Bare - Playlovers November 2008

Lets start by saying I am affiliated with a lot of theatre groups and organisations in Perth, including Playlovers. Went and saw Bare at Playlovers Friday night and would recommend it as a production well worth seeing, and with a bit of work, well worth hearing. I sat in the front row, with an elderly group of Playlovers regulars, so can give a joint revue. I know everyone says this is a young peoples play, but it also entertains an elderly audience. The show is confrontational, but very well presented by a young and enthusiastic cast that includes some very talented people. Before the show, the ladies next to me commented that we were next to the band and perhaps they should move to the back of the hall, but the band, who are very talented, managed to keep a reasonable balance apart from the drummer finally letting loose at the end of one song. The band is basically a rock band but the flute and keyboard give some nice hauting accompanyment to some of the songs. we all agreed that the swearing, semi nudity, homosexuality and drugs all fitted naturally into the play and the entertainment value of the production was up to Playlovers higher standards. Kristen wanted a dark feeling to the show, which has been excellently executed by John Woolrich with his lighting design. It makes a welcome change to the average amateur musical that has bright lights blasting from the front and removing any form of character. The set is simple but effective with several levels for the actors to work on and to allow the isolation of individuals. This meant very short scene changes so the show flowed along. The stained glass window makes a very effective centre piece. The one dissapointment with this production is the sound. Sitting in the front row, we were not able to make out a lot of the dialoge. The solo performaces were well mic'd but as soon as any chorus or ensemble started up, the male voices were lost in a basy muddy quagmire. Even with the dissapointing sound in the front row, this was still an excellent production. I would expect a lot of this will be resolved before next wednesday. The highlight for me was Sister Chatelle and the Angels, their vocals were great, sound was fine on this one, the choreography was dynamic, costumes were colourful and they injected some humour to lighten up what could be a very dark show.