Reviews

Serial Productions is a small theatre company dedicated to the production of comedies. Their latest production, at the Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, is a quality ensemble production of a clever play.

The show centres around the unexpected arrival of Rick Steadman at the home of unassuming architect Willum Cubbert. Although they have never met, Rick had saved Willum’s life in Vietnam, and this very strange, possibly most annoying man on the planet, throws the life of Willum, and tenants Axel and Tansy, into havoc.

Let Men Tremble is ‘inspired by’ Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, the story of Hester Prynne in 17th century Salem.  She has a child out of wedlock, refuses to identify her lover, and is punished with imprisonment, humiliation and by being forced to wear the letter ‘A’ (for ‘Adulterer’) on her breast for the rest of her life. 

Daniel Keene’s story of contemporary forms of slavery is very confronting. He locates several characters in an unspecified location and makes it easy to imagine this harrowing social injustice occurring in familiar territory. This is what helps to evoke some of the more disturbing elements. His language is also extremely powerful. The characters are all trapped in a nightmarish circumstance that could be reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi genre. The point being that such dystopian futures are already here.

Walking into the Grand Dame that is the State Theatre is always a pleasure, but sadly this was the wrong venue to try out this brand new musical.

Instead of splashing out money renting this opulent picture palace, which was far from filled with just a few hundred patrons on opening night, the investment should have been directed on creative talent to develop the writing, choreography and stagecraft in a smaller venue.