How do you take one of Broadway's greatest and much loved farces while still being inventive and imaginative with it? With its many cases of mistaken identity, it's quite easy. Watch This, Australia’s first and only Sondheim repertory company is bringing one of the composer and lyricist's earliest work to the stage, with not only an all female-identifying cast but a multi-generational one too. We spoke to Sarahlouise Younger, who plays Marcus Lycus, about the new perspectives this production offers and the joy of working on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
"I was champing at the bit to get into the rehearsal room! If you're a Sondheim fan like I am, and what musical theatre performer isn't?, Forum is the second time we see Sondheim standing on his own and taking the reins as both composer and lyricist," she tells me. "While the influence of his mentor Bernstein is quite evident, you can hear little musical gems of what will be iconic Sondheim in his future musical creations. The book is a fabulous example of what is great comedic writing. His co-writer Larry Gelbart would go on to write M.A.S.H, so as a musical theatre performer it is such a treat to be given a rich, wordy text to play with."
Lotte Beckett and Mark Yeates are thoroughly engaging as long-time friends with part-time benefits. Their rapport and interactions easily establish a history that does not need to be explained. We can understand the friendship between them, as well as the rivalry, jealousy and envy that lingers in the air, with something else that's not quite right simmering below the surface.
Based on English poet John Milton's epic 1667 poem "Paradise Lost", local independent theatre company The Bloomshed presents its interpretation of the temptation of Adam and Eve by fallen angel Lucifer and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden with its trademark contemporary satirical style.
This is the third iteration of Paradise Lost by the company, and each one has been unique in scale and delivery. The first in 2019 was an in-development season at The Butterfly Club, with minimal set design and a highly frenetic pace. One year later, we were blessed with a remarkable radio play adaptation and in 2022, The Bloomshed have come back to the stage in a momentous way. With the years spent working on Paradise Lost the cast and creatives have finessed the foundations of the narrative they want to share while continuously challenging themselves to take this production to the next level.
In 1979, two teenagers from opposites sides of the world began writing to each other as pen pals. That friendship would see Ute from East Germany and Tania from New Zealand sharing their dreams and aspirations, their joy and grief, and their families and lives for over four decades. She Wrote The Letter brings this real life correspondence to the stage, gently dissecting how friendship fosters strength and hope when we need it most, and the profound impact that such people can have on us.
Playwright Kieran Carroll, presents the information and events covered as letters being read aloud (although this takes a conversational style at times), as monologues to express thoughts and feelings or through more traditional theatre with the two people speaking on the phone or face-to-face encounters. It would not be the easiest of tasks to squeeze forty years of friendship into an 85 minute production but what Carroll includes captures everything the audience requires to understand how deep this relationship runs between Ute and Tania. Most interestingly, Carroll uses historical happenings like the fall of the Berlin Wall and Princess Diana's death, as not only timestamps but also as ways of reminding us how external factors influence these two women and the bond they share.
The 7th of February 2009 will always be known as The Black Saturday bushfires, where a series of fires burned across Victoria, resulting in over 2000 homes destroyed and 173 people dying. But in Fleur Murphy's new play Hearth, this also happens to be the 18th birthday of Tom Robinson. Before the fires hit though, there is plenty of drama to keep him and his parents busy, particularly with the arrival of his brother Matthew and his partner Abbey.
Murphy has crafted an intriguing story even with the familiar family arguments and secrets being unearthed. In this instance, flashback scenes and monologues to the audience are delivered so that we are cleverly drip-fed pieces of information surrounding the Robinson family. Murphy presents fleshed out characters who are not simply there to serve the story but rather to tell the story. Through the dialogue and interactions Murphy has them have with each other, these characters feel authentic and so it's almost effortless for the audience to become invested in their lives.
In Pieces of Shit, two complete strangers recall an individual memory that forces them to confront issues around morality, respect and their sense of importance. Phil (Bronte Charlotte) works in events, and occasionally plans weddings, because that's where the big bucks lie. She may hate it, but she's very good at it; she's like the Olivia Pope of wedding planners. She gets the job done. At one wedding, she meets a man whom she ends up dating for numerous years.
Dylan (Leigh Scully) on other hand has been unemployed for 18 months but has some money stashed away while he discovers himself playing video games. It also helps that he is living back home with his wealthy parents. Dylan's brother is the golden child of the family, so moving back home brings with it some anxieties. Through a series of shocking and tragic events, Phil and Dylan's lives become entwined as they deal with the fallout of toxic masculinity and processing their own trauma.
Naturally there are laughs to be had as this is being presented as part of the Comedy Festival, but the show's inspiration comes from the true story of Angelico's father, a well-known magician, who was absent for much of her life and instilled a household with domestic violence and abuse. You notice these anxieties and vulnerabilities manifesting throughout her performance; that there is something else simmering in her attempt to put on this magic show.
The Story Keepers has been a long time coming for Chandler, who has spent years selecting, preparing and devising these works. "The basic premise of fairy or fairy like beings telling fairy tales has been with me since 2017. So, in various ways it’s been floating around my brain for five years. But I’ve been writing, refining, and working on it over the last three years. I had been sitting on the idea of a troupe of fairy or fairy-like beings coming together to share, perform and act out fairy tales for a long time, but had struggled to find a way to start," they tell me.
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| This Bitter Earth. Image credit: Matthew Predny |
In Exit Strategies, Mish Grigor explores not only various ways of leaving but also the thinking and process behind this, such as when to leave and how to walk away from a situation. This world premiere, a collaboration with APHIDS co-directors Lara Thoms and Eugenia Lim, is an intimate performance that brings the audience into its absurd environment as we question our own philosophies and decisions around exiting.
In Suzie Hardgrave's The Disappearing Trilogy, gender and character come under the spotlight with an actor expressing her confusion and uncertainty on what it means to be both a woman and a performer. Where does one end and one begin? Can they co-exist, or will one eventually cease to exist?
