Brian Crawley then wrote the lyrics and Tony-nominated composer, Andrew Lippa the music for this Western Australian premiere of this contemporary Broadway musical,

With the sudden closure of the Playlovers’ Theatre building in Floreat, Stirling Players came to the rescue and helped them stage this dark, but charming play at the Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo.

The two and a half hour performances started at 8.00 pm, and the season ran until Saturday 12^th November, with full houses almost every night.

It is Victorian central Africa. A wall of tea chests and packing cases fill the rear of the stage. To the right is a domestic furnace. On the left apron of the stage is a bedroom set, with a mosquito net over the bed. Set designer and artists are Lisa Johnston, Amber Southall, Leon Olson and Cherie Tucker.

The Orchestra is in a side room, opening onto the auditorium. The melodic Musical Director is Paul Olsen and his harmonious musicians are Joan Millington (piccolo), Catherine Warnock and Wayne Griffiths (reeds), Seton Douglas-Smith (trumpet), Sandra McKenna (French horn), David Gee (guitar), David Thai (percussion), Elizabeth Lavalla (keyboard), Elise Rosenberg and Laura Carr (violins). Being in a separate area, meant that the balance of the instruments for the accompaniment worked very well, and the freshness of the instruments’ timbre was particularly clear.

Production Assistant, Celeste Underhill is famous for giving good value to a production, and Stage manager, Bronwyn Hammond coped superbly with the massive cast and the numerous scene changes were ‘instant’ and flawless.

     When widower, Captain Crewe (Paul Spencer) is told to travel to Timbuktu – the most dangerous place in the world – he takes his African batman, Pasko (Richard Maganga), but must leave the caring African house servant, Aljana (Shikuku Cuthbertson). He enrols his young daughter, Sara (Stephanie Shaw, Jasmine Dos Santos alternating nights) into a posh boarding school in London, run by the sadistic, frustrated headmistress, Miss Minchin (Celeste Underhill). At the docks, Captain Crewe waves goodbye, as the ship’s captain (Paul Anderson) and his crew (Alexander Fleckner, Steve Anderson) take good care of Sara on the voyage.

     Crewe pays for special treatment for Sara at her new school; so she has her own room and a nervous, caring maid, orphan Becky (Sophia Matthews). The kind but subservient teacher is Miss Amelia (Erin Craddock), the headmistress’s younger sister; who is also bullied by the Head.

       There are several children in Sara’s class, but she befriends tubby and dim, Ermengarde (Sienna Freeman) and little Lottie (Bella Freeman alternating with Josephine Ellis). A couple of the classmates, Jessie (Ella Hagon) and Jane (Ella Simpson) think Sara is a ‘princess’, and even the two bossy, older girls, Nora (Holly Jamieson) and Lavinia (Katie Price) tend to show her some respect. However, when Sara’s funds dry up, her life is about to change for several years, but her generous nature still shines through.

    As Captain Crewe is trekking north through Africa, a tribal chief, Widow Zuma (Tara Lynette Elliot) puts a deadly curse on him. Soon he is starving and ill – will he survive?

     Could Becky’s Mum (Meesha Williams) really be still alive? Why does Queen Victoria (Amber Southall) want to meet Sara?

Choreographer, Amber Southall and her dance captain, Jamie-lee Olson, could easily have taken the easy way out with their African ensemble (Samantha Chidoko, Sandra Chidoko, Tanyaradzwa Matibiri, Arthley Matibiri, Tamara Perrozzi, Kevin Romeo and David Thai. Faced with such a large and young cast, many choreographers would present a little soft shoe shuffle, or some simple tribal stomping; however, Amber has practically the whole cast dancing at a breakneck tempo, every limb flayed and vibrated, as the bodies bobbed up and down. The actors were flawless, never missing a beat, and with their broad grins the warmth flowed to the audience. Lighting consultant, John Woolrych and his designer Katrina Johnston gave a glorious multitude of colours, pulsing to the beat of the African music. Operator Katrina and Steve Ellis did a wonderful job.

The busy London street ensemble included Sharon Malcolm and Eleanor Rowe, with umbrellas – what else in London? Hair stylist, Erin Craddock’s creations along with Candice Mountford and Tara Elliott’s makeup, impeccably complemented the hard work of costume coordinator, Lyn Hutcheson and her creative team of Kimberley Shaw, Amanda Simpson, Fran Gordon, Shikuku Cuthbertson, Linda Matthews, Amber Southall and Talia Hagon.

The headsets (technicians Ian Wilson and Daniel Toomath) worked perfectly and the soundscape had real life to it. All of the singing was to put it mildly – SUPERB. One expects the adults to be harmonious, with good enunciation and note perfect, and they were! But with youngsters as young as 8 years old in the cast, one can only hope for a ‘reasonable’ bit of quality from them. It was obvious from the first few notes of music, that I had set my standard far too low, every single ‘school student’ could easily perform in a major professional production – and I am sure they will – the quality was mind-blowing.

The night I saw the show, Stephanie Shaw played Sara, and her stage presence was something special. Her whole body was acting. Her voice was flawless, reaching every note of the large vocal range demanded by the score. The storyline necessitated emotions from elation to deep sadness, and was tackled immaculately by this young performer. I have been assured that the ‘other’ Sara was top notch too.

For Director Lisa Johnston this was a massive task, but when a show looks smooth, with great singing and flawless performances then you know that there is a huge amount of work and many sleepless nights behind it.

Many congratulations to all, a vibrant and yet sensitive show.

Joseph served three years in the West African Republic of Senegal Peace Corps. He then earned a Masters in Dramatic Writing, before going on to teach Essay Writing at a New York university.

This high quality, 90-minute drama is filled with black humour, can be seen at Playlovers, Hackett Hall, Draper Street, Floreat on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 8.00 until the 25^th July. There are Sunday matinees, at 2.00 pm, on the 12^th and 19^th.

The set comprises a theatre makeup room, on the apron at each side of the stage; this is where the two cast members get changed, or should I say metamorphosed between every scene?

The stage itself is totally black. There are two metal-framed beds and other pieces of black furniture (stage managed by Cassidy Bodenham). The two cast members carried out the minor scene changes, but Cassidy had a great deal of planning for their costume changes and makeup. Three projectors are used to give pictorial information (Caitlin Telcik, Claire Taylor).

The story takes place from the mid 1960s, over a period of 30 years,. We see a meeting of the couple every 4 or 5 years, but not in chronological order.

 

       Most young boys who fancy a girl at school would, rather than profess his love, pull her hair or hit her. However, for eight-year-old Doug (Sam Barnett), he attention seeks by hurting himself with ridiculously dangerous stunts. The girl he is trying to attract is Kayleen (Kimberley Harris), who has a fascination with scars and blood.

       As the years go on, we see this strange couple maturing; but in his search for empathy rather than sympathy, Doug still needs to share his latest wound – and there are numerous – or a desire to talk about his bodily functions, is never very far away. Yes, Doug is a very confused young man. Kayleen, on the other hand, has a strong desire to better herself, to find someone to love her, but most of all, escape from her uncaring parents.

       Can Doug and Kayleen’s relationship ever blossom? Or will an awful existence befall them both?

 

These two wonderful actors have shown real talent. A two-hander play is extremely difficult at any time, but this 90-minute play has no interval, and the added undertaking of a mild American accent – both actors’ accents matched, yeeh!!, and were natural not grating. Due to an original cast member having other commitments, Kim was only given her part 3 weeks ago, what a remarkable performance. Both characters’ temperaments changed many times throughout the play, ranging from severely ill to downright aggressive, but with the strong guidance of the director, Kristen Twynam-Perkins and her assistant director, Natalie Cox, the result was amazing. Perfect pace, not a line missed genuine rapport and emotion between the characters. Excellent performances.

It was fascinating to see how much thought had been put into the makeup (gore courtesy of Manuao TeAotonga) and the costumes, as the characters’ ages changed, the subtleties of the fashion for the particular era always shone through. The well-selected music (sound operation by Dylan Shelton) set the year, with more serious Russian classical music being played for the reasonably lengthy costume and makeup changes. The lighting design (John Woolrych) was simple but most effective, smoothly operated by Catherine O’Donoghue.

I always admire a team that take on a play that is unusual and challenging, this team went for a difficult experiment and won.

The show is part of the 2014 PrideFest, and so the Playlovers Group are holding a fundraiser event on Thursday 20^th November.

On entering, the theatre auditorium there is a warm welcome from melodious country singer, Bitsy Mae Harling (Jane Anderson), a solo player who can actually sing in tune and play chords rather than strumming. Jane also sang from her heart and with feeling.

 There are four very different and impressive sets, designed by David Gardette, that were all changed in total silence whilst Bitsy Mae sang. The first of the well-decorated and fully furnished sets is a scruffy home in Texas, the second a rough bar room, then a psychiatrist’s office and finally a funeral parlour. Damian Long’s stage crew of Bronwyn Hammond, Meg Adrichem-Considine, and Ian Griffin were exceptionally slick and perfectly organised.

        The lights dim and actor, Ty Williamson (Andrew Baker) takes a seat in front of the stage apron and pours out his heart. He explains how his has ‘come out’ as a gay, but cannot return to his home in Texas, because gays are still considered perverted individuals and are locked up in prison. Worst of all, how can he tell his mother, Latrelle (Alide Chaney)?

        White trash, Sissy Hickey (Grace Hitchin) is tidying her unkempt home when her neighbour, Noleta (Olivia Hogan) arrives. In her deep Texas drawl, Noleta apologises to Sissy for her husband having killed Peggy, her mother. It becomes clear that the Vietnam Vet, husband G.W. (David Nelson) had been having a one-night stand with Peggy, when she fell over his wooden legs and hit her head, killing herself.

        Ty’s mum, smartly dressed Latrelle, arrives at Sissy’s house along with the third sister, loud, bold and brassy LaVonda (Gillian Binks) to prepare for their mother’s funeral.

        In a nearby pub, G.W. and his friend, Odell (Jason Wall) are chatting to the barman, Bubba (Michael Balmer) when the doors of this male sanctuary fly open and two of the girls enter. They have just been to the cinema to see ‘Thelma and Louse’ and because they are now drunk, fancy themselves as the female gangsters. The three men will never be the same again!!

          The three sisters have a brother, Earl ‘Brother Boy’ (Clayton Zwanenburg) who, because he is besotted by Tammy Wynette, dressing like her and fantasising all day, was placed in a sanatorium for his own safety. We join his sex therapist, Dr Eve (Sue Murray) in her consulting room, as she tries her own method of easing Earl out of his ‘disability’.

What an amazing ride director David Gardette takes us on. He has gathered an extremely talented cast, with many major awards between them – and it shows. Their deep-south accent is particularly accurate, although initially a little annoying, the cast could not be faulted in their dialogue.

The characters were rich and demanded daring, energy-packed performances. Several of the cast were taken well outside their comfort zones, but they did this with courage and amazing humour. The language and some sexual descriptions made one or two of the audience gasp, but like it or not, this is REAL life. The performances were ALL outstanding, not a weak link anywhere, fantastic.

The wigs and costumes, designed by Terry McAuley and David Young, are wonderfully conceived. The style and colours made everyone chortle at times. John Woolrych’s lighting was well designed, and smoothly operated by Jacob Anderson. The sound effects required several very accurate cues, and the soundscape designer, Daniel Toomath, did not miss a beat.

This production was complex and had so many areas where a poorly focused team could easily have collapsed, however, this dedicated group were unstoppable. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you do not mind a politically incorrect script and damaging your retinas with one scene, you will love this very unusual comedy. A real, feel-good show.

For three nights only, the two and a half hour performances run until 15th March. Curtain up at 8.00 pm.

The action is mainly on the theatre’s auditorium floor, in front of the stage, and consists of a pub bar and a sitting room couch.

       It is Sunday afternoon, and a scruffy beggar (Peter Bibby) with a flowing white beard, staggers onto the street and in Shakespearean style, delivers the play’s prologue. He has lived on the streets for many years, and relates some of the happenings that he has seen.

      Meanwhile, a teacher Claire (Rachael Chamberlain) and her best friend, emergency nurse Anna (Adelle Munsie) are finishing their makeup before setting forth into Northbridge in search of men.  A friendly magazine seller (Clayton Zwanenberg) accosts the girls as they are entering a bar.

        In the bar, an Aboriginal waitress, Alice (Jess Stenglien) is discussing the political problems of the day with a regular barfly (Megan Burley), whilst the barman Michael (Cameron Leese) wipes down the tables. Two young men, pharmacist Jamie (Monty Atherden) and his pal Elliott (Jordan Holloway) start to chat up the girls.

        Heartbroken Jessica (Agata Knapska) spots Jamie, the man who recently dumped her, talking to Anna in the pub, and is heartbroken. She tries to find out why they broke up, but becomes even more upset. A thug (Jaxon George) is mercilessly picking on the beggar when Elliott comes to the rescue.

This very unusual play has several good story-threads, ranging from politics to Gay Rights, and homelessness to depression. It starts in the fun, romantic style of ‘As You Like It’ and finishes in high drama. The script topics were exceptionally current, with references to happenings of even the past week.

The whole dialogue is written in iambic pentameter – similar to the Shakespearean style of de-dum, de-dum poetic writing. The complex writing is very clever and has generally been drafted well. It requires a great deal of skill to perform, as the pattern should not be too obvious and certainly not spoken as though reading poetry. The cast had to learn 140-minutes of this cadence, and for many people who struggled to learn a four-line poem at school, this was an enormous task. The whole cast did an admirable job, but did not quite hit the mark.

The rhyme was filled with florid description, unusual words and many metaphors often based on the Bard’s writing. A few really deliberately clunky lines brought light comedic relief. The cast tried hard and a great deal of credit must go to them for even accepting the challenge, but with the writer also directing, the message was not delivered as well as it could have been.

The whole idea of going to the theatre is for enjoyment, and unfortunately this was a little like eating fruit cake, the first few mouthfuls were enjoyable but eventually it became a real struggle to stay alert and follow the story. A twenty percent edit would have been beneficial. A couple of the actors presented their delivery as though the script was a normal play, and this seemed to work well. Others did the full Shakespearean thespian bit and it fell flat. With the iambic pentameter, some of the cast were concentrating so hard on the rhythm that their characterisation disappeared, confirming my feeling that a separate director would probably have helped.

You could see a colossal amount of work and immense skill has gone into this, Will’s first play, and in the right hands he will develop his own style.

I am sorry if this review may look a lot worse than it is meant to be. The cast worked hard and the author is to be congratulated and encouraged. Good luck for the future.