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Spider’s Web

9 July 20256 July 2025 Anastassia Gerakas🥉

Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web Rating

★★★★★

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With an impressive 68 years of community theatre under their belt, Pymble Players continue to prove that dedication and passion for the arts only improve with time. From their modest beginnings in a church hall to the professional stage of the Zenith Theatre, it is a delight to see the growth of this theatre association. Their latest production, Spider’s Web by Agatha Christie, is a sparkling reminder of why they remain a vital part of the local arts scene.

Unlike other more straightforward “whodunnits,” Spider’s Web plays with the form. Yes, there is a dead body. Yes, there is a confession. But nothing is ever quite what it seems. And at the heart of this delightfully convoluted tale is Mrs Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, played with charm and verve by the magnetic Chloe Callow. Her performance anchors the entire production, capturing the character’s wit, eccentricity, and emotional depth in equal measure.

Clarissa is the kind of role that demands both comic timing and emotional resonance, and Callow delivers both with ease. She effortlessly draws the audience into her world of half-truths, noble lies, and sharp humour. You believe in her motives, root for her decisions, and delight in her cleverness. Her chemistry with the rest of the cast is natural, lively, and essential to keeping the audience engaged through the play’s layered twists and turns.

The supporting ensemble is equally strong. Each actor brings nuance and personality to their roles. Whether they are allies, suspects, or comic relief, the cast meets the challenge of the play’s rapid tonal shifts — from light-hearted to thriller to heartfelt drama — with impressive dexterity.

Visually, the production benefits from the Zenith Theatre’s intimate yet polished setting. The set design cleverly evokes the classic English country house, complete with secret passageways and hidden compartments, which become almost characters in their own right as the plot unfolds.

Agatha Christie’s script — her second most successful play after The Mousetrap — is as mischievous as it is mysterious. The audience is constantly being led in one direction, only to have the rug pulled out from under them in the next scene. Yet amid the red herrings and clever misdirections, there’s also genuine warmth and humour that keeps the story grounded.

In the end, Spider’s Web is a triumph of style and substance. Pymble Players have once again delivered a production that is professional in quality and generous in spirit. For anyone who loves a classic mystery with a twist, this production is an absolute must.

To book tickets to Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web, please visit https://pymbleplayers.com.au/tickets-info-now-open.

Photographer: Daniel Ferris

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The Offering

29 June 202528 June 2025 Leonie Bingham🆕

The Offering Rating

★★★★★

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This brilliant play by Borneo/Australian rapper/poet Omar Musa and American classical musician Mariel Roberts Musa combines poetic storytelling with live music to create a riveting theatrical experience. Omar weaves oral histories and personal narratives, and, accompanied by Mariel’s exquisite cello playing, they create a deeply resonant and haunting seafaring story delivered with extraordinary accomplishment.

The Offering tells the story of a protagonist fleeing a country whose ecology has collapsed under the perils of climate change. Deforestation and its associated logging, clearing and burning have culminated in a ‘climate holocaust.’

The protagonist sets sail across a vast plastic ocean littered with debris. The ocean’s surface brims with discarded bottles, fabrics and other plastic horrors in what is a tragic indictment of humankind’s mass-production of all things synthetic. Despairing, he sails toward a mythical volcano where he hopes to find his own destruction amid its fire and ferocity. On his journey, he encounters items in the ocean that are familiar to him, triggering memories of life before the climate holocaust. Upon reaching the volcano, he discovers something much different, hope and the promise of a world free of borders and constraints.

Omar’s performance is powerful and evocative. He engages the audience, who respond with rapt attention. He likens the ocean to an ‘archipelago of memories’ and moved by what he sees, he tells the boyhood memory of his grandparents and their lopsided jungle shack by the river. His body dances with the words and music, seamlessly attuned. He raps, he sings, performs poetry. His hand movements shift from strong to delicately expressive in an instant, which took this reviewer’s breath away.

Mariel’s cello playing is an emotional kaleidoscope – from bold, to mournful, to raw, to lyrical, she has composed a divine accompaniment to Omar’s spoken word. She becomes so bodily immersed in the piece, it’s like she and her cello become one. At one point, Omar invites the audience to join in some collective breathing. We follow his lead. So does the cello. Its inhalations and exhalations are so authentic, this reviewer found herself in awe at Mariel’s mastery of her instrument.

The Offering successfully intertwines its musical score, oral histories and Omar’s personal narratives in a way that moves the story forward with the sense of urgency it warrants. Contemporary discussion around climate change has never been more important, and The Offering shows us the stark and devastating end reality we, as a planet, are rapidly facing if we refuse to act.

The play looks at memories as a way to effect and recognise change. Lost memories become found in a sea of ecological destruction. Thoughts of earlier and more simple times offer something tangible to hold onto in a world so artificial, so lost, roiling in its own devastation.

The set design reflects and complements the subject matter. It’s a dark stage, interspersed with the blue hues of the ocean; a changing black and white backdrop mirrors and enhances the storyline, and soft lighting transitions beautifully between Omar and Mariel.

The Offering speaks to the audience. And the audience listens.

To book tickets to The Offering, please visit https://riversideparramatta.com.au/whats-on/the-offering/.

Photographer: Phil Erbacher

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Koreaboo: Showing Now At The Belvoir Theatre

27 June 202527 June 2025 Claire Mulcahy🥉

Koreaboo Rating

★★★★★

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Koreaboo (Griffin Theatre Company), now playing at Downstairs Belvoir is actor and playwright Michelle Lim Davidson’s story of being a Korean Australian adoptee. But as Lim Davidson states in her playwright’s notes in the program, Koreaboo is not just her story; it is the story of so many international adoptees who have found themselves growing up caught between two cultures, perhaps always grappling with the unanswered questions: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I belong?’

The intimate space of the Downstairs Theatre at Belvoir is perfect for the cramped, fluorescent-lit convenience store or ‘mart’ in which most of the play’s action takes place. Hannah (Lim Davidson) arrives, straight off a flight from Sydney, at her biological mother, Umma’s, mart during a sweltering Korean summer. It’s soon revealed they’ve had contact before but this time Hannah has high expectations for her visit – she wants to finally connect with her Umma, and she desperately wants some answers to her long-held questions about her Korean family.

Umma, played delightfully by Heather Jeong, smiles sweetly, but her apparent cuteness belies a stubborn determination to avoid her past at all costs. Her life is firmly situated in the present, stacking ramen cups, fixing a pesky fridge light and tending to her colourful collection of garden gnomes. Umma would rather Hannah had never turned up on her neatly swept doorstep. And she doesn’t hesitate to take any opportunity to remind Hannah of this.

Michelle Lim Davidson is a gifted comedic actor, and in writing Koreaboo, she has wisely used comedy to portray a heartbreaking story. Rather than making her story glib, however, the humour serves to help us connect with the pathos of the situation, avoiding melodramatic cliches that other stories of reuniting with lost relatives might fall into. Initially appearing to be an odd couple, it soon becomes clear Hannah and Umma both share a love of performing.

Hannah tries to impress Umma with a rendition of her winning ‘All That Jazz’ number for the Lake Macquarie Eisteddfod 12 years category, but Umma is scathing: ‘Your mother let you wear a sequinned leotard at 12?’ Umma who is obsessed with the talent show Star Power (think Australia’s Got Talent K-style) lives out her own unfulfilled dreams through the contestants on screen. The reality show becomes a point of connection for the two: What if Hannah can revive her long-dormant stage skills and win Star Power? Would Umma finally accept her then?

K-pop culture infuses Koreaboo. Umma randomly quotes from K-pop songs and is obsessed with the eerily pretty Korean pop star, Suga. In fact, the term ‘Koreaboo’ (far from just a cute sounding name as I initially thought), is slang for a non-Korean person who is infatuated with Korean culture, especially K-pop and K-dramas. But, it’s not applied in a complimentary way. Is Hannah a ‘Koreaboo’, someone who is desperately trying to be Korean but never will be?

Derogatory term or not, Koreaboo is a delightful story that deserves to be told, but also to be seen. My hope is that more untold stories of adoptees like Michelle Lim Davidson are given a platform (or stage), rather than being ignored or conveniently brushed under the carpet. How many other cross-cultural stories do Australians have that are waiting to be told? Griffin Theatre Company has shown again that they truly are the grassroots champion of home-grown Australian theatre, giving voice to contemporary, multicultural Australian stories.

To book tickets to Koreaboo, please visit https://griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/koreaboo/.

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The Lady Vanishes

24 June 2025 Anastassia Gerakas🥉

The Lady Vanishes Rating

★★★★★

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Celebrating its 80th year in style and in a brand-new theatre space, the Genesian Theatre Company presents – The Lady Vanishes, adapted by Derek Webb from the novel on which the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1938 film was based.

This production is a nostalgic and atmospheric journey back to a time of intrigue and stiff upper lips – all aboard a European train where one woman vanishes and everyone seems to be hiding something.

The ingenuity of the staging cannot be overstated. The design team masterfully evokes the confined, shifting world of a train carriage through clever use of sliding compartment doors and evocative soundscapes. Seamlessly moving the action from the dining car to corridor to first class, the production invites the audience to feel like passengers themselves, peering down corridors and eavesdropping on hushed conversations. This immersive approach is one of the production’s strongest assets, providing a dynamic sense of movement and urgency.

The story itself remains a compelling whodunit, as Iris Carr – on her journey home – becomes increasingly frantic when a fellow passenger, the governess Miss Froy, mysteriously disappears. What follows is a delightful unraveling of truth and deception, as each character’s potential motive for denial (or deceit) is revealed. The play cleverly engages the audience, turning us into sleuths trying to piece together the puzzle.

Tonally, however, the production feels somewhat uneven. Some actors leaned heavily into broad caricature, while others remained grounded in more traditional realism. This dichotomy occasionally pulled focus from the central tension of the plot.

That said, several performances stood out. The sister duo Evelyn and Rose brought genuine laughs with their dry wit and impeccable timing, while Mrs Barnes was a wonderfully nervous delight. In the central role, Iris Carr shone brightest when allowed to play her role with sincerity and emotional depth.

The Lady Vanishes is a joy to watch and the Genesian’s new theatre space is a fitting stage for this lively, imaginative production – a celebration of the company’s legacy and a testament to the enduring power of classic storytelling. Here is to 80 more years to come!

To book tickets to The Lady Vanishes, please visit https://www.genesiantheatre.com.au/.

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