Reviews

For one cast member, the recent production of Mamma Mia! was their 12th show with the Musical Theatre Crew. This is the level of commitment and dedication which is brought to every musical presented by this training school/production company. Many of the cast take private singing or dancing lessons but what is most evident in performance is the sense of ease and assurance they bring to their craft. This is born from solid experience and sound direction.

In one of Neil Simon’s more serious plays, struggling Los Angeles based screenwriter Herb has an unexpected visit from his nineteen-year-old daughter, Libby. Herb hasn’t seen Libby for sixteen years, not since he walked out on the family. Libby has come all the way from New York to seek fame as a Hollywood actress and believes Herb can help her. What follows is a long, drawn-out debate cum arguments salted with humour, about the past and present, and which partly resolves itself with Herb having another attempt at fatherhood.

This classic work by Sam Shepard was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for good reason. It still has something to say to modern audiences about the way in which we choose to live, our colonising aspirations, rivalries and definition of success. Whilst this American play ostensibly examines the true nature of the (wild) west, it can also be understood as speaking to the way modern humans choose to live in harmony with or to the exclusion of nature.  This exploration of the American Dream is recognisable to Australians, whose history of invasion and destruction is similar.

Tilt (Program 2) is the second of two sub-seasons of student written, designed and acted performances from WAAPA’s Third Year Bachelor of Performing Arts Students. An evening of six short plays, which vary in genre and style, its sheer variety means there is something to appeal to everyone.