OBSERVER: Garage Sale
Garage Sale is a cheeky and light hearted step into the past. Easily recognisable cultural icons and past cultural behaviour fondly treated with cringe worthy recognition and many laugh out loud moments.
Denise, using objects in the Garage Sale, introduces her husband Greg and an array of characters from their past and present exploring the hidden and ridiculous secrets within a 46 year marriage. Past fashion, obsolete technology, and social and cultural changes the characters have gone through are explored with quite moving effect.
Too much detail will destroy the comedic absurdity but it includes strange suburban mysticism and supernatural revelations.
Script driven, the structure and content of the Garage Sale is exceptional. Using audio visual and staging it cleverly extends character performance and information. Objects from the Garage Sale create a logical through line and allows an elaborate history to unfold in 55 minutes with easy comprehension.
A closer look at the idiomatic language of characters to better support excellent performances a passing thought. Numerous evil-spirit foreshadowing moments might also benefit from some minor tinkering to enhance an already great comic payoff.
I counted 10 characters performed. Some as older and younger versions of themselves, anthropomorphised marionette puppet and other voodoo.
Alanah Parkin’s ability to create comedic stereotypes fleshed out with deeper character and subject intimacy demonstrated with generous nonjudgmental exploration and conviction.
Direction is well guided. Isaac Haigh ensured the production had punctuation to assist dramatic comprehension. Lighting and sound reinforce multiple realities mostly faultlessly executed, an exception, Alanah hard to hear over audio visual elements particularly during the climax.
The work on this show is apparent. There are a lot of technical components which have been well worked out. A tip of the hat to distinct character execution, a rich story and polished production.
Venue: The Motley Bauhaus, Carlton.
Review by Sebastian Gunner