BETWEEN The Clouds is a cautionary tale about the perils of growing up and social media.
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It does not condemn social media but shows how things said online – without the context and expression and tone of delivery – can cut deep and be taken to heart.
The HotHouse 2015 Studio Ensemble production makes theatre relevant and fresh to a new audience.
Sydney-based writer Julia-Rose Lewis has produced a wonderfully constructed script which resonates with a honest, modern dialogue perfectly executed by these budding Border actors.
The set, designed by Sophie Woodward, looks like This is Eden gone viral, an ensemble of beds intertwined like a comfy world-wide web perched every which way on stage.
It is perfect for teenage dreaming, crying, singing and jumping on.
The boy making milkshakes (Lewis Stanley) at the bakery who takes home a lost phone only to see the girl he loves privately longs for someone else.
The girlfriend (Georgie Currie) trying to re-connect with her lost boyfriend.
The keyboard troll (Aquilla Sorensen) who uses the anonymity of the internet to bully and humiliate others in a flawed attempt to lift her own self esteem.
The entrepreneur (Claudia Grenfell-Urjland) who uses her friends to fleece others.
The schoolyard opposites (Ayesha Harris-Westman and Christine Miles) who find their voice online.
The bedroom pop star (Paddy Brown).
Their five stories unfold through the pages of Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr but as the web expands everyone’s paths cross.
Talented director Travis Dowling has kept the dialogue fast with plenty of verbal jabs, barbs and laughs.
To get a young cast to deliver with great timing and realism is a testament to the work he and many at HotHouse do behind the scenes.
Testament, also, is that the Studio Ensemble will perform the work in the heart of the Sydney theatre scene – The Wharf – in association .with the Australian Theatre for Young People.
In a dog-eat-dog world where YouTube can chew up and spit out budding actors quicker than a Facebook friend request it is reassuring to see such promising young talent on stage in Between The Clouds.
These young performers should be proud of this production.
Yet again HotHouse Theatre has really lucked-out, is that the right words? Doesn’t matter you know what I mean.
Between The Clouds plays at The Butter Factory Theatre, Gateway Village, until November 21. Visit hothousetheatre.com.au for details.
