ROCKET MAN
Rocket Man by Paul Gilchrist is an insightful exploration of facades, imagination and the refuge provided by storytelling.
The setting is familiar, the morning-after bedroom. Neil, the Rocket Man, paces the room like a caged lion waiting to pounce on the sleeping Ronnie, an aspiring actress.
When she wakes, the pair discusses the value of theatre, a talk that escalates into a passionate argument. Ronnie’s roommate Claudia, and her boyfriend Justin, enter the fray and a simple disagreement becomes a collision between visions of reality and role playing.
Daniel Hunter as Neil is an intense knot of fury, cynicism and pent-up anxiety, Sylvia Keays portrays Ronnie with warmth and vulnerability and Alyssan Russell and Stephen Wilkinson are charming and believable as Claudia and Justin.
A production of nuance and subtlety, this is a well-acted, thinking person’s play that guarantees a long and intense post performance chat. (LR)
Until Jul 14, TAP Gallery, 278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst,$15-25, tapgallery.org.au
