Home Invasion review

Home Invasion is a play that looks at obsession and disconnection. It's about people dealing with destructive behaviours in their lives; a housewife who is haunted by JonBenét Ramsey, a schoolgirl with violent tendencies and a mechanic who feels guilty for the death of a young woman.

The cast of six - Kristina Benton, Nathan Burmeister, Trelawney Edgar, Ashleigh Goodison, Wayne Tunks and Grace Travaglia - worked well in exploring their characters and allowing them to go down the dark path. There were some well-crafted moments among them, with strong scenes between Benton and Goodison and Edgar and Burmeister. 

Softly Pouting While Walking Into Breezes Review

We have all loved and lost but sometimes it is difficult to move on from that loss. Presented at La Mama as part of the 2015 Midsumma Festival, Jake Stewart’s Softly Pouting While Walking Into Breezes looks at how, long after it has long ended, one relationship can still affect us  – or in this case Ben, who is portrayed by a number of actors at different times of his life.

Stewart manages to capture some genuinely honest moments in his writing, such as Alistair Trapnell and Sam Nix’s “pillow talk” and Chris Edwards’ nervous approach to Alasdair Huggett’s guitar-playing charmer. The rest of the script however is a mixed bag that is more miss than hit. Some scenes felt repetitive with the shy guy/confident guy moments, there were musical interludes that seemed out of place, and incidents that made little or no sense in the overall story arc.