Theatre Now Review: Dead Centre/Sea Wall

It is a challenge for any actor to fascinate an audience all the way through a half-hour monologue. The story they deliver must be gripping and revealing and must drag the audience into absorbing the character’s life. The theme can be comedy or tragedy or anywhere in between but it must engage the audience totally.

Helen in the first piece ‘Dead Centre’ is an unfortunate young British woman who tells us in alternating humour and disappointment about the unhappy stay she had in Australia. This was climaxed when her excitedly anticipated tour to Uluru was ruined by the fact that all the other tourists on the trip were non-English speaking women – leaving her feeling isolated and alone. Just one example of the challenges she feels visitors and immigrants have in adjusting to life here. Actor Claire See works hard to engage the audience and take us on Helen’s trip but somehow it is hard to really care for this self-obsessed character.

Carl Young plays a far more interesting person, Alex, who presents in ‘Sea Wall’ the story of an initially amicable, amusing young man’s life.  This has been smashed by a terrible disaster that he reveals only once we are fully engaged by his warm personality and interesting story ensuring that we care who he is and have great sympathy for his fate. This is a much more interesting and technically constructed story and it is very well delivered by Young.

These two monologues were written by award winning playwrights Australian Tom Holloway (‘Dead Centre’) and more established Britain Simon Stephens (‘Sea Wall’).  Holloway was set the difficult task of writing a piece to complement Stephens’ already acclaimed script in 2015 when both pieces were presented in a warmly received Red Line Productions show at the Old Fitz in Sydney.

It is a challenging fete to deliver a satisfying program of two half-hour monologues in which both unhappy souls must each engage the audience in their lives and troubles. This is Andrew McInnes first Stooged Theatre production after completing his Master of Directing at NIDA.

Kath Perry – Theatre Now & On The Town