This bold, confrontational and wild comedy is presented by Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights and Circlestances Productions – under Jay Emmanuel as producer.

Randa is touring the Australian fringes with this delightful show that was ten years in the making.

The stage is black, the only prop being a handbag crammed with unusual items. The lighting and sound operator was Daley King.

       The Sydney bus sways through Redfern, and a young Arab Muslim woman (Randa Sayed) in her late teens / early twenties, notices an Indian lad admiring her. With such a strict upbringing and so many austere religious codes controlling her life, she has never thought about men. That night in bed she started to think about what she was missing, and the consequences of becoming like her heroes, Beyoncé or Kim.

       Unfortunately, her imagination is well ahead of her practical skills, this poor frustrated girl cannot even say ‘Hello’ to a boy, but will she change? Is there even the slightest chance of her getting a man?

 

By combining this piece of interactive acting and theatre sports, Randa has created her own new genre. Although this was a very funny, multi-layered, comedy, there was always that an undertone of sadness, as this girl who was highly religious – at times with tears in her eyes – wanted to be like other girls of her age, but was torn by loyalty and religion.

Over the whole act, Brigitta Brown did a magnificent, flawless voiceover revealing Randa’s thoughts and desires. With Brigitta’s pace and enunciation, I thought that this was a carefully recorded backing track; the live voice, however, added to the freshness of the performance.

Randa had superb mime movements and an amusingly expressive face. The whole act was filled with energy and action as the actor moved around the stage.

A very pleasant surprise from a well-rehearsed, talented team.

The Blue Room and New Ghosts have collaborated to give us this one-hour production, which can be seen for one week only, in the main theatre, at the Blue Room, James Street, Northbridge at 7.00 pm each night until this Saturday, 27^th June.

The set is a kitchen / lounge in a student style flat. It has a working sink unit, fridge, table, chairs and settee. In a first time ever (?) there are all four walls to the room set. It is viewed in the round. The walls are waist high with a metre break – like an all-around window – and then the walls (suspended) continue to the ceiling. This gives the drama the desired claustrophobic effect, and gives the audience members a true feeling of being a voyeuristic fly on the wall. Clever design from Patrick Howe, aided by stage manager Daley King.

        Three months ago, when young Charlie’s (Paul Grabovac) world came crashing down, he went to stay with some caring friends, Clara and Tommy.

        It is now 2.00 am, and in the dim light Charlie, who has fallen asleep on the sofa, awakes from a recurring nightmare screaming the name ‘Lily’. Bleary eyed, Clara (Mikala Westall) comes rushing through from her bedroom to console him, and drags him off to his bed.

        Next day, Clara and her partner, Tommy (James Marzec) try to cheer up Charlie, by offering to take him to the footie, but this is to no avail, his depression is not improving.

       A few days later, to Charlie’s horror, his fiancée Grace (Salacia Briggs) arrives at the flat unannounced, wondering why he had ‘disappeared off the Earth’ with quite a few problems requiring to be resolved. The story takes a dramatic twist.

       Who is Lily? Are Clara and Tommy the sincere caring friends Charlie thinks they are?

What an amazing cast director Joe Lui (assisted by playwright Lucy Clements) has gathered. The four actors gave an immense depth of feeling to the script, and held the suspense and mystery of the play right to the end. Their parts all called for a full range of emotions, from tenderness to outright anger, and were beautifully acted.

The soundscape of deep rumbling music and clever lighting (Joe Lui) emphasised the trauma and misery in Charlie’s head.

The rapidly twisting story threads may leave some of the audience reeling and wondering what is happening, but this is certainly an outstanding production that I would love to see again, but the rapidly filling houses may make this impossible.

Every now and again a play comes along that ticks all of the boxes, this is one of them. An intelligent piece of theatre, highly recommended.

This 18+ play is being produced by Second Chance Theatre in the Murdoch Drama Workshop, adjacent to Car Park 4, Banksia Drive, Murdoch University, Murdoch.

The sensibly priced tickets are available at the door. The curtain goes up nightly at 7.00 pm until Saturday 30^th August, with one matinée on Saturday afternoon at 1.00 pm.

The set is a black tile design, with white grouting lines. A dormitory area at the front of the stage has three areas of bedding. An office desk at the rear is the warden’s office, with shower areas on each side. The stage is starkly furnished, the emptiness emphasises the isolation and sinister desolation of this 2600 AD concentration camp. (Set and Graphic Design by Nicola Rivers, with some good effects by Stage Manager Milly Dee).

         Since the beginning of time, the weakest groups of people have been picked on by the others. At school 50 years ago, a person with a disability, unusual hair colour or sexual ‘peculiarity’ was instantly an ideal target. They were ‘weak freaks’ who did not conform to society. Now, thankfully, things have generally changed for the better; but with this reform to ‘all being equal’, general good manners can often be considered condescending or patronising. In this story we are taken 600 years into the future, where attitudes have become even more extreme.

      The superficially caring, Doctor Benjamin (Rhys Hyatt) has a new guest at his Facility; she is the highly spirited, intelligent Charlotte (Emily David). As bow-tied, Doctor Ben jokes his way around the amenities tour, Charlotte spots a naked man, Ethan (Scott McArdle) standing motionless in a bucket of cold water. In another corner, lying on the floor is Juliet (Jade Galambosi). She is wearing the regulation grey T-shirt and wool shorts (Wardrobe, Sophie Braham). Charlotte tries to strike up a conversation and show sympathy, but to this Institution, it is a sign of weakness and she is moved on by the ‘kind’ doctor.

      Charlotte discovers that poor Juliet has had a lobotomy, and so is now a harmless member of society. Dr Ben explains the routine of 4 showers per day, interspersed with demonstrations of ‘affection’ towards him. The whole establishment is under the watchful eye of numerous surveillance cameras, all supervised by The Warden (Laughton Mckenzie), an intelligent and logical man, who is actually totally insane and with no moral standards.

    The warped Dr Ben is obviously the Warden’s puppet, but can Ethan’s controlled and submitting silence win him freedom from this hell hole?

Under the well thought-out direction came from the actors themselves. The rich characters, each with their own style of dialogue, attitudes to life and personalities are perfectly presented by the five actors. McArdle, who has already proven himself as a fine writer, director and techie – this lighting design (smoothly operated by Rhianna Hall) instantly depicts the atmosphere required – now sets himself up for a most challenging role, demanding both nudity and displaying a man under tremendous stress.

This Facility has all kinds of torture, physical and mental. Hyatt gave a great performance as a cool leader who could have a massive mood swing at the mention of a single word. The performance was slightly caricaturised, but this helped emphasis the cold, calculating, uncaring manner of the perverted Warden (Mckenzie).

Emily David gave a powerful performance as the new guest, who fearlessly stood up to the controllers. With tears in her eyes, she had several moments when you thought she was going to crack at their attitudes, before carrying on boldly. Jade Galambosi captured the easy going ‘vegetable’ existence, which was still capable of tremendous emotional outbursts.

The atmosphere was topped off with an amazing soundscape (Composer, Aiden Willoughby) that subtly rumbled along in the background; with occasional blend of angelic voices, bringing that slight sign of hope to this wretched establishment.

This is not an easy show to watch, but the stark and brave approach holds one’s concentration for the full 80-minutes, bringing a new genuine fear for the future of the world.

The newly renovated venue is wonderful. Gone are the damp cobbles, intertwined with pollen-laden soil and dirt, having been replaced by a new, polished concrete floor that gives a much warmer feel to the venue, coupled with improved sound properties. As there are no seats for the whole performance, – the audience move from one scene to another – the floor is much easier on the legs.

 I will not give a rundown of this very well-known storyline, but simply list the characters. The teamwork was outstanding, and under the guidance of the innovative and courageous director, Garreth Bradshaw, the cast were stretched to the limit of their acting abilities. Each character, no matter how simply stated or minor in the text came alive with unique mannerisms and personality.

The whole cast was stunning, and it seems unfair to pick out a few for special mention, however, extraordinary performances were given by the first few below:-

 Romeo Montague (Daley King) demonstrated his total frustration at struggling to be with Juliet. Excellent enunciation.

The demure, diminutive 14 year-old, Juliet Capulet (Madelaine Page) is presented perfectly as heartbroken on being separated from her love, by her manipulating mother.

Lady Capulet (Sally Bruce), normally played as a slightly disinterested mild mother, was shown here to have real anger and fire in her belly.

The Cockney nurse (Hannah Day), dressed in a Madonna style, gold lamé dress, was – on appearances – the kind of woman that no one would employ as a babysitter, however, she gave a most moving performance at the loss of her ‘child’.

The self-assured Tybalt (Jordan Gallagher) gave an astounding fight scene.

The rough, streetwise, Mercutio (Patrick Downes) really put fear into everyone he encountered.

Friar Francis (Richard Mellick) is usually depicted as a quiet, pious priest; however, Richard took the final scene to a new level, when he confessed to supplying the drugs and laid his soul bare.

The supporting cast of Benvolio (Nic Doig), Sampson (Amy Murray), the wimpish County Paris (Keifer Short) and The Prince (Garreth Bradshaw) brought further humour and tension to the play.

The very large stage / floor has several scene areas, the street, the church, the Friar’s rooms, a kitchen and Juliet’s chamber. The performers subtly act as sheepdogs, herding the audience to the appropriate area. Because of the intimacy, and most of the acting was within arm’s length, you felt as though you are right at the centre of the family battles or a voyeur in the boudoir.

The funeral service for Juliet was heart-rending, one of the most moving scenes I have experienced in the theatre, as the mourners (the audience) followed the bier, accompanied by the dirge-like tune, ‘Salvation’.

The occasional contemporary music was supplemented by music specially composed by the local musicians, ‘The Men from another Place’. Wandering minstrel, Richard Mellick leading the ensemble in the final chorus.

The lighting of silver festoons of fairy lights, glowed beautifully against the simple white set. The  Stage Manager of this complex production was Rebecca Thompson. Costume design, from the sublime to the weird, was by Sally Phipps.

Andy Fraser directed the fight scenes between the families, with épais and rapiers crashing – not just the usual foils – the movements and choreography of the combatants was complex and at times horrifying. The producers gave the show the tag of R18, which is a slight exaggeration; considering the sexy but restrained scenes, and the violence, an M or MA would perhaps be nearer the mark.

There was a great deal of humour in the script, but I felt that the audience were slightly embarrassed to laugh at some very droll comments.

This truly is a special version of this theatrical favourite, with all of the characters studied and depicted as they should have been – no punches pulled. ‘Upstart’ has a reputation for quality and this was another success to add to their collection. Magnificent.