The Trojan War, Nicholas Clark Management, The Q, 14-15 May (and subsequently to Bathurst, Caloundra and Townsville to 1 June)

 

The Kiwi team that brought us "Don Juan" in 2021 (review here) is back to do their thing with another classic out-of-copyright narrative - last time it was lust and love, this time it's war (though still with plenty of lust and love going on, they're a lusty company). The fivesome enlist the aid of audience members, some very sharp sound and lighting, some stylish costumes (including buckets on heads to be the helmets for Achilles and Hector), a few familiar songs and a couple of cardboard boxes to summarise a large chunk of Homer's "The Illiad" (and the tag end of the war that ended up in "the Odyssey") into 80 minutes with a whole lot of charm, with and physical nonsense.

The show begins with the cast bursting into the foyer to greet us all in an ebullient French manner (why French? well, why not, it's a fun accent to do and at least one of the cast members has done the proper clown training with Ecole Phillipe Gaulier which seems to be compulsory if you want to make a career out of nonsensical goofing about). For those who saw Don Juan, a lot of the essential elements remain - the cast is friendly and flirty and generous, and gentle in how they draw out audience participation, they achieve remarkable physical effects with minimal resources, they share roles with a simple iconic outfit choice (a veil for Helen, a blonde wig for Paris, the aforementioned bucket-helmets), and they touch on the essential themes of the story in amongst all the frolics. Part of their website describes their work as "party shows", and that's a pretty reasonable way to describe it - a party with fascinating friends telling you a powerful story. They fit into the more formal space of the Q as well as they fitted into the intimate traverse used in the B, still bringing the audience into their company and making them happy willing playmates. 

For such a small scale touring show, the sound and lighting is remarkably skillfully done - tight and effective, with a couple of clever choices giving it power. As a touring unit, the quintet of Susie Berry, Jack Bucannan, Andrew Patterson, Jonathan Price and Comfrey Sanders are a remarkable set of individuals and a powerful collective, under the direction of Lee Gene Peters giving the cast room to play within a strong overall structure. Sam Clavis is the technical wizard behind the expert sound and lighting. May the Dogs of War go on to conquer further and wider, and hopefully return with more mayhem and delight.  

The Actress, Canberra Repertory, Canberra Rep Theatre, 2 May-18 May

 Peter Quilter has had his greatest success with a pair of bio-plays, "End of the Rainbow" about the last days of Judy Garland and "Glorious!" about the career of notoriously-awful Opera Singer Florence Foster Jenkins. So in this play, he creates a fictional star actress, Lydia Martin, on her farewell performance, as family, her agent, her new lover, her company manager, and her dresser come in to prepare her, recriminate, settle scores, and look at what lies ahead for them. It's not the smoothest of scripts, as there are some emotional lurches as characters suddenly spill their anxieties or make sudden changes of mind, but the production largely smooths over these lurches and makes them feel believable.

As the lead, Liz St Clair Long has the diva-esque power down, drawing all attention to herself and her issues, relishing in the spotlight, and suitably snippy when anyone else draws focus from her. There are moments of gentleness here and there between her and her daughter (Kate Harris in a performance that manages to show disgruntledness without being overly whiney), or between her and her dresser (Sally Rynveld giving a controlled, gentle performance that shows affection without indulgence), but elsewhere there's her slight impatience with her new fiance Charles (Saban Berrell, gentle and keen but a little naive), the fiery relationship between her and her ex Paul (Rob de Fries in a role that is his specialty as the sarcastic and suave lover with a way of being hostile while grinning), the passive-aggression of her agent (Jane Alhquist barely concealing the emotional mess the character is), and flatout aggression-aggression between her and her the company manager (Jazmin Skopal showing youthful petulance and giving not-quite-as-good-as-she-gets). 

Andrew Kay's set gives us a dressing room filled with clever little details (including a plethora of fake-posters that I'd love to examine closer), solidly lit by Mike Maloney, and a view of the stage from behind the scenes which allows us to feel in the space with the performers. Neville Pye's sound design supports without overwhelming, and Anna Senior's costume design gives fancy flourish to the leading lady and realistic support to everyone else. 

An affectionate tribute to leading ladies with a side-eye at those around them, it's a light drama with a few spiky edges here and there. 

Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Everyman Theatre, ACT Hub, 8-18 May

 

Alan Ball's 1993 comedy-drama was one of the first works in his professional career, before moving on to write for sitcoms "Grace Under Fire" and "Cybill", then getting wider success as writer of "American Beauty", creating the drama series "Six Feet Under" and adapting Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries into the long-running "True Blood". Like a lot of emerging writer's work, it works almost as a sample of everything he's capable of - using the premise of five bridesmaids hiding from a lavish wedding reception in the bedroom of the bride's younger sister as an opportunity to explore a whole lot of stories about female frustrations, desires, friendships, and rages. For the first act as we're introduced to the characters, this moves briskly and often hilariously - in the second, the resolution feels a little whiplashy as multiple tones bash up against each other in fairly quick succession, leading to a dramatic situation setup but not quite resolved and the odd interpolation of a bit of light rom-com dialogue near the end as the sole male character makes an appearance. But for much of it's length, it's a fun vehicle for five women in a tight tense situation to develop powerful, intriguing characters. 

Everyman's production hits each of the varied tones that are required in the play really well - while analysing afterward, it does slightly feel like five plays bumping up against each other, in performance, the production flows very well. There's strong performances from the titular 5 women - Hannah Lance as the endearingly naive fundamentalist Frances, Winsome Ogilvie as the rageful younger sister of the bride, Kelly Roberts as the kindest of the lot, supportive and yet cynical and quippy, Charley Allanah as the unhappily married one looking for a chance to have a fling, scatterbrained and yet sharp enough to see through the nonsense, and Kristy Griffin as the lesbian sister of the groom, lively and engaging but willing to stand up for herself. Joel Horwood as the token male does well with the brief material they have but it's slightly apart from the energy of the rest of the play - the issues with their character are largely structural, not performance-based. 

Steph Roberts gives the action a cracking pace and finds lots of space for physical comedy in among the action - staging the play in the round (or more precisely, an octogon), finding intimacy without ever losing audience connection. Chris Zuber's set looks great at all angles and keeps the women confined while giving them enough space to play up against each other. Nikki Fitzgerald's sound and lighting supports the mood admirably, letting the space feel warm and comfortable. Fiona Leach's costumes are suitably bridesmaid-hideous with all sorts of ruffles and variations to let each woman express herself slightly differently.

This is a fun night out with a great range of Canberra actresses both familiar and new-to-me, all given plenty of room to show their skills, in an intimate production full of laughs and emotions. If the play itself is a little bit more of a bumpy ride, the cast are there to smooth the transitions and create a great hang-out vibe for two hours. It's a pleasure to be in their company.