Sydney Reviews

Left – Lally Katz. Photos – Heidrun Lohr

One of the advantages of being a playwright is you get to leave the nerve wracking experience of performing in front of an audience to the actors. It seems someone forgot to tell this to playwright Lally Katz as she walks out to face the audience, standing on a spot reassuringly marked “stand here”

The show was meant to go on a month ago, but Lally found herself lying on the floor, hours before opening night. This turned out to be much more serious than pre show nerves and she was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed and treated for twisted ovaries. It seems the show may have fallen victim to a pre-existing curse, but more on that later.

Lally calls Stories I Want to Tell You in Person “play”, but it is more of a spoken word performance where Lally relates a series of anecdotes about her life and writing process. Lally has made a bargain with her subconscious to always favour writing over love. Sure, she has dated some freaks in her time, like the cowboy who lives in a motel room, but at least she has interesting characters to populate her plays with.

Lally’s main story involves her trip to see a fortune teller, when in fact she was supposed to be researching for a commissioned play about the Jewish Golem, not to be confused by the character from Lord of The Rings. Lally is in quite a pickle when she learns both her love life and writing career are cursed. Of course, the curse can only be removed by large amounts of cash.

The strength of the show partly lies in Lally’s ability to recall and portray the strange quirks of the characters she meets. Lally, who is half Jewish herself, has no problem slipping into a typical New York, Jewish accent when portraying the fortune teller. She then tells of how she is distracted by shampoo, deodorant, and pants in her quest to acquire the dosh. She visits a second fortune teller who tells her that the curse is located in her vagina, strange foreshadowing of her misfortune on opening night a month ago. Lally’s obsession with clothes and toiletries is more likely to appeal to women, but even so, I would have liked to see the story get even more crazy and fun in the same way the ending does.

However, Lally Katz, like the material she presents, is what she is. She has therefore placed her own curse on any reviewer who tries to read too much into the show. So head downstairs at Belvoir for a fun and funny evening. Assuming Lally’s cursed ovaries allow her to finish the season.


A Belvoir & Malthouse Theatre co-production
Stories I Want to Tell You in Person
by Lally Katz

Director Anne-Louise Sarks

Venue: Belvoir St Theatre | 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
Dates: 19 April – 19 May 2013
Tickets: $45 – $35
Bookings: 02 9699 3444 | belvoir.com.au