Creativity sculpted in to a 70 minute burst of quirky and
artistic fun. The Escapist’s captivating production of “Boy Girl Wall” allows
audiences from any demographic to have a light hearted laugh and a tear of joy.
Don’t get me wrong, I am far from bias, therefore me saying that this
production truly blew me away is a powerful thing. From the second he stepped
on stage, the charming Lucas Stibbard captivated the audience, somewhat taking
control of their emotions. He held this power to eliminate any scepticism one
may have and turn it to optimism allowing every patron to leave the theatre
with a smile from ear to ear. He was
truly a pleasure to watch, as he released these bursts of energy across the
stage.
Audience captivation was definitely the key in this
production. The use of Brecht style techniques, such as stepping out of
character to address the audience, was a smart move for this piece. These
techniques allow audience members to mentally adapt to the play on multiple
levels. Lucas truly did optimise his talent on stage and used it to his advantage,
conveying the story in a way that was fun and light hearted but still somewhat
powerful.
This play was very well written, expressing an amusing
and romantic story but also offering a powerful message, easy for audience
members to relate to from their perspective. Throughout the play, you will find these
delightful quotes that reinforce the message behind Boy Girl Wall. A personal
favourite of mine being when Lucas pointed out that; “being late and lost is
the worst, you know why? Because being late and lost means that you are in the
wrong place at the wrong time”. Don’t reference me on that one, it isn’t word
for word but you get the gist.
Intelligent, fun and unique; and I am only now referencing
to the idea of having a piece of chalk as one of the main stage props. This was
such a creative idea, placing this dainty piece of chalk in Lucas’s pocket to
be used throughout the play as a prop to demonstrate the message to the
audience and also entertain in a new and spontaneous way. A great example of
this being a point at the beginning of the play when an alarm sounds and for
the sound to stop, Lucas was forced to draw a picture of an alarm clock on the
wall and hit it. This was very clever.
As you can see, I truly only have good things to say
about the Escapist’s “Boy Girl Wall”. This creative production has blown anything
even close to constructive criticism out of the water because honestly there is
not one thing I can criticise. With a play concluding with loud waves of
cheering and praise, it seems as if I am not the only one that believes that “Boy
Girl Wall” is a delightful modern masterpiece.
I thoroughly enjoyed my “Boy Girl Wall” experience on
opening night at the MTC theatre in the heart of Melbourne city. I highly recommend
this play to anyone who loves kind hearted humour and quirky fun. The Escapists
have gone above and beyond in the creation of this play and should be confident
that they have produced a blissful success.
The above review will be airing on local Melbourne radio station SYN 90.7 in this up-coming season along with an interview of Neridah Waters - on of the brains behind Boy Girl Wall and part of the theater group the escapists. It has been a pleasure working with the publicist for this production, Mayuca Pandita, and member of the escapists - Neridah Waters. My sincere thanks go out to not only Mayuca and Neridah, but The Escapists for putting this production together and the MTC theater for giving me the opportunity to experience this joyful piece of art!
Tessa Rose
Boy Girl Wall - Melbourne Opening night (18th April 2012)
Review – SYN 90.7
I will have to research this further and see if it will be playing over here in the states!
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