theatre

Lost In Yonkers

Lost in Yonkers

Lost In Yonkers Rating

★★★★★

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7

Neil Simon’s Tony Award and Pulitzer prize-winning comedy Lost in Yonkers is an absolute delight.

Presented by the Roxy Lane Theatre in Maylands, which provides a warm, community theatre welcome from the moment you step through the door. This is clearly a group that enjoys what it does and works hard to put on a good show.

Directed by Karin Staflund, Lost in Yonkers centres on brothers Arty (Daniel Keenan) and Jay (Toby Shepherd), who are sent to live with their grandmother (Sarah House) and Aunt Bella (Seren Healy) in the summer of 1942 while their father goes away to work off a debt he owes to a loan shark.

The prickly Grandma Kurnitz is estranged from her son Eddie (Zane Alexander) and his boys. However, she begrudgingly agrees to take Arty and Jay in at Bella’s insistence and makes it clear this will be no holiday as they’re forced to work in her shop downstairs.

Throw in an uncle who is a local gangster (Geoff Miethe) and Aunt Gert (Julia Webster), who is so frightened of her mother that she struggles to breathe; you can tell it’s going to be a long summer for Arty and Jay.

Lost in Yonkers
Lost in Yonkers
Lost in Yonkers

The cast’s youngest member, Daniel Keenan, steals the show as Arty. With an extensive number of lines to remember and maturity beyond his years, he brings the right amount of humour and warmth to his role. Seren Healy’s portrayal of childlike Bella is both hilarious and heartbreaking as a young woman stuck between her learning difficulties and wanting a life and family of her own.

The cast’s accents were fabulous, and the clever use of the time between scene changes with train sound effects and lighting, while you could already hear the hum of the local train in the background, added to the experience.

The set was well done and made great use of the space given. At times, a sofa bed was front and centre. There were also a number of costume changes for each character, all of which suited the characters to a tee.

With nine performances to go, and if opening night is anything to go by, this is one local production you don’t want to miss.

August 17, 18*, 23, 24, 25*, 29, 30 and 31, September 1
Evening shows at 7.30 pm
*Sunday matinees at 2 pm
Bookings at https://www.TAZtix.com.au/roxylanetheatre/ or phone TAZ Tix 9255 3336.

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Mad Nun Productions Presents Flick

Flick

Flick Rating

★★★★★

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4

From the moment ‘Flick’ (Madelaine Nunn) walked on stage, the entire audience was drawn into her captivating story and exploration of life, love, loss, and grief.

Brilliantly written, with a humanly comedic through-line, this one-woman show is exactly what we want to see in theatre.

The somewhat extraordinary, yet in other ways, quite ordinary and very relatable storyline was so beautifully crafted and conveyed by Madelaine. It felt like we were there with her; every awkward, funny, hopeful, or devastatingly sad step of the way.

‘Flick’ follows the story of a 30-something year old a palliative care nurse, who comedically draws the audience into her world of working with those at the end of their life. All whilst juggling her own experiences of love, lust, friendship, death, grief, and loss through various relationships she has in her own life.

With a blank stage, a single stool, and the most basic of lighting and sound, Madelaine’s performance alone took us deep into Flick’s world. The only visual hint for the audience, being that she is dressed in her work scrubs. It just goes to show that when the writing and acting is en pointe, there is no need for fancy sets, lighting, or sound. The performance speaks for itself, and the audience’s imagination is enough.

For anyone like myself, who has worked in healthcare (and even moreso, for those of us who have worked in end-of-life healthcare), so many relatable moments were expertly and honestly written into the show (in the often unexpectedly humorous ways that they present themselves in real life).

Flick
Flick
Flick
Flick

And even to those who have not had those lived experiences, the truth and honesty of the storytelling and character relationships were in and of themselves fundamentally relatable to our own human behaviours.

If I wasn’t genuinely laughing at the (often far too!) relatable moments, I was drawn to tears on more than one occasion through the very real moments of the deep sadness that come with grief and loss.

This show brilliantly explores and highlights the dichotomy and often seemingly non-sequitur nature of our human emotions and experiences: how there is so often unexpected humour in the face of death, melancholy in happiness, or how sometimes our behaviour in grief may just be a little bit (or a lot) on the crazy side. And what a wonderful way to remind people that these are all very normal aspects of the human experience.

Each character explored through the lens of Flick was so honest and relatable: from her co-workers, to her the patients, to her best friend, or her mother. I could very easily place real people from my own life into each character.

It’s not very often that you walk out of a show and think that you’ve been a part of something quite special. But walking out of the opening night of ‘Flick’, with a full-house, and a standing ovation, I had that feeling.

For a one-woman-show to draw in and captivate an audience for over an hour through one continuous story arc is a great achievement. Madelaine’s performance did just that, and we all experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and relatable human experiences alongside ‘Flick’.

I would love to say to go and get tickets to this show at La Mama, but being a part of the ‘Explorations’ program, there are only three performances, all of which have unsurprisingly sold out.

But I get the feeling that this is not the last we will be seeing of ‘Flick’ and Madelaine Nunn. So, keep your eyes peeled for where it goes next. And then make sure to get a ticket, as this is a show not to be missed.

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Thinner Than Water

Thinner Than Water

Thinner Than Water Rating

★★★★★

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4

‘Thinner Than Water’ written by Melissa Ross and directed by Tim Williams, offers a nuanced portrayal of a fractured family drawn together during a time of crisis. The play focuses on three half-siblings—Cassie (Amy Pollock), Renee (Katharine Innes), and Gary (Matthew Elliott)—who reconnect when their father’s health takes a turn for the worse. Renee, the eldest, naturally assumes a leadership role, displaying an authority over her siblings that is both practical and, at times, overbearing.

The other two siblings, though less organized, demonstrate a deeper empathy for those around them. This often puts them at odds with Renee, whose critical nature highlights the tension between them. The strained relationship with their father is apparent from the outset, setting the tone for the family dynamics that unfold throughout the play.

As the story unfolds, we see the shaky ground that Renee’s marriage is standing on. Her husband Mark’s level of criticism one-ups hers. As the play progresses, we find out Mark is not a cold-blooded narcist. The unfolding drama, acts as a catalyst that opens their respective vulnerabilities and provides stable-ground for them to have honest, productive conversations. Katharine Innes and Matt Trubiani take great writing, and deliver it with impeccable timing, humour, and stage chemistry.

Cassie is in an on-again-off-again relationship with Henry (Jerome Meyer) – a stable organised lawyer who is devoted to her, despite Cassie’s inconsistency in their relationship. The two have markedly different personalities and lifestyles. Henry’s similarity to Renee reflects interesting psychological subtext that is implicitly explored throughout the play.

Gary works in retail at a comic book store, and receives notable flack for it. He acts the part of stereotypical stoner meets anxious sweetheart. Like Cassie, Gary also struggles with responsibility. Him and Cassie are at ease with each other, where their mutual understanding anchors their relationship. Gary meets Angela (Nicole Chapman) at the start of the play. Angela is a single-mother looking for a reliable ‘big brother’ for her son.

Thinner Than Water
Thinner Than Water

When Martin is admitted to hospital the audience is treated to some great back and forth between Renee and Martins partner Gwen (Nin Macken), where the ball is largely held in Gwen’s side of the court. Gwen is a self-confessed chatterbox, Renee’s magazines, and forms prove inadequate barriers to deflect this. As the play progresses, we see the relationship between Gwen and Renee shift from superficial and one-sided, to honest and reciprocal, underscored by humour and depth.

There were a lot of set changes, broadcasting voicemails over these did help to alleviate their duration; but the play would benefit from shortening them. The use of the r-word felt unnecessary and could have been updated to something more appropriate. The narrative set-up is slowly drawn out over the first act, then after skipping forwards in time the resolution feels very compressed in the second act. I wonder if there might have been ways to alter this to convey the character growth that has transpired in this time- particularly in the case of Cassie, either through script changes, or acting choices.

Overall, this play is a funny, relatable, subtle, and complex work; supported with strong acting performances across the entire cast. The Alex Theatre was a fantastic venue, with great facilities. ‘Thinner Than Water’ is running 15-25 August at the Alex theatre in St Kilda, I highly recommend you take the opportunity to see it.

For Tickets:- https://alextheatre.au/thinner-than-water/

15 – 25 August 2024, 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Sundays 5 pm – 7:30 pm

Full $45 +BF
Concession $37.50 +BF

PREVIEW PERFORMANCE:
Full $35 +BF
Concession $27.50 +BF

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St Jude’s Players Presents Silent Sky

Silent Sky

Silent Sky Rating

★★★★★

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1

Silent Sky is a historical dramatisation of the life of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt written by American playwright Lauren Gunderson. It is an important story about the unique challenges surrounding the pursuit of achievement, particularly for women.

It explores the difficult decisions Leavitt faced in pursuing knowledge and fulfilling expected societal roles. Set during a time of social change in the early 1900s, the themes are still relevant today in many ways.

Henrietta Leavitt, born in 1868, discovered a relationship between the luminosity of pulsating stars known as Cepheids and distances. Her work is intrinsic to understanding the magnitude of the universe and is relied upon by Edwin Hubble, amongst others.

A sparkling cast of four women gave strong performances. Brittany Daw, as Henrietta, the protagonist of the play, was very endearing. Brittany balanced Henrietta’s strength with her humanity in the challenges she faced. Tianna Cooper, as Margaret, juxtaposed Henrietta so beautifully as a woman with a different sense of purpose.

Joanne St Clair’s performance as Williamina Fleming was excellent. Her Scottish accent was fantastic, and her delivery of Williamina’s flawless punchlines was spot on. Deborah Walsh’s performance as Annie Jump Cannon, a strong supporting female role, delivered comedy, strength, and warmth—a difficult combination executed perfectly.

Silent Sky
Silent Sky

Josh Van’t Padje, as Peter Shaw complimented these twinkling stars with his own stage luminosity, jumping well from a harsh Harvard supervisor to a coy suitor and eventually a somewhat confused and heartbroken man.

The set design, music, and lighting were particularly well executed, particularly with the abstract nature of the scene transitions and locations. I must confess I was particularly impressed by the majestically sized telescope centre stage! The costumes reflected the period well. The performance was well received by the audience.

Overall a stellar performance of Silent Sky by the St Judes players and Director Lesley Reed. St Judes Players community theatre group in Brighton has its 75th Diamond Anniversary this year. Silent Sky’s production is a twinkling diamond achievement for all involved.

I would recommend it to everyone. It is an inspiring, witty, and warm depiction of the challenges women face in following their dreams.

Don’t miss out – there are only two shows remaining, the 16th & 17th of August!

For Bookings:-

Telephone: 0436 262 628
Email: bookings@stjudesplayers.asn.au
www.stjudesplayers.asn.au

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