REVIEW: ‘Starweaver’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review from - June 26th, 2024 (Opening Night)

Photo by Jamios Photography

Starweaver, by Jamie Hornsby and Ellen Graham, is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

Entering the Void at Flinders Drama Centre, the audience is immediately met by a giant curved screen. This is the set and the world of the play, conjuring a world created using Unreal Engine, cutting edge visual effects technology. There’s locations that transform and change on a dime, hallways to run through and empires to topple. There’s motion capture, animation, huge crowds and interstellar travel. It’s staggering that a small independent theatre company has been able to create work of this scale (in collaboration with the visual effects department at Flinders University.) But none of these technical innovations would matter if the show itself didn’t measure up. Thankfully, Starweaver is an exceptional piece of theatre.

Starweaver takes place in a not-too-distant future where even the stars have been taken away from us. Capitalism has run its course, and the world is ruled by a handful of mega-corporations (one of which being (for legal reasons) The Mouse - some things never change!) Starweaver drops us straight into this world and the rollercoaster never stops, jamming an entire revolution into 90 minutes.

The script is excellent, which is no surprise given the track record of these artists, winning the David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre. Jamie Hornsby and Ellen Graham expertly juggle tense drama with moments of levity and a surprising streak of beautiful poetry. The play tackles huge themes but still finds time for tiny moments of beauty and connection amidst its sci-fi hellscape. It’s tight, touching and thematically rich, and like all good science fiction, it uses the future to shine a light on issues that matter right this very second.

Photo by Jamios Photography

The cast are uniformly excellent. Maeve Hook as Terra is a firebrand, kicking the action into a high gear with grit and determination. Hook is fantastic, relishing her role as the leader of a group of revolutionary misfits. Jamie Hornsby is comedic and committed as Cassius, only occasionally dropping his foppish persona to reveal deep turmoil and regret. Hornsby gives a layered and nuanced performance, introducing us to the world of the play at the same time as the protagonist, Cato. Which brings us to Ellen Graham, who shines as Cato Aspen. Graham is the glue that holds the entire show together, never leaving the stage and barely stopping to take a breath. She navigates Cato’s grief, hope, rage and despair with ease. It’s a heroic performance. These three performers are buoyed by an excellent ensemble made up of Rohan Becker, Mantra Bhatt and Shardae Santos, as well as powerhouse performances from Mark Saturno and Brett Archer in prerecorded and motion capture roles. Saturno oozes menace as the play’s villain Kit Donovan, and Archer’s Mark Aspen provides a moral centre for the play with warmth and conviction.

Director Shannon Rush proves to be a very deft hand with a talent for shepherding new works to the stage. She makes the most of a small space, constantly finding ways to keep our interest and keeping this sprawling story on track. She’s aided by Designer Kathryn Sproul and Lighting Designer Mark Oakley. Together, they create a world of dystopian disrepair combined with neon and colour, emphasising the class disparity in the play. There were a few minor technical issues, as you might expect on opening night of a play of this scope. But it’s the mark of a great piece of theatre that it can withstand any technical wobbles.

Photo by Jamios Photography

In an age of ‘cine-theatre’, Madness of Two are attempting something genuinely groundbreaking. Starweaver an innovative and exceptional new work, made by innovative and exceptional new artists who may very well be the future of South Australian theatre.

Go see it. 5 stars.

Review by Joshua Maxwell (https://linktr.ee/joshmaxwell)

Produced by We Talk Theatre

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