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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

Racing with the clock: Tick, Tick... Boom! @BHTse20


Watching Tick, Tick... Boom at the Bridge House Theatre, a play about young thirty-somethings in 1990 makes you realise that if they were alive today, they would be becoming sexagenarians. The passing of time and the struggles of being creative in New York are at the heart of this piece. Now it's over to a new generation to sing about about Jonathan Larson's anxieties about creativity, composition and getting older.

It's made all the more bittersweet given the composer (and lead character Jon), Jonathan Larson died in 1996, six years after this piece is set. His death was also just before his show, Rent would open and become a big success.

Tick, Tick... Boom!  was initially conceived as a solo work for Larson after his struggles to mount a show he was developing. After his death, it was reworked into a three-hander which is the version that we see today.

While there are many musical theatre references, particularly to Sondheim, what’s interesting about the show is how it depicts the struggle to be an artist. And this production brings out the essence of the piece.

As the lead character Jon, Alex Lodge conveys all the anxieties and brashness of new up and coming composer, while making him incredibly likable.

As his best friend Michael, James Hume gives a sensitive and revealing portrayal.

There's one number in the piece, Come To Your Senses, that stops the show towards the end. Georgie Ashford, as an actor in Jon's workshop, delivers a thrilling rendition of this.

The small space of the Bridge House Theatre gives the piece a surprising intimacy. It's a simple yet slick design and setup. Usually, this show comes with a rock band too.  But stripping back the musical accompaniment allows the cast to harmonise without additional amplification. And it helps make the characters seem more real.

Directed by Guy Retallack, Artistic Director of Bridge House Theatre, and music direction by Jamie Ross, Tick, Tick... Boom! Is at Bridge House Theatre until 27 October.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photos by Jamie Scott-Smith

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