Bare is an American musical set in a catholic boarding school and centres on two gay teenagers, Peter and Jason, as they struggle to come to terms with their sexuality.

The story follows them and their classmates as they put on a production of Romeo and Juliet. Jason, played by Leighton Irwin, is a popular athlete who is struggling to accept he is gay for fear of what the church, his parents and his friends will think. Peter (Thomas Bradford) is Jason’s boyfriend, who unlike Jason, is comfortable with his sexuality. Despite Peter’s confidence with his sexuality, Jason will not admit they are together.

It’s a heavy and emotional show that explores adolescent issues in the vein of musicals Spring Awakening and Rent.

Production wise, it is a bit rough around the edges. At some points it was difficult to hear the performers onstage, especially when they were just talking and not belting out high notes. The transitions between scenes were also a bit clunky and it seemed some of the actors forgot their lines, presumably due to nerves.

But when they got it, they really nailed it. The singing and harmonies were amazing with the strongest parts of the show being the big group numbers when their voices all came together. In the first act, they didn’t seem to reach the full emotion that the story needed but as the show progressed they really tapped into the passion of their characters. While the group numbers outshone most of the solos, there were a few that were incredibly powerful.

Jason and Peter’s duet “Best Kept Secret” had the two actors standing in the audience when singing to each other, the sadness, anger and love evident in their facial expressions. Actress Ellen Akers – who plays Ivy, the popular girl who starts dating Jason – was a standout performance all on her own, surprising the audience when she sang her solo song “All Grown Up”, her raw emotion in the performance all the more heartbreaking to watch.

But the main characters weren’t the only ones that shone through. The Priest and Peter’s mum, while secondary characters, had  powerful moments with the leads, especially when Jason goes to see the Priest for guidance and Peter tries to come out to his mum. The character of Sister Chantelle and Lucas, the school drug dealer, were also great because they added comic relief to an otherwise heavy show.

Bare is an influential story and one that is timely at the moment due to the prominence of LGBT issues such as marriage equality. It sets a solid foundation for the performance and the cast in the VU Theatre Company’s production manages to do the story justice.

Their adaption was so engaging that it encouraged me to research more about the original musical. There were a few minor problems that distracted the audience from the story, but we can make an exception considering that they are a new theatre company and that this was their first ever performance.

Indeed, it was a very powerful performance with a very talented cast, and I am sure that once they fix the production problems, the strength of Bare will continue to move to greater heights.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the show.

SOMA is a 30-minute dance piece created and performed by Macpherson who has been trained in contemporary dance and contortion by a member of Circus OZ.

The show is simple. A spotlight shines on Macpherson who stands in the middle of the stage in a skin-tight green body suit. She starts with slow controlled movements where particular body parts are isolated; a point of the foot, a flick of the hand. Her face is unreadable but her eyes are intense and you feel as though she’s watching you throughout the whole performance.

With some dance pieces like this one, there isn’t so much a narrative as a showcase of movement, which means people can interpret it in different ways. Macpherson’s performance felt quite surreal at some points, especially when she would look at her hands as if they were unfamiliar to her, or when she looked into the audience like she is studying us. This persona, combined with short sharp movements, gave the impression of an alien creature inhabiting a human form that wasn’t their natural body.

The music, by Sydney based composer James Brown, worked well to support her movements as the tempo ebbed and flowed, matching the intensity of the dance.

However, for most of the performance her moves were small and repetitive. While technically impressive, it meant some of the sequences went on for too long and caused your mind to wander away from what was happening on the stage.

The parts of the performance that really shone were when Macpherson showcased the extent of what her body can do. At one stage while resting on her hands, she moved her leg up and over her head in a move that made me want to go home and stretch more. She also bent herself backwards and walked around the stage on her hands and feet, making it look a lot simpler than it is.

SOMA explores the creation of movement, from the first thought all the way through to the execution whether it be a point of the toes or stretching your whole body backwards. Sitting in the audience and watching her mould her body into these positions with such ease certainly makes your own muscles tense up. Despite some sequences that felt monotonous, Macpherson’s skill in contortion and dance technique is to be commended.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the show.

Our presence wakes the man – a bookbinder- and this is where the story begins.

The Bookbinder is a one-man show created and performed by Ralph McCubbin Howell from Trick of Light Theatre. He uses pop up books, paper people, shadow puppets and ink to draw the audience into a dark fairytale.

The story follows a bookbinders apprentice – who fixes tattered books and gives them new life – as he decides to cut a few corners in his work. One night, he damages a book and tries to hide what he’s done, but unfortunately the book belongs to an old witch. We then witness how the apprentice deals with the consequences of his heinous actions against literature.

It’s a magical, fantasy story in the vein of something that parents would read to their children before bed. The story is brought to life on stage through simple but inventive storytelling techniques.

Given that McCubbin Howell is the only performer, and basically spends the whole show sitting at a desk, it’s surprising just how engaging he actually is. He has mastered the art of whimsical storytelling, and because of this the imagination and creativity of the show shines through.

McCubbin Howell plays all the different characters himself by using different accents, from the wise old bookbinder to the apprentice’s father, with his exaggerated voices bring a lot of humour to each and every one of them. While moving around paper people and putting on different voices might seem like something you only did as a child playing with dolls and action figures, it’s the simplicity of this that hooks you.

Trick of Light Theatre is a fitting name for this theatre group as their use of lighting is a major highlight. A swivel lamp attached to the desk is used to tell the story and set an intimate mood. At one point he even moves the light along the roof for an ominous atmosphere and the next he creates shadow eagles with his hands. The music also compliments the story as it builds suspense and makes it more dramatic.

This storybook-like production technique is something that would fascinate young kids who find adventure through the pages of a book. The show can easily be dismissed as merely for kids, but I’d argue the opposite. Its youth like innocence is alluring because it gets to the heart of what it means to tell a good story, which is something that resonates with people of all ages – especially book lovers.

Like all good stories, there is a moral in the end, a life lesson that the bookbinder’s apprentice has learnt through his adventure. The moral that the audience can find through this show is that storytelling is powerful because it broadens your imagination. The show captures that feeling you get after reading a really good story and has effortlessly turned that personal experience into something that can be shared.

The Bookbinder is playing at Son of Loft in the Lithuanian Club, September 19 – October 4.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the show.