Shorts - a season of short plays at Old Mill

First off, may I first state that on a general rule, I'm not a fan of one act plays. I find that they are rushed, not well thought out, and have no real depth to them.

 So when I state that Shorts, which consisted of 'Black and White' written by Eilannin Dhu and directed by Dannielle Ashton, and 'Part Loves' written by Martin Lindsay and directed by Jeff Watkins, was some of the best theater I've seen in a while, you understand I'm not saying it lightly!

 First off, a HUGE congratulations to Krysia Wiechecki and Phil Barnett who played Alison and Peter in Black and White. They both had outstanding performances, to the point when my boyfriend who isn't a theater goer got so frustrated that he wanted to leap onto the stage hit "Peter" himself and shake "Alison" to wake her up (I had to remind him in a calming manner that they were both actors :)). I think that in itself tells you how much this production effects the audience.

Written just brilliantly, the audience just follows the downwards spiral and like a rollercoster ride, can't help but to watch. Well done to Eilannin Dhu, and to Dannielle Ashton for making this story come to lift.

 Past Loves was a lot more light hearted, and had the audience in stitches of laughter from start to finish (in fact, the last line sent me in a frenzy of giggles for about a minute). Everyone in the cast had a brilliant sense of comical timing. Murray Jackson with his sense of innocence about the whole affair, Anna Pelusa with her airy-fairy beliefs, Martin Lindsay as the buck, Lisa Skrypichayko as the wife who wants to be ravished, and Grace Edwards.... well, her sense of comic timing was brilliant, in all of her characters. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

 Congratulations to Jeff Watkins for directing this piece. Everything gelled really well, and some truly beautiful scenes. And Martin Lindsay, I want to see more of your writing! You are one heck of a funny man.

 So in closing, if you live in Perth and want some good theater, GO AND SEE SHORTS!