By Rajiv Joseph. Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta. Directed by Bali Padda. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. 24 Feb – 5 March, 2022.

Reviewed : 26 February, 2022

It is 1653 and the Taj Mahal is about to be revealed to the people. Years of speculation have almost immortalised the building, despite the fact that it has been hidden behind by a high wall. Humayun and Babur are two low level guards, stationed outside the wall to ensure secrecy until all is revealed at sunrise. They must not face the wall. They are not supposed to move or to speak. Their swords must be raised at all times. Disobedience will result in terrible punishment, including death by elephant.

Such are the ordeals faced by … the Guards at the Taj.

Guards at the Taj won the OBIE for Best New American play in 2016. Playwright Rajiv Joseph uses some of the myths that have embellished the construction of the ‘Taj’ to recall the vast differences in Indian society in the 1600s – the incredible wealth of the ruling class, the power they held over the people, and the cruelty practised by some of them.

One such was the Mughhal emperor, Shah Jahan, who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal in 1632 as the tomb for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The impressive white building, with its high domes and pillars, was designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahauriit. It took 20 years to complete – and the labour of 20,000 workers. Joseph uses those workers – and the guards – to recall, graphically, the accepted inequality and brutal practices of the time.

Fortunately, he uses humour to counterpoise the horror – and director Bali Padda and his cast incorporate that humour very effectively, especially in the opening scene.

Imagine a towering, blue lit, cutwork wall reaching high and wide across the front of a stage. Imagine a guard, resplendent in shimmering white and midnight blue uniform, complete with blue and silver turban and juttis, standing, sword held in his right hand outside the wall. This is Humayun, played by New Zealand born actor Idam Sondi. He is still, silent, face immobile. All is quiet – then Babur (Akkshey Caplash) rushes in and stands beside him. He’s late! He raises his sword. Humayun turns to look at him. “Wrong hand!” he hisses out of the side of his mouth. And the tension is broken!

Babur continues to break the solemnity – and danger – of their task. He is curious about the dawn birdsong. He reminisces about a tree house they built when they were boys. He wonders about the stars and imagines an ‘airo-plat’ that could take them to the stars. Caplash makes this character lovably curious and ingenuous. He fidgets, smiles, looks wide-eyed as he wonders.

Humayun tries desperately hard to maintain his position and stature, but is constantly taken “off guard” by the inquisitive restlessness of his friend. Even his dire warnings of the punishments they could receive for various misdemeanours are ignored. Sond sustains the strength of his initial moments on the stage. He gives a little, but never too much. He is ever aware of being caught out and his fear of punishment remains a constant in his reactions and expression.

That fear is shown especially clearly when he explains a situation that is concerning him. He has heard that the architect has asked the Shah if the 20,000 workers who have toiled so faithfully could be taken on a tour of the completed building. The Shah has reacted violently to such a monstrous suggestion – and promised an awful punishment.

Unfortunately, Babur and Humayun are chosen to carry out that cruel, inhumane punishment.

The second scene finds them in the bloody aftermath. In a brick cell, awash with blood, they relive what they have done. Gone is most of the humour. Though there are some moments of repartee, this scene, and one that comes later in the play, are fairly gruesome. Be warned!

Caplash and Sondi make the transitions between ‘guard’ and ‘butcher’ well. One moment they are rigid and resplendent in silk uniforms, next moment washing a bloody floor with a sodden towel. They aren’t easy transitions – and the costume changes make the scene changes a little long despite effective music and the play of light on the screen.

Set designer James Browne knows the Lennox Theatre stage, and makes good use of its proximity to the audience in the “guards” scenes – and the possibilities of what can be hidden behind a carefully lit, cutwork screen. The brick walled ‘cell’ in the second scene, with its sunken bath filled with murky water, is a surprise!

Kate Baldwin’s creative lighting mixed elegance outside the wall with pervading dankness behind it – and Me-Lee Hay enhanced this with sound and music that skilfully matched the changing atmospheres.

Though the play is set long ago in India’s past, it rekindles the class structure that dogged the sub-continent for so long … and prevailed, still, under British rule. It recalls the cruelty practised by many in authority, not just in India, and not only in the distant past.

Bali Pada and his very talented cast and crew have made Rajiv Joseph messages clear – and done so in a production that is very carefully envisioned.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

aXis Ensemble and Circus Monoxide. Sydney Festival. Church St Parramatta. 22nd & 23rd January, 2022

Reviewed : 22 January, 2022

Six fearless Australian performers tumble, dance and contort their way through and around a unique steel sculpture standing on a vinyl mat spread over part of the new light rail on Church Street Parramatta. Their performance, titled The Construct, is part of the free, outside entertainment of this year’s Sydney Festival. They attract a crowd of about two hundred – some dedicated Sydney Festival followers, some simply passers-by, others sitting, sipping outside the cafes that line this precinct of Parramatta commonly known as ‘Eat Street’.

It’s a Saturday afternoon. The rain has stopped. The sun is out. There’s a soft breeze. It’s outside, so, we all hope, relatively safe in this, perhaps, Sydney’s most ‘star crossed’ summer. The atmosphere is quietly expectant – and the performance doesn’t disappoint. It is, in keeping with the mood of the times, restrained, controlled, just a little playful.

Set to an “urban, classical” music score composed by musician Dr Judith Stubbs, The Construct, choreographed by Zebastion Hunter was “created for public places as a direct response to the COVID-19 lockdowns”. It is performed by Johnny Brown, Melissa Kisela, Emma Goh, Campbell Clarke, Andrew Summer and Roya the Destroya – all members of the aXis Ensemble from Wollongong’s Circus Monoxide, and all of whom boast vast and varied circus and dance experience.

The narrative Zebastion Hunter has built into his dance/circus creation touches on the variety of emotional reactions the pandemic has elicited– fear, grief, loneliness, reaching out, rejection, re-uniting, mistrust, renewal. All are clearly suggested in this carefully choreographed and meticulously rehearsed performance.

As they twist, snake and spin around each other, high on the poles at times, lying, still on the hard road surface at other, the six talented artists portray the confusion of a society finding ways to deal with new fears and unusual restrictions. It is there in each of their faces, an underlying tension that informs the characters they sustain as they tell their story. That is not easy when you are balancing high on metal poles, swinging away from each other after a suggested spat, supporting each other in a twisting, trapeze-inspired reconciliation.

Circus work such as this requires constant focus, awareness, meticulous timing – and utter trust. All this whilst sustaining an ongoing narrative depicting different characters in changing situations on a metal construction that is moved around on lockable castors. It is a stirring piece of theatre.

In fact, The Construct is street theatre doing what street theatre is meant to do – telling an inspiring story to an audience that craves hope.

Also published in Stage Whispers Magazine.

By Austin Pendleton. Glenbrook Community Theatre (NSW). Director: Josh Stojanovic. 14-22 May, 2021

Reviewed : 21 May, 2015

Austin Pendleton is an American actor, director and playwright who has a vast experience in both stage and film across a variety of genres – with a variety of actors, some of them very famous. That sort of experience informs this play, first performed in Chicago in 2000, where he brings together two great stars of stage and screen – Orson Welles and Sir Laurence Olivier – and their egos and vulnerabilities.

The play begins in Dublin in 1960 where Welles’ production of Chimes at Midnight is failing dismally. Enter ambitious theatre critic Kenneth Tynan, who convinces Welles to leave Dublin to direct Olivier and Joan Plowright in Ionesco’s absurdist play, Rhinoceros. Wait a moment … that’s a pretty unlikely plot.

Olivier in a modern play, especially one where all the characters turn into rhinoceroses?

Welles coming out of ‘self-exile’ after the perceived failure of Citizen Kane to direct Olivier?

Both great men well past their artistic prime?

Plowright just emerging – and Vivien Leigh slipping fast from favour?

And a theatre critic having the cheek to suggest it?

Only someone with Pendleton’s theatre experience could pull off. It’s an insider’s interpretation of how the two great stars may have interacted – and how Olivier may have dealt with the dilemma of losing Leigh while gaining the younger and ambitious Plowright. It works – but what a challenge it presents to both directors and actors! Recreating real actors whose skill was recorded so vividly in many movies and whose lives were documented so intensely in many articles and biographies … It’s no mean feat!

But first-time director Josh Stojanovic courageously takes on the challenge of producing the Australian premiere of Orson’s Shadow. He does so with a resolute vision, a very committed and able cast and a busy crew. Stojanovic has worked closely with the script and his cast. Together they have found a way to identify the characters strongly without attempting to mimic or impersonate.

Christopher Bancroft is strikingly imposing as Orson Welles. Bancroft has a commanding stage presence which he uses to depict both the latent power of the noted actor and his diminishing self-belief. He uses gesture, pause and comedic timing effectively, creating a character that is confident one moment, insecure the next.

The aging Olivier is played by John Bailey, who cleverly portrays both the conceit of fame, and the anxiety of age, that Pendleton has written into the role. Bailey uses his lines to infuse his Olivier with arrogance, vanity and staged humility when relating with Welles – but apprehension and concern when dealing with Leigh and Plowright. This requires some difficult balance, but Bailey manages it well.

Matthew Doherty takes on the role of Kenneth Tynan, confident critic and, hopefully, National Theatre literary manager, if he can persuade Olivier of his worth. Pendleton has written in Tynan’s ambition, his growing problem with emphysema and his unfortunate stutter, and Doherty deals well with all of this as well as having to revert to narrator. He is confident and persuasive with Welles, less assured when dealing with Olivier, winningly open when speaking directly with the audience.

Marianne Gibney-Quinteros is a restrained and poised Plowright, confident in her conquest of Olivier and her own acting future. There is a lot of watching and listening in this role and Gibney-Quinteros does both realistically.

Cassandra Strasiotto has the delicious job of portraying the fading Vivien Leigh. At first she is the elegant Leigh in her home at Notley Abbey, surrounded by rich colours and talking reservedly on the telephone. Later, in person at the theatre, she allows that poise to dissolve into self- pity and emotional distress.

Providing a comic contrast to these highly strung characters is Shaun Doyle – stage-hand, prompt, general all round factotum – played by Angela Pezzano, who finds lots of fun and comedic moments in this role. She eyes the food she serves hungrily, then furtively steals a mouthful as she clears it way. She follows Leigh with childish awe after realising it was her she saw in Gone With the Wind.

Smooth and carefully choreographed set changes take the play from Dublin to London and to a room in Notley Abbey. Equally smooth lighting effects enhance the production.

Stojanovic pays effusive credit to the large creative team, and to the cast who achieved this insight into both “a play rich in theatre history” and “the remarkable lives and personal tragedies” portrayed in this very interesting production.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Ben Elton and Queen. Riverside Theatre, Parramatta, Packemin Productions. Director Wayne Scott Kermond. 12-27 February, 2021

Reviewed : 12 February, 2021

The original production of We Will Rock You opened in London almost nineteen years ago. Despite being panned by the critics, it ran for over three years. The critics obviously failed to take into consideration the wide fan base of Freddie Mercury and Queen. Failed to understand that the eclectic, international appeal of their music would never “bite the dust”! That it would defy “the laws of nature and come out alive” for generation after generation.

That’s why whole families went to the cinema to see Bohemian Rhapsody. That – and the fact that Packemin has such a great reputation – is why whole families are booking to see this production of We Will Rock You. They won’t be disappointed! It is a tight, rollicking musical tribute to Queen, Mercury and the whole production team – producers, director, musical director, choreographer, musicians, designers and the cast of forty-five talented, energetic performers.

Described as a “jukebox musical”, We Will Rock You was conceived by Ben Elton, based around twenty-four Queen songs. It is set in a dystopian, computerised future where the population is centrally controlled. Musical instruments are forbidden and rock music is unknown. A group of Bohemians, led by Buddy, strive to escape the iron rule of the Globalsoft Corporation. They put their faith in Galileo, a Dreamer who is haunted by snatches of strange words he hears in his head and a strange vision of a “living rock” and a “mighty axe”.

The musical relies on versatile performers with incredible range and power. They must also to be able to act in order to make the characters believable – and deliver the inevitable humour Elton has used to make the story plausible. And Wayne Scott Kermond has chosen his cast well.

Toby Francis is Galileo. Perplexed by the strange words and phrases that fill his head, Francis establishes a character that is appealingly vulnerable and confused. Then he sings – with all the strength and power that embodies Queen’s music – and Mercury’s vocal range. He radiates confidence, experience and control.

As does Kelsi Boyden as Scaramouche, the tough loner, who doesn’t fit in with her ‘GaGa’ lookalike classmates. Boyden plays the scratchy, feminist Scaramouche with prickly pugnaciousness – and loads of concentrated verve and energy. Then she also sings – and hits the difficult, beautiful notes of Somebody to Love like a feisty, female Freddie.

Together Galileo and Scaramouche break free but are relentlessly pursued by Globalsoft’s police commander, Khashoggi, under the orders of the Killer Queen. Cameron Shields and Deborah Krizak play this formidable pair.

Krizak is strikingly intimidating, all heavy make-up, leather, chains, sparks, swirling fabric and lots of red hair. Her Killer Queen certainly commands with the force of “gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam”. Strutting the stage with the sort of “rage that lasts a thousand years”, Krizak obviously relishes finding all the possible malice of this role.

Her off-sider, Khashoggi, is much more controlled and Shields plays him with a sustained malevolence. Tall and straight, he commands from behind narrow dark glasses, his voice strangely regulated and compelling.

Escaping Khashoggi, Galileo and Scaramouche are rescued and by two Bohemians, Brit (Eamon Moses) and Oz (Emma Mylott). Moses, in a kilt and swinging sporran is an audience favourite. Incredibly fit, flexible and light on his feet, he injects boundless energy and fun into this role. Lithe and lissom, Mylott matches his energy with nimble vigour, faithfully supporting his belief in the Dreamer.

Brit and Oz take Galileo and Scaramouche to meet Buddy, played by director Wayne Scott Kermond. No stranger to the stage or the music of Queen, Scott Kermond revels in the possibilities of this role. His Buddy is just a bit quirky, light of foot, Puckish – breaking the fourth wall with rascally comments and impish winks.

It is not these characters alone that make the production so outstanding. They are supported by an ensemble of talented singers and dancers who populate the stage with passionate zest and vitality. Choreographed by Katie Kermond, some are the very disciplined, white-clad “GaGas”; others are the Killer Queen’s writhing, scantily clad acolytes; all are the colourful Bohemians, expressing their chosen pop star characters in a range of eccentric ‘bits and bobs’ and clever dance routines. Costume designer Audrey Currie has had a ball with this production!

And then there are the musicians! Led by Nicholas Griffin, they bring find all the eclectic, idiosyncracity of Queen’s music. The little bits of opera, the touches of soul and blues … and the Rock! Griffin and Anthony Cutrupi on keys, Michael Napoli and Tim Robertson on electric guitar, Amanda Jenkins on bass, Fatima De Assis and Peter Hayward on percussion and Charlie Kurthi on drums rocked the audience with their power, passion and precision.

Technology is an asset in a production such as this. Projections and lighting effects allow greater freedom on the stage whilst seeming to take the production beyond the confines of the stage – even beyond the present to an Orwellian future.

Scott Kermond has directed this musical with passion. He has produced a fast moving, tightly directed production that pays homage to Queen’s extraordinary “anthem style music” that was able to “unite a world and transcend generations and race”.

Don’t miss it! It will sell out fast.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

Riverside Parramatta and streamed. Guy Noble, Julie Lea Goodwin and Daniel Belle. October 17, 2020

Reviewed : 17 October, 2020

While some of us watched and listened online, an excited – albeit socially distanced – audience were welcomed back to Parramatta Riverside Theatre for An Enchanted Evening of music. Enchanting it was, bringing some of the most famous arias and love songs from opera and musical theatre on to a stage that has been bereft of a live audience for a long six months.

Accompanied by the much-loved and very versatile musical aficionado Guy Noble, celebrated soprano Julie Lea Goodwin and acclaimed tenor Daniel Belle seduced their theatre-starved audience with a program that was testament to the powerful range and control of both their wonderful voices; a program that must have filled the theatre with echoing music – but which also gave those of ‘isolated’ at home the chance, via some excellent use of technology, to experience the performers more ‘up close and personal’ than a stage usually allows.

Both performers are no strangers to the emotional tension of the characters they portray in both opera and musical theatre, and were able to bring that depth of portrayal to the concert stage. Whether in their evocative rendition of “Tonight” from West Side Story, or that most famous operatic love duet “O soave fanciulla” from La Boheme, or the very moving “If I Loved You” from Carousel, both were able to portray the emotions that drove the characters – as well as making their musical declarations of love hauntingly beautiful.

The choice of music allowed the audience to hear the immaculate control and power of both performers, and the amazing extent of their musical range. Goodwin with “Musetta’s Waltz” (“Quando me’n vo”), and a thrilling rendition of “I Could Have Danced all Night”. Belle with the very stirring O Sole Mio” and “Granada”. And, again together, at the end of the evening with “Time to say Goodbye”.

The choice of music also allowed Guy Noble to display his familiar expertise as accompanist, performer … and comedian! His cheeky parody of “When I was a Lad” from Pinafore brought some topical humour which Gilbert and Sullivan would surely have approved. Here’s a sample!

“2020 is a year I fear that

I really wish would disappear

This virus thing is a pain in the arse

Like a kidney stone I wish would pass …

It’s hard to play and dance and sing

When you’re practising social distancing …”

(If you’d like to hear more, check online for the rest of this and Noble’s other tribute to “The Virus”).

This latest in Riverside’s contribution to keeping its patrons entertained during this difficult year is further proof that the arts are alive and fighting the effects of the virus in every way possible in Western Sydney. Let’s hope the success of this Enchanted Evening is a happy harbinger of great things to come.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine.