It’s been a while

Just a few days shy of his 21^stbirthday, Jordy Shea enjoyed the thrill of a positive audience response to the premiere of his first play, that appropriately taps into many issues affecting young people.

It’s been a while is a one act play about a group of friends who take a holiday on the beach to celebrate the end of school.

The hedonism has authenticity, as the teenagers revel in their new found adult freedom to sample some of life’s elicit pleasures.

There are five on the trip which proves to be an awkward number.

Stephen Bracken as Dean and his friend Tom (Luke Holmes) get lucky with Josie (Kathryn Wenborn) and Maddy (Zara Stanton).

This leaves the sensitive character of Nick (Chris Circosta) on the outer.

A night of heavy drinking leads to tragic consequences.

Years later they get back together but are still haunted by the mystery of that evening.

Aided by tight direction from Lucinda Vitek, set and  sharp lighting by Chrys Chandra the audience was kept on edge.

Whilst not all the actors were experienced enough to portray the full range of emotions in the script it was a promising first outing of the play which could be expanded into two acts.

David Spicer