Reviews

John Patrick Shanley’s 2004 play is set in 1964 in America, but it could have been set here or in the UK, or anywhere in Europe, because the ‘doubts’ it exposes about child abuse had been whispered about and covered up by families and churches and other institutions long before 1964.

Director Carla Moore suggests that the year is symbolic because it marks the introduction of the American Civil Rights Act and Vatican II’s more relaxed image of the Catholic Church – both symbolic of the fact that the 1960s was a time of political and social change.

Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn is a series of five interconnected one act plays. The plays are all loosely linked to the play before them by characters or location, and also through the shared themes of isolation, obsession and the human need for connection.

For what looks like being The Production Company’s second last show, they have mounted a sumptuous, all-stops-out Ragtime - a cast of thirty (including twelve ensemble), a twenty piece orchestra under Guy Noble, choreography by Dana Jolly, wonderful period (1900s east coast USA) costumes by Isaac Lummus - and a deceptively simple but clever stage design by Christina Smith.  The period and key, iconic locations (Ellis Island, Atlantic City boardwalk and beach, a mansion at New Rochelle) are established by original black and white photographs projected on a huge cyclorama.

Director, writer and performer Abishek Thapar has a tale to tell, and it spans back over 30 years. It is a tale of personal reflection, redemption and self-healing that is told using photographs, video film, slides and deeply personal, carefully paced story telling. This Australian premiere is a unique piece of performance that can only be told by Thapar, for it is his story.

Born in the Indian province of Punjab, Thapar’s story details family history, heritage and loss, starkly framed in times of war and political and religious unrest.