Tag Archives: The EDGE

Review: Short + Sweet Theatre – Wildcard Week 2

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Just like the first group of Wildcards, this second group thoroughly impressed and entertained.  Their message was clear: they may not have made it in to the top 30 but they can still give them a run for their money!

Replay by Angie Farrow set the bar high, kicking things off on a great note.  A lover’s spat between Bethany and Jeremiah becomes a twisted cycle of voluntary “do overs” when repeated attempts at manslaughter keeps getting thwarted.  I thoroughly enjoyed the humor as well as the comical humping on stage…albeit it felt a tad awkward with kids in the crowd!  I liked the clever play and inventive spin on Groundhog Day and also the way the other characters made their entrance into the story.

Matapihi’s Pëhanga (Pressure) showcases another couple in a domestic dispute but in a more serious light.  I thought Rangi Rangitukunoa and Roimata Fox’s performances were really excellent – moving, heartfelt and passionate.  While it is definitely more melodrama than comedy, I appreciated the humor that was peppered throughout the dialogue; kept things from getting too intense.

I thought Theatre of Love’s Moaner was clever, witty and an original way of telling a story that has been told before.  (As many would already know, the idea of talking paintings has already been explored by one infamous series about a certain boy wizard…)  Posing as paintings, there wasn’t much in terms of movement but how the story came to life was through the conversations between the works of art.  The script was very well-crafted and the actors did a brilliant job executing it, delivering their lines full of attitude and personality.  I especially liked James Wenley’s portrayal of the iconic sculpture of David by Michelangelo.

Part monologue, part comedy of errors with a dark twist is probably the best way I can think of to describe Coma Sutra by Kate Toon.  We meet Matt who introduces himself to the audience directly, breaking the Fourth Wall, before proceeding to tell us his woeful story of how he came to be where he is today.  Tim McPoland is perfectly cast as Matt and I don’t know if his disturbingly gaunt physique was intentional or not but it did actually enhance the performance.  Personally I didn’t think Suze needed to be there; it worked perfectly fine as a one man show.

The two plays that left me a bit cold and confused were MigHT-i Theatre’s Mirage and Just Desserts by Kelley Baker in the second half.  With Mirage, I did like the irony of the migrated family being more faithful to the Indian culture and traditions than the family who are actually living in India.  The concept was definitely there and had great potential, it was just not executed as well as it could have been.  The performance itself was a bit rough around the edges with some obvious mistakes and continuity issues which was most unfortunate.

Similarly I liked the premise of the importance of the last meal for men on death row in Just Desserts; fairly heavy subject matter to cover within ten minutes but one which I thought overall was done admirably. The cast were great and gave convincing performances but for me at times I found myself struggling to follow what was going on.  I felt the additional actors only served to cloud and clutter the narrative; I think it would have been much “cleaner” to leave it as just a heated conversation between the prison cook and his new employer.

It was a tight race for favorite play between Sexy Bird’s The Psychologist, The Soldier’s Heart and the Feathered Girl by Le Petit Workshop and the closing play, Slick Dame by Kay Poiro.  The Psychologist was great fun – Kate Vox was incredible as the unconventional and inappropriate psychologist with the only one diagnosis and one way to “cure” it.  I also enjoyed James Crompton’s performance as the nerdy and awkward George Phibbs; his facial expressions and body language brought a great element of comedy to the story.  The whimsical sitar-like music was incredibly apt and complemented the narrative perfectly.

Slick Dame had me sold from the moment I saw fedoras, heard the music and picked out the shadowy patterns projected on the wall to be the silhouette of buildings – I am a big fan of the 40s era and film noir!  “Private Dick” and the Femme Fatale were very “cookie-cutter” noir characters and performed authentically by the two actors.  I thought the  use of the coat rack to play additional characters was a creative touch and that twist at the end was absolutely genius.

I was very tempted to place a very biased vote for Slick Dame just based on my love for the genre alone.  However there was one thing that did let it down unfortunately – in my opinion, the story would have worked a bit better if it were a couple of minutes shorter.  Even though the pay-off was beyond superb, I felt that at times it dragged a little in the journey to get there.

In the end, my favorite play was a no brainer, really.  The Soldier’s Heart and the Feathered Girl got my vote simply because out of all the other plays, I felt it did the most within the allotted time.  This fairytale love story had a very Disney-esque quality to it which I loved but what gave it that extra bit of magic was the creative way in which they conveyed the story.  Incorporating puppets, a spot of shadow play as well as using scarves was a brilliant move and brought the play to a whole new level.

A massive well done to all the Wildcards across both weeks.  It truly has been a pleasure; in my eyes you all are part of the “top 50” rather than the Wildcards because in all honesty for many of the plays, there really wasn’t much difference in quality or standard between the two categories!

The Whimsical Banana rates Week 2 of the Wildcards:
Replay: 4/5 bananas
The Soldier’s Heart and the Feathered Girl: 5/5 bananas
Coma Sutra: 3/5 bananas
Mirage: 2/5 bananas
Moaner: 4/5 bananas
Pëhanga (Pressure): 3/5 bananas
Just Desserts: 2/5 bananas
The Psychologist: 5/5 bananas
Slick Dame: 5/5 bananas

Short+Sweet Theatre is playing at The Herald Theatre and is presented by The EDGE in association with STAMP. For more information, dates and tickets click here.

For the full programme, cast and play information, check out the Short + Sweet blog.

The Bartered Bride: True Love Prevails

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When one thinks of opera, usually the legendary late Pavarotti comes to mind; these two naturally go hand-in-hand in people’s minds.  Typically performed in a foreign language and accompanied with classical music that is played by a live orchestra, sadly opera does have a reputation for being “stuffy”, more suited for an older audience and being a high brow affair.

This is what makes The NBR New Zealand Opera’s performance of The Bartered Bride truly a unique and refreshing experience.  Though originally written in Czech by Bedřich Smetana, it is sung in English so New Zealand audiences can easily connect and better relate to the story.  It also features the “who’s who” of the New Zealand opera world so while it is a Czech national opera, it is also very much a proud New Zealand production.

If you are yet to experience the opera but are curious to, The Bartered Bride is the perfect one to ease yourself in to.  It is incredibly accessible, unpretentious and even though it does have political and social undertones throughout the narrative, it is essentially a romantic comedy – something everyone is familiar with.

The Bartered Bride is set in a Bohemian village in 1972 and is a tale of two lovers, Mařenka and Jeník, who want to be together but this desire is thwarted by a manipulative scheme orchestrated by the bullying village mayor and also marriage broker, Kecal.  Through an agreement with Mařenka’s social climbing parents, he decrees that she should be wed instead to Vašek, the younger son of Tobiáš Mícha.  As to be expected, Mařenka refuses this arranged marriage which leads Kecal to make another agreement, this time with Jeník himself.  To Mařenka’s horror, she soon discovers that her beloved Jeník appears to have sold her.  Angered and betrayed, she in turn resolves to do some scheming of her own.

A highlight for me was the traveling circus troupe which take the stage after the interval.  I thought this was a well-timed change of pace in the story arc and an incredibly fun one at that!  From juggling to acrobatics to a very impressive stunt involving a stack of chairs, we are treated to an awe-inspiring visual spectacle of vaudeville and energetic circus tricks.  This scene, as well as other action scenes (notably the bar brawl scene) make full use of a colorful array of props, the stage and are all exceptionally choreographed.

As a collective sound everyone from the main characters to the ensemble were simply outstanding.  The orchestra headed by Oliver von Dohnányi marries voice and music harmoniously; one is never overpowering the other.  I always find it such a shame that we cannot see the orchestra.  With this particular orchestra, even though you can only hear them, each instrument stands out in its own right but also come together in one heavenly voice, beautifully accompanying and enhancing what is happening on stage.

I thought Anna Leese gave an incredibly heartfelt and absolutely flawless performance as Mařenka – beautiful and effortless vocals with such great control.  She is perfectly paired with Peter Wedd who played Jeník.  His vocals were also impressive and had a really lovely soothing tone to it which was so pleasing to the ear.  It’s not surprising that they were cast as the two leads as they share an undeniable chemistry on stage and every time they sang together, their voices just complemented each other wonderfully.

I also really liked the meek and stuttering Vašek, embodied perfectly by Andrew Glover.  His character brought a welcome element of comedy to the show and I thought he did a brilliant job with the lines he had to simultaneously stammer and sing.  On the other extreme, I thought Conal Coad was remarkable as Kecal.  He played the antagonist with ease, commanding the stage with an intimidating yet, at times I found, almost comical presence, which sounds an odd combination but actually worked.

The Bartered Bride is an absolutely triumph and an opera experience like no other – a breathtaking vocal and visual masterpiece.  A massive well done to Daniel Slater for directing such a fantastic production, as well as to everyone involved from cast to crew.  Simply superb!

The Whimsical Banana rates The Bartered Bride: 5/5 bananas!

The Bartered Bride is an Opera North production featuring The Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus and accompanied by The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra*.

The Auckland season has finished but The Bartered Bride is headed for Wellington next!  For dates, more information and to get tickets, click here.

*The Wellington shows will be accompanied by the Vector Wellington Orchestra.

Review: Short + Sweet Theatre – Top 30 Week 2

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

This week at Short + Sweet Theatre, it was yet another eclectic selection of quickfire plays for me to sink my teeth in to.  With each round, I’ve found the decision on which play to vote as my favorite becoming increasingly harder; I definitely don’t envy the judges’ position!

The evening starts off with a deceptively light-hearted play, The Gospel According to Bowser penned by Dan Borengasser.  As the title indicates, the play starts off as a Gospel-esque monologue by an unlikely prophet – the family dog, Bowser.  A loyal disciple to the “Omnipotent Master”, his beliefs are called into question and challenged on arrival of a new feline addition to the family.  They debate over their owners and the “futility of existence” before a pesky rodent shows up to settle the matter.  The play is refreshing, very cleverly written and I thought the two actors who played the family pets did a fantastic job, especially with nailing the mannerisms of the animals.

I found Monetum Productions’ The Gift to be a very uncomfortable experience – but not in a bad way!  It appears to be an ordinary day but when a man accepts a package from a courier, the situation quickly turns into a terrifying hostage situation.  The boundaries for on-stage torture is pushed to the limit and I thought the build up of dread and unease was very well executed.  The Wedding by Nocturne Theatre was also a somewhat uncomfortable experience but unfortunately not in a good way.  A couple are in a motel room after getting hitched though the ceremony was “more a stag do than a wedding”.  We watch on as their relationship unravels and while the actors played their characters well where it comes undone is the time shifts that occur.  I found it to be confusing and just didn’t work within the ten-minute format.

Two more plays that tackle relationships and romance are The Break Up by Glen Pickering and Renée Boyer-Willisson’s serendipitous tale The Smell of Rain.  James and his friends are at what I assume is some costume party (it is never explained why the characters are dressed the way they are) and the entirety of the plot raises the question: how much would you do for an extremely reasonably priced super king sized bed?  The Break Up is absolutely hysterical with excellent pacing and great comedic storytelling made all the more ridiculous with a furry elephant costume.  The Smell of Rain also raises a question – several actually – when Serenity meets “Mikey” by chance at a cafe on a rainy day and she conveniently decides it’s “share your problems with a stranger day”.  A rather quirky would-be/could-be love story very cleverly constructed and brilliantly executed.   I loved that Gingerbread man skit!

The best performance of the night for me was The South Afreakins by the Stampy Theatre Company.  The story kicks off backstage – we hear a couple with very distinctive South African accents conversing.  Only when Robyn Paterson comes to the stage and takes a seat do we quickly realize that she is both husband and wife.  The narrative had a well-paced arc with a good dose of humor while also having a strong message of home and identity embedded into it.  It is very much a one-woman show with Paterson wearing all hats in this production – playwright, director and actor.  I was incredibly impressed by how she embodied both Gordon and Helene; the way she swiftly alternated between both characters, skillfully changing voices and posture – it was just a flawless performance.

Boys’ Outing by Winter’s Collective was another well acted performance, in my opinion.  The entire plot takes place at a bus stop and centers on a conversation between two schoolmates as they wait for the bus.  Where the story lacks in action and movement, it more than makes up for it in performance.  Graham Candy and Ryan Dulieu do a commendable job playing Ben and Rich.  The chemistry and camaraderie between these two boys is evident which made the banter between them incredibly candid, all the more believable and enjoyable to watch.  A story with bucket loads of humor but also one with bite.  It tackles an issue that some would find uncomfortable to discuss but I thought whoever wrote it did an exceptional job at broaching the topic in a more accessible and “user friendly” way.

My vote for favorite play came down to Josh Hartwell’s A Different Client and the closing play, The Guilt Sniffer by Team M&M Productions.  Darren Taniue as the flamboyant “brown and down” call boy was a delight to watch and I absolutely loved the way the story unfolded and built up to the twist at the end.  That climax where everything was revealed and that chilling ending is something that I will not soon forget as it was just so unexpected and so incredibly moving.  I cannot resist a good detective story though and I thought The Guilt Sniffer had an interesting storyline, well-timed comedic moments and overall was just incredibly entertaining.  The narrative was well-constructed and made the most of the ten-minute time frame.  A great spoof and a creative take on the classic whodunit story.

So that’s two groups done, one more to go!  Looking forward to what the final groups in the top 30 have to offer.

The Whimsical Banana rates Top 30 Week 2:
The Gospel According to Bowser: 4/5 bananas
The Gift: 3/5 bananas
The South Afreakins: 5/5 bananas
Boys’ Outing: 4/5 bananas
The Break Up: 3/5 bananas
The Wedding: 2/5 bananas
A Different Client: 5/5 bananas
The Smell of Rain: 3/5 bananas
The Guilt Sniffer: 5/5 bananas

Short+Sweet Theatre is playing at The Herald Theatre and is presented by The EDGE in association with STAMP. For more information, dates and tickets click here.

For the full programme, cast and play information, check out the Short + Sweet blog.

Review: Short + Sweet Theatre – Wildcard Week 1

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

After watching the first group of Wildcards perform, I don’t envy the people that had to decide who made the top 30 and who didn’t as from what I’ve seen so far, the talent pool this year really is just incredible.  While there were only a few plays that really stood out for me in the first top 30 group, I found this Wildcard group to be a much closer race.

The show kicks off on a sombre note with Softly as in a Morning Sunrise by Robert Barr.  With no props, the pressure was on the cast to fill the empty space with their performance, sell the story and keep the audience engaged.  I thought it was almost there; the two political prisoners were performed well by the two actors and the end was quite clever, I just think the story arc did not quite work within the ten-minute time frame.  Similarly I felt Henrietta Bollinger’s Bedtime Monsters had pacing issues too.  I liked the fly-on-the-wall feel the story had but for me, the pay-off at the end did not quite match the build up.  Coincidentally these two plays were the only ones in the bunch to not have a director on board which is perhaps the missing link that was needed.

A Cultural Hierarchy by Curious Theatre was my favorite play in the first half.  It begins in the darkness before we meet “best friend beings” Seb and Angie who are there to take us on a tour of Pastiche gallery.  After informing us of a few housekeeping rules notably the “no touching policy” (demonstration included), the tour very quickly becomes one of escalating inappropriate behavior before complete mayhem is unleashed.  The level of panache and comedy was well balanced and executed and I absolutely loved the way the story breaks the Fourth Wall through their faux interaction with the audience.

I really enjoyed David Vazdauskas’ How About Cannons? which took us back in time in a supposed moment in history where we see that even the greats suffer from writer’s block.  While clearly meant to be taken with a grain of salt, the two actors did bring a level of authenticity to their performance.  Suddenly it didn’t seem all that far-fetched and perfectly plausible that Tchaikovsky would have argued with his brother about whether the 1812 Overture should be a celebration or cattle call.  I thought Michael Morris brought great energy to the stage as the excitable younger brother.

Simple in concept but creative in execution, Riding the Red by Grace de Morgan tackled the thing that everyone can identify with on some level – love.  Like the first play, there were no props, but the story is brought to life through a spot of mime and an entertaining and animated monologue where two individuals ponder their past failed conquests.  The ending epitomizes the very theme of this festival – short and sweet – and Queen’s Somebody to Love could not have been a more perfect song to follow after!  In contrast Michelle Macwhirter’s For Our Kind transports us to the year 2032 after a virus outbreak and explores love but what it becomes when the human race is in survival mode.  I liked the twist on the “first date” in the wake of a global disaster but the ending left me a bit cold.

I was pretty much decided that A Cultural Hierarchy was going to be my vote for favorite play and then A Criminal Mind by Paula Armstrong came along.  “Black comedy with a twist” really is the perfect way to describe it.  I thought the premise was clever, paced and structured perfectly to unfold in the ten-minute run time and well cast.  The best, however, was really saved for the last – Skux Capacitor’s Mechanics won me over with the “no frills” way in which the story of Joseph and “bad joke Eli” was told.  I loved their use of mime, homemade sound effects and makeshift quicksand as well as the clever use of  “Radio Bloke” to play the story’s narrator.  It was silly but loads of fun and a good laugh – the perfect end to another great selection of  bite-sized theatre!

The Whimsical Banana rates Week 1 of the Wildcards:
Softly as in a Morning Sunrise: 2/5 bananas
A Cultural Hierarchy: 5/5 bananas
Bedtime Monsters: 2/5 bananas
How About Cannons?: 4/5 bananas
Riding the Red: 4/5 bananas
A Criminal Mind: 5/5 bananas
For Our Kind: 3/5 bananas
Mechanics: 5/5 bananas

Short+Sweet Theatre is playing at The Herald Theatre and is presented by The EDGE in association with STAMP. For more information, dates and tickets click here.

For the full programme, cast and play information, check out the Short + Sweet blog.

Review: Short + Sweet Theatre – Top 30 Week 1

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

For those who have an interest in live performance but have a short attention span, Short + Sweet Theatre is the perfect theatre fix for you.

The first round of this quickfire theatre festival began earlier this week and over the next three weeks will feature 50 plays that have a mere 10 minutes to reel you in and impress you.  From comedy to slice-of-life to melodrama, there is a little something for everybody.  And if something doesn’t quite tickle your fancy, you need only wait a few minutes before the next short story comes along.

There was a lot to like in the first group that took the stage in the Herald Theatre on Tuesday.  Kerrie Ann Spicer’s Stiff Justice set the bar high with a dark comedy about a newbie cop who shares a secret with a ghostly John Doe.  I thought it was brilliantly conceptualized and perfectly timed considering the short time frame.  Do Not Pull by Sally Sutton took a while to “rev up” but the colorful personalities and natural chemistry between the four traveling girl friends is what held my interest.  I particularly liked the ditzy but lovable Chardonnay (how can you not, with a name like that!).  And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a good Britney tribute?

Comedy seamlessly moves into drama with the help of smooth set changes and cleverly selected accompanying songs.  I thought Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang following 50 Guns was particularly apt.  Hope, by the Indigenous Theatre Group, Alex Broun’s 50 Guns and Nine Types of Ice by Michael Ripley in the second half all attempt to put some weight in their plays by tackling more serious, real life issues.

I could not take my eyes off Emma Fenton; her gripping “murder is easy” monologue in which she puts a name to every gunshot victim was both disturbing and riveting.  I have to say it was rather daring to bring something like this to the stage, especially in the wake of the recent theatre shooting in America.  The message behind the play is a powerful one but I’m not ashamed to admit I felt a tad uneasy!

Out of all the plays I think Hope, which put a face to abortion was the most confronting and the one that is likely to spark the most controversy.  While I bought in to the actors’ emotionally-charged performances, I do think the subject matter may unfortunately be a little too taboo to be fully appreciated.  The top actors of the night for me were Amelia Reynolds and Xavier Black who went from playing young and excitable friends in Do Not Pull to two anguished mothers in Nine Types of Ice waiting for the fates of their children who were involved in a tragic accident to be revealed – absolutely gut-wrenching.

It was a close race for favorite play of the night for me.  In the end it was between the laughs aplenty medieval-themed Wisdom of Solomon by Tristram Baumber and Nic Sampson’s The Lighthouse Keeper.  Ultimately it was Barnaby Fredric’s charming performance of Earl, the paddles-for-hands “French robot that talks” that sealed my vote.

I did thoroughly enjoy the flamboyant and camp antics of King Solomon (who believes all problems can be solved by literally cutting them in half) but I felt at times the intended chaos and mayhem of the scene was at its detriment as it caused some dialogue to get lost which made it a bit confusing to follow.  In contrast the simplistic nature of the struggling writer who has been replaced by a curious robot who just wants to be friends is devoid of much action but yet is witty, entertaining and just a delight to watch.

Had The Flowers by Festival Director Jonathan Hodge been eligible, my vote would have quite easily gone to it instead.  The second monologue in the bunch, Sheena Irving is perfectly cast as the Nintendo-raised Sam, the “town death magnet”.  The storytelling in this is just superb and again, considering the ten-minute constraint, I thought the story arc was exceptionally paced and very well executed.  The closing play, Supercide, sees the evening finish as it started – with another dark comedy, this time about Aeroman, superhero of Jaffatown, who is uncharacteristically feeling suicidal.  I thought this twist on the superhero tale was very clever and I enjoyed the meta-humour immensely.

If this first round is anything to go by, I am extremely excited for the coming rounds!  I would thoroughly recommend Short + Sweet Theatre to any theatre lover who wants to kill many birds with one stone as these bite-sized plays are the perfect “tasting plate”.  It is also a fantastic opportunity to check out not only the local emerging talent in the theatre world but also from around the globe too.

The Whimsical Banana rates Week 1 of the Top 30:
Stiff Justice: 3/5 bananas
Do Not Pull: 3/5 bananas
50 Guns: 4/5 bananas
Hope: 2/5 bananas
The Lighthouse Keeper: 5/5 bananas
Wisdom of Solomon: 4/5 bananas
Nine Types of Ice: 3/5 bananas
The Flowers: 5/5 bananas
Supercide: 4/5 bananas

Short+Sweet Theatre is playing at The Herald Theatre and is presented by The EDGE in association with STAMP. For more information, dates and tickets click here.

For the full programme, cast and play information, check out the Short + Sweet blog.

It’s all about The Pride

Posted by faithashw in Review, Theatre and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On leaving the Herald Theatre last night, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of great pride (no pun intended!) at the fantastic theatre scene we have here in Auckland.  Makes me very proud to be a part of this big little city!

Silo Theatre’s The Pride hits the nail on the head on all accounts – outstanding cast, exceptionally written, simple but innovative set design and perhaps most importantly, a play that succeeds in being both entertaining and thought-provoking.  The play is performed by a mere cast of four under the superb direction of Sophie Roberts and depicts two different worlds that are fifty years apart.  In 1958 we witness the shame and anguish from a forbidden love between two men whereas in 2008 the two men are openly together but their love is riddled with betrayal and lust.

The characters may have the same name but they are not the same person.  They are, however, intrinsically linked; their actions indirectly affecting the other, and the “bigger picture” through time.  Through the clever moving of the glass panel backdrop and simple relocating of the set, the narrative transitions between the different times seamlessly and the actors swap between their two characters effortlessly too.

I was thoroughly impressed by Simon London’s portrayal of both the darker and troubled 1950’s Phillip and the more carefree and evolved Phillip fifty years later.  The subtleties in his performance – the nervous twitches, the inflections in his voice, differing postures and body language – are remarkable and really showcase his skills as an actor.

I felt there was not too much of a leap between the two Olivers but still a solid performance from Kip Chapman.  His excellent facial expressions and animated delivery of his lines (particularly as the 2008 Oliver) were what stood out for me.  I had last seen Kip in Black Confetti (my review for that can be found here) where he played quite a dark character so it was quite refreshing to see him tackle something completely different.

Sylvia takes up the third spot in the complicated love triangle that unfolds in this story and she is played brilliantly by Dena Kennedy. Through her expressive and highly emotive performance you can’t help but just root for her in both worlds.  The chemistry that the three share when together on stage is just amazing, especially the awkward social exchanges in the beginning.

Sam Snedden is the fourth and final cast member and although he is what you would call a “supporting act” his skillful performance of three very different characters demands your attention and is absolutely top notch.  And while he may not be a part of the central trio, the characters he plays are integral to the story because they represent the views of society on homosexuality and how they’ve changed.

The play tackles a whole lot; love, desperation, oppression, freedom and loneliness so I left The Pride feeling pretty emotionally spent – but in a good way!  It is an extraordinary play with bite and a lot of depth because it is also a thinly veiled social commentary about the changing attitudes towards homosexuality over the span of fifty years.  Every character embarks on an emotional journey and we are right there not only to see it all happen but we are swept away with them too.

Thank you, Alexi Kaye Campbell for writing this superb and important theatre piece and thank you, Silo Theatre for bringing us this simply incredible production!

The Whimsical Banana rates The Pride: 5/5 Bananas!

At times intense and confronting, but also incredibly engaging and uplifting with an extremely talented cast.

The Pride plays at the Herald Theatre until September 1st .  For more information and tickets, click HERE.