Reviews

The curtain opened to the sight of a highly sophisticated set portraying the factory floor of Price and Sons shoe factory. The hardware was imported from CLOC Musical Theatre in Melbourne, but just as spectacular were the costumes and boots, lovingly sewn together by the volunteers of the Rockdale Musical Society.

The consequence of societal failure to learn the lessons of history underpins this combination of historical and science fiction.  In 1950s Stalinist Russia, innocents are routinely arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned or “disappeared” in ideological pogroms, and the politically suspect poet Anna Akhmatova (a historical poet of the era, played with compelling restraint by Karen Vickery), is obliged to appear at her window at two set times daily to prove that she has not left her flat, which she now shares with Lili (played with great intensity

The Cold Record begins as the audience meet at the Tivoli theatre. We are led to a nearby location on King Street where Chicago-born performer, Eli Weinberg, introduces himself and invites us (a small group) to join him for a beer. We take a seat and join him in his alcove – a boombox, a notebook, an iPad full of punk rock tunes, pre-selected (by us, the audience) for discussion. Eli randomly selects tracks and we take it in turns to describe our choice of song and why it means something to us.

The ingredients in this one hour play include a large dose of celebrity, several ounces of social media, a healthy portion of satire directed at the art world and a good sprinkle of comedy. Freshly baked and out of the oven for the first time the results are delicious.

The play opens with a succession of paparazzi photos of Minky Westin (Jodine Holli Wolman), looking glamorous, awkwardly leaving various cars or parties and finally arriving on stage worse for wear from a big night out.