By Alexander Lee-Rekers. Directed by Lucy Clements. Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) and Q Theatre. Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith. 2-24 April, 2021

Reviewed : April 21, 2021

An ensemble production takes on a whole new meaning when it involves thirteen teenagers from different suburbs and different schools rehearsing after school and in school holidays. It requires a ‘duty of care’ and understanding far beyond that of ordinary directorial responsibilities. And it demands a discerning choice of material, meticulous organisation and thoughtful preparation.

Obviously, director Lucy Clements is ‘on top’ of all this! She and her crew – Sacha Slip, Sorie Bangura and Kate Wooden – with the backing of the ATYP production team, have approached this production with the sort of professionalism that nurtures their young cast as well as giving them a genuine insight into the discipline and integrity that defines the arts.

Alexander Lee-Rekers’ very carefully crafted play, which was supposed to open at this time last year, has waited patiently in the wings for the pandemic restrictions to be lifted, and this production is a fine tribute to ATYP’s ongoing commitment to providing practical theatrical experiences for aspiring young performers and playwrights.

In Lights in the Park, Lee-Rekers has created a play that extols the honest perceptiveness of young people – and their ability to deal intelligently and intellectually with problems. He calls the play a “celebration of young people, showing them supporting one another and building communities”. In doing so he also shows their ability to face “a frightening and uncertain future with courage”.

The characters he has created are carefully drawn, their strengths and frailties portrayed in dialogue that is artfully appropriate and prudently economic. They are characters that Lucy Clements has introduced skilfully to her young cast. It is obvious that they have worked sensitively through the play together, deliberating over relationships and developing an understanding of the events that have shaped them.

Each performer brings that understanding to their characterisation, finding with Clements’ caring direction, the different dimensions that Lee-Rekers has infused into their lines. Together they introduce the audience to a group of characters who have faced a series of problems – and who go about finding solutions that show tolerance and compassion … and maturity.

There’s the aspiring singer who throws ridicule to the wind and records a song that gets unexpected air play, and her ally who supports her through the resulting scorn. There’s the almost hidden pathos of a young man who mourns the death of his first love, and the friend who listens and consoles. There’s the older sister who has made some unfortunate mistakes, and her young brother who is trying to hold the family together. There are the enthusiastic “entrepreneurs”, eternally optimistic about ways they can make a profit. There’s an aggressor who seeks revenge for wrongs inflicted by the school bully – and the friends who attempt to dissuade. There’s the bully himself who uses bravado and cash to cover his lack of self-esteem. Moving quietly among them is the gentle observer, who watches, and cares …

Together, at a party in a park during a power outage, these characters are deftly portrayed by thirteen very talented and committed young actors. Their empathy with the characters is strong, their skill in revealing the relationships testament to Lucy Clements’ wise guidance and judicious direction. There are some lovely moments of humour, some carefully directed moments of anger – and a gently directed moment of despair. There are, too, some cleverly effective directorial decisions. All are enhanced by an imaginative design team including Liv Hutley, Benjamin Turner and Chrysoulla Markouli.

ATYP’s commitment to young people and their developing love of theatre reaches right across the wide expanse of this big city, bringing opportunities to be part of theatre – and to see theatre. That commitment is reflected in this very professional production – and the obvious passion and zeal of its young cast.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

Victorian State Ballet. The Concourse, Chatswood. April 10-12, 2021

Reviewed : 11 April, 2021

The ballet of The Little Mermaid was adapted by Martin Sierra from the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. Sierra chose music from a range of composers including Johann Sebastian Strauss, Franz Lehar, Dimitri Shostakovich, Gioachino Rossini, Brian Crain, Aram Khachaturian and Camille Saint-Saëns to re-tell this tale as a full-length classical ballet.

Choreographer Michelle Cassar de Sierra uses the varied score to capture the suggestion of life under the sea in flowing choreography for Ariel and her mermaid friends in the first act – then subtly changes the choreography as she moves on to the land in the second act. Cassar de Sierra is widely respected for her “unique ability to balance the tension between innovation and tradition” and the ‘kitchen’ scene in Act 2, is testament to that. The Cook and his kitchen staff bring humour and fun to the ballet in fast paced movement and leaps to excerpts from Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

The different settings of the story provide wonderful scope for colour and delicacy in design. Costume designers Jan Tredrea & Gaylene Matthewson use shimmering fabrics and iridescent beading to suggest life under the sea – and more formal white and gold for the lavish costumes in the palace scenes.

The magic of technology and photography allows designers to set – and change – scenes evocatively and quickly. With the use of videography and images projected on a huge, stage-wide screen, Martin Sierra, Jutta Pryor create the sea at peace and in storm – and the luxury one expects when Ariel wakes in a sumptuous palace in the second act.

Before these images over fifty elegant and talented dancers from the Victorian Ballet bring Martin and Michelle Sierra’s inspiration to life.

Among the principals, Janae Kerr and Alana Puddy alternate as Ariel and Charlie Morton is Prince Eric. Tynan Wood is King Triton. Ursula Sera Schuller and Mia Wallace double as Ursula and Elise May Watson-Lord is Eric’s fiancée. All dancers impress of course with their control, their extensions, their beautifully finished movements and extended bourrees and the succession of pas de deux in the second act were exquisitely executed.

When the Victorian State Ballet brings a production to Sydney, they very generously offer the chance for aspiring young dancers to be part of the production. It is a wonderful opportunity for those who are successful to extend their skills – and learn much about the organisation and control required by dancers behind the scenes of a major production.

In this production of The Little Mermaid a fortunate and delighted group of forty-two young dancers from NSW and the ACT joined the production in the scene of Ariel’s birthday party. Proud parents and other family members were among the keen audiences – many of whom were children – that filled The Concourse for each performance.

Bringing such a large Corps de Ballet inter-state is a major task. Transporting dancers, costumes, props, stage managers, back-stage to take care of costumes, make and hair styling requires an inordinate amount of organisation and control behind the scenes. Add to that the training and rehearsing of a young group of dancers at the same times as the company adjust to new accommodation and a new venue. It’s a mammoth undertaking and one the Victorian Ballet appears to do seamlessly – to the delight of its Sydney audiences.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. Opera Australia. Director: Constantine Costi. Conductor: Brian Castles-Onion. March 26th to April 25th 2021.

Reviewed : March 26, 2021

After a week of torrential rain, Sydney sparkles for the opening night of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata … on the harbour! With the Opera House and the city skyline shining through a clear, balmy night, it seems impossible to believe that only three days ago the city cowered under torrential rain – and flood waters surged throughout the state.

Even as the eager audience crowds into the stunning outdoor venue that is Handa Opera on the Harbour, thousands of families are mourning the loss of their homes, their businesses, their crops, their livestock – and desperately trying to clear away the mud and debris left behind. And this after a year of anxiety and pandemic enforced restrictions – and that began just as this current production was about to open.

Through the blessings of distance, sound governance and a sensible society, the restrictions of the last twelve months have been lifted … and here we are on a fine autumn night in 2021 at the opening night of the production that was put on hold a year ago.

That makes it rather special for the director Constantine Costi and his cast and crew – special and historic – because La Traviata was the very first opera to grace the iconic harbour stage in 2012. In the words of Opera Australia’s Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini:

“La Traviata holds a very special place in our hearts. Brian Thompson’s brilliant chandelier and Francesca Zambello’s original production set the benchmark for future Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour productions and have become iconic symbols of this extraordinary event.”

That “brilliant chandelier” is just as impressive today as it must have been in 2012. Made up of 10,000 crystals, it is 9 metres high, 9 metres wide and weighs 3.5 tonnes. Manoeuvred by crane, it hangs above a stage twice as wide as any indoor Australian stage, a stage that, though it appears to ‘float’ on the harbour, can support up to 150 tonnes. Housed beneath it is a studio where 40 musicians send the contrasting themes of ‘love and death’ in Verdi’s score echoing across the harbour.

La Traviata is based on the true story of a vibrant young Parisian courtesan, Marie Duplessis, who, despite suffering from tuberculosis, the consumptive plague-like disease that raged in Europe in the 1800s, led a short but colourfully heady life.

Duplessis is recreated by Verdi in his heroine, Violetta, whose arias are sung in this production by the remarkably talented and expressive Stacey Alleaume. Alleaume, a diminutive figure on the wide, stark, open harbour-side stage, and dwarfed by the huge chandelier above her, is nevertheless a force of nature whose energy appears unfailing. Her voice resonates dizzyingly high into the evening sky throughout the party scenes of the first two acts, then reaches plaintively across the water in the final, poignant scenes.

The duets with Rame Lahaj as her lover, Alfredo, are beautiful examples of Verdi’s talent to bring together the instruments of voice and orchestra. Lahaj, billed as one of the most prominent tenors of his generation, gives Alfredo’s love for Violetta the vocal depth and richness that offset her feverish vitality.

Michael Honeyman, who plays Alfredo’s father, Giorgio, has the difficult task of convincing Violetta to give up her affair with his son for the sake of family honour. Not an easy task, even when sung to Verdi’s forceful score and librettist Francesco Maria Piave’s persuasive words.

With the equally talented voices of nine other principals, a forty strong chorus and twenty dancers, Costi’s production is a tribute to the original production – and the spirit that kept the team buoyant through a very difficult year. With Tess Schofield’s colourful costumes based in the post-war glamour of the 1950s and the creative electric imagination of lighting designer John Rayment, this ninth Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour is one that will be remembered.

At a time when theatres are still ‘dark’ throughout so much of the world, the captivating notes of La Traviata ring out rebelliously in this historic production. In the words of Opera Australia Patron in Chief and Founder and Chairman of the International Foundation of Arts and Culture (IFAC):

“Though there are many challenges still to come, the long-awaited return of our artistic celebration, here in Sydney, is a beacon of hope for us all”.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Miranda Aguilar; Directed by Valerie Berry. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 18-20 March, 2021.

Reviewed : March 19, 2021.

How many times have you heard those words? Or said them? How many times have you wished someone would say them to you? What do they mean?

Miranda Aquilar uses them ambiguously to title this work that covers the host of insecurities and trepidations that are part of coming-of-age – especially if you are trying to escape a  “racist, homophobic and transphobic community”. She says she wrote the play for “every queer person who has been told they need to ‘escape’ Western Sydney … I wanted a work that didn’t say, ‘it gets better,’ but instead tells young people, ‘I know it sucks right now, so I’m going to stay here with you.’”

That’s a big ask, particularly as the ‘young people’ to whom she is reaching out are many and their backgrounds are diverse. But that’s okay, because she’s peopled her play with characters – and actors – who artfully represent that wide diversity. And she’s set the play in the lead up to Mardi Gras, where the group dynamics involved in making costumes and deciding who will carry the flag expose the very different backgrounds of the characters, their strengths and frailties, and their need to feel they belong.

The cast – Gloria Demillo, Brooke Lee, Tommy Misa, Rose Maher and Jemma R Wilks – work through a series of scenes that, though they cover the plethora of fears and anxieties Aguilar obviously understands so well, are peppered gently with humour and affection. Much of this is carried by Tommy Misa’s charismatic style and clever ability to mix empathy and pathos with just the right amount of glitz and glam.

Many themes are inter-related: coming out, getting away, isolation, finding friends, acceptance, rejection, coming home. Demillo and Lee take their characters Val and Thi from school day friendship to late teen acceptance of who they are and who they think they might be. Jemma Wilks is the ‘every-mum’ who worries and fusses but is understanding. Rose Maher manages the turmoil the Mardi Gras preparations.

The set is simple but the constant movement of boxes and the business with superfluous props are distractions that draw out the production unnecessarily. Aguilar makes her point through the dialogue her characters and that’s where the direction should have been centred.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe, loved and accepted. I hope this work feels like home …”

First published in Stage Whispers magazine.

Written and performed by Pippa Ellams Directors: Hannah Goodwin, Tasha O’Brien. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 18-20 March, 2021

Reviewed : March 19, 2021

Pippa Ellams aplogises to her mother in a way that not only acknowledges her mother but suggests to “grown up children in the audience that they consider giving their mum a call”. As Ellams looks back on all the strange things her mother “cried over” she nudges the daughters – and sons – in the audience to remember the things they took for granted, the times they should have said ‘thank you’, and just how often they forgot to say ‘sorry’. She also reminds them of just how embarrassing parents can be!

Ellam chooses her mother’s ambitions for her as a dancer to characterise and recapitulate her childhood. The many dance lessons, the fanciful costumes, even a visit to the Moulin Rouge. Though her anecdotes are filled with humour, I wonder if she realises that the feelings of resentment and humiliation that underscore the comedy reignite memories to the mothers in the audience as well.

Does she see them cringing as they recall the many times they dragged their reluctant offspring to violin lessons? Or sent them to school in uniforms a few sizes too big so they could “grow into them”? Or embarrassed them by singing too loudly in church?

Ellams tells her story colourfully, surrounded by costumes, photographs and snatches of music. She uses the rhythms and patterns of the dance lessons that were so central to her childhood to accentuate the pace and cadences of her performance, finishing with a bright – and befittingly pink and feathery – choreographed “sorry” to her Mum.

Pippa Ellams’ message is two-fold. It’s a message to kids and parents alike. She not only suggests we all “think about how we made it through the rough years” but that we find a way to say ‘sorry’ for some things – and ‘thank you for others.

Ellams decided to do it through this production – and her Mum loves it!

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs. Lambert House Enterprises and Mardi Gras Festival. Director Les Solomon, El Rocco Theatre, Potts Point. Feb 17 – Mar 7, 2021.

Reviewed : 19 February, 2021

Les Solomon has directed yet another stunning piece of theatre to revive the pandemic ravaged Sydney theatre scene. He has followed up his tight, character-strong production of The Shape of Things with a delightfully intimate production of this multi-award-winning play by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs.

Solomon describes Fag/Stag as a “wicked – sometimes raunchy – comedy” that follows the lives of Corgan and Jimmy, “two twenty-something guys – one gay, one straight – as they navigate their sex lives, friendship and ongoing first world problems”.

Fowler and Isaacs played these characters to acclaim at fringe festivals around Australia, before winning the esteemed Scotsman Fringe First at Edinburgh in 2017.

BUT … this is the first time the play has been performed by actors other than the playwrights themselves. So, taking it on might be considered a challenge.

Not to Solomon! With only ten days rehearsal and the confidence and ‘nous’ of years in the entertainment industry, his production is bright, funny, and incredibly taut. In the right space and with the right cast, it is a tribute to the playwrights and their crisp, bold, original script.

The small El Rocco theatre in Potts Point is the perfect space for a play that is so personal. Small and intimate, it allows the actors to connect confidentially with the audience. Solomon frames the performance space in white. Two chairs, two phones and a round table centre the action. The set is as tight and contained as the performance that ensues.

Samson Alston and Ryan Panizza play Corgan and Jimmy. They enter suddenly, biting lines deftly as they introduce themselves and set the moment. Their ex-girlfriend is getting married. They are both invited. Each sees a different predicament. But they don’t really discuss it with each other. Instead, they play Donkey Kong! It’s a diversion they retreat to often as they try to make sense of this moment in their lives.

Corgan is rich, straight, still feeling rejected, but sees himself in control. Alston shows this in a self-assurance that is a just a bit brittle. He is up-front with the audience, eager to share his feelings, even his vulnerability. Relatively new to the Sydney theatre scene, Alston is a talented, versatile performer who makes this character engagingly appealing.

Jimmy is a little older, confidently gay, but missing the lover he has recently rejected. In his Sydney stage debut, Panizza gives Jimmy a poised, confident buoyancy, capturing the audience with an openness that is eloquently persuasive. His performance is impressively contained and charismatically convincing.

Both performers make their characters real and lovable – just as Fowler and Isaacs wrote them. Their timing and variation of pace set a fast tempo. They break tensions with cleverly directed changes of delivery. They challenge the audience with a compelling directness that is only possible in such an intimate space. It is almost impossible to take your eyes off either of them.

Solomon saw this new interpretation of the play as “scary, exciting” but with these two dynamic performers he has achieved his aim of creating a production “that is funny, bold, yet in keeping with the brilliant original script”.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Jonathan Hardy. New Theatre. Director: Mark G Nagle. Feb 2 – Mar 6, 2021

Reviewed : 14 February, 202

Beautiful Thing was a West End hit for playwright Jonathan Hardy in 1993. It is a gentle play about emerging gay love. Though set in the UK, its characters and their relationships are poignantly universal. Hardy injects their story with hope and humour that director Mark G Nagle describes as “touching and funny”.

Nagle has accented both in this sensitive but robust production. It is loud and fast at times – as one would expect of families living closely “between the concrete blocks and walkways of a council housing estate in south east London”. At other times it is heart-breakingly tender – as one would expect when two teenagers reach out awkwardly to love despite their uncertainty and fear.

Nagle and his cast have studied the characters carefully, seeking the many dimensions that Hardy has, perhaps unwittingly, written between the lines of their dialogue. Strength and brittleness, determination and vulnerability, humour and desperation – all of these characteristics are there in the lines. All of them are there in the very realistic, believable individuals portrayed by Nagle’s committed cast.

With their precisely-honed accents they take us right into the atmosphere of the council estate where everyone knows everyone else’s business and everyone looks for “some beautiful thing to cling on to”.

Jamie and Steve (Will Manton and Bayley Predergast) know that “the beautiful thing” they have found might not be considered right, but they know it is real. Both actors find endearing frailty in their performances, as well as the hope and sense of fun of two teenagers trying to find their place in a confusing world. Both deal with dysfunctional families – and support each other as they do so.

Hannah Zaslawsk plays Leah, the girl next door, a bit of an outcast who’s been kicked out of school. But Leah isn’t a quitter, and she can sing like Mama Cass! Zaslawski is strong performer who gives this character depth and gritty courage – and an optimistic energy that invigorates the production.

Julia Kennedy Scott is Jamie’s single mother Sandra who is conscious of her responsibility as mother and provider – but has her own life as well. Kennedy Scott plays this role with sound understanding of this, as well as keen realisation of the humour that Hardy has written into character. She too brings great energy to the production – especially in the way she relates with new boyfriend, Tony, played with unwavering sanguinity by Caspar Hardaker.

On David Marshall-Martin’s minimalist but sneaky set, and with Nagle’s perceptive direction, they bring this moving, funny, hopeful play to life.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

Writer and Composer: Jason Robert Brown. The Mitchell Old Company (TMOC). Director: Mitchell Old. Pioneer Theatre, Castle Hill. February 11 – 14, 2021

Reviewed : 11 February, 2021

Mitchell Old is a talented young man with enormous courage and tenacity. Fancy deciding to establish a new theatre company in the middle of a pandemic when theatres had been closed for months and the arts devasted! But the Mitchell Old Theatre Company (TMOC) was founded as a direct response to that devastation.

With the support of a cohort of equally talented and committed young people, the TMOC set about providing opportunities for emerging creatives to “express themselves and develop their craft.” This production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years is the first step in achieving that goal.

The Last Five Years has developed a cult following since it premiered in Chicago in 2001. It has been produced in more than twenty-seven countries and was adapted for the screen in 2014. It seemed the perfect choice for TMOC’s first production. Why? Firstly, it is COVID safe! There are only two performers and they are very seldom on the stage at the same time. Secondly it is about a young couple looking back over a love affair that has gone wrong … so it has romantic audience appeal. Thirdly, the music is enticing. A perfect combination to tempt audiences back into the theatre … and give actors and musicians the opportunity to ply their craft.

The Pioneer Theatre at Castle Hill provides an equally COVID safe setting. The wide stage allows Old and assistant musical director Matthew Ling to follow restrictions by dividing the six piece orchestra, placing the violin (Shanela De Mel) and two cellos (Elizabeth Ferris and Michelle Stafurik) on one side of the stage and the keyboard (Zachary Setiadi), guitar (Monjie Echevarria) and bass guitar (Matthew Ling) on the other. Creative lighting allowed Old to conduct both areas from stage left and meant that all six musicians were an integral part of the performance.

Hannah Alexander and Andrew Schimmer played Cathy Hiatt and Jamie Wellerstein – the young couple who have been together for the “last five years”. Cathy looks back on those years from the ‘end’ and she is “Still Hurting”. Jamie starts at the beginning tracing the first stirring of love until his ambition leads him astray – and away. It’s an unusual format, typical of Jason Robert Brown’s approach to musical theatre. His music is eclectic, its rhythms and tones reflecting the emotional journey of the young lovers. His lyrics are clear, allowing the performers to sing – and act – effectively and expressively.

Alexander finds that expression in a sensitive portrayal of Cathy, especially in “See I’m Smiling” and “Audition Sequence”. She has a clear, gentle voice that finds the plaintive notes that show both Cathy’s love and her hurt.

Wellerstein revels in the more zippy tunes Robert Brown uses to trace Jamie’s rise to literary fame. He is an energetic performer who also finds the humour – and the anguish of the music and the lyrics. His interpretation of  “The Schmuel Song” and “Nobody Needs to Know” are highlights of his performance.

Set designer Josh Dewberry suggests the young couple’s apartment by using bookcases as a backdrop. In the pre-show lighting, the audience sees the paraphernalia of their five short years together reflected in an arrangement of books, theatre programs, a vase of flowers, a globe, photo frames and a clock. Stage crew are kept busy moving a variety of (sometimes unnecessary) props on and off the stage as the Cathy and Jamie each share their memories.

The cast and crew of this production are young – their average age is just twenty – yet their talent and commitment to their art and this production are incredibly strong. Even an evacuation alarm that saw the whole building – the theatre, the adjacent library and the apartments above it – vacated fifteen minutes before curtain up didn’t seem to phase them. Some problems with light cues will need to be tightened up but other than that, this production is a credit to Mitchell Old and his enthusiastic new company.

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine