OBSERVER: All Is Good
In a delightful entertaining flight of the imagination, Theatre Works and Inotrope Productions’ show All Is Good … In The Glow Of Moonlight provided a moving evening of song, laughter and tears and a window into what life as an artist must have been like in Stalin’s Russia.
In a depiction of the afterlife suggestive of a small bohemian cafe or someone’s lounge room, the dead Jewish author Isaac Babel, a victim of Stalin’s purges, spars with one of his fictional characters, the gangster king of Odessa, Benya Krik.
Fact and fiction blur as the two tell stories and sing songs about life in Odessa before and during Stalin’s reign.
Created by Isaac Babel, Simon Starr, Brian Lipson and Joseph Sherman, All Is Good… was a well constructed play which successfully blended live music and song with the spoken word.
The narrative was easy to follow even though there was plenty of switching around between acting, singing and musical interludes.
All Is Good … was primarily a two-hander with Simon Starr (actor/musician) playing Krik and Joseph Sherman (actor/singer) playing Babel; in a smaller role was Shane Grant who, as well as designing the lighting, was a master of ceremonies for the evening.
Starr and Sherman were a delight to watch; they had a lovely chemistry between them and their palpable enjoyment in playing their roles was infectious. Both had great singing voices while Starr’s musical talent shone when playing a variety of instruments.
While production credits had no listing for a director, David Pledger was listed as dramaturg. He clearly did a great job of developing and shaping the script and in all likelihood would have been giving notes to the performers throughout rehearsals.
A rich evening’s entertainment then, All Is Good … In The Glow Of Moonlight gave the audience laughs and songs to sing along to as well as providing poignant moments and insights into life under Stalin.
Presented at the Explosives Factory, Theatre Works.
theatreworks.org.au
Review by Peter Murphy