Edna Pontellier and Nora Helmer are two famous literary women, from Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House respectively. Despite their differences, the characters share one crucial similarity: both leave their husbands at a time when to do so was radical and condemned. In adrift in my ocean of sugar tears, written and directed by Adelaide Greig, the original characters are uprooted … Continue reading adrift in my ocean of sugar tears: Learning to Swim

Jess Zanoni’s Tunnel Vision presented a complex realisation of the intricacies of interpersonal crisis, introspection, and living for and around others. Drawing an audience into the tightknit world of its five equally idiosyncratic characters, Tunnel Vision left you feeling like you’d been leafing through the pages of a detailed and revealing journal. The production’s primary strength was its prolonged and in-depth character development. Each character … Continue reading Tunnel Vision: Up Close and Personal

Godspell is a musical about Jesus Christ teaching the word of God to a bunch of enthusiastic youths. But this Jesus? He’s ‘hip’. He’s ‘cool’. You may be able to tell that it’s not my favourite musical. It was an interesting choice for Newman to produce, as what seemed radical and refreshing in 1971 comes across as a bit cheesy today. Nonetheless, director Ryan Bentley worked … Continue reading Godspell: Dated but Energetic

With the usher holding one of my hands and my friend the other, I’m led, blindfolded into a room. With no idea what to expect, all I’m conscious of is that what I’m about to experience will be exactly that, an experience. Upon entering the performance space for The Apocalypse Tapes, you are given a blindfold each, and told you can take it off at … Continue reading The Apocalypse Tapes: Eyes Closed, Mind Open

Actor, director and playwright Adelaide Greig, talks about her upcoming Mudfest play, Adrift in My Ocean of Sugar Tears. Catchy Title! What is the significance of that image, being ‘Adrift in my Ocean of Sugar Tears’ for the play itself? I really struggled to settle on a name. ‘Adrift’ alludes to the hopelessness of Edna and Nora’s situation and sugar tears was inspired by my … Continue reading Talking Sugar Tears with Adelaide Greig

Exploding onto the stage in a flurry of cable knit sweaters, rockabilly dress, and vocal talent, Whitley Annual Residential Theatre Society’s (WARTS) production of Cry-Baby the Musical proved to be a fittingly jubilant and rabblerousing finale to the organised stage presence of Whitley College. Delivering a surplus of laughter, love, and catchy tunes, Cry-Baby both impressed and entertained. From the moment the curtains were drawn, … Continue reading Cry-Baby the Musical: Squeaky Clean

University College’s West Side Story is an ambitious production, taking on a musical that’s not just known for the tragedy of its finale, but also for its difficult dance sequences. While UC’s finished product may not be all that polished, it’s high in energy, and a largely enjoyable spectacle. Albert Elton was one of the show’s highlights as the male lead, Tony. Mixing boyish humour … Continue reading West Side Story: Energetically Tragic

I had forgotten about this play until the morning of. Realising that my schedule was already tightly packed, I was on the verge of asking that someone else take my reviewer’s ticket. But something stopped me; perhaps it was the lake calling. Pardon the cliché. Should I have ignored the ‘call’, I would have made a terrible mistake. Mirror’s Edge is a must see. No, … Continue reading Mirror’s Edge: The Sky’s the Limit

Tech Rehearsal. Two words that will instantly strike fear into the hearts of anyone who’s ever been in, involved with, an observer of, or heard about a theatre show. Their very utterance recalls long-repressed memories of focusing lights, looping sound effects, set pieces and costumes going horribly wrong, and stage managers on the precipice of aneurysms. It’s the stage in a show’s production that is … Continue reading 10 Out of 12: Carefully Constructed Chaos