Reviews

Cloudstreet, first produced by Black Swan State Theatre Company (with Company B) in 1998, has become a modern classic, especially in Western Australia, and is performed reasonably often in WA, by schools and community groups. But it is rarely performed in its original 3 hour 45 minute form. This rare experience is a co-production between Black Swan and Malthouse Theatre, as part of the Perth Festival, with the show running close to 5 and a half hours with intervals.

There’s an art to improvised theatre, not least of which is the art of listening to your fellow actors to create characters that are interesting and a plot that carries consistent threads through the show to a successful conclusion. Impromptunes, as the name suggests adds a whole other dimension by adding all of the elements of musical theatre.

This World Premiere adaptation of AB Facey’s A Fortunate Life by Jenny Davis and Stuart Halusz by Theatre 180 and Cinemastage Productions is a new concept - immersive live theatre in a cinema, where a high quality live production is played against a filmed background. 

Beautifully adapted by Jenny Davis and Stuart Halusz, this small cast retelling of A Fortunate Life fittingly makes its debut in Midland, the Perth suburb where author Albert Barnett Facey’s story came to an end. 

Clara is delightful.  Elena Mazzon is beguiling as Clara Schmann nee Wieck who lived from 1819 to 1896.  Mazzon spellbinds her audience in an unassuming yet totally centred manner.  She talks to us as Clara, imbuing her story, with an enchanting sense of wit and irony.