Hand in Hand Theatre is proud to present its 75-minute, debut show in Studio 411 at Murdoch University, Murdoch each evening at 7.30 until Saturday 3^rd September.

The stage has a mass of greenery at each side representing the Aussie Bush. Against the back wall is a run-down forest cabin, with a set of steps leading down from the veranda. Justin Crossley’s set was built and painted by Claire Mosel, Nashy MZ, Amber Jantjies and Hannah Anderson.

The stage manager, Nasyhithah Zaini, had her team well organised. At the beginning of the play, there are several short scenes and cameos, so it was imperative to keep the pace up with quick scene changes. There were occasions where, for example, a stage assistant (Alex McVey – amongst others) would briskly walk on, hand a bunch of flowers to an actor, pick up a chair and exit without any hesitation; this style worked extremely well. Congrats.

The lighting rig is limited, but Amanda Ferguson managed to capture the night scene beautifully. The atmosphere was further enhanced by Aiden Willoughby’s soft musical compositions and Corina Brown’s clever and subtle use of sound effects – so many operators get the volume far too high.

Bobby Cooper, Ellie Hopwood and Cody Lam. designed the makeup and costumes that covered skank to garage owner.

       16-year-old Connor (Bradley Clarke) has decided that his parents are not the shining examples that he has admired for years, but actually narrow-minded dags. He finds his caring mother (Grace Pusey) smothering.

       One day on his way to school, he tells the bus driver (Hock Edwards) exactly what he thinks of him and his work as a mere public servant. Later, when Connor meets his best friend Timo (Kieran Renouf), his young hormones create yet another crisis. Even his beautiful, concerned classmate, Seannah (Hannah Anderson) seems to bring out the worst in Connor.

       At their wits end, Connor’s parents take him into a forest and, in boot camp style, leave him to fend for himself – this is where bolshie Lotte (Karen Hansord) finds him.

 Director, Justin Crossley and his production manager, Claire Mosel, have gathered a very good cast. Some performers are experienced and others getting their first big chance on stage. Not only has Justin managed to understand the complex and deep emotions involved – buckets of anger, self-doubt and repressed love – but he has also managed to pass these feelings on to his actors, and have them present them subtly.

This is a beautifully written and structured play that could so easily have been ruined by overacting; Justin’s approach was spot on.

Connor is a youth that we have either been, or know well. This play lets young students know that they are not alone, they are loved and there is hope.

A strong first production for ‘Hand in Hand Theatre’.

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.

‘Punk Rock’ premiered at the London’s ‘Royal Exchange Theatre’ in 2009. Although it has crude and inappropriate language throughout, it is still frequently chosen as a final year text for UK schools.

The Murdoch Theatre Company (MTC), in Studio 411 Theatre (off Car Park 4) at Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, is producing this drama, with music.

The one and a half hour performances (no interval) can be seen nightly at 7.30 until Saturday 30^th April.

 The scene is the second floor library of a fee-paying grammar school in working class Stockport, a southern suburb of Manchester. The set shows a large bay window with small leaded panes, and a box seat the length of the window. There are oak student lockers, tables and chairs, but the whole schoolroom has the appearance of decay and lack of funding. The designer of this quality set was Jessica Bennett-Hullin assisted by Ellie Hopwood. The set construction was by Michael Bennett-Hullin, Jessica Bennett-Hullin, William Burgess and Mathew Neale.

The school costumes were all handmade including skirts and trousers. There were specially designed school badges for the blouses and jackets, a huge amount of work, by Ellie Hopwood, Jessica Bennett-Hullin and Anna Weir.

The production manager, Claire Mosel, and her stage manager Grace Pusey have manged to pull this major production together beautifully.

        Seated in the library, studying for his mock exams is teenager, William (Mike Casas), an intelligent pupil who tends to fantasise. When the new girl, Lilly (Paige Mews), who has just moved to the area from Cambridge enters the room, William is only too willing to help her settle in. The next to enter is the heartthrob of the class, Nicholas (Will Moriarty) who is more interested in the older women than students.

       The pleasant conversation is soon broken by the arrival of the class bully, Bennett (Thomas Dimmick), who is crass with the girls as well as degrading with the boys. He creates conflict wherever he goes. Even his girlfriend Cissy (Bella Doyle) only tolerates him because of his perceived power. When Bennett abuses her friend Tanya (Shannen Precious), Cissy is too scared to support her despite Tanya’s obvious inner turmoil.

       Almost unseen, the school genius, Chadwick Meade (Sean Wcislo) enters the library. As soon as he spots Bennett, he begins to tremble and stammer. Bennett loves to see him suffer by pointing out his sexual inadequacies.

       It is not long before there is a tragedy at the school; will they ever be the same again?

I don’t normally quote paragraphs of dialogue from plays, but this drama has what is considered one of the best monologues in modern writing, when near the end, Chadwick Meade says:-

‘Human beings are pathetic. Everything human beings do, finishes up bad in the end. Everything good human beings ever make is built on something monstrous. Nothing lasts. We certainly won’t.

We could have made something really extraordinary and we won’t. We’ve been around one hundred thousand years. We’ll have died out before the next two hundred. You know what we’ve got to look forward to?

You know what will define the next two hundred years?

Religions will become brutalized; crime rates will become hysterical; everybody will become addicted to internet sex; suicide will become fashionable; there’ll be famine; there’ll be floods; there’ll be fires in the major cities of the Western world. Our education systems will become battered. Our health services unsustainable; our police forces unmanageable; our governments corrupt. There’ll be open brutality in the streets; there’ll be nuclear war; massive depletion of resources on every level; insanely increasing third-world population. It’s happening already. It’s happening now.

Thousands die every summer from floods in the Indian monsoon season.

Africans from Senegal wash up on the beaches of the Mediterranean and get looked after by guilty liberal holiday-makers.

Somalians wait in hostels in Malta or prison islands north of Australia.

Hundreds die of heat or fire every year in Paris. Or California. Or Athens.

The oceans will rise. The cities will flood. The power stations will flood. Airports will flood. Species will vanish forever. Including ours.

So if you think I’m worried by you calling me names, Bennet, you little, little boy, you are fucking kidding yourself’.

 On arrival at the theatre, a clue as to the play content is given by the front of house, St Trinians schoolgirls Kiah Van Vlijmen, Claire Mosel and Rhiannon Moon. In the theatre a feature punk duet, Michael Bennett-Hullin and William Burgess, belted out the preshow music. They also filled in briefly between the scenes.

Bella Doyle and Shannen Precious’s clever lighting design changed subtly with the mood of the classroom conversation (carefully operated by Tijana Simic). Combined Corina Brown’s sound design (operated by Jordan Baynes) the atmosphere was electric.

The magnificent director was Tay Broadley, who along with his co-director Justin Crossley and assistant Katie Southwell, have given us a drama to remember. The choice of cast was perfect. Each actor completely understood and captured the depth of their character’s strengths and weaknesses. The team had impeccable chemistry and timing. Tay has cleverly decided on the slow, underplayed delivery for most of the play, only turning up the drama at specific harrowing points. This took the audience’s breath away several times.

When the play finished there was silence before a half-hearted applause began. I just want the actors to know that this did not reflect the audience’s full appreciation, only that they were stunned and drained – such was the power of the acting. When the cast left the stage, again the audience sat numb. It was clear that a few tears had been cast.

This is one of the most powerful and challenging plays that I have seen in years. Everyone concerned should be extremely proud of their success.

The original play has one male cast member and one female; this version has nine, but makes the play the best adaptation that I have seen. This nightmarish tale uses minimal set and maximum open space; however, real people have this time replaced the normal pseudo shapes and symbolic techniques representing the narrated imageries.

This ARENAarts 90-minute gothic, psychodrama has humour and suspense. It has been fraught with illness, double booking, but the troupe has battled on to give a wonderful production. It can be seen at The Latvian Centre (LC Theatre), 60 Cleaver Terrace, Belmont (plenty of free parking) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8.00 pm with performances until 18^th April.

Please note, NO performance on Easter Sunday or Monday.

The scene is contemporary, being based in and around a flat in Flaming Tree Grove, a down-market housing area. The sitting room on a 60 cms dais at the rear of the stage, and contains a coat stand, a standard lamp and a single comfortable armchair (design Louise Collins. Simon James). In front of the platform is a small white picket fence, suggesting the possible homely, secure atmosphere within; whilst at the rear, their sitting room wall is a stunning mural (Tim Prosser – carried onto the excellent poster by Aiden Carroll) filled with colour and confusion, a hint at the occupants’ minds.

At each side of the stage are more, smaller and lower podia, representing the flats and homes of the Moon family’s weird neighbours. The cast sat in their homes awaiting their turn. A child mannequin stands centre stage, wearing a red polka dot dress (a dress of full moons). Some great props from Linda Redman.

     A little girl (Angelina Aung Than) in a red polka dot dress stands on the stage apron and tells the audience that she is Ruby Moon, and the tale they are about to hear is like a fairytale (indeed heavily based on ‘Little Red Riding Hood’).

       The paranoid Sylvie Moon (Natalie Aung Than) is sitting at home and as usual, is filled with grief and tension. Many months ago, her young daughter had left their home to visit her Grandma, but had never reached her destination, a dilemma Sylvie has still not even started to come to terms with. When her distraught, but stable husband, Ray (Justin Crossley) staggers home clutching a broken umbrella, she is far too trapped in her never-ending cycle of grief, to even consider giving him a welcoming kiss. Neither of them can move on with their lives.

      For the thousandth time they decide to go over the facts. Someone in their street MUST have seen Ruby and so, frustrated by lack of police progress, they visit each eccentric neighbour in turn. The elderly Christian, Miss Doily (Giordarna Rigoli – most convincing as an old woman) and her beloved parrot, were first on the list. She hinted that beautiful Ruby might not have been as righteous as the parents think. Then came Sid Craven (Eamonn Skov – a complex character, perfectly portrayed) a tragic, lonely magician – but could he be a paedophile in clown’s clothing?

      Across the street lived Veronica Vale (Emily Theseira – tremendously tantalising) a sexy strumpet who was watched undressing each evening by her neighbour, an injured soldier, Sonny Jim (Luke Eastman – great chip on shoulder aggro). Near the end of Flaming Tree Grove cul-de-sac was their strange baby-sitter, Dawn (Claire Mosel – creepy) a troubled girl who related more worrying tales about Ruby. Almost as soon as Sylvie entered the home of scientist, Carl Ogle (Don Callison – powerful) she knew her troubles were coming to an end.

 The moody, dim lighting designed by Simon James, the realistic, delicate sound effects, recorded by Tim Prosser and operated by Joshua Harris, were subtle and most realistic giving true depth to the whole production.

I have not quite connected with previous versions of this superbly written, complex look at the private minds of grieving parents. However here, director Louise Collins assisted by Bradley Camm, has selected two, most convincing main actors who, by having given fantastic clarity to the parents’ minds and their schizophrenic mood swings, have really conquered the depth and complexity of this story. At times the audience may have been sitting confused as to what was going on, wondering will it ever make sense? However, in the end, everyone will have left ‘satisfied’ with a clear conclusion.

A very difficult play to stage but carried out by a tremendously strong team, acting in perfect harmony. Each player knew his or her character perfectly and truly brought the play to life.

An excellent piece of theatre, try to catch one of the last couple of nights.

The set was simple, a couple of chairs and a back screen. The filming and background projection (David Cox) showed Cooper Van Vlijmen as young Harvey, swimming in the ocean. Good makeup and hair design from Sophie Braham and Cassee Lazic.

        The scene opens with Harvey (Eamonn Skov), a depressed teenager who has lost interest in the world. He is standing on a beach staring at the tide waxing and waning, recalling how a decade earlier he had almost drowned. Harvey’s mother (Chloé Laffar) misses her husband, Arnold (Ryan Partridge) who disappeared all those years ago. She is distraught at the change in her son, as he mindlessly watches videos and trolling the internet.

       Harvey has a new girlfriend, Emma (Claire Tebbutt), who is determined to drag him back to normality. Then one evening, Harvey is visited by two spirits, one is smiling and in a bright flowery dress (costumes Abbey McCaughan), she is Hope (Katherine O’Brien – excellent) the other is in an army garb, lackadaisical and laconic, Doubt (Hannah Anderson – superb). They talk to Harvey and suggest that he goes back to the same beach that he almost drowned at, because he lost most of his soul there.

       Harvey recalls the love of his life from that terrible time a decade ago, Rebecca (Tarryn McGrath) and sees himself as the much younger man (Sean Mackey).

       Onto the scene appears The Keeper (Bella Doyle, very good), or Suit as she is affectionately know. ‘Suit’ is a stern, manipulative woman determined to ruin anyone that steps in her way, so will Harvey be able to regain what has been lost all of these years?

Anthony KJ has written a fairly simple story, but skilfully blended in some advanced ideas and moods. Sadly, psychological themes are one of the hardest to direct and perform. The cast worked hard, but the tale did not quite click. The pace was about 20% too slow; admittedly, Harvey was depressed, but most of the other characters should have been operating at normal speed.

Because Harvey did not give any affection, or shows little response, does not mean that the others should have been ‘traumatised’ too, by also lacking in normal, affectionate chemistry. The mother and girlfriend should have been physically closer, touching, with cuddles, pecks and kisses.

A couple of suggestions; keep eye contact with the person that you are talking to; often the actors addressed the heavens. Develop a second octave – usually a lower one – as beginners or nervous actors, often go up an octave and stay there for their performances. Work your waist and neck muscles, ‘Hope’ was very good, radiating her feelings, and ‘Doubt’ who was deliberately static, allowed her magnificent expressions to say it all.

This was an advanced play, difficult to perform, but given a wonderfully bold attempt by the writer, directors and cast.