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An Unlikely Couple

12/07/202511/07/2025 Jenni Peters⭐

Waterloo Rating

★★★★★

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‘Waterloo’ is modern day theatre from clever performance artist, Bron Batten, a multi award-winning Australian performer, theatre-maker and producer, in collaboration with non-artists and audience members. (Outside Eye Direction by Gary Abrahams.)

From the people who created ‘Onstage Dating’, ‘Waterloo’ turns their observations inward, exposing us to Bron Batten’s ill-fated affair and deconstructing the ideological distance between right and left.

This unique show explores what happens when a self-confessed “lefty, Greens voting, almost vegan theatre artist” dates a right-wing, cigar smoking Margaret Thatcher-loving Tory soldier. Batten met this “2nd protagonist” when she was on an arts residency in Paris in 2015 – and he turned out to be a conservative, highly decorated, high-ranking UK military official. Clearly, they had different political views yet found an intense connection and their time together formed the core narrative of Waterloo.

Batten tells us this story as one would tell a friend about her unlikely romance, a couple obviously drawn to each other in ways just as unknown as the violence we bury our heads in the sand about daily. With her warmth, creativity and truthfulness, often heavy themes of love, war and politics prove easier to digest than they first sound.

Developed in Maubourguet France, with Vitalstatistix Incubator Residency in Adelaide, a creative residency at Brunswick Mechanic’s Institute, Melbourne, with an Arts House Development Award and North Melbourne Stalker Residency, and then at Melbourne Fringe in 2019, while still morphing, this edgy piece has won awards in Melbourne and Perth and won the Summerhall Edinburgh Fringe Touring Award, in 2019.

You’ll find Waterloo strangely entertaining and thought provoking. You’ll be thinking on it for days afterward, even questioning your usual beliefs. As the daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel, my beliefs seemed lonely in a room full of students and Arts workers, but Batten wrote her questions to the audience so well, I’m sure they were also surprised at some of the final audience views.

Batten said in a recent interview she “Hoped the work would provoke reflection and discussion amongst the audience and perhaps a healthy debate in the car on the way home.” I believe her hopes have become reality.

That’s the beauty of Waterloo. Moments of divisiveness lead to moments of poignant clarity, followed by moments of humanity and the realisation we are all connected and desire human connection.

This production is not only enjoyable, it’s important, giving those of us on both sides of politics a safe space to debate our differences, respectfully.

Bron’s work has toured throughout Australia, New Zealand, the USA, France, the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania and has been presented at festivals and venues including The Soho Theatre London, Summerhall Edinburgh, Komedia Brighton UK, The Prague Quadrennial, Performing Arts Festival Berlin, RISING, Darwin Festival, Brisbane Festival, Dark MOFO and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Founded in 1979, Theatre Works is an independent theatre group with a lot to say. Check it out. Waterloo plays at Theatre Works – 14 Acland Street, St Kilda – from 8th to 12th July, 2025.

To book tickets to Waterloo, please visit http://theatreworks.org.au/2025/waterloo.

Photographer: Lucy Parakhina

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Love and Information: A Joyous Exploration of Tiny Moments

03/06/2025 Megan Davis🌟🦉

Love and Information Rating

★★★★★

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Love and Information at Theatreworks offers a joyous, fast-paced journey through a series of micro-moments that illuminate the many facets of human connection. Under the vibrant direction and choreography of Belle Hansen, this production presents a kaleidoscope of vignettes, each one a tiny window into love in its countless forms: between parent and child, siblings, romantic partners at the beginning or end of a relationship, and even the more abstract, conceptual experiences of love. The result is an adventurous theatrical experience that feels both immediate and expansive.

From the moment the lights rise on Harry Gill’s cleverly designed set, rotating pieces transform with ease and projections of bright blue skies and puffy clouds by Hannah Jennings sweep the audience into a world that is as visually inventive as it is emotionally resonant. Sidney Younger’s lighting design bathes each scene in a warm palette, underscoring tenderness or tension as required. At the same time, Jack Burmeister’s sound and composition evoke the golden age of Hollywood with music inspired by Gershwin. At times, the soundtrack dances alongside the action, punctuating moments of tenderness or humour and making the transitions between vignettes feel seamless.

The cast is a diverse ensemble—Junghwi Jo, Iopu Auva’a, Jane Edwina Seymour, Jack Francis West, Charlie Morris, Felix Star, Emma Woods and Sean Yuen Halley—who bring these snapshots of life to vivid, often playful reality. There is an energy onstage that feels akin to actors exploring a Meisner exercise: words float above the subtext, and true meaning emerges from silent exchanges, body language and emotional undercurrents. Each performer embraces that challenge, allowing humour, heartbreak and wonder to coexist within a few lines of dialogue.

It is apparent that collaborative work between the director and actors was central to the rehearsal process, and moments of genuine spontaneity lit up the stage.

Movement and choreography are integral to this production. The actors flow across the stage, interacting with set pieces, props and each other in ways that feel organic. Choreographed movement ranges from subtle shifts in posture to more overt group sequences that push the action forward. The rotating set becomes a character in its own right.

Costume design by Harry Gill is a highlight: the soft, inviting palette feels both lush and approachable. Each colour choice seems deliberate, through oranges, blues and earth tones that mirror the emotional tenor of each vignette. The textures of fabric invite the audience into a human, tactile world. The actors’ wardrobes become an extension of emotional colour, visually echoing the subtext beneath their brief but potent scenes.

If there is one area where a gentler touch might allow the emotional truth to breathe even more, it is during the second half of the show. As the pace quickens and the stakes rise, certain confessions or confrontations feel rushed, as though the performance is intent on maintaining momentum rather than lingering in nuance. A few extra beats here or there, just a fraction of pause, could allow subtle shifts in expression or tone to blossom more fully. That being said, the ensemble remains fully committed, and any sense of haste never feels careless or rushed.

Overall, Love and Information is an inspiring theatrical adventure that marries inventive design, spirited performances and moments of genuine emotional resonance. Belle Hansen and her creative team have delivered a production that celebrates the beautiful complexity of human relationships. Theatreworks provides the perfect intimate setting for these fleeting stories to land with impact. If you have ever wondered how a few lines of dialogue can carry an entire universe of feelings, this is the show to catch. I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to experience this vibrant, daring exploration of love at TheatreWorks.

To book tickets to Love and Information, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/love-and-information.

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Storked: The Reality Of My Body Is Monstrous

18/05/2025 Alyssa Moller🌱

Storked Rating

★★★★★

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Storked is a vignetted interrogation of all things uterine: what it means to have a uterus, the expectations of having a uterus, and the “choice to choose.” The play looks at periods, pregnancy, monogamy, family, parenting, sex, and what it means to choose to have children in today’s world.

The show is told across four acts, broken down into a mixture of skits, short narratives and thought explorations, each with their own witty title card, wrapping each moment into a neat bow. What’s truly impressive here is that throughout every single segment, it all connects seamlessly to the key idea at the show’s core; what it means to have a uterus, regardless of your gender.

The pacing was fantastic, and each act threw a different tonal angle at you with what it wanted to say. The first act was my favourite, a great mix of absurdist comedy following a brutal body horror opening. As the show progressed, this first act was the perfect reminder of the range of each performer on stage. As the scenes and themes became heavier, I was reminded of how much each actor made me laugh, then so easily in another context made my heart break for them. I always find it impressive how you can dive so deep into a topic and really strike a chord but do so whilst still making the audience laugh, which Storked pulled off effortlessly, through witty writing and exceptional use of physical comedy.

Storked took on an excellent use of staging, incorporating technology in a way that really added another level to the show. The titles of each scene made me giggle every time, even when the performance accompanying it put a pit in my stomach; a perfect encapsulation of how this show twists and turns tone, whilst somehow never tipping the pendulum entirely in favour of one or the other in a really remarkable balancing act.

At the end of the performance, it was an added thrill to scroll through the cast and crew listing and see a sea of nonbinary and femme pronouns taking the majority. As a queer femme myself, this makes my heart sing. To know how authentic and true to life these stories are, how insane the stakes become in sections of these vignettes, but still connect so deeply with the material its tackling, is because it all comes from a collective of people who share this frustration, fatigue and downright rage for the societal systems that force us to think about these things all the time from far too young of an age.

Storked is a true blend of genres, taking elements of body horror, satirical comedy, spoken word poetry and blending it into a hilarious, devastating and ultimately truthful exploration of what it means to have a womb.

To book tickets to Storked, please visit https://antipodestheatre.com/.

Photography:- Angel Leggas 3 Fates Media

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The Beep Test: An Airtight, Raucous Hoot Of Nostalgia.

03/05/2025 Alyssa Moller🌱

The Beep Test Rating

★★★★★

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The Beep Test follows Jane, Zach, Cooper and Sandra in their year 7 beep test and Sir, the PE teacher enforcing this hell upon them. The show explores the pressures and high stakes of high school, the importance of finding your own worth and what an absolute nightmare the beep test is, all in a short and sweet 60 minute run time.

At the first toll of the titular ‘beep’ you could practically feel the shiver that went down the spine of every audience member. Sat beside a friend of mine from high school, she gripped my arm, bracing for impact. Such a clever concept to take one of the most hated Australian school activities and draw it out to interrogate the themes that affect teenagers of this age.

Like high school, the stakes feel ridiculously high, the perfect vessel for big laughs, which The Beep Test delivered on at every point. The show crammed as much comedy as it could into its 60 minute run time, milking every second of stage time and every ounce of physicality to ensure our cheeks hurt by the end. With a full audience, not a single joke didn’t land. Through this, what I most admired was how each emotional beat still landed. Neylon and Peele balanced the stakes for these characters while keeping us laughing, but never at the expense of rushing through appropriate character development. It was almost pantomime how quickly the show had the whole audience uproariously laughing, to then cooing with a sea of “aww’s” as the romantic storyline progressed, or as another detail was revealed about a student’s depressing home life.

Each actor really shone as well, hitting the comedic beats and every note. The vocals were particularly impressive from the leads Sara Reed and Axel Duffy who portrayed Jane and Zach respectively. Similarly, I adored the chemistry between Sebastian Li, who played Cooper and Carly Jaz, who played Sandra. I was hook, line and sinker for every moment of their storyline. With the exception of the musical number ‘Zachiarah Nicholson’, the songs between these two characters won my heart over every time.

The staging was great. The back wall of the school gym was riddled with graffiti and secret silly details, and my friend and I spent each moment before the lights went down and as the lights came out pointing out to each other and giggling. It was a really well-executed use of space, immersive and simple, with essentially the only key props being a bench seat and the cones the characters had to run between.

There were a few aspects of Jane’s storyline I wanted slightly more from. For me, she was the character who had the least backstory, and her motivation felt a little one note. Sara Reed performed as Jane fantastically; however, with so much of the dialogue in the show putting her down for being a girl, with that simple term being used as an insult, I wanted more rage from her character. It’s clear she wants to beat Zach to prove to herself that she can, but I almost feel like there was further possibility for comedy in pushing that motivation further and tying it into the playground misogyny that is consistently thrown her way.

The Beep Test is an undeniably charming comedy musical bursting with passion, heart and consistent laughs.

To book tickets to The Beep Test, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2025/the-beep-test.

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