The play's the thing, said Hamlet

Not always.

We went to the theatre tonight in a cold and quiet Wagga Wagga. Us and eleven other audience members ... and one of them was the lead male's girlfriend! But it was fun. We chatted with the woman who is caretaker / bar tender / usher of the Riverina Theatre. Her enthusiasm was irresistible. Hers is, by the way, the only bar I know of where you can buy a mug of tea and a flute of decent-enough fizzy wine for five bucks. After the show we spoke briefly with the two cast members who seemed as happy that we were there as we were pleased to have made the effort. Wagga Wagga is clearly not a town that rolls up in huge numbers for contemporary work.

The play was staged by Gearstick Theatre Company, which is associated with the local university. They're committed to new writing, which is commendable. The play we saw, Ruby Moon written by Matt Cameron, is on this year's HSC list so that ought to ensure larger audiences when schools go back next week. Although I enjoyed the experience I can't say the text really grabbed me. I can see why you would get school students to study it... all those contemporary social issues: child abduction, mental ill-health, the alienating life of suburbia, male / female relationships, etc. And I can see why actors might like it ... two performers are allowed to present maybe ten characters so that would be enjoyable. The text itself, however, felt a bit clunky. One could see the joins so to speak.

But I'm nit-picking. We had an enjoyable evening.
.