Boy gets Girl
Thu, 20 Sept 2012, 11:15 amGordon the Optom1 post in thread
Boy gets Girl
Thu, 20 Sept 2012, 11:15 am‘Boy Gets Girl’ is a superbly structured thriller, written by Rebecca Gilman who was born in the mid sixties in the Deep South of America. The first American ever to win the Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright, she is also on the Dramatists’ Guild of America board. ‘Boy Gets Girl’ is in the Time Magazine’s top ten plays of the decade,
Although written in 2000, this creepy and disturbing play with its richly depicted characters is still right up to the minute with today’s cyber stalking and newspaper invading privacy.
This 135-minute production (including interval) is being presented by the Black Swan State Theatre Company at the Heath Ledger Theatre, in the State Theatre Centre of WA, on the corner of Roe and William Streets, Northbridge. Performances are until Sunday 30th September. Evening performances are at 7.30 except for Sundays at 5.00 pm. Saturday matinees are at 2.15 pm.
This production is dedicated to the highly respected and loved, the late Edgar Metcalfe.
It is late in the evening and top-notch, New York City journalist, a strong willed loner, Theresa (Alison van Reeken) is meeting computer geek, Tony (Myles Pollard) on a blind date arranged by her friend Laura. Even though Tony is blatantly self-centred, Theresa decides to risk a second date for a meal. It is not long before she realises that this egotistical, pushy man is not her type, so she decides to leave and find her own way home.
Next day at the office, her fatherly and caring editor, Howard (Steve Turner) is pleased to see Harriet, the bubbly but slightly dim, office secretary (Whitney Richards) enviously bring in a large bunch of flowers from ‘an admirer’ for the reclusive Theresa.
Howard has a couple of new assignments for Theresa. One is to interview aging porn king, Les Kennkat (James Hagan – a hilarious character that is strongly based on Russ Meyer).
When the office phone rings almost nonstop with nuisance calls from Tony, a young reporter, Mercer (Ben O'Toole) offers Theresa some basic advice - call in the police! With her trust in everyone crumbling, she has no choice. A detective with years of experience in the rape squad and now the stalking team, Madeleine Beck (Helen Searle) will perhaps have all of the answers.
The opening set (designer Fiona Bruce) of the office employs an amazing use of perspective, as specially shaped glass topped tables and white chairs take the eye line almost to infinity. The tapering walls are dark gray with thin, coloured light strips that enhance Theresa’s feeling of isolation in her office world.
In one scene, when Tony is looking up from the wet street at Theresa’s second floor flat, at first I thought her room was a projected image, only to realise a second later that it was an actual room suspended that had appeared silently from nowhere (mechanist Rohin Best).
The lighting designer (Trent Suidgeest) could have taken the easy way out, with a few floods here and there; however, his creations including internally lit glass tabletops were most effective. The warmth of Theresa’s home, the cool lighting of the office or the creepy street lighting, all was well considered. The rumbling ‘Jaws’ like background sound and music from sound designer Ben Collins kept the audience on edge. A quick mention of the hard working stage team, Jennifer Poh and Natasha Deacon.
The costumes (designer Fiona Bruce) instantly portrayed the personality of the player, from the ‘cool’ Harriet to the daggy Howard.
Director Adam Mitchell has taken Perth plays to a new level with this production. The actors are totally engrossed in their characters, the personalities are richly observed, the movement is innovative. The juxtaposition of the humour and the anxiety creates genuine tension. An exciting and fresh style of directing has blown through the theatre.
A magnificent play from Black Swan and one of the best at the new State Theatre. Whether you are looking for chilling fear, sensitivity and sadness, or laugh aloud hilarity, it is all here in this magnificent, faultless production.
‘Boy Gets Girl’ is a superbly structured thriller, written by Rebecca Gilman who was born in the mid sixties in the Deep South of America. The first American ever to win the Evening Standard Award for most promising playwright, she is also on the Dramatists’ Guild of America board. ‘Boy Gets Girl’ is in the Time Magazine’s top ten plays of the decade,
Although written in 2000, this creepy and disturbing play with its richly depicted characters is still right up to the minute with today’s cyber stalking and newspaper invading privacy.
This 135-minute production (including interval) is being presented by the Black Swan State Theatre Company at the Heath Ledger Theatre, in the State Theatre Centre of WA, on the corner of Roe and William Streets, Northbridge. Performances are until Sunday 30th September. Evening performances are at 7.30 except for Sundays at 5.00 pm. Saturday matinees are at 2.15 pm.
This production is dedicated to the highly respected and loved, the late Edgar Metcalfe.
It is late in the evening and top-notch, New York City journalist, a strong willed loner, Theresa (Alison van Reeken) is meeting computer geek, Tony (Myles Pollard) on a blind date arranged by her friend Laura. Even though Tony is blatantly self-centred, Theresa decides to risk a second date for a meal. It is not long before she realises that this egotistical, pushy man is not her type, so she decides to leave and find her own way home.
Next day at the office, her fatherly and caring editor, Howard (Steve Turner) is pleased to see Harriet, the bubbly but slightly dim, office secretary (Whitney Richards) enviously bring in a large bunch of flowers from ‘an admirer’ for the reclusive Theresa.
Howard has a couple of new assignments for Theresa. One is to interview aging porn king, Les Kennkat (James Hagan – a hilarious character that is strongly based on Russ Meyer).
When the office phone rings almost nonstop with nuisance calls from Tony, a young reporter, Mercer (Ben O'Toole) offers Theresa some basic advice - call in the police! With her trust in everyone crumbling, she has no choice. A detective with years of experience in the rape squad and now the stalking team, Madeleine Beck (Helen Searle) will perhaps have all of the answers.
The opening set (designer Fiona Bruce) of the office employs an amazing use of perspective, as specially shaped glass topped tables and white chairs take the eye line almost to infinity. The tapering walls are dark gray with thin, coloured light strips that enhance Theresa’s feeling of isolation in her office world.
In one scene, when Tony is looking up from the wet street at Theresa’s second floor flat, at first I thought her room was a projected image, only to realise a second later that it was an actual room suspended that had appeared silently from nowhere (mechanist Rohin Best).
The lighting designer (Trent Suidgeest) could have taken the easy way out, with a few floods here and there; however, his creations including internally lit glass tabletops were most effective. The warmth of Theresa’s home, the cool lighting of the office or the creepy street lighting, all was well considered. The rumbling ‘Jaws’ like background sound and music from sound designer Ben Collins kept the audience on edge. A quick mention of the hard working stage team, Jennifer Poh and Natasha Deacon.
The costumes (designer Fiona Bruce) instantly portrayed the personality of the player, from the ‘cool’ Harriet to the daggy Howard.
Director Adam Mitchell has taken Perth plays to a new level with this production. The actors are totally engrossed in their characters, the personalities are richly observed, the movement is innovative. The juxtaposition of the humour and the anxiety creates genuine tension. An exciting and fresh style of directing has blown through the theatre.
A magnificent play from Black Swan and one of the best at the new State Theatre. Whether you are looking for chilling fear, sensitivity and sadness, or laugh aloud hilarity, it is all here in this magnificent, faultless production.