Reviews

The annual Midsumma Festival never ceases to amaze audiences with a smorgasbord of colourful shows. And this new show written and performed by Dax Carnay and direction by Beng Oh is no exception; a zesty animated fractured romantic comedy about life as an immigrant trans person of colour.

Everybody has a secret.  What better way to generate tension? In Rory Godbold’s skilfully structured play, set in a ‘gospel based’ Christian school, that tension is heightened when the secrets are not all that secret.  It’s just that harmony must be maintained, and the status quo unruffled via pretence and, well, hypocrisy.  It’s easier – especially with the new Religious Discrimination provisions in regard to schools…

The biggest thrill of Darkness is walking in.  Newtown’s glorious old School of Arts has been transformed by candles and piles of bric-a-brac into a period foyer bar, while the reading room upstairs is now a gothic villa of dreams, with black and white marble rostra, the room surrounded by spooky wrought iron windows.

An exuberant introduction explains the luck of dragons and the use of the Chinese Museum, “The Luckiest Place in Melbourne”, to stage the Cabaret. Then, an exceptionally talented and diverse group of performers gather the audience’s hearts and minds and alternatively challenge and beguile them with an exploration of the notion of the House of the Heart. Heartbreaking stories of loss and resilient achievement are presented to remind the audience that we all need a home, a sense of belonging and a community.