Brisbane Theatre - Whats The Show

Playthings: by Sun and Wine Arts Company

23 February 2025 Jules Hart

Playthings Rating

★★★★★

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“Ah, high school—the land of hovering hormones, questionable life choices, and the endless pursuit of social status”.

Brisbane-based Sun and Wine Arts Company recently showcased “Playthings” by Perth-based writer and director Scott McArdle. Raw and unapologetic, Playthings is the story of young teens Lucy and Arnold as they navigate the turbulent reckoning of adolescence. Director and producer Hamish Chappell ensures the heavy subject matter is handled with sensitivity and authenticity.

Rose Swanepoel as Lucy and Dylan Komoff as Arnold play starkly different personalities, yet their vulnerabilities forge an unlikely friendship as they navigate high school and home life.

Rose’s Lucy was endearingly abrasive—her irreverent outbursts morphing seamlessly into moments of unexpected comic relief. She swaggered around the stage with such boldness, you could almost feel her inner turmoil stifling her.

In contrast, Dylan fully inhabits Arnold’s awkward, nerdy persona. His hunched posture, fidgety mannerisms and shuffling stance captured the essence of a teen desperate to have his moment to break loose and hold his ground.

The undeniable connection between the two was very evident to the audience as their shared vulnerabilities brought them together in moments of brutal honesty.

Supporting actors Laura Renee, as teacher Miss Richards and Ben Kasper as Stepfather Rhys, gave context to the story, anchoring it in the structure of school and home life. Yet they each carried their own struggles and past experiences, which added depth to the narrative and complemented the main cast beautifully.

Laura brought a grounded energy to her role as Miss Richards, grappling with her past while showing compassion and kindness towards Arnold, guiding him through an emotional experience. Ben’s Rhys was exceptional as the stepdad eager to connect and trying his utmost to alleviate his strained relationship with Lucy.

Visually, the production used simple sets and subtle lighting switches. This kept the focus on Lucy and Arnold’s stories while also adding a sense of intimacy to the play.

A standout moment for me and a line that loops back to a theme expressed earlier in the play: “Life sucks, Arnold, and people are f#@ked, but you don’t suck!” Resonating with the audience, this statement served to pare back the connection and unspoken understanding between Lucy and Arnold.

Playthings unapologetically peels back the layers of adolescence, the chaos, struggles and the unlikely friendships that make it all bearable.

To learn more about Sun And Wine Arts please visit https://sunwinearts.wixsite.com/sun-and-wine-arts-co

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Jules Hart

Australian Open

9 January 20259 January 2025 Amanda Harrison

Angus Cameron’s Australian Open Rating

★★★★★

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The Australian Open is a modern Comedy written by Angus Cameron and directed by Hayden Burke. It explores the dysfunctional and interconnected relationship between a queer couple (Felix and Lucas), and Felix’s family. It incorporates mild social commentary with quick witted humour, creating a character driven story that hits highs and lows in high frequency.

Act One was a riotous time that culminates in the drama of ‘Family Christmas Lunch’. The pacing was excellent, building consistently to this titular moment. The versatility of Sandro Colarelli and Lisa Hickey’s performances must be commended, as they play the bigoted parents who evolve throughout the play. They show much range during their performance, with complete commitment to beats of physical comedy as well as dramatic intensity.

Act two does a tremendous job at showing the effects of the events from earlier in the play, and how each character responds to them. Whilst we get so much diversity and growth from everyone’s characters, they are very human remaining still flawed at the core. The story ends with intrigue and moments of reconciliation which leave the audience feeling uplifted. The comedic timing and tone were excellent throughout.

What this play did exceptionally well was the balance of tension and comedy. There were many moments of drama that built tension, that the audience was left to sit with for a satisfying length before comedic relief burst through. This is a standout take-away, giving the audience a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, but all wrapped up and delivered as entertainment. This is due to the collaboration between talented actors, a fantastic script and great direction. The set was fairly minimalistic due to the intimate setting but was used most effectively, transitions were covered well never leaving the audience waiting for long. The set design was inventive, using a tennis net as a billboard with lights. I also appreciated the further ceiling lights made to look like tennis balls.

Australian Open is a wonderful character driven comedy that explores queer relationships, self discovery and the merits of eskies. I was overjoyed to see fun and positive representation of many things including BDSM elements and open relationships. The only thing I would’ve liked to see would have been a romantic and uplifting kiss between Felix and Lucas at the resolution of their story, to really drive home the rewarding pay off for those invested in their journey. The Cast and Crew should be commended for a hilarious and sometimes too accurate play. Audiences will have a delightful and engaging time, and shouldn’t miss Angus Cameron’s Australian Open.

Australian Open runs for two more weekends only. To book tickets to Angus Cameron’s Australian Open, please visit https://piptheatre.org/australian-open/

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

Amanda Harrison

Failure: A Love Story by the Villanova Players

9 November 2024 Amanda Harrison

Failure: A Love Story by the Villanova Players Rating

★★★★★

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Failure: A Love Story is a Dramedy that also explores the use of music in the 1920s-themed Character-centric play. We follow ‘Mortimer Mortimer’ played by the delightful Lachlan Gregory Hugh, on his ill-fated courtship of no fewer than three women of the ‘Fail Family’ and the journey of his life until death. The story is delivered uniquely, where the characters take turns offering narrations in the third person, flitting in and out of the story.

The play competently and creatively incorporates the use of projections to help transport us to the very many various locations in the play. The Projections often provide us with unique family portraits, some hilariously photoshopped.

Other unique aspects of this production include using puppetry to bring to life a pet snake and the smooth vocals of Milton Scully, who plays a personified Gramophone. Although Milton excels vocally, they are raw on-stage with no backing track provided, which could have elevated the Jazz vibes of his performance. He still gives it his all, showing us masterful carrying of tune, pitch and tone.

Another odd aspect is the appearance of a dog played by Shane Fell, whose end-of-life euthanasia is played for laughs. This sounds shocking, but Shane’s bold choice and comedic performance make this a stand-out comedic moment.

The main stand-out performances belong to Lachlan Gregory Hugh and Sabrina Fu, who play Mortimer Mortimer and Nelly Fail, respectively. They bring vibrancy and energy to the stage, appearing confident and collected in their performances. Erin Hall and Sophie Morrison bring consistency and grounding to their performances as the other ‘fail’ sisters. Nathan Seng excels in his role, convincingly playing the shy and awkward adopted ‘fail’ brother.

All actors were well-spoken, projecting to the entirety of the theatre throughout. Nathan Seng has a great voice in the snippet of singing we get from his character, and the chorus singing moments sound great. Although once again backing tracks, and more upbeat dance choreography could have lifted the energy in these scenes to support the actors’ performances. We are delivered very clean and precise blocking throughout the performance, showing this cast could’ve competently handled more energetic or elaborate configurations.

This production was crafted with care and talent in the prop department, showcasing amazing handmade pieces. From a clockwork coffin to a Gramophone-themed megaphone, the props used were excellent. The lighting once again plays it safe, only being incorporated occasionally as a story-telling device, but all actors are well-lit. The pacing seemed to be the greatest difficulty in this production, with narrations often dragging and struggling to support the story in building to its climactic points of drama.

Unfortunately, this impedes some of the comedic timing at points and makes the third act, as we travel towards the ending, feel quite long. There is, at times, masking from the cast as they wait in limbo to jump in for their section of narration. However, the jokes that do land delight the audience and keep us invested in the journey of Mortimer Mortimer. Lachlan really does bring a great surge of vitality to the stage with his performance, and he should be commended.

Failure: A Love Story provides us with a cozy journey. It is funny while fated to tragedy and intimately explores a person’s journey through love. The cast should be commended on their successful performance and efforts.

With only two nights remaining, book your tickets to Failure: A Love Story @ https://www.villanovaplayers.com/coming-soon

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Sir Terry Pratchett’s The Fifth Elephant

24 October 202421 October 2024 Calliope Skye

The Fifth Elephant Rating

★★★★★

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The Fifth Elephant, one of Terry Pratchett’s many successful fantasy novels, inspires this whimsical and spellbinding stage play from Brisbane Arts Theatre Company. This production, directed by Sarah Drew and Eleni Koutsoukis, was especially exciting to attend as I was interested to see how the themes and characters of Pratchett’s Discworld novels come to life.

While the stage design was simple, the crew used contemporary methods to convey scene changes and effective space use. In the top right corner of the stage was a black, long staircase from which characters could emerge to signify a character’s status or moods and give group scenes more varied dynamics. It was well received in each instance and an adequate expression.

Something of note was the use of lighting and projections. In the first act, the lighting crew encountered occasional timing issues a few times. Despite this, each time, they recovered quickly, and it became less of a distraction as the show went on, and their cues were more on point. The use of red flashing lights during one of the action scenes and the red lighting during one of the final scenes aligned well with what was happening and engaged viewers. Using projected images to signify scene changes was a simple but clear way to manage the design and cast movement. Instead of moving furniture between scenes and waiting for transitions, the cast could immediately focus on the next one.

As for the actors and actresses, I was very impressed by the amount of talent and focus they conveyed in each scene. The physical demands of the roles of those who played werewolves/wolves/talking dogs were also commendable, as they often had to move about the stage reasonably quickly during action scenes.

Especially notable mentions include the roles of Commander Vimes, Carrot, Igor (all of them), Wolfgang, Littlebottom and Skimmer. I enjoyed seeing how all of these characters interact and how the actors professionally and thoughtfully executed them. Their use of comic relief, tension, body language, and vocal tone made each scene stand out in quite a unique way. If I were to pick one scene that the audience and I seemed to have favoured and thoroughly enjoyed, it would be the final scene between Vimes and Wolfgang. The audience also enjoyed the Igor scenes; many spoke lovingly of them during intermission.

Each actor, whether in a major or minor role, did an amazing job, and I am eager to see how their skills are utilised in the next production.

The Fifth Elephant runs until the 2nd November. Book your tickets for one of the remaining performances @ https://www.artstheatre.com.au/productions/sir-terry-pratchetts-the-fifth-elephant/

Friday 25th October – 8pm
Saturday 26th October – 7pm
Sunday 27th October – 2pm
Thursday 31st October – 8pm
Friday 1st November – 8pm
Saturday 2nd November – 7pm

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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