Stage Fright

After interviewing Ali the Director on Triple H 100.1fm I was looking forward to seeing the show. I had a feeling that I was going to be in for a great afternoon. Ali wrote the Day the Sky Turned Black, inspired by interviews with survivors of the Black Saturday Bushfires. The show gained wide critical acclaim across the globe; so I knew she was a women that wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect; I was right.
Stage Fright is a tale of a ghost who has to scare the people in the attic otherwise he won't pass his exam and the three children will have to stay in the attic for a whole year. So, they re-intact stories to try and scare each other, the trouble is one girl is un-scarable!  

The set was magical (almost literally)! I can see it now as clear as a bell. Ali's direction around the stage, through cupboards and into Dunnies was smooth and well thought out to give the maximum entertainment value. Paul Jennings stories are great, the actors all performed the multiple roles with ease. The actors were young; but all of them have achieved a number of roles already and judging by their performances we will be seeing quite a bit more of them.
As this production was aimed for children there were quite a number of them in the audience, I sat fairly near the back, I did not see one child move or make a noise (other than those expected!) during the whole performance, so that is a testament in itself. There were a few couples so don't be put off because you can find some children to take, you will enjoy it.

Stage Fright is playing at the New Theatre until 28 January.