Memorable Performances 2012-2018

Oh my I've seen some wonderful theatre over the last seven years in Perth. Professional productions, community theatre, independent theatre, student productions, even high school shows.

The level of talent never ceases to amaze me, both onstage and off. Seen everywhere from the cavernous performance space at the Heath Ledger Theatre to various black box theatres dotted throughout the city to hubs like The Blue Room and the ECU campus at Mount Lawley. Then there are the pop up venues come Fringe time and the beautiful, oftentimes heritage listed, community theatres in the suburbs.

Here are some of the most memorable performances I've seen since 2012:

Declan Brown (Bennett) & Luke Binetti (William) - Punk Rock, WAYTCo, 2014

"Declan Brown gives a wonderful performance as the utterly loathsome bully Bennett. He is a physical presence that intimidates all of the others but it’s his use of pointed sarcasm and humour that hits home early before he goes too far with his humiliation of Chadwick."

"Then there is seventeen year old Binetti who gives a spellbinding performance as William... For that transformation and its consequences to be handled so convincingly is a testament to Binetti’s skill."

Brittany Morel (Kate) - All My Sons, WAAPA, 2015

"Brittany Morel is simply superb as Kate. The ferocity of Kate’s conviction that Larry is still alive results in a woman who is barely in control and Morel plays this with great skill... That this seemingly anguished and deluded woman turns into something far more potent in the third act is remarkable and Morel’s transformation is riveting..."

Prudence Daniel (Dot) - Sunday in the Park with George, WAAPA, 2018

Such an assured and confident performance. You simply couldn't take your eyes off Daniel as she handled the emotional and lyrical complexities of Dot with aplomb.  

Suzie Melloy (Anita) - West Side Story, WAAPA, 2014

"Suzie Melloy gives a star making performance as the feisty Anita – she is simply superb and a real charismatic presence."

Kingsley Judd (Pongo) - Animal, Upstart Theatre Company, 2013

"Nothing is wasted or misplaced here. It is beautifully acted by Kingsley Judd... who clearly relish(es) working with such quality material."

David Gardette (Alfie) - A Man of No Importance, Playlovers & Irish Theatre Players 2015

"... anchored by a superb, multi-layered performance by David Gardette in the lead role. His Alfie is at turns conflicted, sweet, passionate, naïve, understanding, unbowed and such a warm presence throughout."

Rhianna McCourt (Irina) - Three Sisters, WAAPA, 2016

"With an expressiveness that belies her age, McCourt lets Irina’s emotion flicker across her face to stunning effect... Shock, horror, loathing, resignation, desperate attempts to convince herself of the possibility of happiness, an abject longing to travel to Moscow, the love for her sisters and fondness for Ivan... are all communicated throughout the play without a word."

Kieran Garvey (Martin O'Meara) - Under Any Old Gum Tree, Dramafest, 2014

"... brilliantly performed by Kieran Garvey... powerful, moving, insightful, occasionally funny and a blistering exploration of the devastation the Great War caused on those who survived No Man’s Land."

Ashley Rousetty (Man in Chair) - The Drowsy Chaperone, WAAPA, 2016

"His tone is conversational and... he demonstrated excellent comic timing and warmth in addressing and responding to the audience. It’s a nicely judged performance as Roussety imbues the character with enthusiasm, passion, some snark sure but also tinged with an underlying sadness or being ‘blue’ as Man in Chair would put it."

Rhoda Lopez (Edith Piaf) - Madame Piaf, KNUTS Theatre, 2013

"Talking to (writer/director) Stephen Lee after the show, he reinforced what was apparent for all to see – sometimes an actor is simply perfect for a role. Rhoda Lopez gives a bravura performance as Edith Piaf."

Amy Russotti (Amy/Dr. Rickshaw) - Dr. Felicity Rickshaw's Celebrity Sex Party - Holland St Productions, 2016

"... but it’s Russotti who is the star here dropping in and out of the titular character with relish. Her lower lip trembles as Rickshaw mentally salivates over the steamy concoctions she conjures. It’s a tour de force comedy performance that never lets up..."

Giuseppe Rotondella (Eddie) - A View from the Bridge, WAAPA, 2016

"Rotondella as Eddie gives one of the finest performances I have seen at WAAPA in the last few years. There are so many layers revealed from the forthright, cocksure man’s man who is confident in his position and status to the slow unravelling of that certainty as Eddie’s pre-eminence is questioned by all around him."

Felicity McKay (Vanda) - Venus in Fur, Black Swan State Theatre Company, 2015

"Felicity McKay is simply outstanding as Vanda. Her accent work is excellent and she slides in and out of various characters with astonishing ease, each one of them utterly distinctive so there is no prospect of confusion. She runs the gamut from playful, sexy, sensuous, commanding, dismissive, brash and refined but always with an underlying air of intrigue about who this person really is."

Cameron Rouse (Blanche) - A Streetcar Named Desire, WAAPA, 2018

"The third year acting students crushed it out of the park led by Cameron Rouse who gave a stunning performance as Blanche DuBois. And I mean stunning."

Clarence Ryan (Jake) - Metalhead, Creative Collaborations, 2015

"Ryan is superb as Jake – all coiled anger and aggression both physically and verbally. It’s an exhausting role and his physicality is outstanding – the fight sequences are well choreographed but it’s the manhandling of Gibson and Hampson that was achingly authentic and had the audience wincing."

Switzerland - Black Swan State Theatre Company (21 August 2017)

An emissary from a New York publishing house (Giuseppe Rotondella) is dispatched to Switzerland to convince reclusive crime novelist Patricia Highsmith (Jenny Davis) of The Talented Mr. Ripley fame to sign a new contract.

A bold move to stage a two-hander at an hour forty five minutes with no intermission in the Heath Ledger. The massive stage space was wisely reduced with a monolithic bunker design that sloped upwards from (audience) left to right which I took to hint at the title's terrain but mainly gave a visual indication of the power dynamics at play. This was consistent early with Davis always 'above' Rotondella as befitted their comparative status (and the distance between them also seemed calculated) but that spacing lost its discipline later in the play with the first 'crossing' of less impact than one might have thought.

The decorated Davis is suitably caustic as Highsmith and newcomer Rotondella is all wayward gestures as the callow intruder into her literal bunker-like mentality. But those default positions for a play that talks about and explores, amongst other things, transformation felt too rigid for too long.

More interesting were moments of contrast - seeing Highsmith unexpectedly enjoy 'show tunes' and especially become immersed in moments of introspection. Likewise, Rotondella comes to the fore in the latter stages when his character takes on a stronger, more confident tone and the power dynamic is altered.

Those transformations needed to be sharper and the timing in only the second preview felt off. That should shake itself out over the run with the back and forth becoming crisper and the shifts more clearly delineated.

There were moments you could see where the play will really hum - the delight Davis gives Highsmith when she deduces Edward Ridgeway's background; the two of them plotting the next Ripley novel; and the interaction in the final act.

As a writer I also enjoyed observations and commentary on the process of writing and the relationship between an author and the world and characters they create.

At this stage the play didn't quite fire on all cylinders for mine but that's what previews are for and once this finds its rhythm and with the talent involved will be a tidy two-hander with an appropriate denouement.

*originally published at facebook.com/perththeatrereviews

The Lighthouse Girl - Black Swan State Theatre Company (4 May 2017)

Playwright Hellie Turner revisits familiar territory after 2015's WAYTCo commissioned production of The Dreaming Hill for the 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Daisy Coyle played a nurse in that production and has since appeared as the lead in another of Turner's plays, last year's explosive Project Xan and now as Fay Howe in The Lighthouse Girl.

She is terrific here in a dual coming of age story - that of the eponymous character and of Australia itself as innocence gives way to the 'baptism of fire' on the shores of Gallipoli and the harsh realities of war writ both large and personal.

Just as in Project Xan, Coyle projects a radiant innocence and decency that is compelling. Clearly, writer and actor have gelled creatively and it will be interesting to see what may come in future endeavours.

Coyle is joined by a crack cast of newcomers and stage veterans. The play itself feels very much a throwback to old-fashioned storytelling with its own guileless charms. We know what awaits the troops steaming off to war and portents of doom are therefore flickering beats instead of heavy-handed assaults.

The characters represent aspects of the Australia of its day. Coyle and Murray Dowsett (as the gammy legged Joe Taylor) are innocence personified, the latter with a good willed Ocker sense of humour but with a touch of wisdom as befits the older pre-war generation.

Giuseppe Rotondella and Will McNeill are the larrikin spirit of the young country; two outback tearaways off to see the world and chase adventure as they sign up for war. Their chemistry is excellent, forged over the last three years together at WAAPA.

Then there's Benj D'Addario as the widowed father of Fay and Alex Malone, the older sister of McNeill's Jim Finch. They serve important functions as the voices of concern and reason (in the former's case from hard won experience) which grounds the other two strands.

The ending is well executed as 'growing pains' turn to inevitable tragedy but mostly this is a gentle and good-natured tale driven by an immensely likable central performance.

Top Ten Theatre Productions in 2016 - Plays

What a stellar year it has been for plays. There were a few shows desperately unlucky not to make the top ten including a couple from WAAPA’s 2nd year acting class which had an excellent 2016.

Another feature is the prominence of one person shows; a couple from Fringe, another at the tail end of The Blue Room’s 2016 season. Black Swan also had a good showing in Kate Cherry’s final year at the helm as did independent company The Last Great Hunt.

There was magic, myth, the deconstruction of male stereotypes, and a brutally authentic exploration of rape culture.

1. A View From The Bridge - WAAPA

“Rotondella as Eddie gives one of the finest performances I have seen at WAAPA in the last few years. There are so many layers revealed from the forthright, cocksure man’s man who is confident in his position and status to the slow unravelling of that certainty as Eddie’s pre-eminence is questioned by all around him.”

2. Project Xan – Jedda Productions

“Powerful, confronting, and deeply moving I was shattered. I apologise to all involved for not staying for the Q&A but it's one of the rare times I had to immediately find space to breathe and think.”

3. 17 Border Crossings – Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental

“… a superb exhibition of storytelling and stagecraft.”

4. Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches – Black Swan State Theatre Company

“Black Swan’s production is a finely acted and stylish piece of theatre that befits the rightly lauded writing. The first half of this preview flew by in a dazzling 90 minutes. The second half gets a little funky as the hallucinations and visitations become bolder until it all ends in a crescendo that has you wishing Part Two was but a dinner break away.”

5. The Caucasian Chalk Circle – Black Swan State Theatre Company with The National Theatre of China

“This sumptuously visual and aurally rich production is the first international collaboration for Black Swan in conjunction with The National Theatre of China. Written by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, directed by Dr Wang Xiaoying, and featuring an Australian ensemble it is a fascinating mixture of storytelling styles and culture.”

6. The Great Ridolphi – The Last Great Hunt

“Beautifully crafted script, cleverly staged, and supremely acted by Steve Turner. This is the local answer to Thaddeus Phillips' 17 Border Crossings. Both are examples of stellar theatrical storytelling and indeed could be companion pieces.”

7. Bambert's Book of Lost Stories – Barking Gecko Theatre Company

“With great skill, imagination, and the power of words you really can create magic under the moonlight.”

8. The Matchmaker - WAAPA

“Every year there is always at least one show that turns out to be an unexpected gem. Make no mistake, The Matchmaker by the 2nd year acting students is one of them. Very funny with so many excellent performances this farce truly sparkled.”

9. Grounded – Red Ryder Productions

Another tour de force one person show this time with Alison van Reeken exploring the murky ethics and personal cost of drone based warfare.

10. Fag/Stag – The Last Great Hunt

“This is well written and performed with the most impressive aspect being the expert execution of changes in mood as the story deepened and headed in unexpected directions.”

Male Performer of the Year - Giuseppe Rotondella

Outstanding in A View From The Bridge with a layered performance that was riveting as he runs the gamut from machismo to gut-wrenching anguish. The slow disintegration of Eddie before our eyes is superbly handled.

Female Performer of the Year - Jo Morris

Gave an excellent performance as Valium addicted, hallucinating housewife Harper in Angels in America. The second half featured the bravura Antarctica sequence which was a sheer joy of performance and technical execution.

Special Mentions:

Steve Turner (The Great Ridolphi & The Caucasian Chalk Circle)

Thaddeus Phillips (17 Border Crossings)

Rhianna McCourt (Three Sisters)

Alex Malone (The Caucasian Chalk Circle)

Will McNeill (A Tale of Two Cities)

Alison van Reeken (Grounded)

Brittany Santariga (A View From The Bridge)

Well, that's me done. Have a great Christmas everyone and while I may not be reviewing anymore I'm sure I'll see you around the traps with Fringe fast approaching.

Richard Hyde

A View From The Bridge - WAAPA (30 April 2016)

Respect. Pride. Honour. What it means to be a man. The man. In the family. In the neighbourhood. In an insulated world where work is scarce and masculinity paramount. Where your name and reputation mean everything. To lose that is to lose everything.

A View From The Bridge follows last year’s WAAPA production of another Arthur Miller play, All My Sons. The depth of insight in Miller’s writing about the male condition is exemplary and in the character of Eddie finds a subject who is undone by his own misconceptions and anxieties about his responsibilities as a man. It is a tragedy of Eddie’s own making which heightens the devastating conclusion.  

  

The setting is a waterfront neighbourhood of early 50s Brooklyn. Longshoreman Eddie (Giuseppe Rotondella) works on the docks and lives in an apartment with his wife Beatrice (Elle Mickel) and beautiful 17 year old niece Catherine (Brittany Santariga). He is overly protective of “Catie” and reluctantly acquiesces to allow her to take a job as a stenographer at a plumbing company.

When two brothers, Marco (Joel Davies) and Rodolpho (Rory O’Keeffe) are taken in by Eddie after being smuggled into the US by ship from an impoverished Italy, fractures begin to appear. Catie falls for the charming Rodolpho which so disturbs Eddie that he seeks the advice of lawyer Alfieri (Lachlan Ruffy). He claims “something ain’t right” about the blonde Italian who sings, helps Catie make a dress, wants to visit Broadway, and shows other ‘effeminate’ traits. Eddie thinks Rodolpho is on the scam so he can stay in the country and become a citizen but deeper, more troubling reasons emerge as to the true source of Eddie’s anxiety.

He begins to persecute Rodolpho which alienates his wife, his niece, and brings him into conflict with Marco. Eddie escalates matters out of his control when Catie is determined to marry Rodolpho. The result of his unthinkable betrayal so incenses Marco that the two men are bound together by the strictures of disputed honour on a destructive trajectory neither can abandon. Like All My Sons, the play slowly simmers and ratchets up the tension until it all explodes in a powerhouse finale.

Rotondella as Eddie gives one of the finest performances I have seen at WAAPA in the last few years. There are so many layers revealed from the forthright, cocksure man’s man who is confident in his position and status to the slow unravelling of that certainty as Eddie’s pre-eminence is questioned by all around him. The sense of discomfort he displays as Eddie tries to vocalise his disgust of Rodolpho to Alfieri – clutching his hat so tightly he almost mangles it as he rotates the brim over and over. The sheer anguish he bellows as Eddie is bent over double at the realisation of what he has done and its horrible ramifications. There is a calculated moment of machismo as he teaches Rodolpho to box, putting the young Italian in his place with sharp authority and a gleam in the eye. This is matched by the dismay Rotondella allows Eddie as Marco silently threatens him with a true display of strength. Then there’s the ending where the actor cuts loose with all the pent up bile and anger of self-loathing, masked in the name of reclaiming respect. From start to finish it is a riveting performance.

It is followed very closely by Santariga as Catherine, playing a 17 year old on the cusp of womanhood. She inhabits Catie with an innocence that belies her beauty as the young girl is unaware of the impact of how she dresses and behaves around the men in the neighbourhood. Santariga exhibits a girlish enthusiasm as she scampers around the apartment keen to please her Uncle and Aunty while pouting at setbacks and pleading for her independence. The immediate infatuation she shows with Rodolpho is nicely portrayed as is the growing strength as the young girl matures into a woman with marriage on the horizon and the need to find her own way. The complex relationship with Eddie is handled with assurance as is the exuberance of first love with Rodolpho.

O’Keeffe plays Rodolpho with a joyous disregard of the judgements swirling around about the character’s sexuality and motives. His suitor is charming and an idealist which is a nice counterpoint to the hardnosed realism of the docks. It’s an engaging portrayal. By comparison the powerfully built Davies is almost a silence presence, his Marco slow to talk and to act but when he does it is with notable brutishness.

Mickel portrays Eddie’s wife as a pragmatist and voice of reason within the household. Her Beatrice effectively stands up to Eddie and gives Catie maternal advice which becomes more insistent as the true nature of the situation dawns on the character. Exhibiting a fine comic sensibility in previous WAAPA productions, it was refreshing to see Mickel tackle a dramatic role which she imbued with moments of humour and humanity. Finally, of the principal cast, Ruffy plays Alfieri who is both lawyer and narrator. He adds style - at one point in top and tails - and a lovely singing voice as he croons Paper Doll which becomes increasingly manic to reflect the shifting dynamics of certain relationships on the stage below him.

The set itself was quite sparse with a small kitchen table and chairs in the middle; a large backdrop with a circular cut-out that was lit with different colours and used for actors to pose in silhouette; and a feature I didn’t like – Eddie’s chair on the edge of the thrust facing away from the audience. This meant for a section of the viewers, key moments were unseen with Rotondella’s back to them. The lighting was also a little hit and miss – the silhouettes were effective but too many times scenes were lit with actors in partial shadow or dimness.

These are minor quibbles as this is a fine dramatic production with excellent performances that builds to a compelling conclusion. Directed by Lawrie Cullen-Tait, A View From The Bridge is on at The Roundhouse Theatre until 5 May.

The War on Food - Fringe World 2016 (16 February 2016)

I have a confession to make. I don’t really know what Kale is. Some speak of it in the hushed tones of a convert; others with the contempt of a disbeliever. It’s not even a word I had heard of until recently. Apparently it’s a mystical foodstuff of some description that seems to attract an awful lot of attention at Fringe World. That includes here where it is one of the catalysts for the funkiest farrago of fresh food frolics seen this side of a spud busting Potato Board protest.

Yes, food fans, the world’s produce is in the grip of a monolithic corporation known only as Coleworths. Farming has been made illegal as has the time-honoured vegie patch in the backyard. You want to squeeze a lemon or gnaw on some precious kale then it’s off to a Big C store. Where the food is fresh, the service fresher, and the prices are jacked up to ridiculous amounts. Something has to give.

Like any good revolution there needs to be a band of intrepid visionaries who dare question the status quo and bring the tyrants to their knees. Either that or some kids in silly wigs tired of drinking the same crappy cab sav from scrawny, overpriced grapes.

Our heroes who audaciously take on the might of the Coleworths super-supermarket chain are Sage (Raj Joseph), Basil (Giuseppe Rotondella) and Rosemary (Morgan Owen) while avoiding the scrutiny of a Big C uber-executive played by Chloe Evangelisti. Sage is recently fired, Basil even more recently promoted as a result, while Rosemary is a farmer who can’t catch a break as the bad guys poison any illegally grown crops.

What follows is a whacky heist style caper of increasingly implausible proportions where our “fresh food fugitives” (try saying that fast three times) turn the tables by breaking into Coleworths stores and poisoning their overpriced, undersized produce. It’s a propaganda battle for hearts and stomachs where the Big C even has its own news channel.  

The show is not particularly subtle in its digs at big corporations, commercialism, duopolies, the media, advertising and possibly the sex appeal of lemons; however, it is presented and acted in an over-the top manner that befits the material.

The use of a quite startling array of wigs helps enhance the sense of mayhem as the four actors play up to absurdity of it all. Evangelisti gets to present several iterations of the over-zealous corporate middle manager with exaggerated accents, abrupt physical movement, and an almost Inspector Clouseau-like air of feigned competence. Rotondella gives his ‘inside man’ a naivety and genuine reluctance at the first sign of resistance whilst also dealing with the most unruly mop of fake hair featured in a Perth production in some time.

Owen plays her salt-of-the-poisoned-earth farmer with plenty of spunk while Joseph provides the passion as nominal leader of this merry band who will not go quietly into the night shift. All of them study at WAAPA and seem to relish inhabiting such outlandish characters and the freedom that writer-director Zoe Hollyoak allows them.

It’s also an interesting if somewhat warm venue with chairs lined up on either side of a long, narrow space with doors for rapid entrances and exits at each end. There was a nice effect replicating lifts with the mandatory cheesy muzak but otherwise this was simply staged with the audience close to the action. Indeed there were moments of brief interaction that added to the surreal nature of proceedings.

It’s all very zany with a slapstick style of humour that makes it a light and tasty Fringe World dish the likes of which The Big C would promote the hell out of.

The War on Food by The Cutting Room Floor is on at Paper Mountain, upstairs at 267 William Street until 20 February.