Reviews

Alana Valentine’s new play promises to be a thorough dissection of Broome’s dispirit gay community, honed by her familiar research and interview skills, and enlivened by the infamous drag appearances at Broome’s Ladies Day races. 

Indeed, recent arrival Liam wittily sums up the different gay types in town, before urging his bestie Mike (aka Madame Ovary) to pack a dress and fascinator and come up from Melbourne. 

The Umbrella Plays see a small ensemble of nine impressively versatile actors – Adam Tuomien, James Sherwin, Matt Houston, Rosie Williams, Timisha Ward, David Salter, Joshua Colwell, Maxim Bevan and Tamara Bennetts - play multiple characters in a series of ten loosely connected comedic skits, each of which is focused upon an absurd argument or social misunderstanding, with umbrellas featuring in all of them somehow.

This carefully – and lovingly – researched play is story telling at its most gentle and revealing. Through the words and lives of two of Australia’s most revered literary icons, Dame Mary Gilmore and Henry Lawson – played by Kim Denman and Dion Mills – playwright Anne Brooksbank reveals not only the story of an enduring love, but a rich insight into the social and political history of the time.

Three short plays; three miniature, rough-hewn gems; three frightening perspectives on what the future in Australia may hold…The Cusack Theatre probably makes any piece of drama it showcases into a work of intensity, but This Storm is a superlatively-crafted piece of writing, under any circumstances, and its staging is enhanced by stunning performances, effectively spartan design, and an outstanding soundtrack.