Venue: Belvoir St Theatre (Surry Hills NSW), Feb 7 – 24, 2024
Playwright: Chris Edwards
Director: Zoë Hollyoak
Cast: Meg Hyeronimus, Roy Joseph, Levi Kenway, Mark Paguio, Ariadne Sgouros
Images by Phil Erbacher
Theatre review
Three short plays involving the supernatural, and a lot of sparkling humour, all by Chris Edwards, make up the theatrical delight known as Shitty. The clever title refers to a series of regretful situations, where individuals meet with unforeseen and completely dreadful consequences. Edwards’ writing is highly imaginative, with an exceptional playfulness that pairs horror with comedy, for an unusual intermingling of genres, that proves an unexpectedly thrilling combination.
Direction by Zoë Hollyoak injects a formidable sense of excitement into each of the stories, relentlessly amusing for the entirety of Shitty‘s duration. Set and props by Hailley Hunt incorporate funny surprises that are truly memorable. Lighting design by Morgan Moroney impresses with its creativity, along with an admirable rigour that comprehensively elevates the staging. Sounds and music by Madeleine Picard too are rendered with a thoroughness, so that every moment feels rich and intricate, in this outlandish telling of creepy tales.
Actors Meg Hyeronimus and Levi Kenway start the show as illicit lovers, performing their parts with great polish and exquisite timing. Levi Kenway and Mark Paguio follow, both offering wonderful intrigue and passion, to their chapter on Grindr and Sydney’s clubland. Ariadne Sgouros is commanding in her concluding one-woman segment, precise and powerful as she goes through hell, in the deceptive serenity of the Blue Mountains.
Our arrogance makes us forget that there are others who inhabit this plane. We rely only on five senses to decide what to believe in, often unable to be attentive to what might be considered metaphysical. They could be ghosts, or simply emotions and intuitions, phenomena that seem immaterial and hence elusive, inappropriate for modern lives characterised by commodification and quantifiability. We want magic, but we seem only to know to refuse it.
Suzy Goes See 