Are you ready for this? Strapped in? Prepared for ‘a short ride in a fast machine’?
The acclaimed comedy musical, ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ opened on Saturday night at the Brisbane Arts Theatre to well-earned thunderous applause. The quips and puns come thick and fast in this language-and-spelling-themed play.
The story concerns a group of bright and quirky adolescents participating in a county spelling bee in a fictional county in the USA, and the group of equally unconventional adults supervising them. Partly about growing up, and partly a commentary on 21st century society’s obsessions, the play explores themes of emotional and sexual discovery, gender stereotyping, developing independence from the parental mantle, dealing with success and failure in competitive situations, and the value of self-effacement as a social tool.
Sexy MC Rona Lisa Peretti (Kelsie McDonald), is a previous winner of ‘The Bee’, and reminisces on her moment of glory, and her oft repeated ‘its my favourite moment of The Bee!’ is cause for much amusement as the play develops.
‘Comfort Counsellor’ Mitch Mahoney (Stephen Smith), who is there to assist students cope with elimination and disqualification, turns out to be an ex-convict doing community service, while jittery Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Trent Richards) is a formerly disgraced Spelling Bee judge, who is ‘in a better place now’, but clearly still on the edge….
Opening Night Photos Here
Early camaraderie and solidarity between the students naturally dissolves into bickering, squabbling, bullying and intense rivalry as the competition progresses. We come to know the various characters, their background, and what spurs them onwards, or holds them back, by means of numerous asides, aided by careful stage lighting and sub-roles played by cast members.
Olive (Jessica Potts) Ostrovsky’s mother is off communing in an ashram in India, and her abandoned father channels his anger into his work, leaving Olive alone, save for ‘My Friend The Dictionary’ – she yearns for a loving and supportive family environment. Leaf Coneybear (Isaac Tibbs) is home-schooled, and makes his own clothes. His siblings bully him, and have left him believing ‘I’m Not That Smart’; his shy, introspective character is delightful—poor Leaf has a run of little known and comical South American rodent names to spell. Logainne (Samantha Sherrin) SchwartzandGrubenierre’s two fathers are at loggerheads over the intensity of her training for The Bee, while Chip Tolentino (Jarrad Lindsay) is disqualified after daydreaming about Leaf’s sister – cue the hysterical ‘My Unfortunate Erection’.
Hot-housed, overachieving Marcy Park (‘I Speak Six Languages’), played by Liv Wilson, is tired of always winning, and has a revelatory moment of self-discovery which affects the outcome of The Bee.
The unfortunate William Barfée, played to perfection by Alex Watson, was pipped at the post in last year’s Bee, due to his peanut allergy. Alex’s performance of William’s unpleasant personal habits, various allergies, and irritating arrogance stole the show — his ‘Magic Foot’ song, his unselfconscious dancing, and his knack for comedic timing had the audience in hysterics.
The second half of the play becomes darker, as the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters are explored further, but ultimately, nobler instincts, conscience, affection and also rebellion conspire in the final outcome.
Ensuring that every performance of this play will be a little different, there is the unpredictable wild-card of audience involvement – four audience members participate in The Bee – but don’t panic, this is strictly voluntary.
This is apparently a directorial debut at the Brisbane Arts Theatre for Katherine Alpert, and is nothing short of a triumph! She should be exceedingly proud of what she has achieved here. This is a professional performance in an amateur theatre, which has shown increasingly impressive quality recently. We look forward to further delights from Katherine, the Arts Theatre, and the many talented performers in this play.
