Tag Archives: Justin Nardella

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

★★★★★

HERE at Outernet

PRISCILLA THE PARTY! at HERE at Outernet

★★★★★

“An incredible night out.”

“Priscilla The Party” is joyous, tremendous musical fun. Based on the 1994 Academy Award winner “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, “Priscilla the Party” hails from Australia in 2006. It is a rip-roaring celebration of drag, queerness and camp musical theatre. Each scene is calibrated towards entertainment and intrigue from the start. The story follows ‘Tick’ (Owain Williams) as he travels across Australia to reach his wife (Kimberly Blake) and his child (a stooge) as part of a fabulous trio of drag queens travelling in a bus they christen “Priscilla”. Adam (Reece Kerridge) and Bernadette (Dakota Starr) accompany Tick as he travels throughout Australia battling homophobia, transphobia, making allies, and delivering hit after hit. The show is an immersive experience (developed and directed by Simon Phillips), with staging and actors moving throughout the crowd on the dancefloor. The set (Brian Thomson and Justin Nardella) and direction make great use of the atmosphere of a club with an impressive line up of dance hits from “Say a Little Prayer” to “Born This Way”. A tale of love, adversity and Aussie humour shines with amazing theatrical gravitas throughout.

Every cast member performs with outstanding energy, delivering a varied set of pop/dance songs in a jukebox musical for the ages. The quality of musical performance is high with remarkable talent on display throughout as Queens deliver ballads and romps with equal intensity and stage presence. Beautiful vocals draw us into the story and relay the emotions of the characters. The band are brilliant and you can tell they know they have the best gig in town (Musical Arrangements and Orchestration Stephen ‘Spud’ Murphy). The stage management team work tirelessly to coordinate movement of stages as they weave throughout the crowd. The sound design (Ben Harrison) includes familiar hits, punctuated by topical music in the breaks that ensure a continuation of the party. The multi-media venue makes use of video backgrounds (also Thompson and Nardella) and vibrant club lighting (Per Hörding). The show includes all the best parts of a drag show with all the precision and thought of a well-crafted musical (Musical arrangements and direction Steve Geere). A highlight are the fantastic costumes (Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner) and wigs, delivering camp, classic and heightened drag in the best possible way.

Seated dining experiences are available, though dance floor tickets make up the bulk of audience members who get to join in the concert-like drag-show-esque party atmosphere. “Priscilla the Party” is stunningly unique and totally immersive, taking the audience on a hugely enjoyable road trip through Australia whilst delivering one spectacular party en route. The close to three hours playing time flies by as the colourful scenes progress in and around the gloriously camp ‘Cockatoo Club’. Arrive early to enjoy the full experience, as there are superb opening acts to enjoy. With drag queens and musical actors combining their strengths, “Priscilla The Party” makes for an incredible night out.


PRISCILLA THE PARTY! at HERE at Outernet

Reviewed on 24th March 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

Recently reviewed by Jessica:

HOSTAGE | ★★★★ | Etcetera Theatre | March 2024
APRICOT | ★★★★ | Theatre503 | March 2024
SARAH QUAND MÊME | | Drayton Arms | February 2024
AMUSEMENTS | ★★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024
WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE | ★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024
TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | February 2024

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

SARAH QUAND MÊME



Drayton Arms Theatre

SARAH QUAND MÊME at the Drayton Arms Theatre

“a confusing and frustrating experience”

Sarah Quand Même is a one-woman show about the life of Sarah Bernhardt, a French actress who recalls her life to her granddaughter Lysiane. You need to know that the entire play is performed in a thick French accent with a shrill infantilising affectation that grows tiring over the course of 80 minutes. There is little distinction between the various characters in Sarah’s life which also makes it almost impossible to discern different voices; an absolutely terminal mistake for a one-woman show. The play is a confusing and frustrating experience as a result. There are brief moments where some kind of distinction between characters is made, allowing occasional insight and intrigue into her life- but these are few and far between.

Written and acted by Susie Lindeman, Sarah is performed in a one note state seemingly permanently on the verge of crying in an over-the top fashion that speeds through dialogue. Moments in Sarah’s life that are genuinely heartfelt feel parodied and lost in the hysterical mess of scenes that are sometimes separated with the sound of champagne popping. The viewer is left totally lost and unable to understand any kind of story. In a curious choice of direction by Wayne Harrison, pieces of paper scattered across the stage are picked up, played with and discarded as we go through the chapters of Sarah’s life, possibly in homage to her life reading scripts. The tale of a poorly received and misunderstood actor feels hard to sympathise with when watching a play that is so worthy of criticism.

A lone highlight is the atmospheric and evocative lighting design (Martin Kinnane). The use of footlights evoke the stage lighting of Sarah’s era and heighten scenes, even when what is happening in them is unclear. The bold spotlights contrast with the ethereal colours as Lindeman floats around the stage in various night dresses. Another surprisingly well executed aspect is the set design. A decadent set of regency chairs and a deep red chaise lounge place us well in the time period, accompanied by Art deco posters and a light-bulb adorned dressing room desk (Justin Nardella).

As all linear biographies are destined to end with a death, It is not a surprise that Sarah Quand Même includes an almost comically slow and drawn out death that epitomises the problems with the performance. No amount of beautiful and underused set could fix the issues with the piece and the 80 minutes spent in the Drayton Arms could be better spent on more polished and watchable shows. Sarah Bernhardt may have been a fascinating and extraordinary person in her time but this performance did not portray this through its content or execution.


SARAH QUAND MÊME at the Drayton Arms Theatre

Reviewed on 29th February 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Darren Struwig

 


 

 

Recently reviewed by Jessica:

TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | February 2024
WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE | ★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024

SARAH QUAND MÊME

SARAH QUAND MÊME

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page