The two 45-minute shows can be seen at Curtin’s Hayman Theatre, in building 302 – yes the building has been overhauled and is back in action, asbestos free! – the theatre carpark is approached from Manning Road; turn right at the first roundabout and then after about 1 km, park in the carpark backing onto the Hayman Road bus station, then follow the glowing traffic cones to the venue.
Free Midday Performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday until 13th September, curtain-up at 12.10 pm.
For $10 you can see two plays in the Sunday Night Double Bill on the 15th September at 7.00 pm.
‘Sentimental’ was written by Curtin student Chloe Palliser. It is a comedy about the inner thoughts of a girl in love.
The scene: various coffee bars
The set was designed by Alex Comstock who was aided by assistants Diana Ndombai and Keiran Trembath. On each side of the stage was a café table and a couple of chairs. Central stage is a DJ style tech desk.
The simple costumes were chosen by Jane Tero.
The sound operation was by Miki Patel and the lighting by Dominique Duvall.
The show was stage managed by Jack Blumer and his DSM Sacha Emeljanow.
Mirka (Jade Woodhouse) is seated at a café table studying while she waits for her boyfriend James (Alex Hutchings) to arrive. With pending exams Mirka was apprehensive and various thoughts started going through her mind. We see these feelings humanised and enacted, her fear (Travis Koch), her sadness (Edzelle Abrio), anger (T Mutta Beilby) and her happiness (Tiahna McBride).
Chloe Palliser, the writer was also the director – big mistake. The play has a clever and novel premise, but the idea and dialogue still require a great deal of development. The direction and style of acting was, I suspect, a group effort with each actor doing their own thing. The manic show staggered through with little subtilty and over-the-top acting.
This could become a most enjoyable production. Jade and Tiahna were very good. Chloe keep all of the direction to yourself and YOU must give the cast strong instructions.
Sorry this may sound brutal, but Uni is there to learn not to have friends praise your faults.
‘Prismatic’ is a fresh and fun filled short play for adults from local playwright / actor Tim Lorian.
The scene: we flashback to a typical night in a Perth night club, the Prismatic Karaoke Bar.
The set was designed by Nadiya Shakeer. It was a metre high, two metre square black podium. A lone stand-microphone stood centrally. The lighting designer, Jemima Hill had LED tube lights around the stage that pulsed an appropriate colour for the action.
The sound designer was Jasmine Valentini, who chose some vibrant 80’s music to accompany the performers’ tales. In some theatres the microphone feedback in the bio box can be different to the auditorium. Always check the balance by opening the box window during rehearsals. As the show opened, the atmosphere was buzzing with the lively music; which, after the mood and atmosphere had been set was then turned down to a background level. However, it was not quite low enough and it could be quite hard to hear the dialogue. If you know the script it is easy to pick the words out of the action (I saw the director in the backrow justified in admiring the performance), but for a new audience double check that the dialogue is not drowned out.
The production was stage managed by Elizabeth Offer.
The first Karaoke singer (Anna Harris) after few bars decided that she should expose her ex-friend for the bitch she was. The second performer, Amber Gilmour gave another hilarious performance with a few hard messages thrown in. Chelsea Gibson (straight from her major success ‘The Wolves’ at The Blue Room) was a fabulous mover and with microphone in hand had the more personal approach working the audience.
Director Tim Lorian has selected a top-notch cast, with three incredible actors, who captured the audience by the throat and held on until the last bar of their music. The script was cleverly written with some excellent ‘ad libs’ and funny one-liners.
The show was fantastic fun, well written but including a flow of expletives which with the quality of the comedy and writing seemed to be overlooked (c.f. Mrs Brown’s Boys). The delivery by the cast was impeccable. MOST enjoyable.