Reviews

Having performed in a couple of productions, I was looking forward to The Production Company’s take on this old war-horse. It was very well done.

It started with leading lady Fiona running onto stage from the back of the auditorium, and singing, with the chorus, the opening number, which is usually just sung by the chorus. This made the words much easier to follow, which helped set the scene.

Barking Gecko Theatre Company’s presentation of Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories is magical, and so fittingly adapted for the stage by Dan Giovannoni and Luke Kerridge.  The production brings to life the exquisite illustrations of Reinhardt Jung’s book, the characters in the story are validated and the audience can step into a world of fantasy, into a time when storytelling and imagination were fundamental above everything else.

This is a prime example of ‘verbatim theatre’, plays created from interviews with specific people - in this case doctors and nurses talk about their training and practice in Victorian and NSW hospitals. The dialogue is chopped up and divided between four actors, all equally good, and the resultant dish served for just a few days at the Seymour Centre. It’s striking enough to go much further.

Audiences will always approach well-known stories with certain expectations. When attending a production of 1984, one expects bleak tension, oppression and heartbreak (I’d packed the tissues). The dystopian play that’s sprung forth from Orwell’s well-known novel needs to make an audience feel uncomfortable. We need to be reminded of the horrors of authoritarianism and totalitarianism.