When that play is penned by Declan Greene and directed by Malthouse Theatre wunder-director Matthew Lutton, the bar is set high. Malthouse Theatre spared no expenses and the production value was fairly impressive but at a cost; there are comic outbursts that give the play a balance but ultimately the significant time spent changing the setting reduces the dramatic impact that Lutton has been particularly good at conveying on a visual level.
Famed for her portrayal as Switch in The Matrix, Belinda McClory is stunning as Judy Garland – showcasing her comedic flare – and Tony Nicolacopoulos is likewise formidable at personifying key American pop culture figures: accent, body language and all. David Harrison delivers an understated and at the same powerful performance of the breakdown of a child actor but the rest of the characters like Anna Samson and Luke Ryan were present but not impactful as their characters lacked growth.
The play fulfills its potential at the points when the incubusesque of LA meets the comedic aspects of Bill Hicks’ stand up comedy act Hell-A, but at the end of the day, the ambition to fit everything in from fragmented narratives of a number of characters like Jonathan Brandis, Lindsay Lohan and the time-consuming elaborate scenery changes affect the clarity and potency of the overarching creative vision. Younger theatregoers will appreciate the allusions to the Volcano film and CSI and people that are comfortable with breaking away from a more traditional theatre experience will not be disappointed.
If you are a fan of Matthew Lutton and Declan Greene’s work, you will appreciate the consistency of their artistic vision but its disjunct rhythm can lead to mixed feelings at the end of a performance that could be more effective if it was not overly ambitious in terms of both scope and props.
