The scene is around the 1950s in Ménilmontant, a poor area of Paris. On each side of the stage is a ramshackle, three-storey house with shuttered windows. At the rear of the stage is a park with a small hill. At the edge of the stage is a rubbish tip, where vermin gather.

A young pupil, Pascal (Dylan Christidis alternating with Rory McLaughlin and Jack O’Neill), is late for school as usual. En route, he finds a large, red balloon tangled around a lamppost. He unties it, only to discover that the balloon has a mind of its own. Forgetting about school, the boy meanders around the neighbourhood entranced by his find.
In the early morning sun, a rat (Ben Mortley) searches for food in a dustbin. A pigeon (Ella Hetherington) looks for a statue to ‘decorate’. Pascal soon finds that the massive balloon is not as popular with everyone; his mother will not allow it in the house and the bus driver (St John Cowcher) will not allow him onboard.
The local wily cat (Sarah Nelson) rubs herself against Pascal, looking for affection and a chance to burst the balloon.
Soon Pascal meets a young girl with an equally large, blue balloon (Eloise Hunter alternating with Katie Price). Naturally, a friendship follows, but with bullies in the area, the two must take care.
Will the balloon stay safe? (Sky flying puppet by Chloe Flockart)

How often do producers think, ‘it is a kids’ show, the story can be simple, the scenery undemanding and the acting effortless – they won’t know any better’. However, nowadays the children are discerning. This simple story was filled with warmth, the outstanding scenery most impressive, and the acting first-class.
Nationally recognised director, Chrissie Parrott, has transferred her acclaimed ballet skills to these dramatic performers, they glide across the stage. The controllers of the balloon meld into the background as the children become hypnotised by the mobile, mysterious balloon.
Creative mentor, Kate Cherry, has helped assemble the atmospheric production.
The magnificent set and costume design is by possibly WA’s best designer, India Mehta. India’s sets always show a brilliant use of materials and ingenuity of construction, whether it is a house, boat, animal costume her work is jaw dropping. These Parisian houses had smoking chimneys, fire escapes, balconies, working shutters – and the whole assembly could be moved by two stage crew, Georgia Landre-Ord and Claudia Blagaich. With talented sound designer and composer, Ash Gibson Greig and lighting designer, Trent Suidgeest every sense was stimulated. You could feel the poverty, smell the decay and hear the creatures just out of view.
This was an extraordinary piece of theatre.

Still in his mid-thirties, this highly successful playwright has had 71 commissioned plays, performed on five continents and translated into five languages. Many of his plays are for children, and indeed he has won many awards, both Australian and international, for his celebrated writing.

This wonderful, fast moving, 75-minute production comes courtesy of Jo Morris and theMOXYcollective (Renée Newman-Storen and Mark Storen), and is part of the Pride Festival. It can be seen at The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James Street, Northbridge, every evening at 8.30 until Saturday the 29^th November.

The set is another of India Mehta’s inspired ‘transformers’. The versatile unit is built like an area in a diner, with two bench seats and a central table, compartmented in a box. On rotation, this remarkably clever unit becomes a shop window, a lookout, a submarine, restaurant, and even a house front door. India has been aided in designing the set and costumes by Sally Phipps.

The speed of the numerous set changes had to be less than three seconds each to keep the pace and tension going, and so the costume changes had to be just as fast. The outfits must still present clearly the nationality and personality depicted by the actor; the simple, but well-chosen articles of clothing were perfect.

 

       In a Parisian street, a watch mender (Ben Mortley) sits at his shop window watching (no pun intended) the world go by. He explains how by adjusting the cog sizes of a clock he can speed time up, or slow it down. He has just finished repairing a timepiece and as he hands it to the young lady owner (Renée Newman-Storen), he tells her the time is 9.15 and that she should reset the hands.

      We are transported to a Cold War Russian Submarine deep in the waters of the Atlantic, just off the American coast of Georgia. It is 9.15 on the same day. We experience how the captain of the vessel hassles his crew and worries about his future.

      Still in the same time zone, we are taken to the Appalachian Mountains where, lying in the snow, are a couple of young shooters practising target shooting. The girl (Jo Morris) is finding it very difficult and would rather be wrapped up in a warm bed with her instructor.

     At 9.15 in a restaurant, a nervous young couple are meeting for their blind date.

 

In this richly observed collection of personality and character studies, we are taken to various international venues, meeting several very different folk on the way. Under the imaginative and meticulous direction of the multi-award winning director, Adam Mitchell, the three highly talented cast members gave good solid, flawless performances whilst shifting scenery, changing their costumes and adopting various accents – and there were many – an actor could be speaking with a convincing French accent then immediately change to a thick Russian brogue.

The instant recognition of the locations was helped by the clever use of the lighting (designer Chris Donnelly) combined with pertinent mood music and sound effects (sound designer Ben Collins). They gave an expert finish to this exciting and fascinating look at people’s lives.

With such a fine script and three incredible performers, this show was a fine example of what theatre is all about.