Reviews

Bleak Expectations makes its WA premiere with this production by Wanneroo Repertory. A recent release, it had its West End debut just last year and is described as “A Dickensian Romp with a Dash of Monty Python”.

The programme for this production is a delight (albeit very expensive at $7 for 8 pages) filled with little quips and faux advertisements that set the tone for the play. 

I’ve been there. Seeing a close family member on cancer alert, time running out fast, no religious backup, having to face the harsh, brutal truth of impending death. I can vouch: it’s no fun. 

But that’s the big subject of this delicate little English play in which middle-aged Myra’s cancer takes over the lives of her husband Huw and two daughters, Jenna and Harriet, making the family as cold as it’s possible to be in the West Midlands when your boiler and electric heaters are down. That’s cold!

In the last three months Sydney audiences have had the chance to see two plays that disclose the “hidden world" of exclusive private boys’ schools. Trophy Boys by Emmanuella Muttana directed by Marni Mount played at the Seymour Centre in June and July. All Boys by Xavier Hazard directed by Mehhma Malhi will close at KXT On Broadway this weekend.

The Laramie Project has been a popular choice of production, with high schools and universities in the years since its inception in 2000. Not only does the show have compelling themes, with its examination of small-town attitudes, homophobia, and the examination of hate crime, but it offers the young cast the opportunity to engage with and study verbatim theatre, offers a large and flexible cast size, and has engaging and challenging acting roles.