May 5, 2011
Adelaide Theatre
BRIEF

The Eisteddfod
by Lally Katz
five.point.one
Bakehouse Theatre, 255 Angas Street, Adelaide
April 30. Wednesday to Saturday until May 14.
Tickets: $12 – $25. Bookings: www.bakehousetheatre.com
Or by phone on (08) 8227 0505.

In The Eisteddfod, a strange sixty minute suburban fable by prolific Melbourne playwright, Lally Katz, the now grown-up siblings, Abalone and Gerture (Brad Williams and Kate Roxby) live in a Hansel and Gretel world of anxiety, regression and play acting. Family dysfunction, unhappy sexual relationships and the pressures of the world return them to a reconstructed childhood and Abalone’s hopes of triumphing at the school eisteddfod with his performance as Macbeth.

The intrepid five.point.one company’s Corey McMahon has directed another theatrically fresh new work, with an outstanding white box, play school décor by Cassandra Backler (lit by Ben Flett) and a striking sound design by Jason Sweeney. Disturbing, elusive and inventive – The Eisteddfod is a weird little winner.

Murray Bramwell

The Australian. Out and About, May 5, 2011., p.16