Kristina Benton – Theatre Press

Dark stories unfold

By Myron My

Home Invasion is a play that looks at obsession and disconnection. It’s about people dealing with destructive behaviours in their lives: a housewife who is haunted by JonBenét Ramsey, a schoolgirl with violent tendencies; and a mechanic who feels guilty for the death of a young woman.

The cast of six – Kristina Benton, Nathan Burmeister, Trelawney Edgar, Ashleigh Goodison, Wayne Tunks and Grace Travaglia – worked well in exploring their characters and allowing them to go down the dark path. There were some well-crafted moments among them, with especially strong scenes between Benton and Goodison and Edgar and Burmeister.

Unfortunately, the direction by playwright Christopher Bryant was sorely disappointing. There was too much sitting or standing and not enough doing in this 90-minute show. The long scenes had no differentiation between them and the acting seemed stifled because of this. Bryant however is a capable writer and it was interesting to see how the separate threads from each story slowly began to weave in together, although I felt the musical interludes with the cast singing could have been cut.

The stage set up was also lacking in Home Invasion. With no “backstage” area, when the actors were not in the scene that was being played out, they sat on stools directly behind the performance space. The proximity of how close they were proved to be very distracting with every drink they took from their water bottle, every itch that was scratched or any readjustment that was made being done in plain sight of the audience.

The extremely minimal set design did not help with either, and seemed to actually be hindering the show from building the environment these people lived in. Apart from the wall painted pink, there was nothing visually stimulating about the show. The venue may be small but I’ve seen many productions performed in this theatre where some simple set pieces and discreet visual touches helped immensely to bring their worlds to life for the audience.

Whilst the writing and the acting in Home Invasion are admirable, I ultimately felt the remaining elements of the show still need to be further developed to allow the audience to build a stronger connection with the characters and the chilling world they are creating for us.

Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton

Season: Until 7 June | Wed 6:30pm, Thurs-Sat 7:30pm,

Tickets: $25 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: La Mama Theatre

An impressive cast tackle complex issues in difficult scripts

By Adam Tonking

Awake is two short plays, written and directed by Fleur Kilpatrick, about the family dynamic and reactions to mental disorders.

Starring Justin Batchelor, Kristina Benton, Alex Roe, and Joanne Sutton, these tricky stories present families at their most difficult times – when confronted with severe medical conditions befalling a loved one.

The two stories, titled Wonderland and Sandman, approach the theme differently, the first looking at one moment as microcosm for an entire life, the second covering three different characters and their disparate reactions to deterioration over a period of weeks.

The cast were excellent, dealing with these highly emotive situations with complete authenticity. This was especially difficult for Batchelor and Sutton in playing the two characters with the mental disorders – an awkward task for any actor, but Roe and Benton and Batchelor again were equally accomplished in their roles as the family members reacting to their sick relatives.

Their performance success was particularly poignant as the stories seem to be a series of traps for an actor to fall into in throwing unusual medical conditions at the performers, and changing narrative style from moment to moment. At times these plays even seemed more an acting exercise than a piece of theatre.

That said, there were some lovely moments in Kilpatrick’s scripts – I loved the use of the natural landscape as allegory for these situations, and the universal themes of isolation and familial bonds shone through even when confronted with the impact of these unusual disorders.

Music, written by Kristina Benton, is used as a framing device for these two completely independent stories, and while the music itself was quite lovely, it seemed an odd way to connect the two narratives.

Stylistically, the warm gentle music seemed to clash with the stark presentation of the two plays, and seeing the actors play their own Greek chorus by singing these songs was also distracting. But again, the cast held up beautifully under this challenge.

Ultimately, Awake is a virtuosic performance by a brilliant cast of two very promising short plays. It plays at La Mama Courthouse, 349 Drummond Street Carlton, from Wednesday 21 March till Sunday 1 April at 8.30 pm Wednesday and Friday, 6.30pm Thursday and Saturday, and 4.30pm Sunday. Tickets available at www.lamama.com.au or by calling 03 9347 6142.