Liz’s Score: 4 Stars
Do yourself a favour and book to see The Astral Plane at Belvoir Street Downstairs playing until 29th of June. This gem delivers 100 minutes of a laugh out loud experience. The whole audience was engaged and laughing beginning to end this included partner and myself who are hard to amuse.
The great comedic writing by Charlie Garber and his skilled direction allowed his cast to shine in performance. He, as director, also utilised the small space to maximum effect and kept the whole play pacy throughout.
He had a great caste to work with. They didn’t miss a beat, delivering their lines with perfect comic timing and absolute sincerity, not easy when you are a rat called Sam (Michael Whalley) with low self esteem falling in love with a human would be influencer. This was a fine piece of ensemble work. Each caste member (Imogen Sage, Eden Falk, Emma Harvie, Ella Scott Lynch, Julia Robertson, Michael Whalley) delivered an energetic and engaging performance.
This play had elements of a fairytale and fantasy: talking animals, royalty from the rat kingdom and a villain in the form of a human-created perfect, positive instagram influencer. As with all good fantasy/fairytale improbable events transpire as the characters move through portals of the multiverse. I won’t give away the twists and turns of the plot but needless to say, in true fairytale tradition, there is a lesson to be learnt and an appropriate happy ending. Our flawed humans who at the play’s beginning are on 
ridiculous modern day quests for happiness find their better selves but only with the help and guidance of the animals from another dimension and a dose of astral travel.
I realise this is probably a low budget production and certainly at $25 the ticket prices are a steal, but I feel something more could have been done with the lighting (Martin Kinnane, Jasmine Rizk) and similarly something different the set design (Jonathan Hindmarsh) to really make this production zing.
I want to see more by Charlie Garber and this caste of actors. Congratulations to producers Rebecca Blake and Jessica Pantano for making this production happen. It made my day.
Liz O’Toole – Theatre Now Sydney
The Astral Plane
Written and directed by Charlie Garber
12 – 29 Jun 2019
Wednesday 12 June, 7.45 Preview
Thursday 13 June, 7.45pm Preview
Tue – wed 6:45pm
Thu – Sat 7:45pm
Sun 5:15pm
Venue: Belvoir: Downstairs Theatre
Theatre Company: 25A
Duration: N/A
A comic odyssey into the mind and the multiverse.
Sparring young couple Romi and Dan, failing to make a romantic getaway work, cautiously strike a deal with each other: to spend the getaway apart in order to return refreshed and recommitted. As Dan attempts a strange new form of meditation to reach the highest planes of consciousness, a lost runt Rat Prince from another dimension – Sam – is in desperate need of Romi’s help. But the strangeness of both adventures will pale in comparison to when the couple meet again on The Astral Plane.
Starring: Imogen Sage, Eden Falk, Emma Harvie, Michael Whalley, Ella Scott Lynch and Julia Robertson.
Writer & Director Charlie Garber
Producers Rebecca Blake and Jessica Pantano
Designer Jonathan Hindmarsh
Lighting Designer Martin Kinnane
Sound Designer Clare Hennessy
Stage Manager Jess Bell
Ticket Prices
Preview: $20
Season TicketsS: $25
