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October 28, 2018

Young recruits search for meaning

Lines
by Pamela Carter (developed with Jay Miller)
Theatre Republic
The Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide.
October 26. Tickets: $25- $35. Bookings bakehousetheatre.com
Duration: 75 minutes.
Until November 10.

When young men join the army what do they hope for ? Is it really a choice or a last resort ? Is it to serve Queen and country, or to be part of a Mark Wahlberg movie ? Originated by London’s Yard Theatre and adapted for Australian audiences, Pamela Carter’s Lines introduces four very disparate recruits as they experience boot camp and face the real possibility of lethal combat. “Lines” is army slang for barracks and the play takes us close into the harrowing demands and privations of military life.

In this debut production from newly-formed Adelaide company, Theatre Republic, artistic director Corey McMahon has enlisted an excellent cast and technical crew, drilling this fast-moving study of class, power and masculinity to its theatrical best.

Olivia Zanchetta’s compact set – four army beds, personal storage lockers and a bank of horizontal fluoro light boxes, crisply managed with timely strobes by lighting designer Chris Petridis – uses the constraints of the Bakehouse to intense effect. Composer James Oborn’s score and Roz Hervey’s martial choreography complete the experience.

The performances are compelling– Matt Crook as the diligent Locke, Stuart Fong as the easy-going Mackay, James Smith as the luckless Perk, and Rashidi Edward as Valentine, the black immigrant seeking racial acceptance through patriotic duty.

“Young recruits search for meaning” The Australian, October 30, 2018, p.14,

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