Theatre has been my thing for a few years now, easily being my best subject in high school alongside Media. Thus, I’ve been a lot of theatre, both good, bad, amateur and professional, yet I’ve never seen a La Mama production until now. Todd in Venice is a Midsumma Festival show on display at La Mama from February 1st-5th. Written by Sofia Chapman, a musician and writer who has previously had plays on at La Mama, Todd in Venice details Anges Kermode and Michael Bark’s travels in Italy, where they come across the peculiar Todd Ash. Chapman’s story can be best described as a look into human emotion, sexuality, discovery and lust or love. Kate Hosking, Alex Beyer and Joseph Lai appear as the main cast, with Terry Cole and James Adler supporting as Guido and Doge of Venice respectively. Each character within the play are very separate to each other, meaning very different personalities clash on stage. Anges is a very direct woman, however consistently changes her mind and decisions, worrying about money one second, then throwing it out for anything in another. Michael is a very sexual young man, puffing out his chest and striking poses, but also has a big heart, falling for Todd very quickly. Todd is a different case entirely. Later revealed as a sex worker, Todd rebuffs Michael’s advances for the better part of the play, before finally succumbing to lust, or love; neither is specified. As for the supporting cast, they add a lot to the background of the primary performances. Guido performs and plays behind the action, be in a small italian guitar, an accordion, or even circus tricks. His performance is obviously used to enhance the idea of being in Italy, however for a lot of the time it's almost unnecessary, acting as more of a distraction than an accompaniment. Meanwhile, the Doge adds a very aussie feel to Venice, whilst although pitched as a very religious character, quickly relaxes and acts as casual as if one of the audience members. Although he is most seperate to the other four characters, he is also the most interesting. The play itself is quite scattered; split into three acts, the play picks up pace wise in the second act abruptly, then drops suddenly within the third. The abrupt reason is the dance sequence. Music, singing, and even some light dancing is used earlier in the play, however not to the extent of its use in act two. Before it came on I noticed that Lai and Hosking did the choreography of the play, however I hadn’t noticed any major dancing. That changed quickly. As though in a bollywood dance film, Anges, Todd and Michael suddenly began prancing and dancing across the stage, sticking together rather tightly as they grinded, twerked, and pouted for the small, twenty person audience. Fascinating, to say the least. What it caused however was a jumble in the play's structure. By the end of it, I still couldn’t tell you what exactly happened during it. Anges got a sex change as a woman, but she was already a women, Todd became sick and then was placed in a boat made from balloon animals, and Michael held him in his arms as the lights lowered on the play. My biggest gripe with the play is its lack of a significant plot, meaning although the scenes wereinteresting, as was the acting, I didn’t know why they were there or shown in the first place, as they didn’t make up a strong timeline of events.Todd in Venice tries to be a lot of things; a dance number, a circus show, and a play. However, it only achieves two of these, failing at what it is actually meant to be. Written by Hamish Vallance

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.