Reviews

The ancient and universal tragedy of infertility is given a modern spin, in this tale of two women, and the strange, forced bond they form over their joint quest to make a baby.

Catherine (Danielle Carter) is an uptight London lawyer, taut with desperation after 11 years and 18 unsuccessful rounds of IVF. Nellie (Gabrielle Scawthorne) is the young, naïve, American chosen to be her “gestational surrogate” – her last chance at motherhood.

The 3rd year Musical Theatre Showcase for 2016 was an exciting program of young talent displaying their musical and acting chops. At just over an hour long and with 30 graduates performing, it was a tight non-stop mix of material from mainly on and off Broadway. Each student chose their own party-piece and had a minute and a half in which to showcase the essence of their talent.

Over the last few years Bankstown has featured in the national news for all the wrong reasons. It is therefore pleasing to report that good things do happen at Bankstown, and have been for many years.

I refer to the offerings of Bankstown Theatre Company, which has been functioning  under several names for about 80 years. The current offering is the Lucy Simon/ Marsha Norman musical piece The Secret Garden, a rarely performed work in the community theatre repertoire.

The cast – Sharon Smith, Tatiana Saphir, Sean Patten and Bastian Trost (or, on another evening, you might see Simon Will) – are charming, good-humoured, amusing, attractive, even endearing.