Reviews

Gaming has had a bad rap of late in the media with concerns of young people spending a large amount of time ‘glued’ to their screens or being in danger of being groomed by unscrupulous players.

The Watsons, The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s latest play is a wonderful night at the theatre. Intentionally not being aware of the plot line, I was carried along with the exuberance and joy of this piece. It is masterfully directed by Matthew Chapman and I was hugely surprised and delighted by the plot twist mid-play.

The end of Act One of Jason Robert Brown's now quite legendary song cycle concludes with the words "you don't know me, but you will"—somewhat rather prophetic int the sense of the young performers from all over the world whose careers have been shaped and changed by performing in this glorious night of deeply challenging and engaging material. I would not be surprised if all of the six performers in this Sydney version of the show (there is a Melbourne version about to open as well) find career success in the next few years.

When Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen 250 years ago it launched a critique of the savage social norms and arrangements which meant women’s security almost entirely depended on their marital status. Bloomshed has taken Austen’s narrative about a family with five daughters and some of her scintillating dialogue as a starting point and cloaked them in a vibrant verbal and physical romp backed up by excellent staging, costumes and sound and lighting design.