THEATRE
By Hannie Rayson, produced by
Performing Lines
At Theatre Works, St Kilda, until May 6, 2018
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ***1/2
Review also published n Herald Sun Arts online on Thurs May 3, 2018 and later in print (Fri 4 May?). KH
'Welcome to my life',
says Hannie Rayson as she bursts enthusiastically onto the stage at the
beginning of her one-woman storytelling show, Hello Beautiful!, based on her 2015
memoir of the same name.
Whether she is addressing the audience directly or reading stories
selected from her book, Rayson exudes warmth and a quiet
humility tinged with gentle confidence that comes from a successful writing
career.
Directed by Matthew
Lutton, she reads her stories standing at a small lectern or seated at a desk
littered with papers, while story titles and family photos are projected on a
screen behind her.
Rayson wears her heart on
her sleeve as she reveals her emotional and psychological quirks, and
embarrassing or enlightening experiences during her evolution from psychology
student at Melbourne Uni, to drama student then, eventually, into successful
playwright.
Leaky is a series of
witty observations about her childhood and the whispered secrets about ladies'
internal plumbing and other secret women's business, while The Snake and the
Shared House captures with acerbic wit, the chaos, foibles and grubbiness of
life and love as a student in the 1970s in a shared house in Fitzroy.
Other stories address Rayson’s
social and political views about feminism, work and the politics of the nation,
while the story titled Arthur Boyd is a poignant tale not only of meeting the
great artist himself, but also of a tragic turning point in her own life.
Drama School reveals with
incisive observation, the quirks of studying theatre at the Victorian College
of the Arts in the 1970s and the launch of Rayson’s career as a playwright when
she and her colleagues formed the company, Theatreworks.
Hollywood is a hilarious
insight into Rayson's experience writing a Broadway musical, and the title
story, Hello Beautiful!, reveals a secret graffiti artist in Rayson's beloved
Fitzroy.
This hour-long show will
appeal to fans of Rayson’s writing and those who value simple, engaging
storytelling about ordinary and extraordinary moments and familiar people and
places.
By Kate Herbert
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