2:22 – A Ghost Story REVIEW 28 July 2023 ***

THEATRE

Written by Danny Robins

At Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne until 20 August 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ***

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly, 3MBS, Sat 5 Aug 2023. KH

Gemma Ward, Dan MacPherson, Remy Hii, Ruby Rose. 2.22 - A Ghost Story-pic Eugene Hyland

The surprise ghostly revelation in the last few minutes of 2:22 A Ghost Story makes the entire two hours worth the wait.

 

The play, written by Danny Robins and directed by Matthew Dunster, is set in Jenny (Gemma Ward) and Sam’s (Remy Hii) rambling, but thoroughly renovated and uncomfortably modern home that they bought from Maria, an elderly Italian woman who made them promise not to ruin the house or destroy all of her late husband Frank’s woodwork – which is precisely what they have done.

 

Jenny has been alone for days in the house with her 11-month-old daughter, Phoebe, while Sam, an astronomer, is away in a national park studying stars and has been incommunicado since day one of his trip.

 

While Sam is absent, Jenny experiences ghostly footsteps and a man’s crying emanating from her baby’s upstairs bedroom each night at exactly 2:22am. A ghost she believes! When Sam returns, he voices his scepticism as a scientist about Jenny’s ghost and criticises and ridicules her belief.

 

Jenny has invited Sam’s old university friend, Lauren (Ruby Rose), a smart but dysfunctional psychiatrist who drinks to excess, and Lauren’s latest beau, Ben (Daniel Macpherson), her builder, who never left her home after he renovated it. Over risotto and buckets of wine, the primary topic of conversation is the mysterious sounds and the likelihood of there being a ghost in Phoebe’s room. Sam, the pragmatist and sceptic, is outnumbered three to one and things get more complicated when Ben insists that he has some connection to “the other side” and sets up a séance.

 

On the realistic stage design (Anna Fleischle) depicting the living space of Sam and Jenny‘s house, time ticks away on a large digital clock above the stage, moving in real time during scenes, and in fast-forward during alarming scene changes when chilling, ear-piercingly loud screams – explained later as urban fox cries – accompany sudden blackouts. Of course, urban foxes are a phenomenon in London but rare here, so the fox reference doesn’t ring true in an Australian context.

 

Robins’ script has neat, if unoriginal plotting, fast-paced dialogue and relationships that have some backstory. The play should gallop along with the audience on the edge of its seats, but this production does not meet the potential of Robins’ writing.

 

MacPherson carries effectively the role of Ben, the blokey builder, who surprises with his history of spiritualism and staunch belief in ghosts. His is the most substantial and believable performance, while the other three actors are unconvincing, often sounding disconnected from the text so that the dialogue feels unnatural. They seem to be miscast in their roles: Rose, as Lauren, seems too “street” for the role of a sophisticated psychiatrist, while Hii’s dialogue feels awkward and pushed.

 

But, even with its shortcomings, the startling revelation in the final minutes of the production is a successful pay-off.

 

By Kate Herbert

 

 Cast: 

Ruby Rose, Daniel Macpherson, Gemma Ward and Remy Hii.

 

Ruby Rose, Dan MacPherson, Gemma Ward, Remy Hii. 2.22 - A Ghost Story-pic Eugene Hyland

Creative Team

Directed by Matthew Dunster

Co-Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman

Set design by Anna Fleischle

Costume design by Cindy Lin

Lighting design by Lucy Carter

sound by Ian Dickinson

Casting by Michael Topple, CDG

Illusions by Chris Fisher

 

The play is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, GWB Entertainment, Jones Theatrical Group, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.

Bloom (musical) REVIEW 22 July 2023 ***

MUSICAL THEATRE

Book & Lyrics by Tom Gleisner, Music by Katie Weston

By Melbourne Theatre Company

At Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne until 19 August 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ***

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 5 Aug 2023. KH

MTC Bloom-Cast- photo Pia Johnson

Bloom, a new musical with book and lyrics by Tom Gleisner and music by Katie Weston, certainly had the audience in the stalls on opening night laughing and whooping at the jokes and characters.

 

Like some other musicals, this show explores more serious issues through the lens of comedy, in this instance, the aged care system – or rather, the lack of care system. Bloom touches upon the plight of our aged population and the crisis in aged care, the lack of qualified staff, financial cost cutting, capital being more important than people and the communication gap between the young and the old.

 

The musical, directed by Dean Bryant, is set in an aged care home run by Mrs MacIntyre (Anne Edmonds), a belligerent, bossy, uncaring, budget-driven manager who employs a minimal staff that includes two beleaguered, female aged care workers, Gloria (Christina O’Neill) and Ruby (Vidya Makan), and a young, totally unequipped male student/volunteer, Finn (Slone Sudiro), who rocks up to swap bed and board for some “light duties”.

 

The motley crew of elderly residents all have different ailments, histories, skills and regrets, but have in common the fact that they are neglected and poorly served by the care home. The design (Dann Barber) of hospital-green tiles and walls creates a credible, claustrophobic interior world that becomes a prison for these residents who just want to feel the sun, see a tree and experience the outside world.

 

The intergenerational cast boasts some fine, experienced older actors and musical theatre performers, including Evelyn Krape playing the fiercely independent Rose, who is critical, provocative, resistant to authority and quickly becomes chief troublemaker.

 

Frankie J. Holden is Doug the tradie, Jackie Rees plays Lesley, Doug’s arty love interest, Maria Mercedes is Betty, the sneaky, mobility scooter-riding petty thief, John O’May is Roland, a histrionic, former stage actor, and the sadly over-medicated and mute Sal is played by Eddie Muliaumaseali’I whose operatic bass voice we hear only briefly, unfortunately. Why not have Sal sing when he cannot speak, as is the case with many dementia victims?

 

Two performances stand out because of their musical theatre abilities and credentials: Makan, who played Catherine Parr in the hit musical, SIX, has a powerful voice and stage presence, while O‘Neill, who has featured in musicals including Sondheim’s Into The Woods, has an extraordinary voice, despite being given very little to feature her exceptional singing until the very end.

 

As Mrs MacIntyre, comedian Edmonds pushes the broad comedy and caricature – sometimes too far – but her flimsy dialogue gives her little scope to explore layers to her character.

 

The songs by Katie Weston with lyrics by Gleisner, are generally perky and playful with some funny lyrics, and several incorporate successful harmonies and chorus work that build to soaring endings. However, the music and lyrics are derivative, and this is not sufficient to make it a good musical.

 

New Australian musicals! I want to love ’em, but we are too frequently disappointed in one or more parts of the whole. Bloom is such a creature. Despite having several successful components, it needs more work for it to reach its full potential. It feels bumpy, jerking along with a weak structure that lacks effective dramatic action, dramatic tension and surprises. It could focus on a couple of characters instead of applying broad brushstrokes to many. Gleisner has attempted to do this by creating a love match between Ruby and Finn, but this is not strong enough glue to hold the story together and these characters are not sufficiently compelling.

 

Bloom has a viable premise, but the problem with the book is that it is simplistic and, like a sitcom, could be performed in a much shorter time. It does not challenge the issues at the heart of the aged care home in a way that might surprise and delight us. There is so much material to be mined, but important issues are touched upon, but not explored in depth.

 

The style is comic, but it leaps around from sitcom to social satire but leaves the characters stuck in two-dimensional caricature, with only the occasional depth in some of the more heartfelt songs or moments of interaction between pairs. The writing relies on some uninspired and sometimes downright offensive versions of older characters, and the manager is a one-note harridan. Bloom tries to present a few details on every character and in doing so does not create a coherent narrative through line or spine for the musical. The dialogue skates across the surface of the issues, leaving it trite and filled with quips, gags and snipes.

 

If this piece took a more realistic approach to the scenario, location, characters and their interactions, if it dealt more effectively with the issues that underlie the problems in aged care, then the comedy could arise out of those details, relationships and characters would be more convincing, and there would also be more pathos and more opportunity for connecting with the characters. However, we feel little for these people most of the time because they are presented in such a superficial way.

 

But, again, segments of the opening night audience whooped it up throughout the show!

 

by Kate Herbert

 

MTC Bloom-Eveln Krape, Sloan Sudiro_photo Pia Johnson

CAST

Mrs MacIntyre Anne Edmonds
Doug Frankie J. Holden
Rose Evelyn Krape
Ruby Vidya Makan
Betty / Chef Maria Mercedes
Sal / Inspector / News Reporter / Trev Eddie Muliaumaseali’i
Roland John O’May
Gloria Christina O’Neill
Lesley Jackie Rees
Finn Slone Sudiro

 

CREATIVE TEAM

Director Dean Bryant
Music Director / Arranger / Orchestrator Zara Stanton
Choreographer Andrew Hallsworth
Set Designer Dann Barber
Costume Designer Charlotte Lane
Lighting Designer Amelia Lever-Davidson
Sound Designer Nick Walker
Assistant Director Tasnim Hossain
Production Dramaturg Dean Bryant
Dramaturg Matt Edgerton
Dramaturg Jennifer Medway
Voice & Text Coach Matt Furlani
Voice of News Anchor Peter Hitchener
Voice in Pine Grove Advertisement Denis Walter
Singer in Pine Grove Advertisement Katie Weston

Original Arrangements by Katie Weston and Ned Wright Smith.
Premiere Production Arrangements by Zara Stanton.

 

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Nowhere Else To Go…Finn, Rose
Chasing The Clock…Ruby, Gloria, Residents
I Just Need A Break…Finn
Maybe It’s Time…Rose, Ruby
Sunny Days…Betty, Doug, Lesley, Rose
The Best Is Yet To Be…Ruby
Everything I Do…Mrs MacIntyre, Staff, Residents
People Like You…Ruby, Finn
The Story Of My Life…Residents
Here At Pine Grove…Mrs MacIntyre, Staff, Residents
Salvatore’s Song…Residents, Staff
Choir Rehearsal…Residents, Staff
All This Wasted Time…Finn, Doug, Ruby, Lesley
Being There With You…Gloria, Ruby, Finn, Residents
Grow A Little Older…Residents, Staff

CAST

Mrs MacIntyre Anne Edmonds
Doug Frankie J. Holden
Rose Evelyn Krape
Ruby Vidya Makan
Betty / Chef Maria Mercedes
Sal / Inspector / News Reporter / Trev Eddie Muliaumaseali’i
Roland John O’May
Gloria Christina O’Neill
Lesley Jackie Rees
Finn Slone Sudiro

 

CREATIVE TEAM

Director Dean Bryant
Music Director / Arranger / Orchestrator Zara Stanton
Choreographer Andrew Hallsworth
Set Designer Dann Barber
Costume Designer Charlotte Lane
Lighting Designer Amelia Lever-Davidson
Sound Designer Nick Walker
Assistant Director Tasnim Hossain
Production Dramaturg Dean Bryant
Dramaturg Matt Edgerton
Dramaturg Jennifer Medway
Voice & Text Coach Matt Furlani
Voice of News Anchor Peter Hitchener
Voice in Pine Grove Advertisement Denis Walter
Singer in Pine Grove Advertisement Katie Weston

Original Arrangements by Katie Weston and Ned Wright Smith.
Premiere Production Arrangements by Zara Stanton.

 

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Nowhere Else To Go…Finn, Rose
Chasing The Clock…Ruby, Gloria, Residents
I Just Need A Break…Finn
Maybe It’s Time…Rose, Ruby
Sunny Days…Betty, Doug, Lesley, Rose
The Best Is Yet To Be…Ruby
Everything I Do…Mrs MacIntyre, Staff, Residents
People Like You…Ruby, Finn
The Story Of My Life…Residents
Here At Pine Grove…Mrs MacIntyre, Staff, Residents
Salvatore’s Song…Residents, Staff
Choir Rehearsal…Residents, Staff
All This Wasted Time…Finn, Doug, Ruby, Lesley
Being There With You…Gloria, Ruby, Finn, Residents
Grow A Little Older…Residents, Staff

 

 

,,,,

RADIO REVIEWS Arts Weekly 3MBS, Sat 22July 2023.

Just click this link:

KateHerbertArtsWeekly-3MBS-22July2023.  (9mins)

In this radio review spot on Sat 22 July, I review This is Living by Ash Flanders at Malthouse and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Bell Shakespeare at Fairfax Studio, Melbourne. 

My producer, Nick Tolhust joins in the discussion of R & J.

Romeo and Juliet Bell Shakespere REVIEW 14 July 2023 ***1/2

THEATRE

By William Shakespeare, by Bell Shakespeare

At Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre, Melbourne until 19 July 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ***1/2

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 22 July 2023. KH

Rose Riley, Jacob Warner in Bell Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Photo Brett Boardman

Bell Shakespeare’s new production of Romeo and Juliet, deftly and imaginatively directed by Peter Evans, cunningly balances the comedy and romance of Shakespeare’s text with the simmering and tragic blood feud between two families: Romeo’s Montague clan and Juliet’s Capulets.

 

The play opens with all actors in plain, black costume, a subtle reminder that all characters from the two warring families are just humans, indistinguishable from each other when stripped of their tribalism and clannish regalia. The stark and flexible set design (Anna Tregloan) is equally unadorned, with two large, low, wooden rostra topped with gleaming, black flooring.

 

As the narrative unfolds, jewel-coloured rugs deck the floors and actors don multi-coloured costume items to define their characters and express their family affiliations. With the combination of these costumes (Tregloan), the music (Max Lyandvert) and dance (Simone Sault), the Capulet’s ball takes on a vivid, pulsating party atmosphere. The first half gallops along, continuing this lively pace and playful style.

 

Under Evans' direction, the cast penetrates the Shakespearean text, finding connection and meaning that has sometimes been lost in other Bell Shakespeare productions with less capable or experienced actors.

 

The success of this play relies on strong portrayals of the two star-crossed lovers, doomed from the start when we are told of their fate. Jacob Warner plays Romeo with restraint, creating a callow, naïve, awkward and wildly impulsive boy made foolish with infatuation and lust.

 

 

Rose Riley as Juliet is feisty, mercurial, infatuated, rebellious, secretive and passionate. She flickers between childishness and a burgeoning maturity tinged with cunning that can occur in contemporary 14-year-olds. In some scenes, Riley’s Juliet seems too self-confident, worldly-wise and modern, too knowingly sexual and intentionally seductive for a young girl in Shakespeare’s period.

 

One drawback to Riley’s generally appealing performance is her tendency to use broad gestures to “act out” the text which she does in Juliet’s famous “gallop apace” speech, rendering it far too histrionic.

 

Lucy Bell is warm, funny and sympathetic as the Nurse, Leinad Walker’s Tybalt is a volatile, belligerent youth displaying his tribal loyalty, and James Evans finds the tension between humour, fatherly pride and angry, parental control in Juliet’s father, Capulet.

 

Robert Menzies as Friar Laurence is a jewel in the production, capturing the essence of the poetry with his resonant, recognisable voice. In the singular, most moving moment in the production, the Friar, on finding Romeo dead, says simply, “Romeo”, and Menzies imbues this single word with all the character’s grief, guilt, despair, love and regret. We hear the Friar’s mind clanging with the realisation that his hope for the feuding families to unite at last is flouted.

 

As is often the case in Bell’s productions, several women swap genders to play male characters, but this has led to some casting misfires in this production. Blazey Best plays Romeo’s pal, Mercutio, as a bawdy buffoon rather than a raffish, playful, innocent lad that seem to dislike violence, while Alex King makes Paris inappropriately girlish instead of the stately, noble and handsome Count that he is.

 

This Romeo and Juliet highlights the inevitability of the grim fate of these two young people when living in the midst of such a violent and relentless blood feud and is directed, performed and designed with imagination and flair.

 

by Kate Herbert

 

Rose Riley, Robert Menzies, Jacob Warner in Bell Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Photo Brett Boardman

CAST:

Jacob Warner as Romeo

Rose Riley as Juliet

Lucy Bell as Nurse

Blazey Best as Mercutio/Prince

James Evans as Capulet

Alex King as Paris

Robert Menzies as Friar Laurence

Kyle Morrison as Benvolio

Monica Sayers as Lady Capulet

Leinad Walker as Tybalt/Friar John

 

CREATIVE TEAM:

Director Peter Evans

Associate Director Sophie Kelly

Set and Costume Designer Anna Tregloan

Lighting Designer Benjamin Cisterne

Composer & Sound Designer Max Lyandvert

Intimacy, Movement & Fight Director Nigel Poulton

Choreographer Simone Sault

Voice Coach Jack Starkey-Gill

Dramaturg James Evans

Text Consultant Ben Crystal

This Is Living REVIEW 12 July 2023 ***1/2

THEATRE

Written by Ash Flanders, by Malthouse Theatre

At Merlin Theatre, Malthouse until 30 July 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars:***1/2

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 22 July 2023. KH

(L-R) Wil King, Michelle Perera, Belinda McClory, Maria Theodorakis-image by Pia Johnson

 

You might assume that a person suffering the diagnosis and treatment of a serious illness such as cancer would be appreciative of a loved one’s care and that their carer would remain tolerant, loving, attentive and resilient in the face of such a crisis. Think again!

 

Playwright, Ash Flanders, based his play, This is Living, on his own experience negotiating such a fraught scenario with his own partner. All is not comfort and love in the lives of Will (Wil King) and his partner, Hugh (Marcus McKenzie), who is suffering the ordeal and indignities of treatment for leukaemia. Will is fast losing his patience and appears to have completely lost his humour and slid into despair, while Hugh has become an ungrateful, mean-spirited, black-humoured and altogether beastly patient. Their relationship is excruciating to watch.

 

The play takes place in a luxurious rental property in Hepburn, the spa capital of Victoria, where Hugh has insisted they spend a few days with their older, single, female friends, Jo (Maria Theodorakis), Alex (Belinda McClory) and Sharleen (Michelle Perera) who have a shared history in their youthful exploits in experimental theatre together.

 

Flanders’ crackling dialogue is two parts wit and one part sniping. These five characters are really funny, and they entertain each other as much as they verbally abuse one another. These friendships are based on rivalry, argument, resentment, common history and a wicked sense of humour, all of which Flanders mines relentlessly, and Matthew Lutton directs with rapid-fire pace and a balance of comedy and tragedy.

 

King is sympathetic as the beleaguered Wil, while McKenzie’s Hugh shifts from showman to nasty, impatient control freak. Some of the biggest laughs are care of the three audacious and combative women. Theodorakis is earthy and hilarious as Jo who has a PhD in a topic that sounds totally absurd (wait for it!), McClory is sultry, decorative and provocative as TV travel show host, Alex, while Perera is wild and alarming as the well-heeled divorcee, Sharleen.

 

This is Living is both a hoot and a horror show with entertaining, mouthy and bold characters. Flanders is not only a clever actor but also a cunning playwright.

 

by Kate Herbert

Cast

Maria Theodorakis -Jo

Belinda McClory -Alex

Michelle Perera - Sharleen

Wil King – Will

Marcus McKenzie – Hugh

 

Creative Team

Director - Matthew Lutton

Set & Costume Designer – Matilda Woodroofe

Lighting Designer - Paul Jackson

Composer/ Sound Designer- Joe Paradise Lui

 

KATE HERBERT Arts Weekly 3MBS SAT 08 JULY 2023

Here's my radio review spot from 8 July. In this show, I review Is God Is by Aleasha Harris in the Melbourne Theatre Company production, and new Aussie musical, Midnight - The Cinderella Musical at Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

I pre-recorded this one, so there is no interaction with the host who I believe was Adam Pietrzak that day. He was the producer who first approached me in 2022 to start this review spot. I'm sorry that I missed being with him in the studio.