DOES HIMSELF A FAVOUR

Bursting With Energy

■ Frenzy Theatre’s production of Motherlod_^e is a wild ride of a show, bursting with energy and imagination, that ran at Theatre Works in St Kilda last month.

The multi-media production is predominantly set inside a theatrically-realised version of the computer game The Sims, that is the PC game is literally brought to life inside the theatre with Frenzy actors playing game characters.

Sarah (actor uncredited), once a keen Sims player as a teenager, revisits her old PC as an adult and jumps back into the game (real people playing the game are shown in videos projected onto a screen at the back of the stage).

The script is credited as being created by Frenzy Theatre Co, Belle Hansen and Matilda

Gibbs, with Amelia Newman as dramaturg. In addition, Flick is the show’s producer with Matilda Gibbs its creative producer and Belle Hansen director.

There is a lot to admire in the work of cast and crew under Hansen’s direction.

Much lively sound and movement takes place as various game characters interact, with plenty of shenanigans going on; two scenes in particular are side-splittingly hilarious i.e. when the devil arrives and when two female characters hop into bed together. The physicality of the performers is a highlight of the production as they bring the Sims characters to life.

There are certainly shortcomings with some aspects of the production.

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