That Guy in the Foyer

18/03/2026

Orpheus
Words by Alexander Wright, and Music by Phil Grainger,
The Mortlock Library at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the State Library
Thu, 19 Feb - Sun, 22 March
★★★★★
Review by That Guy in The Foyer, John Doherty

A retelling of the ancient Greek myth, told by one Storyteller and one Musician.

It’s been performed in cafes, shops, gardens, homes, boats, tents, lanes, fields, caves, and a very occasional theatre.
Over 500 performances across four continents since its creation in 2016.
While That Guy in the Foyer has not been as active as is customary this Fringe, he has been privileged to attend some of the best shows on offer! However, those closest have hinted that my reviews could be more succinct. “Whose got the time to read an essay?!?!”So…
Wright and Grainger’s “Orpheus,” which won Best Theatre (Adelaide Fringe) in 2023, is quite simply a masterpiece.
The duo’s unique style of gig theatre brings us their most recent iteration of “Orpheus.”
Myth, woven into contemporary lore here, survives being replayed, retuned, interrogated, and reshaped
Drawing on the pantheon of Ancient Greek deities, who, across their shows, often frequent a local caf from whence they magically and brilliantly interact with contemporary mortals, this extraordinary duo from Yorkshire in the UK have crafted a highly engaging, visceral story. I was utterly spellbound.
This magnificent iteration of the tragic tale of Orpheus & Eurydice, from Orpheus’ point of view staged in the grand Mortlock Library marks a significant development in both the work, which I was first privileged to attend in the intimate, rustic Barbara Hardy Gardens at Holden Street Theatres in 2019, and the style of presentation. I should mention here their production of “Eurydice,” also staged in this extraordinary venue, sees the other side of the story.
Last year, the iteration I attended at The Treasury 1860 saw runway staging free the movement of these energetic performers significantly.
Orpheus is never static. The danger comes the moment he pauses and…but that, to the uninformed, is a spoiler!
This staging in the Mortlock Library augments the runway configuration with lighting that supports Wright and Grainger’s wonderful delivery, delivery that flows with great ease between chatty and commanding.
Further, the duo is supported by a superb live string quartet who also serve as vocal chorus.
These additions to an already lyrically compelling text propel “Orpheus” to new heights!
We meet Dave, a man who, like so many of us, has lost the wonder and colour of childhood, out with some over exuberant mates for his thirtieth. He meets Eurydice in a bar, and the story takes off on its joyous path- until Eurydice meets a Fate that takes her to Hades.
The gods have a habit of dropping in unannounced. Wright & Grainger simply let them order coffee first. And the story takes another wonderfully engaging turn.
Alex Wright is electric as the main storyteller, his dynamic rapid-fire delivery to match Grainger’s sometimes driving guitar exquisitely balanced by measured sensitivity and powerfully held moments of stillness and silence. Phil Grainger’s singing is simply sublime, his virtuosity as a bard unquestionable, his stage presence incredibly engaging.
In this, Grainger really is a bard in the old sense: one who understands that the song isn’t about being heard, it’s about what happens after the last note.
By the time Wright & Grainger’s “Orpheus,” reaches it’s inevitable yet refreshingly surprising conclusion the room is loaded up with a rich cocktail of heartbreak, humour and reverence, a deeply communal and cathartic experience. While it’s a story so old it could be devoid of relevance, this “Orpheus” explodes into a life that is compelling and immediate. If Fringe is about finding something that stays with you longer than expected, then this is one of those evenings you measure the rest of the festival against.
Word around is we won’t be seeing Wright & Grainger for a few years of Fringe, so needless to say, Go! See It!

13/03/2026

The Perfect Life: Book Music & Lyrics by Amity Dry
Produced by: Popjam Productions
Director: Jo Casson
Musical Director: Martin Cheney
The Arts Theatre, 53 Angas St, Adelaide
12–21 March 2026
★★★★★
Review by That Guy in The Foyer, John Doherty

There are moments in the theatre when you know, know that what you are watching matters. Not because it is flashy or provocative, but because it is resolutely true. Within the first five minutes of this show I felt that unmistakable certainty. This is one of those rare shows where laughter, recognition, discomfort and compassion sit side by side, and none of them feel forced.
Amity Dry, singer songwriter, musical theatre writer, has created something deeply humane here. She has also assembled a cast that is musical theatre dynamite. Their collective pedigree includes Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Hamilton, Six and Urinetown. There is not a weak vocal moment. Harmonies are rich and assured, solos are delivered with interpretive intelligence, and the emotional shading throughout is the kind that only comes from performers who understand that singing is not about volume or virtuosity, but about meaning.
What struck me most powerfully is that this is a musical about ordinary women, and that is precisely where its brilliance lies. It’s not woke. It’s not driven by a gender identity driven agenda. It is not an academic middle class didactic feminist treatise telling working class women how they should be. There’s little swearing. There are no t**s and ass. There is fearless, if occasionally a little cliché, honesty. There is celebration of ordinary women that is deeply feminist in its spirit. Life, this show reminds us, is often messy, sometimes unfair, occasionally s**t, but still worth turning up for.
There is a great deal of lived experience in Dry’s writing, and it shows. At times the book edges close to sentimentality but pulls back before slipping too far. Dry’s wit and understanding that clichés exist because they hold truth is evident. And it’s a musical, after all.
At the heart of the piece are four women whose lives intersect through a long-standing ritual of fortnightly Friday drinks. Time poor, emotionally stretched, and subject to life’s many curveballs, some thrown by circumstance, others by decades old choices or momentary lapses of judgement, they keep showing up for one another. That, too, is a quietly radical act.
Dry plays Lily with moving sincerity. A devoted wife to Patrick, who is, I think, an accountant, Lily is a proud café owner and unacknowledged community catalyst, and a mother of nineteen-year-old twin boys recently embarked on the adventure of a gap year, and she is left, suddenly an empty nester. Lily is lonely, disoriented, and quietly grieving the woman she once was. Dry’s performance is moving and personal. Lily is brave enough to acknowledge that sometimes endurance looks like resignation.
Jess, played by Chloe Zuel with panache, warmth and emotional nuance, is the free spirit returned home after six years abroad, with stories of her Latin lover, Lorenzo. But she returns for a far more sobering reason, to care for her mother, who has cancer. Zuel balances sass with vulnerability superbly, charting Jess’s journey from free spirited traveler to unexpected bridezilla with humor and heart.
Kerrie Anne Greenland’s extraordinary portrayal of Kate shows great attention to character arc, delivering what are arguably the most dramatically poignant moments of the evening. Fiercely independent, ambitious and self-sufficient, Kate is a solicitor whose carefully constructed life is derailed by a one-night stand with a man who was, quite simply, a dick, pun very much intended. Greenland portrays the progression from the initial crack in Kate’s armor to its complete breakdown so completely that it is deeply moving.
Then there’s Bec, played by Dee Farnell with a masterful balance of comic timing and gravitas. Bec is a mother besieged by three children, a loyal friend, Jess’s cousin, a weary yet committed partner to Matt, and a woman who uses sarcasm as both shield and sword. Farnell’s delivery is razor sharp, but she never lets humor blunt the truth.
The fractures that emerge between these women feel honest. Their different lifestyles, values and stages of life create tension, but ultimately sisterhood prevails. The triumph here is not neat resolution, but resilience.
Bec Francis’ set and prop design functions almost as a fifth character. Static, it is transformed through inventive and evocative use of projections within window spaces, creating a strong sense of time passing and lives unfolding. It is elegant, economical, and beautiful. Jo Casson’s direction holds the entire piece together with clarity and grace, shaping character arcs, visual cohesion and narrative flow. Nothing feels rushed or lingers too long.
Musically, Matthew Brind’s arrangements, augmented by Marco Callisto, give the tight, responsive band led by Martin Cheney a score that is rich, textured and emotionally moving. Dry’s musical sensibility shines throughout. The songs serve the story, and the result is a clever, artful and moving. Of the twenty- two song set list, I was particularly taken by the ensemble renditions of “Another Day” to open the show and “Bridezilla” but Lily’s “How Did We Get here?”, Kate’s pleading “Go To Sleep,” and Bec and Jess’s “Come to Bed,” blew me away!
This show made me laugh. It made me weep, with sadness and joy. It made me think of my late grandmother and mother, my partner, my female friends and colleagues, my niece, and the young woman at the checkout at my local Foodland. Exceptional women. Ordinary women. As if those terms are somehow opposed.
This is a triumph for Australian musical theatre. It deserves a life beyond Fringe. It should tour. I will be nominating this work for Adelaide Critics Circle and Fringe Awards. The Perfect Life should be seen widely, nationally and internationally.
There are only nine performances left, and they will sell out.
Go. See it.

12/03/2026

The Mirror
Directed by Darcy Grant with associate direction by Jascha Boyce
Gravity & Other Myths
Gluttony, Rymill Park, The Octagon
Feb 20-22, 25-28, March 1, 4-8, 11-15, 18-22@6:15PM
★★★★★
Review by That Guy in The Foyer, John Doherty

I once loved evenings at the Adelaide Fringe when you stepped into a tent already humming with possibility, an energy that makes an audience sit a with anticipation before anything has begun. The larger venue around it, devoid of sideshows, with maybe a few food trucks and a bar or two, was not a carnival but lent atmos. There was a vibe beyond food and booze and people gawking, or looking for a show ride. It’s been a long time. The miasma of mainstream comedy, once classy and innovative, now tacky burlesque, and tribute shows, made me doubt I’d ever experience this again: The Mirror has restored my faith!
The lights dim. A black curtain slides across the cyclorama. Neon frames. Blood reds. Real atmosphere.
A tower of bodies becomes a single bemused soul. A neat formation dissolves into a tangle of limbs and laughter. Simple theatrical devices, executed with finesse, deployed with cheek and precision, tell us everything we need to know about the evening ahead; it’s going to be a fun adventure!
Welcome to Gravity & Other Myths’ “The Mirror!”.
I’ve been a member of the Adelaide audience watching this company grow for well over a decade now from the electrifying immediacy of “A Simple Space” to the theatrical ambition of works like “Out of Chaos” and “The Pulse.” With “The Mirror,” GOM takes another great leap forward, blending contemporary circus, live music and theatrical storytelling into something that feels both spectacular and strangely personal; it’s like the pre- commercially tainted days of Cirque du Soliel when it had artistic integrity! That’s a long time ago!
Directed by Darcy Grant with associate direction by Jascha Boyce, the production explores a world of image and identity. Mirrors, cameras and screens hover around the stage like silent witnesses, quietly suggesting the strange performance culture of modern life.
And here it’s explored and translated through the lens of contemporary circus; and what a circus!
The remarkable acrobats Ash Youren, Em Gare, Hamish McCourty, Georgia Webb, Issy Estrella , Lewis Rankin, David Trappes, and Leann Gingras move with a level of trust only a well drilled ensemble can. Bodies stacked, launched, caught, twisted and balanced, defy both anatomy and gravity.
GOM reminds us what we are watching is not magic. It’s people!
Threaded through the acrobatic chaos is the musical magic of the show composed by composer/ performer Ekrem Eli Phoenix, and performed exquisitely by MC and vocalist Megan Drury.
Amid the acrobatic chaos, Drury effortlessly vocally toys around the recorded score.
Serving as a muse of sorts, Drury guides us through the evening with warmth and wit, her voice cutting through the spectacle to ground the acrobatics with something unmistakably personable and engaging. In this, Drury’s style when working with internationally acclaimed Wright & Grainger is similar. Drury is the consummate storyteller, brilliantly engaging!
The music itself plays deliciously with familiarity. Britney Spears’ “Toxic” appears not as a club anthem but as a slow, seductive pulse beneath a precarious balancing sequence. Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” was rendered as I have never heard it, somehow piercingly plaintive while conveying warmth and optimism.
The production is sleek and deceptively restrained. Matt Adey’s lighting design transforms the stage into a ever changing reflections and shadows. LED panels and live camera feeds occasionally project performers’ faces mid‑acrobatics, their sweat, concentration and the occasional mischievous grin filling the screens.
In a culture obsessed with curated identity, the question quietly emerges:
What do we actually see when we look at ourselves?
GOM never sits on this question too long; it’s simply dangled in front of us like the sometimes skimpily clad performers!
Human constructions and dissolve into kinetic frenzy before we can linger on a thought too long and bodies climb over one another like waves forming and reforming a living architecture only to vanish.
Drury looks mildly confused, as if wondering where everyone went. The cast returns triumphantly to demonstrate their prowess as individual acrobats and bow to a standing ovation.
This is what Fringe is about! Challenging, edgy, cheeky, sexy, thought provoking and unique!
Walking out into the mild for this time of year Adelaide evening afterwards, That Guy in the Foyer noticed something interesting.
Nobody was talking about tricks. They were talking about people.
I suspect this is exactly what Gravity & Other Myths hoped we might see when we looked in The Mirror. And this, dear reader, is what a Fringe show is!
Go! See it!

11/03/2026

Selene
Written and created by Alexander Wright & Phil Clive Grainger
Made with and told by Megan Drury
A Wright & Grainger and Theatre@41 Co-Production with Joanne Hartstone Presents
The Yurt at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum
Thurs, 19 Feb - Sat, 21 Mar
★★★★★
Review by That Guy in The Foyer, John Doherty

The now established tradition of Wright and Grainger producing challenging, yet beautifully crafted iterations of gig theatre inspired by Ancient Greek mythology sees “Selene,” a work beautifully crafted work by the duo in collaboration with Megan Drury. This wonderfully rich storytelling continues to blend myth with deeply human experience. With the phenomenal success of “Eurydice,” “Orpheus,” “The Gods! The Gods! The Gods!” and “Helios” previous explorations intertwining Ancient Greek mythology with contemporary life setting a high bar, “Selene” does not fail to deliver.
The original mythology sees Pandia, abbreviated, irritating for she who is named so, to Panda, as the personification of the full moon. Born of Zeus and the moon goddess Selene. Pandia translates to "all brightness" or "all-divine," representing light, beauty, and youth. She is associated with the Athenian festival of the same name. And herein lies the genius of the text. While the mythology presents Selene drawing the moon across the sky using a silver chariot, Wright & Grainger present Selene as a truck driver , frequently away from her daughter at night. When the show opens, Panda is 16 and the embodiment of potential marred by deep anger and resentment about the loss of her father many years earlier in an accident. The original myth sees Selene deeply in love with the mortal, Endymion. Our Selene remains in love with her deceased beau. Where Zeus grants Selene’s wish that Endymion be granted immortality, Zeus places him into an eternal, ageless sleep, an ageless sleep in Wright & Grainger’s iteration indicated by a proliferation of photographs of Panda’s father around the little North Yorkshire cottage close to the Kilburn White Horse hillside carving.
Megan Drury’s storytelling sees her embody the of journey from teen to young woman within the orbit of her mother, Selene in a performance at once electric , warm and tender. Drury draws us in draws us into a world where the mythical becomes intimately personal.
We journey through Megan’s transitions between her angry confused teen years, her night club-based explorative late teens and early twenties and, finally, to a point in her mid -twenties where she comes to recognize her inherent value. It’s gorgeously evocative crisp writing, every image placed with care, every moment delivered with sincerity. The final moments of this extraordinary narrative brought many audience members’ eyes to shine with tears of joy, a joy, I think, of recognition in themselves.
Grainger’s music provides an unobtrusive yet ever present foundation beneath the narrative, enhancing mood and emotion without ever overwhelming the story. Together Drury’s superbly delivered narrative and Grainger’s soundtrack create an atmosphere that feels gently timeless, illuminated by simple and effective lighting further enriching this extraordinarily vivid delivery.
Selene explores longing, resilience, identity, self -acceptance and the illumination one experiences with that. It feels both ancient and immediate, familiar and freshly imagined. Drury moves effortlessly between mythic scale and human fragility, guiding the audience with precision and compassion. The intimacy of the space amplifies every shift in energy and emotion, making the experience profoundly engaging.
Selene is storytelling at its most affecting. Wright & Grainger once again demonstrate their remarkable ability to transform myth into something achingly real. A radiant and memorable work.
Go see it.

04/03/2026

Virgins & Cowboys by Morgan Rose
Directed by Anthony Nicola
Presented by Flinders University Graduating Students
The Arch- Holden Street Theatres
March 03 -March 08
★★★★
Review by That Guy in The Foyer, John Doherty

As the promo states, “Welcome to the digital rodeo- where desire’s a glitch, purity’s a currency, and everyone’s one bad DM away from an existential crisis.” American born Melbourne playwright, Morgan Rose gifts us a text at once surreal, sexy‑sad, cyber‑savvy and darkly humorous that throws five lost souls into the hellish world of online connection. It’s entirely reflective of a generation who grew up promised the world by the internet only to discover it comes with a heavy cost, lends itself to dopamine addiction and is often a massive let down.
Rose’s writing is darkly funny, observant, and unexpectedly drops emotional gut punches into the mix. The graduating actors of Flinders University Drama Centre, South Australia's well revived actor‑training institution under the deft hand of Renato Mussolino, bring Rose’s caustic commentary to vivid, anxiety‑inducing life. If the standard of performance here is any indication, Australia should brace for an influx of talented young performers.
Ostensibly a recently canned sitcom, “Virgins and Cowboys” which premiered in 2015 at Melbourne’s Theater Works, rapidly descends into a cocktail of present, past online and material realities and constructs. Sam, a twenty-three-year-old dude stuck in a dead‑end job, meets two women online, both virgins. He embarks on a bizarre self‑assigned mission to “be the one who will be remembered.” Rose uses this uncomfortably hilarious setup to interrogate a demographic spat out the other end of the information age, people in a futile, relentless, painfully human pursuit of happiness. The fact that a ten-year-old play remains so relevant is testimony to the work.
Director Anthony Nicola wrangles chaos into a dynamic, engaging exploration of such empty pursuit. Employing six looming screens, pumping music, and a simple set Nicola layers meaning upon meaning, tension upon tension. “Virgins & Cowboys” is a poignant, frightening mosaic of digital voyeurism, share‑house vibe, and the surreal limbo between online seduction and actual human interaction.
Tom Spiby’s sound design is magnificently edgy and evocative, sometimes disturbing, always precisely pitched. Monica Patteson’s lighting moves deftly between the looseness of a share house living room to the virtual chat rooms lit like liminal dreamscapes, and an eerie half‑world where digital longing meets real‑world loneliness.
But a show like this is about ensemble, and this ensemble works well.
Emma Gregory’s Sam, a young man so committed to his misguided crusade to “deflower a virgin” that he teeters disturbingly close to incel territory, is worryingly accurate. I sincerely hope Gregory has never encountered such a man outside the rehearsal room.
Jaxon O’Neill’s Dale, the pragmatist of the house, is a beautifully constructed performance. His arc rising above Sam only to fall prey to his own romantic entanglement is handled with deep attention to character and dry, affable wit.
Star Thomas, as Steph, is a force. Physical, precise, and playing her scenes with a power that suggests her character could delete a man from her phone and her life without second thought.
Tom Horridge gives Keiran the kind of goofy warmth that evokes Joey from Friends, but with added existential fitness‑bro energy. He’s ridiculous and endearing in equal measure.
And then there’s Anna Symonds as Lane. In full disclosure, as a teacher I observed Symond’s development as an actor over time. Symonds’ work is measured, layered, unpredictable and she easily snaps from comedic lightness to raw emotional truth in an instant. As Lane, a febrile nineteen‑year‑old virgin navigating a world she’s utterly unprepared for, Symonds gives a performance that is as funny as it is desperately sad.
Nicola’s directorial notes remind us that Rose’s text rejects the idea that desire can be neatly packaged, or that gender exists as a stable binary with predictable behaviour. The production embodies an unapologetic, current, dangerous “screw you” to the patriarchy wrapped in neon, humor, and heartbreak.
Adelaide Fringe seasons are often dominated by solo or two‑hander pieces, often brilliant, but there is something refreshing about watching an ensemble tackle the zeitgeist with such boldness, humour, and theatrical grit.
It’s a short season.
Go. See it.

08/01/2026

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12/07/2025

Kimberly Akimbo.
Book & Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Mitchell Butel.
Presented by State Theatre Company South Australia &
Melbourne Theatre Company
Her Majesty’s Theatre
July 8th – 19th
Reviewed by That Guy in the Foyer, John Doherty
In describing David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Kimberly Akimbo,” Director Mitchell Butel sums it up perfectly: “I have no words to match its zanily and movingly idiosyncratic brand of invention...emotional richness and gobsmacking comedy.” I concur wholeheartedly! Butel goes on to describe working on the show as “an unbearably happy experience.” Boy, oh boy, does it show! The cast of this indescribably good show bring such effervescence and joy to their performance, it’s impossible not to get caught up in every moment!
We find ourselves in 1999 New Jersey with, Kimberly Levaco (Marina Prior) aged 15 going on 16, going on 60 who lives with an unnamed 1in 4 million genetic condition described in program notes as “similar to pogeria,” a condition that significantly accelerates the ageing process. Lindsay Abaires variously sensitive, poignantly sad and incredibly witty text leverages this condition to great effect- the audiences one-hundred-and-twenty-minute emotional rollercoaster ride is skilfully guided.
Kimberly’s new friend, a persistent nerdy, sweet boy, Seth Weetis (Darcy Wain) has his own challenges, one being that he is a diligent, kind, “good boy” amidst the hurly burly of adolescent issues swirling around at school.
Despite being from families whose dreams and aspirations have foundered, Kimberly and Seth live determined to find adventure in every day. Of course, this is particularly pressing for Kimberly who has “been through menopause four years ago!”
The ice- skating rink where Seth works, the street school lockers, the library, the Levaco home and its basement, masterly rendered in the remarkable aesthetic of the incredibly versatile set design by Jonathon Oxlade, provide a dynamic backdrop for this extraordinary narrative. Brilliantly lit by Matt Scott, the set has a life of its own but never at the expense of the production. Too many superlatives already? I haven’t started on the performances yet!
Marina Prior is sublime as Kimberly, her rendition of the big hearted, courageous fifteen-year-old girl who looks like an old lady touching, warm and deeply affecting. Prior captures the nuances of movement, expression and teen infatuation as if she is fifteen!
Recently graduated from the Music Theatre course at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, (ECMT) playing his professional debut opposite such Australian theatre royalty, Darcy Wain is simply wonderful as Seth. Prior and Wain share too many funny or moving moments to list here but she and he share the stage as if two immensely talented veterans.
The well -known Christie Whelan Browne brings brilliance, depth and nuance to Kimberly’s pregnant mum, Pattie, a character that could easily succumb to stereotype, while stalwart Adelaide actor Nathan O’Keefe as Buddy Levaco matches her perfectly- and can he sing? My word, yes!!!
Casey Donovan as Debra, Kimberly’s mischievous, racketeering, inappropriately suggestive, immoral yet immensely likeable aunt is magnificent. The dark side of the family, Debra is presented by Donovan as a woman with many layers and a story that is at the heart of the dysfunctional Levaco family dynamic.
The kids who eventually become Kimberlys school friends Martin (Marty Alix), Aaron (Jacob Rozario) Delia (Alycia Angeles) and Teresa (Alana Iannace) – the latter also recent graduates of ECMT- are one of the tightest, most energetic and enchanting chorus ensembles I’ve ever seen!
Amy Campbell’s Choreography is breathtakingly good and in great synergy with Jeanine Tesori’s brilliant score. And plaudits must go to Kym Purling for his tight leadership of the unseen band and Ailsa Paterson for evocative ‘90s costuming- what a style that was!
Highlights? Too many to mention, but I was particularly taken by Act One’s closing number and the biology presentation sequence.
“Kimberly Akimbo’s” deeper message that we are all, from the moment of birth, on borrowed time, while always present is neither labored nor overstated. Rather, Kimberly’s approach to life simply exhorts us all to bring “as much life and joy and love for others and ourselves as we can!”
Go! See it!!! It’s the “must see!” of 2025!
Postscript:
The Music Theatre course at the Elder Conservatory of Music is certainly doing something right! Keep doing it!

10/07/2025

Mary’s 18th – a play about a party.
Written and directed by Jesse Chugg.
Presented by Flinders University Performing Arts Society
At Holden Street Theatres, The Studio
July 9th – 12th
Reviewed by That Guy in the Foyer, John Doherty
The numeric significance attached to milestone birthdays seem as fluid as gender identities- there’s no certainty that the numeric denotation corresponds with anything in particular. Rites of passage once attached to such numbers seem to have blended- or have they?
Jesse Chugg has written and directed a clever theatrical exploration of the zeitgeist of teen-dom here and now. Of course, such spirit will likely change with the generation, but “Mary’s 18th – a play about a party” effectively captures all things “same as it ever was” as well as those that aren’t when it comes to teens morphing into young adulthood.
Prior to commenting further, I do need to get something out of the way. I’m not a fan of shows starting late. However, if reasonable explanation is given, such can be forgiven. I’m sure I’m not alone here. But twenty minutes with no explanation?!?!? Perhaps the fact Ensemble Swing, Jazmyn Stevens, was announced as playing the title role had something to do with it. There. Whinge over. Stevens did a magnificent job!
Director/Playwright notes offer great insight into the creative process behind “Mary’s 18th.” A first draft completed only months after Chugg’s 18th birthday- she is now, I think 22- was read by a group of actors aged 14-18 at Chris Iley and Simone Avramidis’ wonderful Goodwood Theatres as precursor to further development.
“The 18year old characters were read by real 18-year-olds, the 16-year-olds the same.” While appreciating this early work was flawed, Chugg recognized “something about it that, something raw. young people connected with.”
And this is where the works strength lies. No, many of the issues aren’t new- parties during the mid- 70s of my mid-teens were riddled with various substances, too much alcohol, sexual tension, matters of gender (yes, LGBTQIA+ existed but wasn’t as publicly acknowledged,) relationship dramas and heartache. However, Chugg’s writing is so wonderfully honest that we are afforded great insight into how these things are being dealt with now.
Mary has few friends. Then along comes Malcolm (Noah Montgomery) who Mary met after school under somewhat fraught conditions suggested and revisited during the narrative by the creation of a tree by the cast. Malcolm is a sensitive, articulate soul adrift in school culture that, let’s face it, remains tough for young men like him. Mary, alone and all too frequently victimized, reaches out and a friendship develops to the point where Malcolm and a few others are invited to Mary’s 18th. Penelope, Malcolms precocious sixteen-year-old sister, invites herself and proves to be something of a catalyst for the party getting out of hand! Not an unreasonable premise! There’s tension between Penny’s new boyfriend Corey (Brandon Calmiano), a sulky sixteen-year-old perhaps “punching above his weight,” and nineteen-year-old Dylan (Dylan Chomel), who, it turns out has his own issues with the girl he “likes,” Abigail (Eva Wilde). Hockey girls, Bennett (Ash Wood), Kacie (Kate Wooding), fraught with relationship undercurrents, and Jamie (Rachelle Launer) arrive, with the latter immediately “on the same page, in the same book” as the immensely likeable, irrepressible Declan (Jalen Berry).
Kudos to Stevens and Montgomery for their great portrayal of, as playwright Jesse Chugg puts it, “…two characters only shortly acquainted…tether to each other as the world tries to tear them apart.” Similarly, Kameron and Chomel play that forbidden, uncomfortable space between an underage girl and hormone charged young man. Wilde and Chomel are commendably strong in an emotionally charged scene.
Chuggs script cleverly interweaves strands of comedy into the often dark fabric of the plays themes: Winnie and Melanies account of how an injury was sustained in the mosh is hilarious, while Declan and Jaime’s relationship and Mary’s character arc make for some great comedic moments.
I was impressed by how effectively this largely inexperienced cast filled numerous roles as the party spiralled into that “who are these people?” zone. Great work.
The driving “tonally ferocious” score by self-proclaimed queen of the Adelaide music scene, Will Everest underscored and punctuated the action very effectively and lent itself very well to the ambiance of a party spiralling into that dreaded place where no one is even thinking of the fallout when the parents come home.
No-one is credited with set design which is a shame because the simple use of a couch, bathtub, toilet, and small dining table and chairs cleverly captures the vibe of house party degenerating into a house wrecking party effectively. However, occasionally the non-linear narrative structure proved a little cumbersome when it came to set changes.
Josh Manoa’s lighting works well, Oona Stephen’s props serve effectively, and Jules Moylan and Magnus Carpenters costume designs work a treat!
Where “Mary’s 18th – a play about a party “is not slick, it is truthful; where it lacks a little polish, it is passionately raw and where, occasionally, actors fall into call and response verbal table tennis- “you say a line, then I say mine,” the writing is crisp enough to make up for it.
If you’re looking for insight into contemporary late teen life, or you’re brave enough to recognize and reconnect with your own teen experience, or you want to enjoy “a brilliant group of energetic performers…debut a piece with casting so true to its source…”, “Mary’s 18th – a play about a party “is well worth it!
Go! See it!