates from a battalion that served in New Guinea meet, as usual, to march – then to have a few drinks. The characters Yeldham created were typical of the many young men who served in the Australian forces in World War II. Men from different backgrounds, thrown together as fellow soldiers to face a cruel enemy, and witness unimaginable destruction. Some would never come home. Those who did would drift apart to different lives, different professions – until Anzac Day each year, when they would meet to revive old stories, remember old mates – and have a beer … or two.

These were Yeldham’s characters, typical of returned soldiers in towns and cities all over the country, and yet no one had heard their voices until director Denny Lawrence brought them to life with his very well-known and accomplished cast.

Brandon Burke, John Derum, Huw Higginson, David Lynch, Christopher Stollery and John Stone play the soldiers who have been meeting together annually. Colin Moody plays their commanding officer, whom they haven’t seen for years. Paul Bertram is a tipsy interloper who brings a bit of light relief.

Deborah Galanos, Sarah-Jane Kelly, Tilly Oddy-Black, Laura Gabriel play the women in their lives. Though the women’s roles are small, they reveal Yeldham’s perceptive ability to suggest feminine strength, understanding and humour.

The scenes are clear, the dialogue economic. The plot concentrates on relationships which are deftly developed – and this reading, in the hands of such accomplished actors, extoled a play that, in the words of Denny Lawrence, “has unexpected resonance for today’s audience because of its depiction of veterans. The issues faced by returned servicemen from Iraq and Afghanistan are not too far removed from those of the characters in Reunion Day.”

In the audience, Peter  Yeldham’s daughter Lyn and son Perry saw their father’s play for the first time. They will be able to take a recording of it to Yeldham, who at 95, was too frail to make the reading. What a gift for him to see his words finally played on an Australian stage

Ron Haddrick’s wife and family were also in the audience. The Haddricks left the UK in December 1961, just after the play was filmed ,so never actually got to see it on air. They too must have been thrilled to see this revival reading.

It was a privilege to be part of the small audience who witnessed this unusual performance – because performance it was! In the hands of those actors, every nuance in the dialogue was clear, every change in attitude, every alteration in tension. There is nothing in this play that offends – nothing that probably would have offended those of us who might have seen it in 1962 had it been aired – or produced. Perhaps this reading is just a beginning …

Written for, and published in Stage Whispers magazine, as a “History” item.

Enmore Theatre, NSW. Sunday 22nd May, 2022

Reviewed : 22 May, 2022

The Comedy Festival is over! But it closed with a bang! A mighty, improvised bang – fuelled and detonated by some of the best improvisors in the country! Inspired by two years of Covid closures and six weeks of political posturing, they hit the stage running, keen to consolidate their “All Star” status. Which they certainly did!

Directed by Michael Gregory, the production was announced by Rebecca DeUnamuno, and hosted by Adam Spencer and Jeromaia Detto. The ‘Stars’ were Amanda Buckley, David Callan, Ewan Campbell, Kate Coates, Daniel Cordeaux, Rebecca de Unamuno, Sarah Gaul, Scott Hall-Watson, John Knowles, Jeff Mesina, Lisa Ricketts, Kate Wilkins, Jioji Ravulo  and Linette Voller. With improvising musician ‘maestro’ Benny Davis.… and musical maestro Gep Blake showed just how impressive improvisation can be.

Young improvisors in the audience (and there were many, including some high school Theatresports teams) were treated to tried-and-true impro games played by the “pros”.

Death in a Minute (or in this case two minutes) was one, Expert Double Figures another. With the topic “Mending a Tractor”, this became hilarious. “The Queen’s Lost Corgi” played in the style of Shakespeare, complete with ‘bog clowns’, showed what quick thinking, imagination and ‘going with the flow’ really mean!

Emotional Replay, with a team of four “Putting out a Fire”, was also a hit, especially when the final replay was Lust. Other Stars got involved by waving lengths of yellow and red material to make the flames, and a piece of blue material to make a very suggestive hose!

And those in the audience who’d never seen Theatresports before could not have imagined that an imaginary tennis ball could be the stimulus for breaking down the Berlin Wall! Or that eight players would be quick enough to ‘accept’ a verbal cue and become the wall!

Improvisation is the basis for most of the secondary school Drama courses in Australia. It’s a core topic for both the Stage 5 and 6 courses in NSW, and where better for students to learn to improvise than by watching these performers at work … or by getting involved with Improv Australia and some of its many courses.

For example:

• Jeromaia Detto is leading a four-session course on Clowning beginning on 26^th May. Places are still available.

• The Impro Australia Schools Challenge is in progress at the moment, with the Final coming up on 12^th June.

• Celebrity Theatresports will return to the Enmore Theatre in August, and

• Finalists will challenge for Cranston Cup in December.

Check out all of this and more on the website improaustralia.com or just type in Impro Australia on your server!

The Theatresports family is large and loving. Its generations go back decades into last century. It’s a happy family and members hold each other dear. It was no surprise then, that the All Stars used the last minutes of the evening to ask the audience to join with Impro Australia in sending their thoughts and wishes to John Knowles as his lovely, talented wife Ronelle faces her final battle against an insidious disease.

Our thoughts and wishes to you too, John.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine