Bloody and haunting, Blood Wedding is a tale of star-crossed lovers, and the carnage that begets their ill-fated romance. This play is chilling, a glimpse into the isolation in the wake of war and how pain and jealousy can amalgamate into complete and total hatred.
Blood Wedding is an exceptionally well written story, riddled with characters each in a unique state of hurt, so much so that, despite the fore-shadowing of the play’s title, it’s still shocking and saddening to see the final confrontation play out. Director Deborah Leiser-Moore brings the script to life by highlighting this pain and isolation through an attention to motion and the physical division of the set. Key scenes take place without dialogue, with the character’s emotion expressed solely through the body. The play concludes with a bloody fight, played out as if in slow motion, each strike by the male leads aching as they fight for their final act of honour. Creative choices like this allowed the audience to hurt with these characters and crawl under their skin to feel their pain in these titular moments.
JMC presents some striking talent in this production, particularly Mia Connoli and Teresa Giansiracusa. I connected the most with these two characters and was blown away by how much each character wore their hearts on their sleeves. Mia Connoli as leonardo’s Wife has a beautiful voice, and her vocals added a beautiful haunt of mystery as the plot reveals itself. Teresa Giansiracusa as the Bride was heartbreaking as the lead, presenting a palpable inner conflict, especially during her monologue she performs in the bath, the morning of her wedding day. Dion Zapantis as Leonardo Felix was also fully committed, and brought an electric physicality to his performance.
My favourite part of the show was the soundscape. Aside from a few more upbeat songs breaking up the tragedy of the performance, the score was a series of evocative, echoing vocals that really dig into your chest. At the start of the wedding scene, these were incredibly powerful, especially watching as each actor flowed silently between the mixed emotions of the wedding. These vocals sprinkle through the show and despite the warm lighting, evoke a cold atmosphere and a fascinating juxtaposition.
I loved the staging choices; the elevation of Teresa Giansiracusa’s character at the beginning, high and unattainable, but feeling severed and alone. I loved how Mia Connoli’s character stayed predominately in the dark, shadowed beneath the platform suspending Giansiracusa and her baby, at the back in the deepest pocket of the stage, long forgotten by Leonardo Felix. Tess Lynch Steele as Mother manning the front corner of the stage with her brutal onion station, mourning the loss of her son and husband but expressing it only through a wish for further bloodshed. The set feels unfinished and raw, complimenting the story and working in favour of the show, allowing the performances and physicality to be what shines through.
Blood Wedding is a show that picks at a wound until it bleeds; a stubborn, yet brutal portrait of masculinity under the patriarchy and its collateral damage.
A hilarious spoof of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunits, written by Cenarth Fox and directed by David Dodd.
In the south-west of England soon after World War 1, the unknown writer, Agatha Crispie, pens mystery stories. In vain she longs for their publication. Agatha’s family despise her writing and ridicule her plots. Agatha gets a lucky break. A body is found in the library. The police arrive as does a grey-haired, cardigan-wearing spinster with a knack for solving crimes. Suddenly the pressure is too much. Agatha disappears. Then a dapper foreigner appears. He too has a knack for solving mysteries. Then a Scotland Yard detective makes a surprise entrance. There is a dead body, a suspect or three, amateur sleuths, red herrings and dithering cops. It’s just like the life and characters of another scribbler, the slightly better-known Agatha Christie. There are surprises, mystery, drama, humour and that infernal, eternal mousetrap!
Once, I had read the promo I could not possibly miss this one. I grew up with my Mum reading an Agatha Christie mystery every chance she got and our holiday house literally had an entire bookshelf dedicated to the famous writer – who is noted on the program tonight as only outsold by Shakespeare and the Bible! Whether or not that is true to date, I’m thinking to myself no wonder my Mum loved her mysteries. I have read over the years those same books and have eagerly seen all the related movies and series’, so I’m fairly familiar going into this play with knowledge of the murderous titles and there are many cleverly interwoven references to the books in this play, including that body in the library.
‘Agatha’ played by Catherine Christensen is wonderful. Yearning to become a published writer in this story, she must convince her husband ‘Archibald’ played strongly and funnily by Neil Barnett, to let her continue to work on her writing or she must find a way to be rid of him and his family so that she can write her mysteries in peace and without the constant put down of Neil’s mother, ‘Lavinia’ played sternly well by Kerry Hollier.
Equal in putting down Agatha is the daughter of Archibald and step-daughter of Agatha, ‘Elvira’ played by Bel Shields – she is so entertaining! Absolutely loved watching her either as the main stage character when she had the floor or on the side; her mannerisms, voice, and everything else about her was a spot on stuck up Daddy’s girl wanting only the best for herself in society. Will she get it? Her ‘divorce’ scene was impeccably delivered.
I highly praise Rob Coulson as ‘Dithering’. It was easy to see he’s been doing this acting thing for quite a while as soon as he entered the room and delved fully into his character; he was very enjoyable to watch and reminded me of my Pop.
The set is fantastic. You feel like you stepped into the pages where Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple might lay down their reasoning on the suspect murderer, but here we will see the excellent dramatization skills of Gilbert Gauci playing ‘Hercule Grey-Cells’ and Mandy Vicsai as ‘Mary Mead’. I found it hard to believe that Mandy is a newbie to the world of acting, she was perfect in her role, as was Gilbert with his magnifying glass out sleuthing to themed music whilst everyone else was out of the murder scene room.
Outstanding casting on all characters, but my favourite was undeniably ‘Pimms’ played by Annie Laurenson. Annie’s comical timing is excellent and she seemed to feed even more into her character off the audience reactions; her performance throughout the show just got better and better right to the end punchline (which is a hoot!).
If you love Agatha Christie, you MUST SEE this show.
Congratulations to the cast and the hard working production team because yes, it is definitely as you promote: a fast-paced mystery-comedy filled with witty dialogue and outrageous characters, a clever parody of Agatha Christie’s famous detectives— perfect for fans of classic whodunits, and certainly an experience of intrigue, humour, and theatrical fun!
Venue: Clayton Community Centre Theatrette 9-15 Cooke Street, Clayton Vic. This is a very comfortable small theatre so don’t worry where you sit, you can see great from all the seats and it has wheelchair access. There is heaps of parking and the welcoming Encore volunteers served us free tea, coffee, biscuits and a glass of sherry at interval.
Playing: 18 – 27 July 2025 with some sold out shows already!
You can find out more about the lovely ENCORE THEATRE group via:
Based on the real-life story of history’s Grace O’Malley – an Irish Chieftain and notorious pirate, The Pirate Queen is an adventure chronicling the compelling, inspiring heroine who led an extraordinary life as a rogue, lover and mother in 16th-century Ireland. To protect her people and save her one true love, O’Malley must confront the one woman more powerful than her — her fierce rival, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
From the writers of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, the show combines classic storytelling and a sweeping score, with the powerful, vibrant traditions of Irish dance and song, to create a modern musical event that is both historic romance and a timeless epic.
Excited to be celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2025, MLOC Productions is the third oldest community theatre group in Australia. Founded in 1945 as the Mordialloc Philharmonic Society, they originally attracted return service men and their wives to form part of an 80-strong choir. Early performances included the opening of 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. By 1985, the group had become Mordialloc Light Opera Company (eventually abbreviated to MLOC) and have been performing a variety of productions in south-east Melbourne ever since. The Pirate Queen is an Australian first!
Being a new production to Australia, I had no idea what to expect and no pre-conceived expectations which is always adds difference either way because most shows (especially musicals) one has usually seen or at least heard about before. All I knew was that MLOC had done their amazing promo photo shoot at The Polly Woodside in Melbourne which intrigued me to see the show along with advice from a friend who went to the opening night and had loved it.
Firstly, this is a HUGE show requiring HUGE vocals and the main roles especially really have their work cut out for them in every song. HUGE applause therefore to Ella Fryer in her first lead role in a musical (playing ‘Grace O’Malley’) and Nickolas Brown, also his first lead role in a full-scale show (playing Grace’s true love ‘Tiernan’).
I think the character of Grace probably sang the equivalent of about an hour total, unbelievable stamina up there girl, good job!
Tiernan’s solo ‘I’ll Be There’ was a memorable rendition of heartfelt connection we hope all our men feel for us women, and coming from someone so young, very impressive!
Their entire supporting cast has enthusiasm to boot, (boots donned from the era of course). Varying ages in the show from Grace’s son (played by Jake Christie) to those like Evleen (played by Margot Sephton a MLOC life member) with a ton of stage presence over decades was lovely to see. It’s so important in theatre to bring up the next generation and that’s why I think community theatre groups just keep going full steam ahead; they are full of encouragement and support, both on and off the stage and they are not afraid to try something new.
The story of The Pirate Queen resonated a little of Disney’s ‘Mulan’ at the start as Grace pretends she’s a boy to get onto her father’s ship unnoticed, ‘Les Mis’ with sorrow and hardship, then throwing in some interesting accents similar to that given in ‘SIX’ and ‘Hamilton’. This newcomer to musical theatre certainly has the potential to fit in right where aiming its sword.
And no pirate themed anything would be complete without a sword fight or three. I particularly liked the one where they used slow motion and moderate strobe effect lighting (favourable note here that full/fast strobes are so unsuitable for many watching and though this show could’ve used them they didn’t).
Stormy seas are brought to life with the sudden drop of a massive sail giving us on our seats a gasp with it plummeting near the actors underneath, but yes, thankfully it was part of the theatrics, phew!
Transportation to the Emerald Isle is made authentic by the beautiful music and Celtic feel (special mention to Matthew Horsley, Claire Rainey & Brodie Nash on the pipes and whistles). The energy and true Irish dancing to this music has you toe tapping and there is great musicality in the choreography, as also noticed and mentioned by the friend I went with. We gave a shout out to Wendy Perrow. I couldn’t take my eyes off her quick feet embracing the poetry in motion of all those hops and heels up with the biggest smile of enjoyment on every step; she was having a ball portraying the Irish liveliness of more joyous scenes in weddings and birth celebrations (a baby born on stage, was a new one for me).
The costuming is exquisite; an embellished white gown of the Queen, the rich red and gold of those who guard her empire, and those dancing around the maypole with puffed sleeves, long petticoats and velvet ribbons – wonderful details along with those pirate outfits and boots on the ship sailing Clew Bay in 1558, the domain of the O’Malley clan.
‘Clan Rivalry’ is one thing I’ve experienced first-hand; I married a ‘Campbell’ and I found out you cannot visit the Highlands even these days without comments about their history with the ‘MacDonalds’ competing for dominance from every tour guide and pub owner…. However in this show the O’Malleys must make alliances with the O’Flaherty clan and so together the fathers of Grace O’Malley and Donal O’Flaherty (played entertainingly by Tyler Delacretaz) make a pact, and Tiernan, Grace’s true love, must step aside. Will he ever have the chance to reunite with her again? After all, Grace did say ‘you have my hand’ earlier…..
One thing is surely known after seeing The Pirate Queen’s curtain closing, the adventure spirit is alive and well in amateur theatre and I look forward to more shows from MLOC.
Congratulations to the creative team and cast, it takes bravery to put on a show that hasn’t been seen here before and you have conquered!
CAST
GRACE Ella Fryer TIERNAN Nickolas Brown LORD BINGHAM Keegan Dart QUEEN ELIZABETH I Niamh McPartland DONAL O’FLAHERTY Tyler Delacretaz DUBHDARA Jarod Rhine-Davis CHIEFTAN O’FLAHERTY Nicholas Bywater EVLEEN Margot Sephton MAJELLA Bridie Clark
Venue: Frankston Arts Centre, 27-37 Davey St. Frankston, Vic. The venue (undergoing some renovation currently didn’t affect our viewing) has its own paid car parking onsite, lots of street parking around the area plus heaps of restaurants and cafes, but there is also a generously sufficient bar, coffee and snack bar inside the theatre venue itself too.
Production Team: Artistic Director – Chris Ryan Musical Director – Matthew Pines Choreographer – Bridie Clark Vocal Director – Alyssa Sorgiovanni Production Manager – Debbie Jenkins Sound Designer – Daniel Bowen & James Dobson Lighting Designer – Daniel Bowen & Chris Ryan Costume Co-ordinator – Debbie Jenkins
Book by ALAIN BOUBLIL, CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG, RICHARD MALTBY JR. Music By CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG Lyrics By ALAIN BOUBLIL, RICHARD MALTBY JR., JOHN DEMPSEY
After being involved in the theatre scene for almost 16 years, it still surprises me just how articulately live performance can capture a unique experience and make it feel universal. Seeing Threadbare was one such experience. Regardless of background, status or age, the audience were invited with open loving arms to sit and feel this story of identity, belonging and fading memories.
We follow Sasha who has some exciting news they would like to share with their beloved gran Elaine. But the repercussions of sharing this part of their lives might damage the relationship between them. Elaine also has dementia. Time seems fleeting and memories are fading. But luckily Sasha has the safety net of a home filled with the love of the family they have chosen.
Multidisciplinary artist Tomas Parrish-Chynoweth embodies the character of Sasha with beautiful vulnerability. Etched on their face and voice was the fraught complexity of navigating through love, identity and memory. Rebecca Morton’s Elaine was simply divine to watch. Every time we saw the light of recognition fade from her eyes, our hearts would crumble to pieces. Sasha’s partner Kaden was played by Blake Appleqvist. Their ability to expertly balance softness, heat and comedy added dimension to the budding relationship that few actors would be able to achieve. Matisse Laida’s Riley gave the audience permission to find humour in some of the more absurd aspects of queerness. Comic timing is no joke but Laida used it with graceful ease.
Completing the family was Sarah Fitzgerald as Kahani. Their performance perfectly encapsulated the exhausting burden of being the “caretakers” of the family. Each actor moved with fluidity, trust and conviction. This can be credited to Manali Datar’s adept and careful direction. Congratulations on this triumphant directorial debut! What this team has achieved with Tomas Parrish-Chynoweth’s poignant script is nothing short of brilliant.
Leaving the theatre space, I could see I was definitely not the only audience member with tears in their eyes and a smile on their face. Sometimes tolerance and forgiveness can feel like wounding yourself especially if you are the oppressed. And sometimes it is too much to bear at the risk of disturbing your peace. But if you can do it, it can also be the greatest gift you give yourself and another person. Love is love is love and at its heart, Threadbare is a celebration of acceptance in all its forms and love in all its forms. I can still feel it holding me close like the warm embrace of my grandmother. Threadbare is showing at the St Martins Youth Arts Centre until the 19th of July.
