Reviews

Bijou Creative is a theatre group committed to providing good strong roles for women. Directors Charlea Edwards and Karen Kluss brought a bleak and harrowing true life story to Hobart with The Hatpin, in an appropriate theatre space. The Peacock Theatre, with a rock face as the rear wall of the stage, was a suitably stark backdrop against which to tell this sad but brave tale.  

The Hatpin is an Australian musical based on the 1893 Sydney case of baby Horace Murray, and tells the story of his teenage mother, Amber, and the women who helped her.

This is an ambitious play for any company to undertake but director David Burrowes and his creative team have honoured both the mood of Tim Winton’s original story and a script that is almost filmic in its complexity. Tom Bannerman has designed a spare, stark set using almost the full width and most of the depth of the stage, which Benjamin Brockman has highlighted with shadowy, moody lighting.

Roaming Bob Peet’s evocative dungeon setting, or sitting disconsolately in a corner in rags and tatters, breaking into the occasional brawl, the ensemble cast of denizens establishes the downcast tone and 16th century prison atmosphere as the audience enters. This is the world of 1965 Tony Award winning Broadway musical hit Man of La Mancha.

Director Col Peet is thoroughly in tune with the piece, making strong, appropriate choices throughout.

With Gilbert and Sullivan well out of copyright, there have been many adaptations of these popular musicals. The most innovative was the 1981 Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance with Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline, which replaced the orchestra with a band and, without changing any of the story or setting, gave quite a different feel.

It was a hit.

In Australia, Simon Gallaher decided to do his own version with Jon English and introducing Marina Prior as Mabel and a gospel trio to replace the women’s chorus. It enjoyed great success.