Reviews

Those who saw the first instalment of Golden Girls at Fringe in 2019 and 2020 were surely not going to miss this production, performed with the same cast. Golden Girls was first seen in 2019, winning the Fringe Festival Cabaret award and then played to full houses in 2020. Writer performers Amy Fortnum and Jess Clancy, both WAAPA graduates, workshopped this follow-up production in Sydney before presenting it at Fringe 2021. It was a delight to watch.

Behind the Wheel is a sensitive play that focuses on a young man as his wife is suddenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. An interesting look at the difficulty of relationships and the impact of illness and disability, it is well written and directed with some strong performances.

La Boite’s first production for 2021 is a world premiere of a new Australian work by Mark Rogers. Inspired by his own psychologically and physically draining journey with his partner as their lives changed after the birth of their first child, Naked & Screaming chronicles a year in the life of Emily and Simon – a vaguely hipster-ish couple who have added a new baby to their lifestyle mix. He’s in advertising and she’s in publishing and baby Dylan seems to enter their lives without much forethought.

There’s a smidgen of other stuff in Drummer Queens, which started a year-long Australian tour at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre, but it’s basically eight women bashing away on a variety of surfaces, from two full drum kits to one big bass jungle drum to the merest tinkling triangle. But judging by their reception, the cast will be Queens of all they survey.