Theatregoing Year in Review - 2024 (Part Two - Practitioners)

Part of my evolution as a reviewer is continuing to learn more about all the technical roles that go into making a show work at an optimal level. My background is as a screenwriter so I have a pretty good handle on story and acting, however, at times, it leaves me a little weaker in other aspects. No, I'm not a theatre kid! Which, I believe, actually works in my favour in terms of being an outsider with no direct ties to the theatre world other than going to lots of shows and trying to write honestly about the experience.  

Thank you then to sound designer Michael Fletcher who met with me earlier in the year to give me a better insight into all the factors he needs to consider in making a production sound great. I also appreciate him taking the time to talk me through specific challenges like when he saw me at a tech rehearsal for Carrie.

Speaking of Carrie, thank you to now graduated stage management student Elysia Harris who I sat with to write a story for the Friends of the Academy before watching her call that tech rehearsal (and subsequent performance run) as deputy stage manager. Another insight into the makings of a great show.

I'm now probably going to disappoint you both by naming a lot of actors... but I'm trying to better understand the offstage aspects, I promise!

I also have an apology to make. I sometimes get tied up in faux rules about how to do these end of year write-ups which means I left off someone I shouldn't have last year which has subsequently nagged at me. Belated apologies to Patrick Volpe who had a sensational 2023 playing the title role in Sweeney Todd, Chuck Cranston in Footloose, and my favourite feline miscreant, Macavity, in Cats.  

To this year's theatre practitioners who caught the eye!

Kieran Ridgway (Director) - Evil Dead The Musical (Wanneroo Repertory)

What an auspicious directorial debut with Ridgway presenting an ingeniously over-the-top experience that clearly showed a deep affection for the material. 

Tara Oorjitham (Musical Director) - Young Frankenstein (Darlington Theatre Players)

Silhouetted at the rear of the stage, many patrons still believed it was a music track playing which is how good the orchestra was under Oorjitham's baton.

Solonje Burns (Performer) - Top Girls (GRADS)

A superb performance in a demanding role where Burns was nothing less than full tilt as she kept "running up hills" of the character's imagination and own circumstances. 

Anna Head (Performer) - The Deep Blue Sea (Melville Theatre Company)

"What a performance. Full of layers, complexity, and contradictions. Head plays her at times as bursting with emotion verging on the melodramatic and, at others, as repressing her true feelings whilst putting on a brace face."

Amy Fortnum (Performer/Producer) - She Loves Me (Western Sky Projects) 

Displaying very good comedic chops and a superb singing voice, Fortnum leads the standout show of the year with grace and class whilst impressing at the aftershow Q&A with her producer hat on.

Matthew Jones (Performer) - Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (Koorliny)

If you ever doubted how powerful a tool an actor's voice is then Jones' performance as Mina and Van Helsing would set you straight right quick. His vocal command and variation was exceptional and drove a lot of the comedy here. 

Yvette Drager Wetherilt (Wig Design) - Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors (Koorliny), Young Frankenstein (Darlington) & The Addams Family (Roleystone)

Wetherilt went on a tear with horror themed shows where her wigs were an integral part of the look and tone of those productions including a sequence in Dracula that was inspired lunacy. 

Amberly Cull (Performer) - Same Time Next Week (Presented by Nick Pages-Oliver & Scott McArdle) 

"...special mention goes to Amberly Cull who is extraordinary as Drew, Freya, and the startling puppet incarnation of Lady Morinth. While the others give a good account of themselves in the singing department, Cull is superb vocally."

Alexandria Henderson (Performer) - Nora: A Doll's House (WAAPA)

"Alexandria Henderson excels as a modern woman trapped by circumstances she can't control. Henderson's emotional responses are exquisite especially when Angelo Torres' Daniel imparts shattering news." 

Paige Fallu (Performer) - Hairspray (HAMA Productions) 

The pandemic meant I never saw Fallu whilst she was a student at WAAPA but she sure made an impression as Tracy Turnblad here, singing beautifully and radiating such an enthusiastic stage presence.

Kate Naunton Morgan (Performer) - Emma (ARENA Theatre Productions) & Antigone (GRADS)

Freshly graduated from Curtin University and straight into lead roles as diverse as the two titular characters here. A delight in Emma, it's in Antigone, however, where Morgan soars as the tragedy unfurls and she rises to the heightened emotional state needed. 

Mahali (Performer) - Come From Away (Koorliny) 

Showcasing a powerhouse voice and empathy to burn, Mahali is absolutely riveting to watch. The long foreshadowed reveal, when it comes, is still devastating because you feel the intensity of her emotion.

Tadhg Lawrence (Performer) - Come From Away (Koorliny) 

I'll confess, it took me a good twenty minutes to figure out where I knew Lawrence from - Iago in Othello! I did not know he had such a wonderful singing voice and in a superlative ensemble he makes his presence felt with an assured performance.  

Ben Clarke (Performer) - The Drowsy Chaperone (Stirling Players)

You couldn't ask for a better stage debut. He has the audience in the palm of his hand as Man in Chair and immediately sets the tone for the antics to come. 

Ben Goldsbrough (Performer) - Legally Blonde (WAAPA) & Pinocchio (Zealous Productions)

"Goldsbrough brings real empathy and a genuineness to Emmett that I found charming and quietly compelling." (Legally Blonde)

"Goldsbrough is terrific as the comic foil quickly winning audience empathy with his deliberately bad puns and dubious pizza making skills. It's such an assured performance for his first professional gig." (Pinocchio)

Ellen Ebbs (Performer) - The World Goes Round & Legally Blonde (WAAPA), Pinocchio (Zealous Productions)

From the moment Ebbs strode onto the stage and blew the roof off the Roundhouse Theatre in the Kander & Ebb revue show; to her stellar turn as Paulette in Legally Blonde; and then as Pinocchio in the big Christmas panto, it's been clear that she has an enormously bright future. A major new talent to watch. 

Georgia Unsworth (Performer) - Sydney II: Lost and Found (Theatre 180) 

A good music theatre performer, Unsworth caught me totally by surprise with a fantastic dramatic performance opposite two seasoned actors. Her vocal command, accent work, and portrayal of different ages - including a young boy - was excellent and had me buzzing afterwards. 

Ones to Watch For Next Year:

Iris Warren (Writer/Deviser/Performer) - Femoid (WAAPA)

I was super impressed with the quality of Warren's writing in Femoid and keen to see how the extended version turns out. 

Kimberly Rose (Performer) - Carrie The Musical (WAAPA) 

Rose gives the lynchpin performance as Carrie's mother that makes the whole show work tonally. Scary good in such an intense role. 

Pippin Carroll (Performer) - The Laramie Project (WAAPA)

It's difficult to define that elusive quality some actors have but when Carroll started his first scene I exchanged a look with the person I was with and it was clear we could both feel it. Need to see more next year but it was a tantalising glimpse. 

That's me done for the year. Back to my screenwriter's lair to work on my own projects for a while. 

Have a great festive season all and see you at the theatre in 2025!

Richard Hyde 

   

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors - Koorliny Arts Centre (15 August 2024)

15 August. Kwinana. The journey southwards had proven largely uneventful though the carriage driver had insisted on stuffing my pockets with cloves of garlic and the howling of wolves was occasionally distracting. The castle, while well lit, was not as intimidating as I had expected, certainly not by English standards. There was even a piece of furniture strewn on the grounds. The villagers seemed eager to meet the Count as they thronged inside. There is a sense of anticipation in the air, along with plenty of fog and one or two bats. I do hope the Count is worth it. He seems such a lovely chap in our correspondence to date. I predict a most profitable arrangement though I do worry these endeavours shall drain the life out of me.

So wrote your intrepid reviewer in his *ahem* journal as he headed off to meet the Count. Said reviewer was prompted to remark further:

16 August. South Perth. Returned safely last night but only by the skin of my teeth. The Count is a most charming fellow though he seems to have a curious obsession with necks and a complete disdain for garlic. He also keeps the strangest hours. I must lie down now as I feel curiously lethargic and the early morning sunlight has cause to vex me.

Okay, enough with the allusions to one of the most famous of all gothic horror novels, Bram Stoker's Dracula, on which this comedy is based. We all know the names - Dracula, Van Helsing, Renfield, Jonathan Harker, Lucy (yes, alright, Mina too) Westfeldt... and Kitty.  If I were to keep a journal these are the four observations I would make about the show:

1) The Power Of Laughter. Theatre can be many things - inspiring, thought provoking, educational, provocative. But there's also something to be said for a good, old-fashioned belly laugh. And laugh I did throughout this show as did the rest of the audience. Turn the source material into a British-style farce, add a pantomime Dame or two, ratchet up the absurdity and you have a very funny production. Did it illuminate the human condition? No. Was it silly? Yes. Did it make me laugh. Hell, yes!

2) Dracula is truly immortal. Of all the supernatural tales and beasties, vampires are my favourite and Dracula is the granddaddy of all vampires. There is an enduring fascination with stories about an undead creature that seduces and beguiles. There have been numerous adaptations including Francis Ford Coppola's wonderfully atmospheric movie. Here it's played for laughs but the backbone of the story is so well ingrained in all of us that we know the tropes from wooden stakes to coffins filled with soil to the lack of reflection in mirrors. That knowledge allows the production to zip along without having to overly explain things.

3) The Actor's Voice. What a powerful tool the voice is in any actor's arsenal. To project, to modulate, to startle, to command attention. There will be much talk about the rapid fire costume changes and hilarious wig work but the element that grabbed my attention was the extraordinary vocal performances. There's no dodgy Keanu Reeves accent here! Matthew Jones is at the forefront of this as Mina and Van Helsing. These characters, especially Mina, are dialled up to 11 but his vocal command and variation is exceptional and drove a lot of the comedy. The best transition was a vocal one as Jamie Jewell's Renfield 'falls' out of a window at the rear of the stage and reappears stage left as Dr Wallace Westfeldt with fading screams of terror seamlessly blending into the doctor's first word. Fabulous.

4) Execution. This may be a comedy spoof but the level of execution is extremely high. Once it found its rhythm this clatters along with, literally, dizzying costume changes as four of the cast play multiple characters with Matthew Walford the one constant as Count Dracula. The 'montage sequence' towards the end of the play is a cheeky poke at movie transitions; Tatum Stafford's Lucy attempting to console the cleverly staged wig of her afflicted sister is wonderfully daft as is her bawdy boots n' all scene with a revitalised Jonathan (Nathan Breedt). There's even some excellent puppet work by Breedt as Lucy's former suitors appear and quickly disparage poor Mina. 

Walford makes for a sensual Dracula with a touch of Frank-N-Furter and a dash of rock star swagger. Breedt is the straight man in all the craziness as the milquetoast Harker until he's not in an eye-catching transformation. Stafford imbues Lucy with an earnestness that is tested by the wiles of Dracula but also a fortitude and sense of adventure that her fiancé Jonathan lacks. Jewell is upstanding as Dr Westfeldt and not quite so upright as the manic Renfield. While Jones is simply arresting in drag as the lustful Mina and girl power icon Van Helsing. 

Director Christopher Alvaro embraces the farce with glee and there's a manic energy to the whole production. He's well supported with excellent lighting design by Chloe Palliser which leans into the over-the-top theatricality of the material but there are also a couple of startling character reveals as Jones materialises out of darkness. Alvaro's own sound design effectively gives us all the expected tropes from howling wolves to organ music to creaking doors and windswept ships. Yvette Drager Wetherilt excels yet again with an array of wigs, some of which are nearly characters in their own right. Costume Design by Cherie Alvaro provides the stylised gothic look while Peter "Pear" Carr and Alvaro's simple set design allows the cast plenty of room to cavort and roam. 

I had a lot of fun with this production down at the Koorliny Arts Castl-- um, Centre and there are two more shows remaining on 16 & 17 August.

Photos by Outatime Pictures