Reviews

In order to survive, community theatres must continuously stage productions which appeal to the largest possible demographic. Spotlight Theatre is no different to anyone else in this regard, as witnessed by the phenomenal success of their first production of the year The Sound of Music, which had a sold-out season plus extra performances.

Part stage musical, part radio play, part documentary, Black Box is a fascinating insight into one of Australia’s unsung heroes – David Warren, aviation safety pioneer as the inventor of the universally deployed Black Box flight recorder. It may seem an odd theme for a stage musical, but, it just works, thanks to a multi-talented team effort, featuring two stunning stars who guarantee sparkling entertainment from start to finish.

This adaption of the well-known Twelve Angry Men has been brought to life at Sandgate Theatre using a very simple setting, as expected, with the audience semi in the round to bring them closer to the action. Never having served on any jury panel, I found this almost as much a learning exercise as an evening of entertainment. The twelve jurors have to determine if the person charged was guilty of murder. The audience members became very aware of the pressure on each member of the panel as it would in real life.

The sands of time sift gently and fluidly through this story in dance. Desert colours swirl as the dancers narrate in elegant movement a history that Mathew Mizyed has choreographed as a tribute his father’s homeland and the vast Wadi Rum desert.

In interpretative movements he suggests the long passage of time and the generations that have “walked the land before” – in good times and bad.