REVIEW BY ANNA RYLEY
EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER
This year’s Med Revue, Game of Bones, broke both bones and hearts throughout the endearing chaos of the production – with side effects of uncontrollable laughter and occasional tears!
As requested by the company in the first few seconds of the show, I am honoured to deliver a good review of the Med Revue’s prescribed comedy, served with a side of obscure hilarity and general unseriousness.
For the uninitiated, the Med Revue is devised throughout the year by the company, comprising of short skits that open each act, before a longer form musical. With a clear structure projected at the start to guide us through, audiences enjoyed a series of mesmerising and humorous moments, melding cleverly filmed sketches and live dynamic performances, directed by the ever-capable Mitchell Fryer and assistant directors Ryan Lumpreiks and Farhan Islam.
Despite jokes about entire portions of the production being written by ChatGPT, the Med Revue team clearly have a set of very witty writers on board, devising impressively creative and eclectic sketches that left the audience reacting with much more than a slight nose exhale. While there are many funny moments to touch on, a few favourites include:
– The misbehaving doctors’ PPBN strip tease to Rhianna’s ‘S&M’.
– The Wiggles on Hell’s Kitchen – and it’s not quite so ‘fruit salad, yummy, yummy’
– The ‘You Wouldn’t Steal a Car’ ad, but it’s just a parody of Monash’s 2024 Med Revue
– A cursed school reunion, complete with crushes, altars, burning effigies and – worst of all – Sydneysiders…
The main musical offering, Game of Bones, follows Jack (Farhan Islam) and Jill (Ruby Rose Rodell) as they embark on an adventure, seeking a magic bone elixir to heal their 42-year-old grandmother (Harriet Jones) as she nears an early medieval death. Rodell played Jill with a goofy playfulness against Islam’s amusing deadpan solemnity for Jack that, despite the occasional lost line delivery, nicely complimented the merry band of characters they encountered on their adventures. These included the campy bard on the keytar (Allen Xiao), the goofy knight Sir Render with a crazy top register (Mitchell Fryer), and a personal favourite, the jester (Illiana Schuring). While her jokes may have been intentionally incomprehensible, resulting in farcical laughter from the audience, her cartwheels and acrobatic antics were a treat to behold for all.
A special shout out to Katie Licheni, whose choreography and performance as Gwynevere was stellar. The entire cast was enthusiastic, energised and precise in the dance numbers, most notably in the showstopping ‘(Menstrual) Cup Song’, featuring prop uterus lining streamers and the ultimate performative male dressed in detailed costumes covered in bloodied tampons. Licheni’s feature in this song lifted the entire ensemble and had the whole audience clapping along each time she graced the stage. Assisted by Vincent Wang and Illiana Schuring, the full company dance numbers were far and away the standout moments of the show, and heartily enjoyable.
Another star performer was Vincent Wang who stole hearts – and toilet paper – in the opening skits, as the Severance inspired sketch left his innie dealing with a severe case of lactose induced IBS. His physicality as the cowardly bear was endearing – a truly captivating performance.
Farmer Joe, performed by Oscar Hollands, was another character that felt larger than life. Throughout the production, his command of the space was mesmerising, and his stage presence stole the show – everyone in the audience will be thinking about that chicken coup for a long time!
The ensemble worked well together and embraced the company numbers with enthusiasm and superb comic timing. Key standouts included the drug reps Amelia Grossi and Louise Zhang in their ABBA disco diva rendition of ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’. The musical’s conclusion, with a special performance of ‘Pink Pony Club’ – performed by the ‘Bone Baron’ – was truly unexpected, but very appreciated. James Cooney delivered a campy performance that even Reuben Kaye could only aspire to, triumphantly hitting the splits in their final pose. It was a truly fantastical fitting conclusion to the musical, in all of its bizarre twists and turns.
The music underscoring the entire show was cohesive, strong, and well-rehearsed – a credit to the musical direction of Iam Coyukiat. The sound design and mixing by Mody Yim was well balanced and complimented each arrangement and each instrument’s featured moment. From Michael Jackson’s thrilling ‘Axilla’ (a parody of ‘Thriller’) to a jazzified Mario Kart theme in transition, each band member had their time to shine, with notable solo features from the trumpet (Sasha Saad), bass (Chanon Charnchainarong) and saxophone (Kelvin Ton). With all the music arranged internally, my only critique would be the length of the interludes leading into the musical portion of each act. However, this can easily be forgiven considering it provided a chance to showcase the band’s exceptional ability, and to allowed for the entire cast to quick change! The band’s sconce choreography between items was another unsung hero of the night, and their raffle draw between skits was one of the most beautifully awkward things I have ever seen. I would love to know what they were bribed with to perform such a spectacular dance for each ticket pulled out of the box.
Costumes, coordinated by Serene Kim, were executed to perfection, covering everything from strange hippy trees to the boniest drag queen you ever did meet – even managing to source a green screen suit for a questionable romance between a snake and Batman. The resourceful costume team worked their magic to source both the ridiculous and sublime. The set, designed by Jason Ding, was also terrific. The attention to detail, particularly in musical portion, was commendable. With the bridge and wall flats capturing the musical’s whimsy and establishing the fantasy world, the many hours spent in the workshop were evident and the payoff was worth each one.
Technically, the Revue was clean and efficient. The stage management and backstage teams, coordinated by Chloe Christiansen, were effective in the transitions and, aside from one mad dash across the stage, the entire show’s presentation was very professional. The lighting, designed by Emma Robertson, superbly complimented the action on stage without detracting or becoming too focus grabbing, most notably during the James Bond themed heist section of the musical with roaming spotlights and laser effects.
By mere function of the skit/musical format, the start of each act felt disjointed and lost cohesion, particularly in the transition into the musical’s narrative portion. But aside from this potential for structural revision and the show occasionally feeling very plot heavy, humour prevailed. Considering that this production was put together by med students, it would have been nice to see a few more medical related references. This may have helped with the cohesiveness of the production, to (trauma) bond the production together, as some moments within the musical felt random and out of place. However, a joke was never too far away, and the entire company’s impressive comic physicality carried even some of the more obscure references. Apart from some occasional questionable accent choices, the performers seldom lost energy, which was a remarkable effort.
While the cast may profess that they ‘were never good enough for their parents … so they joined med school’, they should take heart as their comedy chops were definitively good enough. If this is how our future medical professionals are able to tickle audiences’ funny bones, we’re all in incredibly good hands. It becomes a question why no other faculty is doing anything remotely like this when the entire company appears to be having so much fun performing within such a joyous community. If the med students have time, what’s stopping the rest of us?
This production was impressive, entertaining and, at times, so strange you couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness. Filled with jokes referencing everything from Lynx Africa to ‘a succulent Chinese meal’, there was something for everyone. The show felt like a real community effort, evident from the opening conga line all the way through to the final bows, celebrating those who have given so much to the Med Revue over the years, in their final year – a special shout out to Allen Xiao, Vincent Wang, Chloe Christiansen, Jason Zhao, Ian Coyukiat and Harry Surkitt. Everyone in the production should be incredibly proud of their work – flawless execution, definitively raised dopamine levels! All profits made from the production were donated to Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.
Medley’s Med Revue Game of Bones played September 18th – 20th at the Union Theatre.
ANNA RYLEY is a second year Bachelor of Arts student majoring in English and Theatre Studies. When she’s not working on student theatre, you can find her with her camera, or working towards reading 100 books in a year.
CHARLOTTE FRASER (she/her) is a writer, performer and student editor based in Melbourne. She holds a BA in English and Theatre Studies and is currently completing her Masters degree at the University of Melbourne.
The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre.
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