Reviews

Merlynn Tong’s play opens a fascinating window on the underbelly of Singapore’s glossy high capitalism with cultural traditions buried by the social imperative to get rich.

Tong and Charles Wu play estranged siblings standing in an apartment cleared out after the suicide of their mother.  With their father long dead, the innocent 14-year-old Girl and the Boy, 21 and proudly in a criminal drug gang, face being orphans and, worse in Singapore, being poor.

Miranda Musical Theatre Co’s second show of the year, the fun-filled comedy musical The Full Monty, based on the hit movie from late ‘90s was a joy to see, bursting with energy and enthusiasm from the opening line to the finale. A compact stage / set design of LED screens along with vibrant costumes from the late ‘80s / early ‘90s and a colourful lighting scheme combined well to transport the audience to Buffalo NY, 1989.

Bleak Expectations makes its WA premiere with this production by Wanneroo Repertory. A recent release, it had its West End debut just last year and is described as “A Dickensian Romp with a Dash of Monty Python”.

The programme for this production is a delight (albeit very expensive at $7 for 8 pages) filled with little quips and faux advertisements that set the tone for the play. 

I’ve been there. Seeing a close family member on cancer alert, time running out fast, no religious backup, having to face the harsh, brutal truth of impending death. I can vouch: it’s no fun. 

But that’s the big subject of this delicate little English play in which middle-aged Myra’s cancer takes over the lives of her husband Huw and two daughters, Jenna and Harriet, making the family as cold as it’s possible to be in the West Midlands when your boiler and electric heaters are down. That’s cold!