Perth Theatre

Hopelessly Devoted

Hopelessly Devoted

Hopelessly Devoted Rating

★★★★★

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It is never easy having to care for an elderly, sick parent. Art in Motion Theatre Company presents Hopelessly Devoted, a play in which the heart of the story centres on adult siblings Amy and Andy, who care for their sick mother whilst also trying to make a life for themselves.

Set in Gosnells, Amy is the main caretaker as she stays at home looking after their sick mother full-time whilst her younger brother Andy works providing for his sister and mother. Although the mother’s illness is never specified, it is understood that she is ill and elderly.

Amy is insistent on taking care of their mother but her life is mundane with nothing much to look forward to. As a form of escape, she fantasises about her idol, Olivia Newton-John. She continuously persuades Andy to take part in role-playing in which she plays the part of Olivia Newton-John in various stages of her life. For example, in one scene plays Olivia a guest on the Parkinson show with Andy acting as the interviewer, Michael Parkinson. These little role plays are performed throughout the entire play. In between, Andy attempts to bring Amy back to reality with the possibility of moving their mother into a nursing home.

 

Hopelessly Devoted

 

Whilst Andy is kind enough to give in to his sister’s role-playing requests, he is desperate to move on with his life and to put his plans for the future into action.

Both characters are at a transitional time in their life, but where Andy is ready and eager to embrace the future, Amy can’t let go of the past.

Humour and the popular songs of Olivia Newton-John are used to balance the serious nature of the story. Amy belts out all the Newton-John classics, Physical, Xanadu, You’re the One that I Want, Suddenly, and of course, Hopelessly Devoted to You as she dons a blonde wig, believing she’s Olivia.

 

Hopelessly Devoted
Hopelessly Devoted

The entire play is set in the living room of their modest family home in Gosnells. I found it particularly amusing that some of the references they made to Gosnells.

Keri-Rose Baker delivers a passionate performance, showing off her vocal cords playing the devoted daughter and Olivia Newton-John fan, Amy. Michael Carroll also delivers a convincing performance as the realist Andy.

Hopelessly Devoted is a funny and innovative play that will resonate with any person having to care for an elderly or sick family member and in which personal ambitions are in conflict with familial responsibilities.

Olivie Newton-John fans will love it too!

To book tickets to Hopelessly Devoted, please visit https://drpac.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/149070.

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Roxy Lane Theatre: At Home With The Sheridans

At Home With The Sheridans

At Home With The Sheridans Rating

★★★★★

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Nestled in the affluent leafy western suburbs of Perth a dramedy unfolds between childless couple Mr and Mrs Sheridan, two burglars and Mr Sheridan’s mistress.

Written by Perth playwright, Yvette Wall and directed by Russell Chandler, the Roxy Lane Theatre presents a play that breaks through the superficial exteriors of society which categorises people into classes to reveal characters that perhaps are not so different from one another.

As Chandler puts it “what is the real difference between successful white collar middle aged Western Suburbs dwellers and younger disaffected and troubled youth that have fallen off the tracks?”

When seasoned burglar Jake and his accomplice and first-time home intruder, Marilyn break into the Sheridan’s house, they don’t get very far in their quest to steal when Max Sheridan arrives home early with his mistress Zoe. Unbeknownst to Max and Zoe who are in the living room, Jake and Marilyn are hiding in the master bedroom. It doesn’t take long until the four become acquainted. A brawl between Max and Jake ensues and just when things couldn’t get worse for Max, his wife arrives homes.

At Home With The Sheridans
At Home With The Sheridans

The play gives the audience the opportunity to see the different dynamics between the characters and a deeper insight into who they are. In the first scene it’s Jake and Marilyn. Both characters are troubled young souls who got an unfair start to life and haven’t done much to turn their lives around. It is revealed that Marilyn has a young son in foster care and is in an abusive relationship. Underneath Jakes tough exterior he cares for Marilyn and tries multiple times to get her to see that her abusive Paul does not love her.

When Jake and Marilyn are hiding in the bedroom, the audience gets to see the dynamic between Max and Zoe which is funny and playful until Zoe drops a bombshell of secret and shows him a picture that will change his life forever.

The final scene is between Max and his psychologist wife Beth which I’m not sure how realistic their resolution is but it’s fair to say it appears to end well for all five characters.

Out of all the characters, Beth, played with such grace and elegance by Emma Kirby, is the most kind-hearted and likeable. The other actors Michael Hewson, Genevieve Wilson, Chris Harris and Lisa Divall were all convincing in their performances and it was clear to see the stage chemistry between them all.

At Home with the Sheridan is an enjoyable, short and sweet play that takes a light-hearted and humorous approach to societal structures.

To book tickets to At Home With The Sheridans, please visit https://www.taztix.com.au/roxylanetheatre/.

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Shrine: Tell Me A Story

Shrine

Shrine Rating

★★★★★

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“Shrine”, presented by Darlington Theatre Players, is a stage play by Tim Winton that explores how people deal with sudden loss, how our hurt can be hidden beneath different emotions and the lasting impact grief can have on our relationships. The play centres on car crash victim, Jack specifically the enduring trauma that is left in the lives of his parents and friends after his death.

All of the cast members fully imbue their character’s internal struggles. Gavin Crane plays Adam Mansfield, the bereft father of Jack, conveying the resolved hopelessness of one-turned-to-drink. His shining moment, “I want him back” possibly the greatest single moment of the show.

Anna Head as Jack’s mother, Mary Mansfield, is clearly a polished performer and her intense, outpourings of grief provide a balanced juxtaposition to Crane’s stoicism – such a shame to not have any interaction between these characters given the prowess of the actors.

Shrine
Shrine

The role of Jack’s friend, June is expertly handled by Madelaine Page who lends a dry humour to June’s sense of invisibility. Tom Rankin is cast perfectly as Jack and is effortlessly likable whilst Geordie Bartle and Jack Buckmaster as Will and Ben are almost too believable as the “bad boys”.

Gary Wetherilt embraces selective realism for set design and succeeds in invoking West Australian culture. The beach house perfectly embodies south coast holiday homes and the roadside monument for Jack is adorned with the cross, empty Jim Beam bottles and fake flowers one can still typically see along WA roads to this day. The surfboard pushed out atop a barely concealed trolley on wheels elicited several giggles however perhaps we were all eager for a chortle after nearly ninety minutes of monologues.

With such raw and confronting themes, I was expecting to feel uncomfortable, moved or even sad at times however a great novelist does not a playwright make – the pillars of rising action, climax, dénouement and resolution lacking from this (dramatic) text. The overuse of “telling” the story to the audience becomes boring; so much so that any snippet of conversational dialogue seems positively enthralling. Nevertheless, none of the lassitude I felt lay at the feet of Director, Chris McRae or the Cast who battled to bring the drama to what is more “narrative prose” than “one act play”.

To book tickets to Shrine, please visit https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1300971.

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8 Women: Old Mill Theatre

8 Women

8 Women Rating

★★★★★

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I always love a good murder mystery. It’s a genre that never goes out of fashion. 8 Women is one of those good old fashioned murder mysteries with comedy, drama and mystery all rolled into one.

Presented by Playlovers at the Old Mill Theatre in South Perth, 8 Women is an international award-winning play by French writer, Robert Thomas.

Set in an isolated mansion in the snowy French countryside, a man is found dead with a knife in his back, and all 8 women are suspects.

What is meant to be a time of celebration as they all come together for the Christmas holiday season turns into 24 hours of mayhem as they each suspect the other of murder. All 8 women are known to each other, and they each have a motive for killing the patriarch of the family, Marcel.

There’s the lady of the house and Marcel’s wife, Gabby. Gabby’s neurotic sister, Augustine, and Gabby’s mother, only known as Granny, which Marcel has kindly allowed both to live with him and Gabby at the mansion. Then there’s Marcel and Gabby’s daughters, Suzon and Catherine, their nanny, Madame Chanel, the sultry maid, Louise and Marcel’s sexy sister, Pierette.

8 Women
8 Women

Tension between the women grows as secrets are revealed on their path to discovering the identity of the murderer. As Catherine declares, the murderer must be one of them.

Whilst there was no clear indication as to which decade this was set in, there were very strong vibes of a 1950s melodrama.

As the play is naturally all spoken in English for the audience to understand, it became apparent that these were meant to French characters when upon Suzon’s return from London she says she learnt some new English words and says them in French.

The actresses each play of their roles superbly and the chemistry between them is palpable. The play however was far too long. There were scenes that really didn’t add anything to the story and could have been left out. It was so long that towards the end, I had almost lost interest on finding out who amongst them was the murderer.

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable play with an ending that you either love or hate. Expect hair-pulling, taunting, crying and lot of screeching as the women turn on each other in search of the truth.

To book tickets to 8 Women, please visit https://www.taztix.com.au/playlovers/.

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