Venue: Erskineville Town Hall(Erskineville NSW), Sep 24 – 28, 2019
Devisors & Cast: Nisrine Amine, Lisa Robinson
Theatre review
Shaz and Tina have stumbled out from the races, and are in an alleyway waiting for their ride to arrive. It is unclear if their hyperactive behaviour is due to an overindulgence of alcohol, but in their show Shaz And Tina: Waiting For Uber, the two young women spend fifty minutes being restless and incoherent, as though in a Samuel Beckett play that goes nowhere. In this case however, our storytellers are less in an existential crisis, than they are trying to entertain by creating mayhem. There is a lot of audience participation.
Shaz in particular is keen to engage the strangers around her, especially if they are of the tall, dark and handsome variety. It is the races after all, and her harmless flirting certainly befits the spirit of things. In fact, a substantial portion of the show involves a dating game, like those seen on television, with Tina trying to find Shaz a match from three volunteers. The production is humorous, although it must be said, in an awkward way, just as the two personalities we encounter are themselves extremely awkward specimens of the suburban kind.
The presentation feels improvised, loosely structured, but very live. Although the laughs delivered are not always as big as one would hope, they are both consistently amusing, able to fill the time with with quirky inventions and a frenzied energy. As Tina, Nisrine Amine is intense and snarky, and as Shaz, Lisa Robinson is gawky and mischievous. The pair’s easy chemistry provides a solid foundation for the work, allowing us to trust that no matter how long the Uber is going to take, the women are determined to keep us occupied.
Suzy Goes See 