12 Hour Hub-A-Thon, ACT Hub, 27 April

 

A fun afternoon-to-evening out, this was six-and-a-half plays over exactly 12 hours (with the final play ending right on the dot of midnight) - with tag-teams of actors flowing across the day, covering everything from Panto to modern takes on the last classic at the Hub to Irish domestic tragedy to Australian family saga to greek revenge to 50% of an Oscar Wilde classic to a modern Edward Ablee comic-tragedy about desire. Staged minimally with a few fill in props (a bucket served for a whole lot of things, as did a spread of tinsel), there was a range of powerful performances. 

Lachlan Ruffy finally returning to canberra stages after five and a half years away to give a definatively woulda-devoured-the-scenery-if-there-was-any Captain Hook and a reserved but still sinister Trigornin, normally-directors like Jordan Best and Caitlin Baker showing how good they are on the other side of the stage, familiar faceslike Lainie Hart, Karen Vickery, Amy Kowalczuk, Azza McKazza, Megan Stewart, Cole Hilder, Steph Roberts and Joel Horwood showing off their skills, actors normally seen in small parts like Blue Hsylop and John Whinfield getting a chance to shine in roles with bigger substance, and a real stunner of a performance from Seb Winter who I'm pretty sure I've never seen in anything before but want to see again ASAP.. 

Not everything was perfect, there was definitely a sense that, for instance, "An Ideal Husband" suffered from not editing the script down, leading to having to cut things off at the end of act two of a four act play,  but it was a great chance for the true theatre tragics to luxuriate in great scripts, great acting and a whole lot of enthusiasm.