West of the Moon

West of the Moon
Written and directed by Clare Testoni. Fringe World. The Blue Room Theatre, Northbridge WA. Jan 21 - Feb 4, 2017

West of the Moon is a fairy-tale for older children - a picture book treat, with a strong female heroine and a lovely message of self-belief and independence.

Writer/director Clare Testoni says “I wanted to make West of the Moon for the girl I was at 11 or 12, a girl that loved adventure, and was passionate about doing the right thing.” Testoni understands her audience. The jokes are more sophisticated than those in most children’s theatre and they land well. Nice to see theatre for a niche age group that is often ignored - featuring female characters who are brave and strong and a male hero who though tough, has a soft side.

Staged by back-lighting screens, which added to the picture book feel, there is effective use of both puppetry and shadow work. Lovely performances from all of the cast. Claire Testoni is believable as the 17 year old central character Boots, beautifully matched with Sean Gustavino playing The Wizard, Bear King and handsome stable boy Bjorn. Claire Thomas is a petite ferocious Ash - who trains Boots to be the Champion of the Bear King, joining Rachel Woodward - who plays the East Wind, in one of the more visually stunning moments of the show.

Many of the characters are played mostly as shadow images - and when played by the same actors, sometimes look a bit too similar to other characters, which is distracting - despite good vocal work. At other times the doublings are significant - and other times not, and it might have been nice to see a difference. At times the backlighting hits the audience smack in the face - which can be a little daunting.

A powerful storyline, with a heroine who is flawed but likeable and determined - I could see this show having a future touring schools. A nicely performed production that had its young audience buzzing.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Tanya Voltchanslkaya

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