Tilt - Programme 2

This performance was the second evening of short performances that were the culmination of three years of study by WAAPA’s Bachelor of Performing Arts - Performance Making students. After the high standard of the first evening, I was looking forward to some exciting new work, and I was not disappointed.

Opening the evening was Nothing Left to Write, written and directed by Eve Miller. Performed in a highly presentational style that might almost be children’s television, the left and right sides of the brain of a young student, played by pastel suited Alicia Lori Selkirk and Natasha Erdrich, battle to decide what to tell in a “What I did in my holidays” exercise. Cleverly staged and nicely played, this musical (composition is by Eve Miller and Alicia Lori Selkirk) also features a lively chorus of red clad young men (Liam Crevola, Adam Snyman and Parker Horne) who add heart and fun to the story.

One Stone’s title refers to the saying “to kill two birds with one stone” and is a day in the life of a pigeon as she builds a nest and searches for her lost mate. Written and directed by Liam Longley, this warm and touching one woman show, performed with conviction and depth by Gabriella Munro, convinces the audience that pigeons are not just “rats with wings”. A funny and clever look at these little city dwellers.

A story of love, infidelity and closeted identity, The Hole, sensitively and cleverly directed by Henry O’Brien, follows John, a closeted gay man, who meets Mary, a closeted trans woman, while John’s wife, devoted to her home and marriage, is at home cooking apricot chicken. Written and devised by its three performers, this piece is explicit, raw, and beautifully acted by Liam Longley (John), Harper Nguyen (Mary) and Shinade Mourambine (Rose).

The final piece for 2023, Nocturnal, is a physical theatre and dance piece, devised by the performers and co-directed by Aja Starkiss and Katie Walsh. As putting the bins out turns into a brief and ephemeral nocturnal meeting of souls, we get a sweetly structured moment in time, beautifully performed by Atira Shack and Mackenzie Brown.

Tilt once again was an excellent and varied showcase of the graduating BPA students, and a wonderful promise of the future of performing arts in WA and beyond.

Kimberley Shaw