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The Rusalka Thread

Fri, 27 June 2008, 07:54 am
Gordon the Optom24 posts in thread

‘The Rusalka Thread’, devised by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Natalie Holmwood, is showing at the Blue Room, Northbridge. This Mythophobic Production is part of the 2008 City of Perth Winter Arts Festival. It is showing nightly at 6.30 pm, with some extra late shows (9.15 pm) at the weekends until 12th July.

            Holiday resort, Rusalka Lake lodge, lost its popularity when a woman was found drowned. Ten years later, something has made Sophia (Skye Sobejko) return to what is now a dank and crumbling hotel, run by mad scientist Freya (Oda Aunan) and her trusty partner, Nikolai.

           On her arrival, Sophia meets her best school-friend Imogen (Jo Morris), now an established author, who is there to recover from receiving the letter from Hell. Will the two women be safe in this establishment? Can they escape?

In a zany way, ‘The Rusalka Thread’ weaves together East European folklore, detective mystery and romance. It is the latest very funny work from writer director Jeffrey Jay Fowler, whose previous credits include ‘Zen's Red Mouth’ and ‘Hope is the saddest’ (Winner, 2006 Blue Room Members' Choice Award). Again, Jeffery blends many theatre skills and he is never scared to try something new. The idea and construction material of Amanda King’s set is inventive and effective. Chris Issacs’ quality lighting and sound effects enhance the creepy atmosphere.

Mythophobic Productions have set themselves a high standard – did they do it again this time? Definitely! If you enjoyed films like ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘Young Frankenstein’ and you can laugh at the humour of Marty Feldman and the acting in ‘The Days of Our Lives’ you will love this.

Sorry, I have to agree with

Sun, 29 June 2008, 12:40 pm
Walter Plinge
Sorry, I have to agree with the Wentworth guy. I got so bored during the play I was counting how people were in the audience (about 25 out of 50, it seemed). I don't know why these Blue Room shows have to have so many wanky bits. I've seen better new work done in community theatre yet stuff like this gets a higher profile. In fairness, the set was atmospheric but was almost wasted and shattered when that damn toy gun came out and destroyed the illusion. The girl playing Freya lost her accent a few times, too. A good 15 minutes chopped out of the script wouldn't have hurt, either. Pace, pace, pace, people. Agree about the ending, too.

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