REVIEW – SOMETHING NATURAL BUT VERY CHILDISH

The launch of the Sydney Independent Theatre Company’s (SITCO) new residence at the ‘new Old Fitz’ went off with a bang at the opening night of Director and Assistant Director of SITCO Julie Baz’s Something Natural But Very Childish.

The first show of the season meets the company’s aim of producing theatre that is accessible, affordable, and most importantly a fun night out. Virginia Woolf said of Katherine Mansfield’s writing, “hers is the only writing I have ever been jealous of,” and we certainly see why in this surreal interweaving of stories, lost opportunities and characters searching for, but never quite meeting, love.

This production brings back admiration for brilliantly done social satire, theatre we can enjoy and relate to but that can still take us to another time and place. Even in the innocent narrative of the smitten Henry and Edna (Kieran Foster and Leah Donovan), there is a bitter and pessimistic slant that uncovers the truth of the human experience all too often neglected in theatre. (MH)

Until May 25, The Old Fitzroy Hotel Theatre, Dowling Street Woolloomooloo, $32, www.sitco.net.au