This bright and original musical theatre can be seen at the easily accessible Latvian Centre Theatre, 60 Cleaver Terrace (bottom of the hill on the right – plenty of free parking) in Belmont. Presented by ARENAarts, this 150-minute show has curtain up at 8.00 pm, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 25^th October, there is a matinee at 2.00 pm on the 19^th.

Part proceeds from the show go the WA Men’s Shed Association and Enterprise 33, an organisation that focuses on men’s suicide prevention and delivers post-suicide assistance for families.

The opening set is ‘another brick in the wall’, with a back lane wall covered in graffiti. The wall is removed to reveal an admirable fairground scene, complete with ice-cream stall, a beautifully painted backcloth depicting a big wheel, but the main attraction is a working horse ride / carousel that actually rotated! A masterpiece by the team of Peter Nettleton, Jim Chantry, Tim Prosser, and Gabrielle Dahmen.

        The back lane is where many of the druggies meet; sadly, Rhys (Anthony Smith) is one of these youngsters. There is a rousing opening number as the wall parts to reveal a lively, fairground with twinkling lights and all of the fun of the fair.

        The fairground manager, Mr Anderson (Graeme Cross) is asking his carousel operator, Alan (‘AJ’ Lowe) to stay on late and repair the Ferris wheel. 42-year old Alan has hit a low, and feels that he is being used. Despite one of his attractive assistants, Julie (Alison Arrowsmith) trying to cheer him up, he misses the ‘affection signals’ in her approach and he walks off the site.

       We next meet Alan at a Group Therapy Session, having been sent there by his GP. He is most reluctant to participate, especially when he sees the smiling, almost euphoric counsellor, Tim (Nima Raei). Alan looks around at the other members in the group; there is druggie Rhys, and aggressive punk, Ang (Rachael Maher) who is determined not to partake under any circumstances. Then there is the very smartly dressed Abby (Gabrielle Dahmen) and alternative lifestyler, Rosa (Dimity Wehr); oh, and in the corner, the one no one ever notices, Beth (Bree Vreedenburgh).

      As Beth sits in the session, she recalls her younger days as a dancer and singer. This flashback is brought to life by the graceful ballet of Brigitte Channer and Georgia Brice (both star quality for the future?). The chorus of Dee Rowlands, Hery Setiawan, and Stacee Parkinson gave extra life to the musical numbers.

      After his first group session, Alan is unconvinced and that night is approached in his dreams by the Devil (Kathleen Uhlmann), who, with the help of her fellow seductresses (Simonne Matthews, Sarah-Rose Kelly – the excellent choreography assistants) works her evil spell.

The stage management (Jane Sherwood, assisted by Chrissie Mavrofridis) was slick, although the occasional set of fingers coming around a flat in anticipation of a move brought a few laughs. By the end of the season, the two lasses will have muscles on their muscles with manually turning the carousel and its riders.

The sound quality (James Wilson) was excellent; it had tremendous depth and richness. The solos of Aussie music classics and a few numbers penned by Bree, gave every actor their own moment of glory. They seemed to have a backing group in the background? Simon James’s lighting design is brought to life by technician Mario Piccoli and operator Callum Calder. The theatre lighting is very limited, but the team gave true life to every musical number. In addition, the programme was high quality, full colour 16 sides of A5. Great costumes, but no credit listed in programme.

Director, Bree, freely admits that she wrote this play after having her own depression problems. This taboo topic appears to be a common problem, with 20% of the population having serious troubles at some time. This topic of this play looks like a real drag, a subject to avoid, but not for a second was it heavy going; it really was fun and with its rousing ending, most enjoyable.

The strong cast were filled with energy, plenty of smiles and several very good solos.

The dialogue started a little quickly after Anthony Smith’s solo, which was a shame as he was excellent, but the audience could not quite get their applause in. Gabrielle and Bree also had powerful melodic voices, but I am sure the cast will not mind me making special mention of Rachael Maher who has amazing stage presence. Every show that I have seen her perform in, she just captures the part with her voice, expressions and body language. Superb.

PLEASE don’t look at the topic, you are NOT going to be preached to, although there are many pearls of wisdom subtly in the script. This is a very good WA musical, and you will come out smiling and feeling uplifted. Congratulations to all concerned.

There is a lockout on this show, sorry no latecomers.

For only $10 a ticket this play is a bargain.

The scene is a typical student’s room. The bedroom walls are black with large cracks forming. There is a large bookcase and a wooden packing trunk stands in the corner. In the centre of the room is a double bed. The floor is strewn with cushions and dice. (Set design John King, Sam Knox, stage managed by Danica Rickard)

      A young female student (Cecilia Allen) is sitting on her bed doing her homework. It is an English assignment and she is writing a strange tale that is about to be enacted before your very eyes. A studious librarian, Theodore (Justin Crossley), struts around checking the bookshelves and wondering why no one likes him. A smart, official looking woman, Sylvia (Tess Thompson) starts to give a grand narrative on what is going on in the mind of the student.

      Suddenly a man, David (Jordan Holloway – a born comedian) appears in his shirt and boxer shorts. He rolls a couple of dice, examines the massive bulge in his underwear and tells us about his best friend – ‘boner’. David introduces us to Kantkegaard (Rhianna Hall), a bold Scottish warrior, complete with kilt and Braveheart’s best weapon! While Kantkegaard is relating a daring experience, David is making love on the floor – most passionately – to Matthias (Ricky Burrattine).

      A hippy girl, Lilian (Kaitlyn Barry) enters shyly. Whilst Lilian tells how we should save the world, Theodore mutters on about being lonely and everyone else gets on with his or her life. Then suddenly, amidst thunder and lightning, enters Thefuckingplot (Maree Stedul) – an impressive stage entry. Thefuckingplot, who goes under the nickname of Imogen, gives us an meaningless, existential dissertation.

     A bored stagehand (Mike Casas) wanders aimlessly onto the set, lowers a cut-out moon, and staggers off. A cloaked, wise figure clutching staff in his hand and looking like Moses on a bad night, enters. This is the prudent one, Proxy-Shit (Rachel Doulton) what demoniac guidance will this sage give to the group?

Kate Willoughby directed this exceptionally funny, absurdist play that I found reminiscent of Alfred Jarry’s ‘Ubu Roi’. A few days ago, Kate brought the house down with her hilarious monologue in the ‘Sex and Sensuality 2’, now she has proved her extraordinary skills at directing. This epic theatre style of madness is especially difficult to direct, present and perform; if it does not have the dry, straight-faced delivery, the whole effect can just look infantile. The performers in this show were perfect, as the audience fell apart laughing they continued with the beautifully written script as though it was a major drama.

Suddenly, the stage would light up and a cast would burst into song, do a soft shoe shuffle and Vaudeville chorus line dance (ingenious choreography by Hattie Fettis).

The actors, some of whom are quite shy, have been taken well out of their comfort zone with this fundamental disharmony. This is what being a theatre student is all about, you must try everything – recitations, magic, juggling, stripping, stand-up comedy – anything that you dread or worry about, while you have the support of your fellow actors try it.

The script is very clever, in places written in the style of wartime moralist, journalist and playwright, Albert Camus. The Scots character is a dig at Camus’s sidekick, Kierkegaard who was obsessed with religion and suicide in the search for complete freedom. He thought that anything that was not Absurd was not rational.

The music is straight from the 60s, with crooners such as Nat King Cole. The sound design was impressive for such a simple show, well done Rachel Doulton (operator Daley King). The storm effect, linked with Scott McArdle’s lighting, worked well. The wild costumes (Melanie Buchanan) – what can I say? – Very well thought out, plenty of humour, especially Mac’s quarter pounder!

A simple little play that brought so many laughs. Absurd, no logic to the dialogue – but extremely funny. Congratulations.