Travelling North, Canberra Rep, 11-27 Jun

 David Williamson's "Travelling North" was the last of his run of plays of the 1970s - a decade that began with the one-two punch of "The Removalists" and "Don's Party" in 1971 and which had shown him go on to be an essential part of the Australian playwriting firmament, as well as developing a reputation as a screenwriter. It's based on the story of the mother of his second wife, Kristen, who entered into a relationship with an ex-communist and moved to the central coast of NSW, away from her adult children. It's a tale of late-in-life love, an escape from winter into a lush rich world of abundance, and gives Williamson the chance to look at two characters near the end of their lives, looking back at their past and finding a path ahead together.

Leading the cast is Daniell Spiller as Frances, a woman discovering her inner adventurer and dealing with the frustrations when their journey north stops somewhere around Tweed Heads when her partner's health begins to delay him - she's an active participant in the relationship and a warm protagonist. Alongside her is Pat Gallagher as Frank, cantankerous, opinionated but realising as his time gets closer that his past has occasionally rubbed other people the wrong way. Matilda Millar-Carlton is a force of nature as Frances' uptight daughter Helen, taking affront at everything from her mother to her in-laws to her frayed relationship with her husband. As the academic daughter, Sophie, Margeux-Arundell Williams plays a character with her own academic snobbery but willing to fight back against her sister. Stephanie van Lishout as Frank's daughter Joan gives us an understanding of who Frank has previously been and whata past with him has been like. Steven Kennedy as the neighbour Freddy is a charming delight as someone who differs with Frank in may ways but displays all the good nature of neigbourliness. Adrian Breen as Frank's doctor Saul enjoys the challenges of a difficult, challenging patient with warmth and humour. Kumar Kartikey Gupta and Grace Cassidy make the most of small cameo roles in various roles of officialdom.

Cate Clelland directs and designs using a three-layered set to represent the three worlds of the play (Melbourne, Sydney and Tweed Heads), with a mural of tropical abundance at the back. Claire Middleton and Darcy Abrahams dress the cast in a mix of tropical comfort and melbourne late 60s/early 70s fashion, setting the period well. Nev Pye's sound design mixes classical style for the transition and tropical sounds for the scenes in elegant style. Craig Mueller's lighting design sets out spaces for the characters to work well.

This is Williamson in a slightly reflective mode, given a production that is perhaps a little classical-and-stately in manner, but which still hits with some great comedy and some heart-felt moments. It's a rare case of Williamson writing about a generation before his own, and understanding them well, both their struggles and their successes. And it's a fine production of a classic play. 

The Deep Blue Sea, Chaika Theatre, Act Hub, 12-27 June

 (Photography Tony Knight)

Terrence Rattigan was one of the writers who the "angry young men" of the late 1950s British theatre were reacting to - his plays used British reticence and stiff-upper-lip to show characters falling apart beneath the facade of good manners. "The Deep Blue Sea" concentrates on Hester, who we meet just after a failed suicide attempt - the play goes into why she has been driven to suicide and the start of her slow way out of that despair as she realises everything that's led her to this point has to be abandoned, most specifically her inadequate lover, Freddie Page. In this production, played in the taverse in the ACT hub, we are up-close-and-personal as we dive into Hester and those around her, and about how the start of a way forward might be found.

Jenna Roberts is, of course, a powerhouse actress and in this play she gets one hell of a leading lady role. She's adept at playing both the stylish front and the deep anguish behind the front, the yearning and the recognition that the yearning is unlikely to be fulfilled. As the lover-who-can't-quite-satisfy, Sol Mason is exactly as irritating as the role requires-  finding moments of casual cruelty and occasionally not-so-casual, as someone who realises his own failures but is incapable of being better so thinks doubling down will finally drive her away. Michael Sparks is the ex-husband who still wants the past back in its place, not quite realising how over everything is and that he can't just wish the past back - there's a melancholy yearning in his performance that breaks the heart. Elsewhere, Kate Blackhurst is a fine gossipy landlady who you understand why people trust her with their secrets even as she lets them back out again, Jack Shanahan impresses as a slightly opinionated busybody who never the less has compassion that never quite stretches far enough to be useful, Meaghan Stewart is his wife experiencing her own type of isolation, Karen Vicker is the ex-doctor who cannot help but try to heal anyway despite her experiences, and Blue Hyslop is Freddie's friend who finds exactly where his own limitations of that friendship is.

Ylaria Rogers dresses the cast in fine period style, with Michael Sparks setting out a design that finds the right set of spaces for these confrontations to happen. Disa Swiftie lights smoothly and Yanina Clifton has found the right selection of period props to bring us into the period. 

This doesn't always completely avoid the slight tinge of melodrama in Rattigan's play (in particular the declaration "we're death to each other" feels way bigger than the rest of the play) but it's a fine production of a personal, emotive play that will have the audience feeling along with the characters. 

Les Misérables, Queanbeyan Players, The Q, 22 May-6 June

 

Photo by Ben Appleton - Photox

It does take the pressure off a bit if you're reviewing a show that has already sold out. So instead of being a consumer choice, this is more of an appreciation for what Queanbeyan Players has pulled off - a grand epic treatment of Boublil and Schonberg's adaptation of Victor Hugo's epic novel of pursuit, poverty, desperation, love requited and unrequited and vast amounts of invocations of god. Dale Rheynold's production richly stages the work, keeping the action flowing across several decades worth of plot as the attention swaps between large ensemble numbers and emotive solos, keeping us in 19th century French mode from the opening to the stirring finale. As someone who's loved this show for the better half of four decades now (and last saw it 11 years ago at the Capitol), this is a version that hits all the necessary notes and keeps it fresh and lively. 

We should begin where the show begins, with Dave Smith's Valjean. Smith is one of Canberra's great tenor voices, and he hits the part running (given the role requires him to go from introduction to soliloquy in about five minutes, it kinda demands no hesitation) - we feel his anguishes at his failings and his deep moral certainty just as much as his strong high B4. Alongside him is Max Gambale as Javert who gives the role all the smug moral certainty it requires from his entrance up until the point when everything shatters in his final breathtaking soliloquy. Jess Waterhouse as Fantine breaks all the hearts the role requires in a role that goes from itntrouduction-to-soliloquy-to-downfall-to-death-scene and navigates every transition flawlessly. Greg Sollis and Tina Robinson are the Thenardiers, and provide exactly the right level of criminal sleeze the roles require - it's possible to overly-cute-up the Thenardiers and fortunately that trap is completely avoided - both have the cocky interior knowledge that the audience is entirely on their side, which makes us feel complicit in their scheming. Alexander Unikowski gives Marius a blithe and cocky air on his introduction, which sets up his inevitable fall into sorrow. India Cornwall as the unrequited yearning Eponine is compelling from the moment she enters until her exit from the story, delivering a heartbreaking "On My Own". William Allington delivers strong moral certainty as Enjolras, singing the big stirring ballads strongly and compellingly. Sophie Hope-White sells the love-at-first-sight plot well, though she's stuck with a character who really doesn't have a lot of dimensions to play - she plays the ones she has effectively. Dude Gambale is a delightfully cocky, confident Gavroche, joyous at getting to team up with the students in their revolution and getting a chance to show what he's learned on the streets. The ensemble are a strong and capable team, fleshing out the stage and giving a sense of the environments in which the story takes place. 

Musical Director Brigid Cummins gets powerful work out of both the orchestra and the ensemble, with a rich sound for this all-sung show. Costume Designer Helen McIntyre finds rich variations for the cast to wear from galley-slave-to-slum-to-student-to-wedding finery. David Abbie's set design is adaptable and rich in sweeping across the narrative requirements. Zac Harvey's lighting design hits all the right points distinguishing location-from-location, and comes up with clever light-washes for the big set changes. Telia Jansen's sound design keeps it all in balance from solos to ensemble work. 

In short (too late), this is a strong, powerful production of a modern classic, with fine performers engaging in the material in a meaty way. If you've got a ticket, enjoy, if you've missed out, watch out for these performers in anything else they may do later. 

The Birds, Belvoir presents a Malthouse Theatre production, 16 May-14 June

 (picture from the Malthouse production by Pia Johson)

Daphne DuMaurier's 1952 short story was adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, moving the story from Cornwall to Bodega Bay in California and from a married couple with children to a young socialite and the lawyer she's interested in - but both feature motiveless attacks by a large number of birds. that become increasingly deadly. Louise Fox's adapation hues close to the original short story and makes it a one-woman story as the protagonist tells of her increasing nerves and experiences multiple bird attacks. Matthew Lutton's production peaks during these attacks but, while there's some interesting moments about the conspiracy theories that others buy into around the bird attacks, the production never really gets to a satisfactory conclusion, dribbling away in its final moments.

It's a pity as Paula Arundell is a powerful performer and when this peaks, during the attacks, with the assistance of Niklas Pajanti's lighting and J. David Franzke's soundscape, it's really quite powerful, but the messy ending means this never quite lands - there's not really a sense of why this story matters now, beyond vague hints of environmental concerns and of the way conspiracy theories roll in on the slimmest of precepts - it doesn't feel like the basic scripting has gone far enough so all the technical bells and whilstles can only go so far.  

An Illiad, Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf Theatre, 17 Apr-21 Jun

 

"The Iliad" was written by Homer around 2,700 years ago, and tells of events during the Trojan war- of grand battles, of great heroes, of gods, fates, of violations of the natural order of things and moments of petty hatred and of grace. Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare's adaptation brings this material brilliantly alive, using a single actor and a musician to tell the tale. In Damien Ryan's production, it's stripped to the bone in an industrial-looking, apparently bare stage by Charles Davis - David Wehnam begins the show by rolling up a roller door at the back of the stage and dragging in a Mother-Courage-like wagon covered in odds and ends, before using various of those odds and ends to tell the story (including musician Helen Svoboda who accompanies on varoius instruments, largely a double-bass though not always conventionally so). 

With not much more than the words, his voice and his body, Wenham conjures the world in front of him - the production has a few effects hidden up its sleeve but they're all deployed carefully to show just the right dramatic effect, and Wenham owns the story completely, bringing strong performance energy to the evening and bringing the audience in to him - he wears natural authority like he's been around since the stories he's telling, with a style that absorbs - there's some wry mischief in some of the moments, compassion, sorow, and some quite frightening wrath (one moment with a javelin has him stabbing the stage and leaving a divot - it's the kind of thing a performer only has to pull once becuase the audience is aware this kind of energy is lying in reserve all the time). It's been a long while since Wenham has been on a Sydney Stage (he was a regular back in the 1990s in shows like the original "The Boys" and "Cosi", or in the one-two punch of Laertes in Belvoir's Hamlet and a surprisingly prominent Alonso in "The Tempest" the next year, but it's been intermittent since - he's done one of the Melbourne run of "A christmas Carol" in 2022 but his last Sydney show was Benedict Andrew's controversial "The Seagull" in 2011. The success of this current season should see him return frequently - this is a play he absolutely owns and could do for as long as he wants in as many places as he wants. While this wasn't written for Wenham (originally written for O'Hare, who toured it internationally, including runs at the Perth and Adelaide Festivals in 2014), he owns it like it was, and it feels like between himself, Ryan and Svoboda they've found surprises, direct power and stunning effectiveness in presenting one of the world's oldest stories as something urgent and vital. 

Lose to Win, Belvoir St Theatre, The Q, 2 May (and other locations from Tralragon to Brisbane until the end of June)

 

(Image by Phil Erbacher from the Old Fitz run in 2022)

Mandela Mathia's one-man show tells the story of his youth in South Sudan and the refugee experience that brought him to Australia, about how those experiences have formed him and about how his experience as a South Sudanese refugee has been problematised by reactionary forces within Australia for their own political goals. It's an engaging story which Mathia tells alongside the musician Malin Sylla who drums and plays other instruments throughout - opening the show with a drum solo of power and rhythm, it binds the show together and makes what could be a personal travelogue into a rich aural experience.

Director Jessica Arthur ensures it's a strong visual experience too, with the help of a set design by Keerthi Subramanyam and a quite stunning lighting design from Kate Baldwin. Mathia uses pieces of luggage and small props from the luggage in telling the story, opening up a story that makes him more complicated than just a simple victim of outside circumstances, but also an active part of his own personal narrative. Mathia is an engaging teller of his own story - able to bring the various figures in his story to life, and very much taking us along the way of a deeeply complicated childhood without ever playing for sympathy or making things overly traumatic. It's a very friendly show, and richly deserves to be shared far and wide. If it tours near you, I recommend catching it. 

Constellations, Free Rain Theatre, ACT Hub, 16-25 Apr

 

Photo credit: Janelle McMenamin

Nick Payne's two hander has quite the credentials - from its opening at London's Royal Court with Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins in 2012 to a Broadway run with Jake Gyllenhall and Ruth Wilson to a filmed covid version in 2021 with four different pairings, including Peter Capaldi and Zoe Wanamaker and a gender shift to pair Russell Tovey and Omari Douglas. It's a tight play exploring a relationship between two people over the course of a number of years - one a beekeeper, one a theoretical physicist - but told in short scenes which play out in variations, reflecting the physicist's belief in multiversal theory. We're also shown fairly quickly where this relationship is heading, with a brutal decline hitting the physicist in her early 40s leading to tragic loss. 

Kelly Somes production plays this in the round, on a platform with three chairs, and keeps the protagonists constantly in motion around one another, connecting and disconnecting in moments, and playing the variations quick and smooth. Lucy Goleby and James O'Connell take the challenges and joys inherent in these roles and absolutely own them - bouncing dialogue between them in skilful rallies, finding different spins on repeated lines and rich depths under the words (the way Goleby says the word "Delicious" at one point is luxuriously wonderful). The variations between their essential personas are played with split-second timing, and these are performances that work just as well whether they're directly in front of you or on the opposite side of the platform, as they cycle around and play to all four audience quadrants very effectively. 

Aidan Bavinton's lighting design does a lot of work to separate moments and locations, from tight spots to more general washes, and does it very well. Neville Pye and Kelly Somes' sound design delivers sharp blips of sound to separate moments and get us from instant-to-instant in a way that fits perfectly with the material. 

This is a polished gem of a show, with all facets shining and reflecting, and something you can delve into over 80 minutes. It's as much a journey of the heart as of the mind, and it's a demonstration of two performers locking in to a text with passion, joy and fervour. Powerful work.