Sunday, January 21, 2018

Tonsils & Tweezers

Photo by Clare Hawley
Jackrabbit Theatre and bAKEHOUSE Productions presents, TONSILS & TWEEZERS, by Will O'Mahony, at the Kings Cross Theatre (KXT) In the Kings Cross Hotel. January 12th - 27th.

TONSILS & TWEEZERS is a new Australian play by Perth writer Will O'Mahony. It is exciting to report that this new work is as interesting as BURIED. Both are worth seeing if you are interested in new Australian playwriting. Both plays concern themselves with the shadows/'ghosts' of a traumatic past on the present with consequences for the future.

In this instance Tweezers, real name Lewis (Hoa Xunade), has been suffering from the collateral damage of bullying, that resulted in a car accident, killing his best friend Tonsils (Travis Jeffery), some ten years ago, which has him simmering to commit to a possible revenge act at a school ten year reunion. The writing is sophisticated in the employment of two other actors as Chorus and other individual characters, Max (James Sweeny) and Beth (Megan Wilding), and incorporating - perhaps, a little too belabouredly - Shakespeare's play and thematics from MACBETH.

The play, Directed by Michael Abercromby, requires some 'detecting' patience from the audience, but however, because of that, has increased power, consequently. The Design elements in the traverse space of the KXT is sophisticatedly resolved by Patrick Howe, with some AV work that makes a clean contribution to the impact of the action of the play, accompanied by a supportive and creatively alert Sound Design by James Yeremeyev.

The actors are solid in their contributions if not as centred - stable (vocally and physically) - in execution as could be. More craft and less intuitive enthusiasm to bring a steadier focus to empathetic endowments, I think. More character, less actor personality, perhaps?

It is refreshing to attend two extremely interesting new Australian plays, one after the other, and it gives an exciting expectation to the coming year. BURIED and TONSILS &TWEEZERS, catch them both if you can.

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