The Gathering

Not being from Melbourne, the first pleasure was discovering this clever venue down all those stairs in the basement of a CBD building.

fortyfivedownstairs is the perfect setting for a (second outing) try out production of this musical, set at a house warming party at a home that is haunted.

The posts holding up the roof looked almost made to measure, even if you had to look around them at times.

Bravo to producer Glenn Ferguson for staging this work and how clever to share the risk by alternating use of the theatre with The Last Five Years on different nights.

The Gathering begins promisingly enough. Tom (Joel Granger) has invited his friends to a house warming party at his new dive.

He tries to woo them to share his new surrounds but they are unenthusiastic. The place is a dump and there are strange noises coming from attic.

The initial structure of introducing the friends one by one, as they arrive at the party, was engaging, helped by some fresh songs and characters that were typical twenty-somethings.

Joe (Daniel Cosgrove) used to play in a rock band with Tom but now has given that up as he has a steady job.

He has just broken up with one of the girls invited to the party.

In prances the flamboyant friend Luke (Daniel Assetta) who is a catalyst for much of the conflict.

At the party the characters have to reveal a secret about themselves which sets some off against each other.

After a promising start the musical loses its way. Too many of the songs feel as though they are dropped into the drama, rather than seamlessly emerging from the dialogue.

Musical theatre is at its best when a song appears as a natural progression rather than an interruption.

The production regains focus towards the end when the songs are used to express an emotion, rather than plot exposition.

To sum up … Is The Gathering entertaining? Yes. Are the performances strong? Yes. Is it worth seeing? Yes. Is it ready to conquer the world? No, it needs more work.

David Spicer

Images: James Terry Photography