Josie Eberhard – Theatre Press

Abandonment, emotion and mystery unfold

By Myron My

We all love, have loved and have lost: these are the times where we are at our happiest, but also then our saddest and most vulnerable. But when you open up to someone and plan a life together, what happens if your partner strangely disappears and you have no memory of what happened? Presented by Avid Theatre and written by Nicki Bloom, Tender is a tale of moving on when it seems impossible to do so.

The past/present/future structuring of the narrative is used effectively with scenes shifting adroitly between before the event, the night of the event and after the event. This gradually provides pieces of information to the audience to draw us into the unfolding narrative, and also shows the characters in different and revealing lights. This in turn builds on the intense emotional states explored throughout Tender, which would prove challenging and rewarding roles for any actor to take on.

Unfortunately on the evening I attended, Tania Knight and A.J Steele as Sarah and Michael never seemed to quite grasp the complexity of their characters, especially with the difficulties of Sarah. This was their preview night so understandably, nerves may well have been the cause here, but I felt there were not enough nuances in their respective characterisations and the ensuing lack of chemistry between the two resulted in lessened emotional investment for me in the audience. Hopefully the actors can find that spark as the season progresses, as there is certainly potential there. On the other hand, Josie Eberhard and Peter Hatherley’s portrayals as Yvonne and Patrick are highly convincing as the desperate parents trying to find out what happened to their son. Theirs is a very natural and instinctive dual performance that resonated strongly.

Despite its compelling premise, the prose of Bloom’s script is quite difficult to connect with its constant shift between full sentences and natural conversations to rapid firings of short incomplete dialogue. For most of the show, I felt this prevents the characters from coming across as real people going through a genuine loss, which was an additional pressure for the performers. Many scenes are also question after question, and while I don’t expect everything to be revealed, it is frustrating when you can’t even have one answer.

Tender is an ambitious piece of theatre, both in its writing and in the demands on the actors. While the promise of these aspects in this preview performance from Avid Theatre is not quite there, as the actors become more comfortable with the text and each other, I am confident this will improve greatly.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 25 October | Thur – Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

A sea of possibilities with some exciting breaking waves

By Myron My

Palais Theatre is celebrating 85 years by presenting ReAction Theatre’s production of At the Water’s Edge: a collection of seven short plays celebrating life by the water.

On preview night, I thoroughly enjoyed this theme of water and its relationship to people, and it seemed even more fitting to be performed in St Kilda, right next to the beach. In all the stories, the water wasn’t just present, but was a character, always there and affecting these people’s lives, whether it be in a frivolous, philosophical or a deeply emotional way.

However, I felt rather disappointed with the three opening performances. They seemed to lack a clear plot and I was left wondering who these characters were to one another, and what were their wants, needs, desires and so on. They were stories that didn’t feel authentic and at times it seemed as if the actors were just delivering their lines and not believing what they were saying although this may simply have been some preview night nerves.

However, the stories after interval raised the bar and at times exceeded my expectations. There were particularly strong performances by Lee McClenaghan in Sausages by Rebecca Lister and the wonderfully comedic The Sunburnt Country by Camilla Maxwell. In the latter, McClenaghan and Danelle Lee play two British backpackers having an Aussie beach holiday with some interesting revelations and some sharp, authentic “British” dialogue to play with. The two actors had great comedic timing and a strong rapport on stage.

The highlight of the evening would have to go to Alex Broun’s The First Fireworks. The well-told story of a terminally ill woman, who wants to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks with her daughter for one last time, pulls at the heart strings until its sad conclusion. This is in no doubt indebted to the commitment and honesty that Josie Eberhard puts in as the mother and the wonderful support that Alicia Beckhurst provides as her daughter.

Set designer Kate Ferguson has done well in creating distinctive settings whilst being limited to a relatively small space. The use of a projected backdrop of various “water” settings is a great aid in allowing the audience to visualize these various locations.

Overall, At the Water’s Edge is a collaborative thoughtful piece on the ways environment can affect our lives, and there were strong performances by most of the cast but perhaps better care could have been taken in choosing which stories to tell here, and how to tell them.

Venue: Palais Theatre’s grand foyer, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda

Season: Until 20 November | 8:00pm and Sat 5:00pm

Tickets: $32 General Admission

Bookings: 136 100 or www.palaistheatre.net.au