Tag Archives: kxt on broadway

Review: Human Activity (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Sep 15 – Oct 8, 2023
Playwright: Katie Pollock
Director: Suzanne Millar
Cast: Karina Bracken, Claudette Clarke, Josephine Gazard, Atharv Kolhatkar, Phillip Lye, Mason Phoumirath, Trishala Sharma, Katherine Shearer, Madhullikaa Singh, Teresa Tate Britten
Images by David Hooley

Theatre review
Martin Place represents the most vibrant of our city life in Sydney, with the usual hustle and bustle of a central business district demonstrating the apparent health of our economy. In 2014 however, a terrorist attack at the very heart of that precinct cast a gloom upon the nation, making us see an abhorrent side to what constitutes community on these lands. Katie Pollock’s Human Activity is only partially about that regretful incident. Even though the play is set around the very time and place of the siege, not every anecdote in the work relates directly to that disastrous moment.

Several narratives run through Human Activity, with a plethora of characters occupying our attention. Director Suzanne Millar manufactures a sense of harmony for the divergent stories, creating a production that feels a unified whole, whilst allowing its fragments to speak independently. Within this collaboration between Pollock and Millar, is a palpable tenderness that demonstrates respect and love for those we live amongst, so that we may expand ideas pertaining to communal identities, and begin to dismantle divisive notions of us and them.

Production design by Soham Apte depicts a rigorous realism, with a set and costumes that enable us to delve into the familiar sights and scenes of our urbanscape. Benjamin Brockman’s lights introduce a dulcet poeticism to soften the edges of the metropolis, guiding us to the compassionate heart of Human Activity. Sounds and music by Jessica Pizzinga are rendered with sensitivity, moving us to the familiar streets of our geographical and spiritual nucleus.

Memorable performances include actors Trishala Sharma and Katherine Shearer who bring valuable dramatic intensity to two women whose lives intersect, finding common ground where it had seemed completely unlikely. Atharv Kolhatkar and Teresa Tate Britten too are dynamic, as workers on ground zero, disturbed but needing to gather the wherewithal to soldier on.

In cities, we walk past one another, unable to connect in an environment overwhelming with its sheer volume of activity. Yet we know that it is in these concrete jungles, that we are able to thrive and flourish. This is where so many of us can discover our best manifestations, away from parochial and conservative situations determined to hold us back. The city may not suit every sensibility, but it is the most inclusive of our societies, where every person may feel equally an outsider, yet able to locate opportunities, for the possibility of making dreams happen.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.instagram.com/nautankitheatre

Review: Rhomboid (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Aug 25 – Sep 9, 2023
Playwright: Eric Jiang
Director: Sammy Jing
Cast: Richard Wu, Luke Visentin, Joseph Raboy
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review

Xavier is young and queer, so it comes as no surprise, that he should choose to reject traditional definitions of love and relationships, even if he does feel very attracted to Sebastian. In Eric Jiang’s Rhomboid, we see the couple trying to come to terms with the nature of their connection, in ways that defy the strict parameters that usually dictate how we perceive matters of the heart. What the two feel for each other is real, in a world that often places false or arbitrary expectations, on how we regard romantic unions.

The unique whimsy of Jiang’s writing is thoroughly enchanting, with an inherently arresting theatricality that director Sammy Jing explores with admirable exuberance, for a show intent on saying something valuable, whilst finding ways to present itself in fresh and artistic ways. Rhomboid is wonderfully quirky with its humour, if slightly slow in pacing. There is a pureness in thought and purpose that really shines, for a work memorable for both its style and meaning.

Set design by Paris Bell is simple but attractive, although its construction could benefit from greater finesse. Lily Mateljan’s costumes are very much of the times, pleasingly colourful in their depictions of the contemporary queer man. Lights by Catherine Mai are experimental and considered, beautiful in the ways they gently coax our minds into surprisingly generous spaces. Christine Pan’s sound and music are thoroughly rendered, to ensure that the experience is a rich one.

Actor Richard Wu is extremely charming as Xavier, and marvellously compelling as he makes the case for new ways to understand love in the modern age. Luke Visentin is both funny and earnest as Sebastian, with an easy presence that allows the character to always be convincing. Playing the dual roles of Felix and Lachy, is Joseph Raboy who brings an excellent camp sensibility to the show, effervescent but measuredly so.

It is strange when queer people make straight choices, when we contort our beings to fit moulds that were always made to exclude. Rhomboid represents a joyful resistance of definitions and prescriptions, the ones that have failed us time and time again. Queer people understand freedom in a deep way. We understand that the possession and control of others, is the very antithesis of love. Watching Xavier and Sebastian making their own rules, one is reminded of the liberation that will always be worth fighting for.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.liminalproductions.au

Review: The Hero Leaves One Tooth (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jul 14 – 29, 2023
Playwright: Erica J. Brennan
Director: Cam Turnbull
Cast: Kira-Che Heelan, Michael Mcstay, Tom Rodgers, Cara Whitehouse, Claudia Shnier, Patricio Ibarra, David Woodland
Images by Clare Hawley

Theatre review

Neeve had gone through great pains, to remove the teeth from her vagina, only to discover that it all grows back after 5 days. In Erica J. Brennan’s The Hero Leaves One Tooth, the folkloric phenomenon of vagina dentata is explored within a context, that feels very much like our contemporary reality. It is the post-#MeToo era, and even our biology is acting up, with our bodies creating new ways of retaliation against the patriarchy. Cleverly conceived, Brennan’s writing is abundant in intrigue, but slightly deficient with its narrative. Even though dialogue tends to be excessively obtuse, its personalities are imbued with enigmatic charm.

Direction by Cam Turnbull revels in the surrealist qualities of the play, fashioning flamboyant gestures that deliver an enjoyable theatricality, although some of the comedy can feel forced and contrived. Set design by Meg Anderson needs greater consideration for exits and entrances, but is otherwise effective in transforming the space into a site of familiar domesticity. Jasmin Borsovszky’s lights are robust and ambitiously rendered, to depict both realism and something decidedly more nightmarish. Sound by Zac Saric and music by Alexander Lee-Rekers with Saric, keep us in a state of anxiety, for a show determined to expose our world for its unrelenting bleakness. Songs by Jake Nielsen add comically macabre dimensions, furthering a sense of the bizarre.

The cast is somewhat lacking in chemistry, but individual performances are generally strong. Kira-Che Heelan’s visible restraint as Neeve, conveys with accuracy how we deal with trauma in everyday life. Michael McStay’s exuberance as Felix is a comical study in a kind of psychological denialism. In the role of Sasha is Claudia Shnier, who brings emotional intensity at the moment it matters most. Playing Mark with pertinent generosity, is David Woodland who manufactures complexity, in place of simplistic adversarial relationships.

In The Hero Leaves One Tooth, we observe that no matter what mental gymnastics a person puts themself through, the body will simply refuse to pretend that feelings do not exist. Some injuries can be healed, but it requires investment into processes that are usually more extensive than we are ready to submit ourselves to. Pain is often a sustained and prolonged experience. The mind will do what it can, in efforts to numb, for temporary relief, but there is no meaningful displacement that can occur outside of a person’s being. Terror manifests, maybe not as belligerent teeth in the vagina, but the body certainly needs a comprehensive experience of the truth.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.ratcatchtheatre.com

Review: Dumb Kids (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Jun 23 – Jul 8, 2023
Playwright: Jacob Parker
Director: Sophia Bryant
Cast: Fraser Crane, Ryan Hodson, Mym Kwa, Oli McGavock, Lou McInnes, Dominique Purdue, Connor Reilly, Rachel Seeto, Kate Wilkins, Angharad Wise
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review

It is always between classes, when we see the young people of Jacob Parker’s Dumb Kids chatting and socialising. There is occasional talk about their impending Year Eleven Social, but these ten teenagers are mostly occupied with matters of a sexual nature. At their age especially, talking about sex is really an exploration of self identity, and in Dumb Kids we see a fascinating microcosm, representative of the state of youth culture in 2023. Australia in the future, it may seem, is no longer predominantly straight, with lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and pansexuals becoming as commonplace as heterosexuals. Trans and nonbinary people too, are no longer anomalies in how we recognise gender experiences. Queer, it may seem, is everything.

Parker’s depictions can of course be considered an exaggeration, not only of queerness, but also of a particular kindness that has hitherto eluded most stories pertaining to this cohort. Masculinity is very present in Dumb Kids but its toxic aspects have largely disappeared. Bullying and intimidation are no longer a significant driving force, in this narrative about adolescent sociality. Conformity too has subsided, with these teenagers completely at ease with notions of diversity. Angst and confusion however remain essential, for it is wholly natural to see humans never figuring everything out, about our very own existence, even after learning that we can all make different choices in self-determination.

The bold and idealistic writing is brought to life by Sophia Bryant, whose direction is memorable for imbuing a valuable authenticity, that makes the audience receptive to these radically new portrayals of our young. Along with movement choreography by Emma Van Veen, the show is visually appealing, commendable for delivering much more than configurations of bodies in naturalistic conversational postures.

Set design by Benedict Janeczko-Taylor offers a theatrical rendition of the school playground, charming with its use of colour, and clever in its creation of spatial potential for performers. Janeczko-Taylor’s delightful work extends to costumes, with intricate details that make this staging feel simultaneously real and elevated. Thomas Doyle’s lights reveal an adventurous spirit, choosing to deliver fantastical imagery rather than something more lifelike, and therefore impressive for its ambitious artistry. Music by Christine Pan keeps us in tune with the frequencies of this generation, giving definition to how the staging wishes to conceive of the here and now.

An ensemble of ten effervescent performers bring wonderful spirit and dedication to Dumb Kids, exceptional with the cohesion they have fostered so successfully. Every character is believable and likeable, in a play that resists taking sides. There is no us and them, no good people or bad people, just humans navigating one day at a time. The generosity embodied by the cast, allows for a certain utopic vision to make sense, so that we can begin to be convinced of a brighter future. When all the world turns queer, is when no group is allowed to dominate, and when no one is left outside.

www.kingsxtheatre.com | www.facebook.com/legittheatreco

Review: All His Beloved Children (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), May 5 – 20, 2023
Playwright: Frieda Lee
Director: Amelia Burke
Cast: Tel Benjamin, Melissa Gan, Sam Hayes, Lukas Radovich, Kavina Shah
Images by Phil Erbacher

Theatre review

Yamuna has died, but her mouth refuses to shut. A chain of posthumous events suggests that a woman may very well be silenced with her tragic demise, but there are unexpected forces that can arise, possibly from metaphysical realms, to make things right. Frieda Lee’s All His Beloved Children could be a story about ghosts, or karma, or it could simply be about the stranger aspects of human behaviour, that sometimes makes existence on this plain, seem a curious phenomenon.

The obscure humour of Lee’s writing, explores some of our morbid recesses, taking taboo ideas and transforms them into subversive artistic expressions, about relationships that we have with one another, and with things pertaining to the spiritual realm. Directed by Amelia Burke, the production alternates between delivering twisted pleasures that are genuinely delightful, and youthful irreverence that can feel somewhat inane. Burke’s commitment to a theatre that is unpredictable and intriguing however, is beyond doubt.

Set by Adrienne Andrews and costumes by Moni Langford, transport us somewhere timeless and geographically indeterminate, as though this weird story could take place anywhere on earth. Frankie Clarke’s lights are whimsical and detailed, creating varied textures within an atmosphere that is unmistakably sensual. Sound design by Daniel Herten is inspired by a certain exotica, to help us consider the play’s themes outside of Western conventions and values.

Embracing the quirky qualities of the staging, is an ensemble cast comprising Tel Benjamin, Melissa Gan, Sam Hayes, Lukas Radovich and Kavina Shah, who are challenged by a requirement to depict a persistent sense of truth, within an unremitting eccentricity that informs the overall tone of the production. It is a tricky balance that does not always prove effective, but the show’s intentionally bizarre sensibility, is unforgettable.

People die, but slates are never wiped clean. We will always have to evolve along with inevitable inheritances, taking on the baggage that others leave behind; things we can never pretend not to be tainted by, and things we can never completely disassociate from. The separations between “us and them”, are as tenuous as the distinctions between those dead and alive. The sooner we come to terms with the indissolubleness of us, the better our chances at life.

www.kingsxtheatre.com

Review: Mortel (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Apr 25 – 29, 2023
Director: Steven Ljubović
Cast: Phoebe Atkinson, Gemma Burwell, Abbey Dimech, Giani Leon, Meg Hyeronimus, Levi Kenway, Aiden Morris, Bella Ridgway, Shannon Thomas
Images by Abraham de Souza

Theatre review
Nine beings emerge from their cocoons, flesh and bone perfectly formed, all muscles ready to fire. Mortel is a work of physical theatre that takes from dance traditions, from experimental art and from performance training, manifesting in a presentation that ranges from the obscure to the obvious, from beautiful to awkward.

Directed by Steven Ljubović, Mortel has a tendency to feel derivative, in a style that is perhaps too demanding of an artist’s capacity for originality. Whether drawing from something more distinct like Bob  Fosse’s “Rich Man’s Frug” or other elements that simply feel instinctively familiar, the staging never delivers much that is truly inventive. It is however, a show that is often captivating, with an evocative and sensual sound design by Kieran Camejo that provides a basis for our emotions to engage. Lights by Clare Sheridan are gently rendered, to best support, and flatter, the dynamic activity taking place.

Performers are dressed exquisitely by Ljubović, in shades and shapes that nod to contemporary pop culture and to the world of fashion. The cast of nine is incredibly cohesive, perfectly well-rehearsed and indefatigably focused, on what they mean to achieve as individuals and as a singular pulsatory organism. The work may not require extraordinary athleticism or technical proficiency, but their demonstration of strength and precision, along with their boundless dedication, is a joy to behold.

There is nothing that quite parallels the enthusiasm for living a good life that emerges, from the unremitting meditations on the nature and inevitability of death.

 

www.kingsxtheatre.com

Review: Cherry Smoke (KXT on Broadway)

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Venue: KXT on Broadway (Ultimo NSW), Mar 24 – Apr 8, 2023
Playwright: James McManus
Director: Charlie Vaux
Cast: Alice Birbara, Fraser Crane, Tom Dawson, Meg Hyeronimus
Images by Abraham de Souza

Theatre review
The story takes place somewhere in a godforsaken redneck part of the United States, where girls kiss delinquents and dream of birthing babies, and boys fight each other to prove their manhood. As we see in James McManus’ Cherry Smoke, there is not much one can aspire to, when caught in a cycle of poverty. Even the imagination is restricted, and people can only follow in the footsteps of parents, whose lives have proven completely unworthy of replication.

Directed by Charlie Vaux, the pessimistic story is given a surprising tenderness, with perhaps a deficiency in portrayals of brutality and grittiness, that makes the experience feel insufficiently poignant. Lights by Jasmin Borsovszky are commensurately soft in approach, visually appealing but overly romantic with its renderings of despondency. Soham Apte’s set design offers simple solutions to help facilitate entrances and exits with minimal friction. Sounds by Johnny Yang are a highlight,  working marvellously to alter atmosphere, and to manufacture moments of dramatic tension.

Actor Meg Hyeronimus plays the love-struck Cherry, as a sassy yet stern young woman,  whilst the object of her desire Fish is performed by Tom Dawson, who depicts the boxer with imprudence and a devastating recklessness. Both demonstrate good focus, along with attention to detail, for a challenging piece about a space that seems so far removed, from most of our present realities. Alice Birbara and Fraser Crane, too are diligent with their parts as Bug and Duffy respectively, bringing intensity to the production at key junctures.

The veracity of socio-economic problems being explored in Cherry Smoke, is beyond doubt. Evidence of people falling through the cracks is extensive, should we choose to pay attention. It is meaningless to say that we want these problems to go away, unless we can admit that it is a matter of wealth redistribution that needs to take place, and that some simply have to give up their power and riches, in order that many more can be released from their torment. The disadvantaged should also find ways to divert violence away from themselves, and exert that force instead, on those who are more deserving of pressure and disruption.

www.kingsxtheatre.com