The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia: Chookas Entertainment

The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia

The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia Rating

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1

Presented by Chookas Entertainment & Insight Acting is undoubtedly a ‘one of a kind’ dark comedy performance. The production was expertly directed by Tim Kemp and produced by Jodie Miller. “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” was written by Edward Albee and was the Winner of the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play.

The performance was held at the Civic Playhouse which naturally lends itself to an intimate environment for audience participation and tonight’s performance definitely had the audience engaged, receptive and most definitely gobsmacked.

The cast of four actors displayed utmost skill and seasoned professionalism. They all shone in their own right portraying great conviction and dedication to their characters.

Tony Jozef played the lead role of Martin who has unquestionably become deranged in his newfound sexual desires. Martin is at the peak of an existential crisis as he endeavours to explain his unimaginable love affair between himself and his lover Sylvia – a goat! His unfathomable lust for Sylvia is definitely very unsettling. Tony’s ability to create empathy for his character’s grave misgivings is indeed commendable.

Joel Stibbard gave a solid performance as Ross, the long time best friend of Martin. He portrayed great comradery between himself and Martin and delivered the perfect amount of flair for a TV presenter.

Seventeen year old Billy is played by Clio Vellis who gave a wonderful rendition of a hormonal, confused teenager. Billy is struggling to comprehend newly learnt tragic information regarding his father which leaves him utterly perturbed.

Angela Robertson delivered first class acting in her role as Stevie, the loyal and dutiful wife of Martin. Angela showed unwavering commitment to her role and achieved great audience connection and sympathy to her character.

The lighting by Riordan Munnoch was simple, effective and poignant. The blackouts at the end of each scene were powerful and equally notable was the utilisation of subtle coloured lighting techniques to enhance and mirror the dramatic moments being portrayed on stage.

“The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” is recommended for mature audiences and for theatre goers who have an appreciation for morbid humour.

It is a deeply disturbing, highly unconventional and controversial play. It explores taboo topics and themes of bestiality and incest that will definitely leave the audiences shocked, perhaps disgusted and definitely talking about it for some time.

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The Hanging: Maitland Repertory Theatre

The Hanging

The Hanging Rating

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4

The Australian backdrop, twisted characters, and a gothic tone. The Hanging, written by Angela Betzien and directed by Aimée Cavanagh is one that all thriller-lovers would hate to miss.

Discover the secrets that surround teenage Iris, her boarding school English teacher, and the detective in charge of finding Iris’ two missing friends. Watch as the characters evolve before your eyes, listen to the dynamic changes in cadence, and experience the horror of the devolving mystery.

With unique stage design, simple lighting cues, and basic sound changes, the actors use little aside from their voices and realistic characterisation to immerse you in their world, leaving you no choice but to focus on the very parts of the play that you may not wish to see.

If forced, I would be hard pressed to choose a star of the show, with all actors giving their very best to the roles given to them, and working together to surprise the audience as they examine the human condition and all that is ugly to witness, yet captivating to see.

With an homage to the classic Australian text ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, The Hanging is a play that, while short, is one I can see becoming one for the ages, and the cast and crew at Maitland Repertory Theatre Company did a spectacular job bringing it to life.

Warnings: contains references to drug use, child abuse, suicide, pregnancy, termination, descriptions of gore, and coarse language.

Performance times:

Evenings at 8:00pm:
May: Wednesday 7, Friday 9, Saturday 10, Friday 16, Saturday 17, Friday 23

Matinees at 2:00pm:
May: Sunday 18, Saturday 24, Sunday 25

To book tickets to The Hanging, please visit https://www.mrt.org.au/2025-plays/the-hanging/.

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Cosa Vedranno: What Will They See?

Cosa Vedranno: What Will They See?

Cosa Vedranno: What Will They See? Rating

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‘Cosa Vedranno’ is a Bearfoot Theatre original production and with the first three performances completely SOLD OUT, it is clearly evident that people are intrigued and hotly discussing this new original and thought provoking play. Bearfoot Theatre specialises in original productions and is the leading queer theatre company in the Hunter Region. They are a not for profit company with a mission for producing relevant theatre productions that challenge their audiences.

‘Cosa Vedranno’ was written, produced, directed, and choreographed by the extremely multi-talented Zippie Tiffenright. It is Zippie’s first full-length play and certainly a successful beginning to a long and rewarding career. I greatly anticipate Zippie’s future productions.

‘Cosa Vedranno’ was performed in an immersive art space – The Owens Collective. Upon entering, I was captivated by the incredible and plentiful artworks, displayed on every wall in the quaint, cosy space. This perfectly sets the mood and scene for what the audience is about to behold and experience. I greatly appreciated the immense talent and effort that contributed to these fabulous artworks, including portraits of the four main characters: Lisa, Vinnie, Angelo and Isla.

It was commendable acting for all four of the young actors who were thrown into multi-faceted challenging roles. Lisa, played by Piper Graham, acted superbly and I appreciated their clear, easy to listen to, resonating tone. Vinnie (Mackenzie Thomson) played a complex and evasive character and delivered a solid emotive performance. Alex Giles delivered a powerful performance as the character Angelo and showed the skilful ability to portray numerous perspectives of their complicated character. Isla’s character (Allira Carter) provided a delightful contrast of light and hope in a world of melancholy and anguish and Allira Carter executed this splendidly.

The show utilised a pre-recorded soundtrack which was very professional sounding and poignant. It encompassed some distorted renaissance music and also some original music. The impressive music compositions were by Mackenzie Thomson and Zippie Tiffenright. Daniel Smith accompanied the soundtrack performing live percussion which felt deeply impactful and elevated one’s senses.

‘Cosa Vedranno’ centres around a post-apocalyptic renaissance set in Florence, Italy. New faiths and new ways of life have arisen from a broken world which has been forced to reconstruct itself. It is a homage to the great artists of the renaissance and to the importance of bestilling art appreciation into future generations.

The props were minimal yet meaningful. There was an effective use of cloth fabrics throughout the show cleverly symbolising power, control and submission. The face painting of the main characters was another medium for incorporating art into the show.

Art was the core and essence of the play and at the Q&A Zippie and the cast discussed the importance of art touching multiple mediums of the performance. Interpretive dance, cloth fabrics, communication, visual arts and music were all effectively utilised to create a holistic artistic performance. The venue itself, an art gallery, was a perfect residence to exhibit this truly artistic production.

‘Cosa Vedranno’ is purposefully ambiguous and interpretive, allowing the individual to relate to the work in an individual and personal way. It is a true reflection of art. I was rendered perplexed, wondering and knee-deep in thoughtful discussions about individual interpretations. Is that not the true essence of art?

To book tickets to Cosa Vedranno: What Will They See?, please visit https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1357578.

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Ruby Moon

Ruby Moon

Ruby Moon Rating

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3

Ruby Moon is a contemporary Australian play that explores the grim mythology of the missing child in Australian folklore. The play explores the shift towards fear and uneasiness in suburbia, where community and connection were once championed. Ruby Moon is a six-year-old who has gone missing, and her parents are trying to simultaneously navigate their heartache and how they can exist in a world without her while still looking for clues as to where she went. It’s a desperate combination of grief and hope.

I was a little worried about how dark the themes in Ruby Moon would be when I invited my mum to come with me, on Valentine’s Day. Often, plays with a serious theme tend to hit viewers over the head with their message. This play, however, was surprising in all the right ways and, thankfully, did not do this. Ruby Moon is, instead, an intelligent invitation to ponder over the issues of child abduction, grief, community, security, and domestic violence without leaving feeling bludgeoned.

 

Upon walking into the Newcastle Young People’s Theatre, I was struck by the beauty of the set design and how it truly conveyed that we were in Australian suburbia. Little did I know how cleverly it would be utilised as well. The director, Samuel Jenkins, was also responsible for set and costume design and he truly out did himself. The clever use of props and a clothesline made for a wonderful ability to transport the audience into a new space with a spin of the hills hoist.

Greg Shearer and Mary Shearer built the set. Alex Lane coordinated the costumes and received help from Cynthia Boyd and Wendy Leis to construct them. The lighting was excellent, with wonderful use of back lighting on the stage and shadows. The sound was well used to create eerie scenes where you weren’t quite sure what was real.

Both cast members, Aoife Gregory and Samantha Lambert, were outstanding. From when the audience was entering and the house lights still up, they were in character and building the story. For me, one of the marks of a great actor is the ability to create genuine emotion in response to the character they are portraying, and I truly had a visceral reaction of dislike to Ray. Aoife was so expressive and, at times, absurd. She absolutely threw herself into each of the four characters she played with brilliant use of her body.

At times you could hardly believe it was the same person! Samantha Lambert truly shone in the role of Sylvie and was equally convincing in the other characters she played as well. I completely forgot that it was just Samantha playing all these wildly different and colourful characters. It was as if I was transported into Sylvie’s mind and all the scenarios the loss of a child conjures up.

 

I was at the edge of my seat, searching alongside the main characters for the next clue in the mystery. I appreciated that the play had both intense moments and moments of light-heartedness and absurdity. Overall, it was very enjoyable to watch these true artists at work, and I highly recommend seeing Ruby Moon for a thought-provoking theatre experience. It’s definitely a great jumping-off point for conversations about the sometimes subtle nature of domestic violence, safety in the community, and grief.

For more information about Ruby Moon and Young People’s Theatre Newcastle, please visit https://ypt.org.au/.

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