Reviews

The set for this premiere play is like a blank canvas: a white floor and wall made up of equal-sized boxes on which something can be drawn. In this case, it’s a rollicking comic-book animation, which drives a thrilling work that touches at the heart of black and white relations in modern Australia.

Bully Virus is a hard-edged verbatim theatre show about bullying in the workplace.  It is written and directed by Kate Herbert, who has researched at length several cases on the almost epidemic state of the Bully Virus in Australia.

Three performers, Jenny Lovell, Carole Patullo and Geoff Wallis, dressed in white-collar attire read from clipboards titled victims and clinically reflect on these cases as in a courtroom. The absent bullies are put on trial and we as the audience members are the unofficial jury.

In this dance-based work, three performers create images of past and present, of strife and healing, of separation and intimate attachment, of flight and the earth, and, recurring throughout, the central thread and motif, that of unravelling and weaving.  These three women are strong, womanly dancers, their bodies emphasised by Peta Strachan’s white costumes, their movements emphatic and sharp, yet graceful, evoking a stream of emotions in their audience. 

Roleystone Theatre’s Annie was lucky to reach the stage. A fraught rehearsal period left the show rehearsing in half a dozen different venues, waiting for their home theatre to be repaired. When it was discovered that the theatre could not be used, there was a last minute scramble to find a venue. They are currently playing an (interrupted) run at Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre. Despite their fraught labour, Annie is a great little show, with excellent production values and some impressive performances.