It’s party time and Flinders University Performing Arts Society have certainly invited the whole gang.
This play written and directed by Jessie Chugg, an Adelaide based playwright, at its heart deals with teenage fear of rejection and the need for acceptance. Written by someone so young herself, it feels true to the very emotional roller-coaster that we all go through. The audience is warned prior to commencement that the play would be dealing with strong themes including alcohol and drug abuse, sex, suicide along with the use of strong language. I found the piece to be extremely honest and gave a relevant and raw insight into the emotions of our teenagers today.
The cast itself are all roughly the age of the characters they are depicting, which I believe has helped with the delivery and the feel of authenticity throughout. The performance was fast paced at 90 minutes duration but packed a lot of emotion into that time. It jumps between the past and present day as it introduces the characters and shows the interactions between each and their connections. The set was extremely well thought out and minimalistic but grew and developed as the party progressed.
Jazmyn Stevens is listed in the program as Ensemble/Swing but on opening night performed the lead role of Mary. Jazmyn gave a very emotive performance of someone who has gone through life being bullied and just wants to be accepted by her peers. She clutches at any overture of friendship but at the same time sees the pain that others around her are suffering. Noah Montgomery who plays Malcolm and the one that Mary gravitates to, has his own demons but is very protective of Mary throughout. The chemistry between them was good considering Jazmyn was not the listed person to be playing the role.
Dylan Chomel as Dylan and Eva Wilde as Abigail were the typical teens racing towards adulthood way before they are ready and constantly making choices which do not always set them up for the better things in life. Abigail’s teenage pregnancy and Dylan’s promise to give up his current lifestyle choices is commendable, but sadly not often the choice made.
Ash Wood as Bennett and Kate Wooding as Katie are also desperately trying to navigate their way through feelings and emotions around their relationship. The desire to feel intimacy and love without the physical is often hard to articulate and this causes misunderstandings and hurt before they are able to open up and be honest with each other. A wonderful life lesson for us all.
Charlotte Kameron as Penelope is the little sister to Malcolm but not content to be left out, has a boyfriend Corey performed by Brandon Calmiano. Her friendship with Dylan almost derails the relationship as Penelope is only 16 whilst Dylan at 19 has much more life experience. Corey is understandably anxious about his relationship and the dialogue between these three has been exceptionally well written.
Astrid Teague as Winnie and Macey Lawson as Melanie are the party girls of the piece and are the type of friends who are not content unless they are prying into everyone’s life details and then compounding the emotions by supplying their own advice whether it’s requested or not.
Rachelle Launer as Jamie and Jalen Berry as Declan are the cool kids who sail through life not giving a fig about what anyone else thinks, a little dumb but not spiteful. Their antics throughout the performance alleviated the moments that could have ventured into dark melancholy.
The soundtrack for this production was written by local composer Will Everest. Will is currently studying at Elder Conservatorium and this is his first foray into Musical Theatre. Hopefully it will not be his last.
The myriad of crew involved in the production including set, props, costumes, light and sound ensured this production flowed smoothly from start to finish.
It is so exciting to see new and relevant pieces being produced in Adelaide even more so when they are locally written by some extremely talented people.
