Reviews

Having opted to see the entire Leenane Trilogy in one fell swoop, I came away with a number of impressions.  First, three 100 minute plays in seven hours, spoken by some cast in impenetrable ‘Oirish’ accents, may not be the best idea.  Second, it’s a challenge to build and dress three sets on the one day (suggestive designs by Casey-Scott Corless).  Third, there appear to be two Martin McDonaghs.  One displays great if melancholy insight into human behavior and emotion, can makes us laugh even as we wince, and has his audience gripped by that u

Jada Alberts’ first play was inspired by a suicide within her family in Darwin and her fear of so-called suicide contagion. Hence the title of her play: named after kindred shipwrecks nestling together at the bottom of Darwin harbour.

Young fisherman Ruben struggles to deal with the suicide of his cousin; his mother is dead, his father gone AWOL and the aunt who adopted him battles for life in hospital. Ruben’s turned to drink, courts police arrest and mournfully keeps returning to the scene of the suicide.

Do you dare to try a different play? A play that doesn’t have a director? Where the actor is doing a cold reading? Where each night might be subtly or grossly different, depending upon who is part of the theatre, whether actor or audience?

Based on the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson, KADS' production of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Noah Smith, has a sense of its novella origins and an unusual presentation style.

Kate O'Sullivan and Stuart Porter ostensibly play the maid and butler, but they actually narrate, soliloquise, commentate, provide an insight into other characters’ thoughts, play a plethora of minor characters and act as stage crew. Excellent performances from this duo are much of the key to the success of this production.