Reviews

This compelling one act, two-hander is a great start for Javeenbah’s 2017 season.

Sensitively directed by Barry Gibson, the story of the relationship between a possessive Mother, (Del Halpin) and her epileptic, divorced daughter (Amy McDonald) is brought to life in a drama that is more common than we know of or care to acknowledge.

Both ladies bring comedy and pathos to their finely tuned characters which held the audience’s attention on the “roller coaster” ride of the entire play.

The One, written and directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler, is both a romance and an anti-romance, a well-told story of a relationship where finding ‘the one’ may not be enough.

Strongly acted by Georgia King and Mark Storen, we follow a couple through the ups and downs of a relationship. Set on an almost bare stage, the only decoration is a wedding dress - proverbially and literally hanging over them as either a promise or a warning.

Grown-ups will be familiar with this sweet story, either from Dick King-Smith’s 1983 novel, The Sheep-Pig, or the award-winning movie, Babe (Chris Noonan 1995), but this 1998 stage adaptation by David Wood, running just on an hour, works a treat for the small fry.  My companion – granddaughter, age 6 – sat entranced and smiling throughout, with total concentration.

Salty is rooted in Singapore-Malay mythology, with the title based on the Singaporean belief that salt is the currency of the afterlife.

Written and performed mostly by Shannan Lim (Jayde Harding and Tye Norman are co-writers), Salty is a play cycle based on folk tales – given a modern context and personal twist.

In “Toyal”, a lonely widower keeps a stillborn baby – but Toyal can move and think and just wants to be loved. Shannan Lim plays the baby with energy and verve.