Whose Beach is it Anyway?
by Greg McCart
Kite Theatre Company, Queensland
Directed by Sue Rider
Design: Paul Edwards, Composer: Barry Ferrier
Cast: Tim Mullooly, Susi French, Lil Kelman, Elaine Cusick

For their contribution to Come Out 89, the Kite Theatre Company flew in from Brisbane to present a show for littlies entitled Whose Beach is it Anyway? Karah, a young suburban kid, comes across a hidden beach inhabited only by seagulls, a turtle, a crab and a brown booby bird. Like all explorers, he writes his name in large letters in the sand only to find that, once his friend Ros and her friend Cass find out about his discovery, in no time at all there are drink cans, twistie wrappers, blaring beatboxes and the sort of gallumphing intrusions which make crabs crabby, boobies nervous and turtle eggs forget to hatch.

While familiar, the lesson is crisp ,and clear, and one that applies to coastal sanctuaries and rain forests alike – you don’t have to build all over them or chop them down just because they are there. So when Karah and his friends recognise that the greatest threat to the pattern of nature is their own curiosity, Kite are providing five to seven year-olds with some wisdom that a few State Premiers could use.

What is refreshing about Greg McCart’s script and Sue Rider’s concise production is that they offer audiences not only worthy sentiments but inventive and memorable theatrical effects as well. Paul Edwards’ thrifty design, consisting of a floor pattern of pebbles and simple expanses of colour, uses a backdrop structure of interesting wooden boxes representing a cliff face. Enveloping this, Barry Ferrier’s evocative music and tidal soundscape set a rhythm which matches Sue Rider’s direction.

Tim Mullooly is likeable and identifiable as Karah and actors Susie French, Lil Kelman and Elaine Cusick, using simple costuming and clear gestures, bring the world of turtle, crab and booby vividly to the attention of rapt young audiences.

Well pitched and well paced, Whose Beach is it Anyway? consolidates Kite’s claim as one of the foremost companies offering theatre for junior primary level. Greg McCart has kept his text lean and the production is lucid and uncluttered. Kite show respect for their audience by neither pandering nor patronizing them. The result is subtle, modest and satisfying theatre.

“Whose Beach is it Anyway ?”Lowdown, Vol. 11, No.3, June, 1989, p.84.