Rainbow Man

As the curtain rises we find Bibsby (James Cerche), former thespian, in a run-down cemetery tending to the graves, and caring for two beings.  Garm (Cait Spiker) and Derb (Ben Walter) are siblings, literally stuck half way between this world and the grave, and demand attention from the depressed Bibsby, who would rather they just go back to sleep. They argue and rant, and rant and argue. The unsettling presence of a ghostly mother figure (Alex Aldrich) circles the stage and eventually joins the action with a grounding solemnity and an impressive show of puppetry.

A live musical score underpinned much of the performance, with composer/performer Owen James close to the action on the side of stage – close enough to become part of the action at times. 

Rainbow Man brings together a wealth of young theatrical design talent which is clearly on show in this production. Attention to detail is evident from the artwork on the show cloth to the detailed props and costumes. 

Set design by Dann Barber was clever, and beautifully executed, including a fully open empty grave. The steeply raked set allowed all the audience to see details and actors that would not have worked on a flat floor.   

Christie Milton’s costume design is detailed and beautifully made and complimented the set design. The lighting design by Caitlyn Staples was suitably moody and the use of angles and colour added to the visual feast.

The promise of the visual feast however was not backed up by the performance. Unfortunately the dialogue of this beautiful looking show was largely inaccessible due to the rapid and accented speech and wildly varying volume. Add overlapping dialogue, and at times a battle with the musical score, and this performance became very frustrating to watch, and impossible to follow.  I hope that these issues were caused by the adrenaline of opening night and that it settles so more of the audience can access the performance.

Shirley Jensen

Photographer: Sarah Walker