This lively dramatic production can be seen for three nights only at the Nexus Theatre, at Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 7.00, until 20^th August.

The scene is the exercise yard of a compound owned by ‘One World Corporation’. Limestone walls, topped with barbed wire (Designer Allison Bell almost single handed constructed and painted this very realistic set. She had some assistance from John Bailey) surround the area. Overlooking the area is the promotions manager’s office. On a higher level (almost in the lighting grid) stands George Orwell.

At each side of the stage was a TV monitor showing Supervisor Felicity and the sufferings of Julia (Filming by Taylor Gilbert, AV by Blearnard Suarez).

Visible through chinks in the rear limestone wall are the musicians. On Keyboard – Kenn Ellis and Nick Ireland, Cello – Caitlyn Harrison, Drums – Liam Richer, Bass – Chris Heindl, Guitar – Mike Gorman and Trombone – Ned Holland.

A slick show, thanks to Production Manager Thomas Dimmick with his fast and efficient team, under Stage Manager Brianna Lea, who was assisted by Tijana Simich.

       The curtains rise to show us a smartly dressed woman, Roberta (Cat Perez), with a bejewelled pendant of an ever-watching eye around her neck. The ‘eye’ is the symbol of the ‘One World Corporation’ that is having a Memory Day Celebration. Roberta has a small computer attached to her scalp, which, like her armband glows with a blue light (Props, Dean Lovatt). It appears she is in great discomfort from the flickering head unit.

     The celebrations begin with a line of tap-dancing girls, dressed in black leotards and sporting lime green top hats. On the back of their costumes, once again, is the big brother eye. As they finish their routine, the smiles disappear as the hoodies with black masks, under the command of security chief, Will (Will Moriarty) move in and capture the performers. Next time we see the dancers they are wearing armbands and are now ‘committed’ members of the Corporation. The Corporation believes in ‘one voice’ for the benefit of all.

     When Ian Winston’s (Launcelot Ronzan) armband flashes, it means that the power is low and the brainwashing propaganda is not reaching his mind. As a result, Ian, who is Head of Propaganda, seems to be having doubt as to the ethics of his job in this fragile world, as the inmates are like zombies or automatons, void of expression.

     For some unknown reason, one of the Corporation’s members, Julia (Deirdre Khoo), seems to get preferential treatment – this forces Felicity (Rebecca Dilley) the supreme supervisor who looks after the women’s ‘welfare’, to pick on her.

     On high, dressed in a full-length black leather coat, is the omnipotent Orwell, the creator of the Corporation. When Orwell notices that some of the team are rebelling, she sends in her Assistant (Michael Casas).

       With the activated armbands fading rapidly on many of the inmates, and with the brain-washing power fading, could this be their chance for a revolution?

The versatile Ensemble comprised – Tay Broadley, Justin Crossley, Bella Doyle, Andrew Haning, Andrea Kendrick, Abbey McCaughan, Claire Mosel, Ellin Sears, Gema Seenarain, Ashleigh Spring, Clare Talbot, Sean Wcislo, Nashy MZ. This ensemble is includes drama / acting students, but in support of their PhD student friends, they were happy to take themselves out of their comfort zones by singing and dancing with gusto. The dancers may not have been quite top rate, and some singers lacking a little in vocal range, but the performers gave the play everything that they could. Many congratulations.

Sarah Courtis in writing the script and lyrics has produced a most interesting storyline, with great dialogue and engrossing lyrics; but what I found most ingenious was her ability to carry through Orwell’s original style of writing. Along with Sarah’s imaginative directing, the lyrics clearly encompassed the bullying by the supervisors, such as Will’s intimidation and the wonderfully powerful, gritty tones of Roberta (Cat Perez). In a variety of musical styles, a couple of scenes later there were a couple of soft, heartrending songs by Julia (Deidre Khoo).

Choreographer Ellin Sears skilfully gave us the ‘big show opening’ with the bright, bouncy tap chorus. Soon the joyful atmosphere turned to one of drama, as the cast became antagonistic inmates, stomping through a song. There was a delightful ballet scene, rapidly followed by a revolutionary march that could match ‘Les Miserables’ in its threatening power. There followed a tricky Busby Berkeley-style concentric circle dance routine which worked very well.

Nick Choo conducted his musicians through his clever compositions, with carefully selected instruments to match the mood. One scene had staccato strings; next there was the pounding, full power of the band that almost achieved orchestral richness with the limited instruments. Clever arrangement.

The lighting was well considered by Lighting Designer, Katie Southwell and smoothly operated by Shannon Precious. The Sound Design was the work of Christian Mulchinock and operated by Corina Brown. Achieving a balance for a band packed into a small enclosed space, coupled with controlling the dreaded headsets for the lead singers was no mean task. Both worked perfectly, well done.

The final touch to this fast moving drama was the costumes, audaciously designed by Jenia Gladziejewski, Ellin Sears and Sarah Courtis. It would have been easy to just have the dancers in standard black leotards, but the extra ‘eye adornment’ made them relevant to the story. Inventive little touches, like Ian’s leather gauntlet and the ghostly white mask dance gave the show a big budget look – whist being produced on a shoestring.

I learnt afterwards that the show had minimal rehearsal time, and yet the product that was delivered was most professional. A clever show that hit all of the senses.

Mary wrote ‘Frankenstein’ when she was only 21 years old – a similar age to the adaptor and director of this play. The book was first made into a film 85 years ago and was true to the text, by giving the creature real depth and personality. In the 1960s, a string of tacky films came out from companies like Hammer, when the creature was a monster with a bolt through his neck, giving the occasional grunt.

One of Perth’s most respected independent theatre companies, Second Chance Theatre, is proudly presenting this Gothic classic at the Nexus Theatre at Murdoch University until Saturday 23^rd July. The amazing performances are 2 hours 40 minutes long – with one interval – and commence at 7.30 pm.

At the rear of the stage is a raised platform that acts as the brig of a ship, and later as street level.

Stage right is the home of Victor, stage left is the Captain’s cabin on the ship. This ingenious and versatile set was adapted from those of the previous two plays in the Gothic series, again designed by Allison Snell. The numerous slick scene changes were under the supervision of stage manager Georgia Smith and her assistant Dylan Dorotich.

        The snow is falling. It is a bleak winter and a ship has become trapped in the Arctic ice. On board are a desperate crew, and landlubber, Victor Frankenstein (Scott McArdle), a scientist who has paid the female captain, Walton (Rhianna Hall) to help him escape a nightmare. Victor starts to explain to the captain his strange past, and why he left Switzerland in a hurry.

        Fifteen years earlier as a weakly, bullied child, Victor was the first born of Alphonse (John King) and Caroline Frankenstein (Izzy McDonald). He became a stepbrother to their adoptees, Henry (Launcelot Ronzan) and beautiful Elizabeth (Shannon Rogers) – whom they hoped Victor would ultimately marry. Eventually the Frankensteins managed to give birth to another child of their own, a cheery young lad called William (Toni Vernon).

        The children were lovingly cared for by the maid, Josephine (Ellin Sears), the cook (Kate Willoughby) and butler (Andrew Dawson). Then one evening, an accident on the farm resulted in the death of Frau Frankenstein. Feeling lost, Victor sets off to Ingolstadt University to study anatomy and physiology under Professor Dippel (Jenia Gladziejewski). Victor finds some miserable lodgings, with an even more miserable landlord (Stephen Platt).

       Wishing to further his studies and theories, Victor visits a few mortuaries, ingratiating himself with two of the attendants (Daniel Buckle, Justin Crossley). He ‘borrows’ bodily parts from their morgue. One stormy night, a flash of lightning energises Victor’s creation. The Creature (Laughton Mckenzie) is born.

        The Creature’s only friends are a pack of wolves (Rhys Hyatt, Jenia Gladziejewski, Ellin Sears). He meets and helps a poor blind man, Felix (Alex McVey) and his thoughtful daughter, Agatha (Abbey McCaughan) but a tragedy befalls them, and an unfortunate old tramp (Andrew David) who gets in the way.

        With a wedding in the offing, Elizabeth takes on a ‘special’ butler, De Lacey (Rhys Wyatt).

Scott McArdle has wisely taken us back to the original script and theme, by allowing us to see behind the broken body of the hapless ‘creature’. This ‘vision’ took us on an emotional rollercoaster ride, first we feel sorry for the creature and wish it success; before we hit the skids and witness it crashing into another killing spree. The writing skills exhibited in this adaptation are exceptional; just a little subtle humour, a genuine feeling of hopelessness for the creature, rapidly followed by anger at attitudes of the public to this poor human.

There are a couple of incredible wild horses in this play that can be seen through the subdued, misty light. Their eyes glow, they can rear up and trot convincingly around the stage, superbly designed by Anna Sheehy (assisted by Andrew David and Sam Knox) and controlled by the equine wrangling team of Joel Sammels, Tay Broadley and Abbey McCaughan.  Likewise, the wolves sniffed around, showed apprehension and even circled like real animals before they lay down. It was the attention to such minute details that took this whole concept to that only expected of a major professional production.

The complex lighting (designer Scott McArdle, operator Sarah Bond) and crisp sound effects (Katie Southwell) played a major part in the presentation of this play. There were a multitude of effect such as snow, just the right amount of fog and mist, with well-placed lights and perfectly chosen colours to augment the mood. The costumes (Sophie Braham, assisted by Allison Snell, Bella Doyle, Melanie Buchanan) ranged from the tatty urchins to the sumptuous ball gowns of Elizabeth. Every costume fitted immaculately, and was made from fabrics of the era – not simply cotton dyed or painted to appear realistic. The shoes and accessories were carefully chosen.

The makeup design is always important, but in this play the Creature has to look realistically disfigured and not ridiculous. The horrendous scarring and gore was thanks to the talented hard work of Leah Toyne.

The musical soundscape was once again the clever work of Drew Krapljanov, who has just the right touch of matching the scene’s atmosphere with the correct emotion in music. Especially in a play like this, one should be unaware of any accompaniment without actually listening for it. The notes should be mellifluous, invisibly and smoothly coating the vision.

The technical manager, Keaton Howe, and the production managers, Andrew David and Scott McArdle have gone for quality and at no point have they taken the soft option. Quality was always paramount.

It is easy to say that ‘all of the actors did well’, but in this case it is true. The entrances and exits slick, the diction clear, the body language and chemistry exceptional for EVERY single member of the cast. Some stunning and moving performances, but I must give a special mention to Scott McArdle as Victor, and Laughton Mckenzie as the Creature – WOW !!

The thing I like mainly about Murdoch productions is that you can sense that every member of the cast and crew are keen, truly enjoying themselves and determined to give the audience a great night out, by using every ounce of their skills. Enthusiasm brings perfection. A great show that will last in our memories for decades to come.

This superb adaption of ‘Frankenstein’ can be strongly recommended to amateur and professional theatre everywhere. Give yourselves and your audiences something different.

This fun creation is by Herding Cats Productions and can be seen on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the imposing and historic, Bassendean Hotel, 25 Old Perth Road, Bassendean. The 100-minute performances starts at 7.30 pm and run nightly until Thursday 5^th June. This production is then moving to Rigby’s in the city in mid-July.

The seating is cabaret style, and for around $20, the hotel serves a very large, tasty meal and includes a free drink of your choice.

The stage is built in the corner of one of the many saloon bars. The set is of a Dutch-themed restaurant called ‘The Finger in the Dyke’ – so nothing to do with motor cyclists. The décor and thought put into this set (design Taylor Bates, props Michelle Endersbee) is better than I have seen in many established community theatres recently. The audience are then the restaurant’s patrons.

        Two friends, Jessica (Ellin Sears) and Samantha (Natasha Stiven) have opened a restaurant. Jessie runs the front of house, when and if any customers come in! Sam is the chef ‘extraordinaire’, that doesn’t mean wonderful but weird, and her dishes are a culinary nightmare.

      To try and raise their profile, and attract customers to their struggling business, Jess has contacted a reality TV cooking show. The company are interested and are sending their star chef to review their fare.

       When the celebrity chef, Clifford (Jeff Watkins) arrives with his dominatrix, executive producer (Mary Soudi) it is obvious from the beginning that he wants to scrap the idea, but his producer seems to have a great deal of power over him.

       When the cameras turn, the programme’s announcer (Peter Neaves) may be warm and bouncy, but what is the network’s hidden agenda?

Three years ago, I saw this play presented as a fundraiser for the repair of a church hall, a good cause, friendly reception, but I still remember the play as being one of the poorest organised and presented productions that I have ever seen.

This production is the nearer the zenith of local theatre; the cast had headsets – which actually worked (sound by John Bailey). The costumes (Merri Ford) were excellent, with many touches added by hand. Jess wore clogs, a Dutch cap (actually, it was a Hollar Cap, to save any immodest confusion) and a pinafore dress with neat embroidery. The producer’s outfit? Well you will have to see the show to appreciate her kinky leather gear.

Natasha is well recognised as a talented serious actor, having played major parts in Shakespeare and recently the lead in ‘Closer’. Ellin has just achieved her degree at Murdoch; she is an accomplished dancer and is now taking her PhD in musical theatre. Both these actors have decided to try a new genre, comedy, and they have succeeded admirably. The chemistry and banter between the two was amazing as they addressed the audience directly to get even further interaction. Stand-up comedienne, Mary Soudi was wonderful as the ‘bitch’ (her word) producer.

Director, Jeff Watkins has encouraged the audience to give retorts and has the cast mingling with the guests. This results in an extra added warmth for the show.

A talented team of cast and crew, giving a good night out with plenty of smiles.