Reviews

Running for a sadly very short season at Subiaco Arts Centre, blue joy theatre company’s Better Late Than Never is a beautifully performed story of friendship and loss.

Ructions, disruptions, fissures, insults, prejudices and very funny, bitchy wisecracks erupt and crackle amongst a group of women in a small regional town when one of their number announces they are transitioning.  The ‘Bosom Buddies’ as they call themselves is a disparate group – gay, straight, widowed - held together only by their shared grief for their friend the beautiful Barb, who died two years ago of breast cancer.  But the play’s also set in 2017, the year of the Marriage Equality referendum, so things are a little fraught anyway.

There’s an assumption that relationships were easier before the advent of technology and social media and possibly they were, but the ability to “connect” and to “read” the stability of relationships has never come easily for everyone. Being “dumped” hurt just as much in 1960 as it does in 2026. Estimating the strength of a relationship is often just as hard at 70 as it is at 17 … or unfortunately, sometimes even at 7. As for trust …

The bizarre and highly parodic nature of Gilbert and Sullivan is at its peak in this delightfully amusing and visually stunning production. The bold and colourful set design (Richard Roberts) has an immediate mesmerising effect. This is echoed in the equally beautiful execution of the costume design (Roger Kirk) and is reinforced with a perfectly tuned lighting design (Trudy Dalgleish). This results in an awe-inspiring production design which captivates the audience from beginning to end.