Toy Symphony

The biggest star of the night was the ‘foyer’ to the venue – the Loading Dock Theatre – which is one of three new performance spaces part of Qtopia Sydney.

The Loading Dock Theatre is at the back of the QTOPIA Museum,  which back in the day was the Darlinghurst Police station.  It was here that participants arrested during the inaugural Mardis Gras protest rally in 1978 were held and notoriously mistreated. The museum includes fabulous frocks, exhibitions inside the actual prison cells, memorials for the victims of AIDS and the history and of the LGBTQI+ communities.

It was very nice to see so many volunteers proud and welcoming to the museum.

The actual foyer bar for the theatre space is cosier, and the black box theatre with 60 seats is still a work in progress. Once the build is finished, and the proper seats arrive (any minute) it will be a welcome addition to the Sydney theatre fabric, which has for so long been afflicted by the curse of inner-city venues closing.

The Loading Dock Theatre already has an impressive year-long season of entertainment lined up.

The choice of Toy Symphony as the inaugural production for the space was an excellent one.  An established work by one of Australia’s most eminent playwrights, Michael Gow – this production has already been performed in Brisbane, by the Ad Astra company and the performance comprises about half the original cast.

First staged at Belvoir in 2007, Toy Symphony  is the partly autobiographical play about gay writer Roland Henning,  who goes to a therapist to help resolve a case of writer’s block.

The small stage was neatly filled with piles of suitcases with the action taking place in around them for the flashbacks to various colourful episodes of Henning’s life. They range from schoolyard bullying to drug use as an adult.

Gregory J Wilken was assured in the lead role and a skilled ensemble of actors kept the drama moving briskly.

Stand outs were Bernadette Pryde as Mrs Walkham -  Roland’s original primary school teacher - who milked memories of days in the classroom being force fed a white bread view of history.

Adam Dakin was charismatic as his school chum with over-active hormones, and Sam Webb frightening as the school bully.

The most dramatic tension in the play was where Roland, as an adult star academic, attempts to entice a reluctant student Daniel (Felix Jarvis) on an outing where it was implied that sex was on the agenda.

This scene had extra resonance in the wake of the #me-too movement, but the power of the language and raw honesty of the writing was refreshing.

This play is only on for a short season and is well worth squeezing into if you can.

David Spicer

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Photos of Toy Symphony by Bojan Bozic