‘By the Door to the Bonehouse’ is another top-notch script by Rupert Williamson.

The scene is a large room in an old house. It looks like a cross between an op. shop and a junk yard. Stage managed by Daniel Dyer-Smith, and like an Albee set – a nightmare.

           Sitting in the family home, reading his daily paper is Henry (Tim Lorian – excellent), a pedantic, erudite, irascible nutter. Henry calls for his bright and helpful housekeeper, Sally (Lucy Rossen) to bring him some tea.
           A few minutes later, for the first time in years, his sensible sister Jean (Lauren Meyer) calls around with their emotionless and silent brother, Mark (Giacomo Groppoli). She says they were just passing, but Henry knows better. He asks maid Sally – now a smaller, slightly dim girl (Emily Gale) – to bring some whisky. The siblings spend the night together.
          Next morning, Sally (Elsa Silberstein) – a miserable cleaning woman – is tidying the house. When Jean questions the number of cleaners, Henry is adamant that there is only one helper.
           Things get tense and the police, Hackney (Mitch Strawser) and Jez (Xavier Hazard) are called in.

‘The Many Funerals of Beckett Fitzgerald’, a dark comedy by UWA student, Harry Goodlet.

The set is Fitzgerald’s funeral parlour, prepared for Paul’s funeral. To the left of the stage is a home kitchen.
Dressed in black, at the rear of the stage, is a quartet lead by pianist, Matt Ho. His musicians are Minami Uemoto on flute, Nic Camer-Pesci on cello with Brock Stannard-Brown (alternating with Eugene Tan) on bassoon. The fine incidental music was composed by Jet Kye Chong, and balanced by sound technician, Scott Jennings.

        A nervous young priest, Father West (Nick Morlet) calls into the Fitzgerald’s funeral parlour to see his old school friend, the local undertaker, Beck (Ben Thomas). Having little internment experience, Beck is pleased to give the priest some advice on addressing the bereaved. Suddenly the doors fly open and the departed’s family flow in.
        The grieving widow, Beth (Elsa Silberstein) is there with her new boyfriend. Hovering in the shadows are Ophelia (Lucy Rossen) and Drake (Mitch Strawser), a strange couple who are aficionados of funerals – anyone’s funeral.
        When Beck returns home after work, he finds his daughter Molly (Allegra Di Francesco) after years of friction, has returned home. Her vague partner, Alex (Xavier Hazard), accompanies her. Since Molly’s last trip home, her Mum has died, and it seems her uncaring Dad has a new girlfriend, April (Nina Heymanson).

The writing of both plays is exceptional. Both men obviously have a wild and dry sense of humour, which has translated to the script wonderfully. The styles of writing are very different, and quite novel. In both plays, the quirky characterisation is superb, with every cast member giving great depth to their role.
Either of these plays could be taken up by an agent, or developed into a TV series.
Anais Asotoff and Steven Correis’ lighting was used to great effect in both plays.
The costumes ranged from frumpy to semi-Gothic (Joshua Sanchez Lawson, Nina Heymanson and Sherri Fuentes). Well matched to the personalities.
The experienced co-directors of both plays are Rupert Williamson and Harry Goodlet. It is always wise to have a second person involved, when the playwright directs a play. Here, the co-directors have employed a dramaturg, Jackson Used, who has learned his skills the hard way – at WAAPA, and as a children’s party performer!
The first piece is played straight, and the deadpan humour just falls beautifully into place. In the second play, the pace was a little slow, but again some very funny lines, perfectly delivered with just a touch of pathos thrown in.
A couple of very funny plays served to us by two wonderful casts. There are a few in this group that could be destined for greatness.
A short season but well worth seeing. Guaranteed a few smiles.

The 150-minute, energy-packed performances by these talented students can be seen at the Dolphin Theatre, in the grounds of their host, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley. The curtain rises each evening at 7.30, until Saturday 27^th August. There is one matinée on the Saturday at 2.00 pm.

In this selection of new dance works, each performance has been choreographed by a different student and performed by their peers. The idea is to make each piece unique, not simply to an established genre of dance movement. There are varying degrees of technically difficult and some have a narration.

The dance students are aided in bringing their dreams to the stage, by first year design students.

‘The Antisocial Social Club’ is quite a sad act choreographed by Nikki Tarling, with music by Dane Yates and design by Georgia Manning.

A shy, new schoolgirl looks at a group of students wondering how she can break into the clique. A group that is ever changing its favourites.

 ‘Ligne de fuite’ (in English ‘Creepage Distance’) is imaginative, choreographed by Anneliese Kirk, with music by Dane Yates and design by Eilish Campbell. The cellist was Ash Lazenby.

      Sitting in an old armchair, a young woman and her partner recall their memories in the home that is decaying around them.

 ‘20:50’ is impressive, choreographed by Sarah Sim, with music by Ash Lazenby and design by Aphra Higham.

       As a girl ‘empties’ her brain, she then regathers the sweet happenings and memories. Friendship, happiness, her partner’s love and, final in a powerful ‘lift’, the foetus of her child.

 

‘Something Lemon’ is unusual, exotic’ dance-theatre’ choreographed by Lauren Catellani, with music by Alexander Turner and design by Georgia Manning.

      A ‘lemon’ can be thought of as a loser. We see people being served lemons by the jealous people around them, not for the benefit of their health, but to maliciously drain their powers and make them losers.

‘Sloth’ is hilarious ‘dance-theatre’ choreographed by Mani Mae Gomes, with music by Jacob Morris and Jesse Bach, with design by Georgia Page.

     Half a dozen sloths shuffle around, when a group of ‘keep-fit addicts’ run past and mock their lethargy. The sport people try to inspire the physical failures of nature.

‘Bluets’ is visually spectacular, choreographed Ellen-Hope Thomson, with chanter (?) music by Rebecca Riggs-Bennett and design by Ashley King.

     A girl falls in love with the colour blue. Wearing midnight blue the dancers take us through shades of blue, blue emotions even to the coast to experience the blue ocean.

‘Synapse’ is exceptional, choreographed by Philippa Mills, with music by Dane Yates and design by Maeli Cherel.

      With UV light causing the nerves glow. We see two neurons – joined at the head, this is the synapse. As the nerves become activated, the signal rippled down their length.

‘Her Bones’ is impressive, choreographed by Mitchell Spadaro, with music by Robert Van Den Berg and design by Elise Stratton.

      I must admit that I did not get the theme, but the choreography was graceful and packed with energy. Some offerings are simply to enjoy. A beautiful piece.

‘This Is Our First Rodeo’ is exciting and remarkable, choreographed by Michelle Aitken, with music by Azariah Felton, and design by Eilish Campbell.

      With the dancers in black cowboy outfits, edged in red, we are welcomed into the rodeo – or could it be a Highland Gathering? The fiddle music was catchy, and one of the dances reminiscent of a Scottish ‘Strip the Willow’. Who are the stars of the rodeo, the cowboys or the beasts? – This routine made one think.

‘Flux’ is extraordinary, choreographed by Keshia Ollivierre, with music by Dane Yates, and design by Maeli Cherel with projection design by Jesse Cummings.

       An energetic display of dancing, showing several genres this act gave a powerful end to a brilliant production.

These phenomenal performances are not always meant to be understood. The amazing thing is that each member of the audience possibly saw a completely different, but wonderfully satisfying interpretation. Many of these prodigious presentations left the audience gasping at the versatility, strength, suppleness and clever interpretation. I have seen a few of these third-year presentations and this was one of the best.

The dancers – some of whom appeared numerous times – were:-

Alex Abbott, Michelle Aitken, Mitchell Aldridge, Joshua Arkey, Andrew Barnes, Kristen Barwick, Noah Beck, Sophia-Rose Berini, Sasha Brampton, Jordan Bretherton, Hayley Bruce, Denzel Bruhn, Jessie Camilleri-Seeber, Laura Carella, Aaron Carey-Burrows, Lauren Catellani, Jesse Clune, Romey Cresswell, Heather Crow, Briannah Davis, Corey Derrick, Alina Doyle, Khia Emslie-O’Brien, Bridget Flint, Scott Galbraith, Mani Mae Gomes, Celina Hage, Billy Halton, Hua Han, Karen Haruta, Olivia Hendry, Lilly King, Shae Larsen, Cassady Mann, Valentina Markovinovic, Morgan Martin, Esther McDonald, Philippa Mills,  Ana Music, Keshia Ollivierre, Kimberley Parkin, Hannah Phillips, Evelyn Roberts, Jack Ryan, Madisson Salan, Elena Salerno, Sonja Simonato, Georgia Smith, Mitchell Spadaro, Ryan Stone, Nikki Tarling, Ellen-Hope Thomson.

A very clever collection of performances, amazing dance routines and talented dancers. A special night out, try and catch the show.

Presented by the talented and adventurous University Dramatic Society, this two-hour play can be seen at the Dolphin Theatre, in the grounds of the University of WA, Nedlands each evening at 7.30 until 26^th September.

The rear wall of the stage has a four-metre high, scaffolding frame holding 12 powerful floodlights (lighting design by Thomas Drake-Brockman, operator Anais Asotoff). The stage has areas of various office and medical laboratory equipment. To one side is a home sitting room setting.

The delicate, original background music and powerful sound effects are the work of Ben Thomas and Scott Jennings. The costumes (Sally Clune, Rebecca Warrand) capture the personalities perfectly. Very smooth and quiet set changes (stage managed by Dan Dyer-Smith), this helped retain the play’s fast pace.

     The back wall bursts into blinding light. An ethereal spirit, Ninsun, who was known as ‘Lady Wild Cow’ (Allegra Di Francesco) drifts across the stage and stares at the couple seated on the settee. The woman on the lounge is a hospital doctor, Claire (Nina Heymanson) and the man is her partner, Leo (Rupert Williamson) an intense, nerdy, medical researcher.

     Next we see Leo in a café, talking to his aging, genius mentor, Andrew (Xavier Sweeney). As the waitress (Clare McMath) takes their order, it becomes sadly obvious that Andrew is starting to lose the plot. Thanks to Andrew’s work and that of another hero from 4,000 years earlier, Gilgamesh, Leo is convinced that he will find a way of arresting the aging process.

     Whenever a problem arises, Ninsun, who was Gilgamesh’s mother, appears to watch over Leo.

     In the laboratory, Leo’s main colleague is a hardworking, family man, Damian (Ritwik Ballal). As the two are working their research assistant, Zoë (Kate Hotchkin) breaks the news that the project’s major sponsor has died, and that their only other source of income – from the Institute – is now being reconsidered by the stern and inflexible, Jade (Sally Clune).

     Leo is not happy about the fact that another researcher, Thomas (Giacomo Groppoli), a Casanova who seems to spend most of his time chatting to women seems to have all the funding he needs. Despite warnings from his doctor (Jess Baldock) Leo is determined to conquer this pharmaceutical problem at any cost.

     When Leo does not go to the old folks’ home to visit Claire’s father (Tim Lorian), she is not impressed.

     With work and domestic life tottering, what will happen to Leo’s research?

Because of the dry and serious medical theme, there were complex references to drugs and anatomy; however, just let them flow over you, as it not necessary to understand the science to enjoy this play.

Many of the cast were new to the stage, but under the strong guidance of the director, Ben Thomas and dramaturg, Jackson Used they worked as a strong team with excellent chemistry. The very different characters have been very well considered, the dialogue is natural, further adding to a fascinating piece.

This play had high drama, subtle humour, tenderness and love, all ensuring a most interesting night at the theatre. A quality production.

Forget the Friday and Saturday Footie – it can be recorded – catch this first class team instead.