There are a lot of clichés you could toss at Evie May – A Tivoli Story, but this show rises above them to deliver an entertaining and moving show that embraces its inherent melodrama and theatricality, and is all the better for it.
Sydney Reviews
Another feather in the cap for playwright, Nick Coyle, The Feather In The Web flaps, floats and flies around the turbulent and treacherous cross currents of obsession and unrequited love.
How many of life’s hiccups are triggered by a series of events, out of our control, on their own trajectory to wherever they may land? One only has to watch the news – politics and mayhem – to see what can (and does) occur without any rhyme or reason.
Over the past decade, the Sydney based theatre company, subtlenuance, has been an indispensable and vibrant part of the independent theatre landscape, dedicated solely to the creation of new work.
The physicality, and inventiveness, of this wondrous epic has so many whip-cracking moments (literally) and is so totally engaging, I could watch this performance over and over again and still miss many of the nuances.
Perhaps the political stance of this production is either simpler or conversely more nuanced than is readily apparent to this reviewer, but frankly the messages felt mixed to the point of seeming garbled.
Caleb Lewis' play, Maggie Stone, is about life as a transaction with its ledgers of debts and dividends, deposits and withdrawals, and the sadly defecit balance sheet of common decency in capitalist society.
The uninspired use of decades-old staging unfortunately detracts from the excellent performances of the main leads, who would blow the roof off any production fortunate enough to feature them.