Review: Tell Tale, National Student Drama Festival

This review has been taken from my NSDF blog, written for the Peter de Haan Charitable Trust.

Telling the story of 7 characters stuck in a space, cluttered with junk, Tell Tale is a cake-mix of nonsensical rhythms and ukulele strums; gurgles, squawks and a silhouette T-Rex. Tell Tale was striking in its lyrical quality and tripping, lilting delivery of its mythical, Just-So stories which left the audience warmed inside and filled with biscuits and cheap squash. Whilst there had been no actual plot outside of the Kipling-esque episodes of tail tales, one of the Just-Sos was how the kangaroo got its tail, through watching and listening to the beautiful nonsense those witnessing this event could create their own take where all is fluid and can take on any form, to quote one of the tellers, the name used for the characters in the ensemble, of this captivating tale - ‘nonsense is the seed that springs creativity, meaning in everything saps the good out of spontaneity.’ The Tell Tale company's use of the audience recalled nights spent watching Punchdrunk, Kneehigh or performance artist Bobby Baker, the last especially true of performer Abi Speer whose bubbly portrayal swings from childlike enthusiasm to an introverted and shy reservedness. The Kneehigh comparison also stands up to their use of actor-musicians with members of the ensemble showcasing their skill on the aforementioned ukulele and the cello. All were excellent singers and harmonies drifted in and out of the audience's aural focus, washing over you them the Wollgongilong River of which the troupe sang in all its absurd glory. The production’s structure could have done with strengthening and greater care should have been exercised when considering the audience’s involvement in the piece, possibly a product of the space in which they were performing. A piece of colossal potential and writer-director-performer Sarah Davies however has, in my opinion, a bright future if this is anything to go by.

Tell Tale: ****
Image courtesy of Noisesoffmagazine.blogspot.