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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Three men and a panto: Cinderella and the Beanstalk @Theatre503 @wesleepingtrees


If there is one way to write a pantomime, Cinderella and The Beanstalk by Sleeping Trees at Theatre 503 tears up any rulebook.  

It is a crazy little show full of as many pantomime or nursery rhyme characters. The end result is a frenzied and funny take on the pantomime and Christmas traditions.

The premise of the show is that James, Joshua and George have written a script, booked a venue and hired one lonely musician (in the form of Mark Newnham). But they have forgotten one small thing. Hiring any actors. After checking that it is alright with the audience (who are we to say no?), they decide that they are going to have to perform all the roles themselves.



And so begins the odd tale of Cinderella, who is on a dangerous adventure at the behest of Rumpelstiltskin. He has blackmailed her to climb a beanstalk to retrieve some golden eggs. Meanwhile Prince Charming, a Fairy Godmother and a heavily pregnant cow do their best to get in the way.

So much is happening in this piece at once, that often the jokes collide into each other. In the end it is hard not to go along with this fast-paced and crazy take on pantomime conventions.

A hat or a jacket on top of some awfully Christmassy onesies is all that signifies a character change. Which helps when they are trying to portray several people in a single scene. And Mark Newnham and the boys keep things light and with some clever songs peppered throughout the piece.


Not everything works.  The re-enactment of scenes from the movie Home Alone feels like an attempt to drag the show out. But the likability of the performers and the good natured and clean fun they are having, make for a fun evening of comedy and panto.

Sleeping Trees is the comedy trio consisting of James Dunnell-Smith, Joshua George Smith and John Woodburn. Theatre 503 staged this show last year. It was such a success it is having a repeat showing this year. Next year they plan to do Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves, which by the title alone is continuing in their messed up, frenzied tradition.

In the meantime, Cinderella and The Beanstalk runs at Theatre 503 through to 2 January.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photos: Production photos by Jack Sain


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