Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (reviewed Tuesday 10 September).
Sydney Fringe continues its program of independent shows that inspire, surprise and delight. Tuesday’s line up at Erskineville Town Hall included “Who’s Up Next?!!” The Agony and Xstasy of the Auditionee and Where is Lancelot? Two intriguing questions! Let us start with the first.
Who’s up Next?!! is a one woman show by actor and theatre veteran Christine Greenough. It’s a semi-autobiographical account of her rise to stardom in the niche world of being an actor, contextualised in the most hated of all places: the audition room.
If you’ve never been to an audition, think of it as a job interview, a first date or any other situation where first impressions matter. They either love you or ignore you. Sometime they say they love you and then ghost you. Sometimes you hear nothing and then you find out they really liked you and want you for the part. Life has a funny way of choosing our roles at the most unexpected of times. Greenough gives us a behind the scenes peek of some her most memorable and stressful auditions.
With self-deprecating charm that had the audience eating out her hand, Greenough ‘auditioned’ in front of the crowd with a self-devised piece Miss Daliah Darymple’s Debunte Deportment class and a monologue from Death of a Salesman. Ironic, considering Greenough knows this industry like the back of her hand but the auditioning process is still a tough sell. She’s interrupted halfway through her monologue while the interviewer sitting up the back of the room answers an emergency phone call. She’s jolted out of the zone but is unfazed. In the interim Greenough discovers the milk is off and someone ate all the Tim Tams. How rude!! They asked her to be here today and she made an effort to be two hours early!! Greenough is unimpressed but not surprised. With beguiling stories she regales the toughest roles she’s undertaken, including a gender bended truck driver and Lady Macbeth at the tender age of 16.
Greenough’s diction and mature charisma is of the golden age variety; her command to ‘pull out shoulders back’ in her deportment class had us all sitting up straighter in our chairs. All younger actors please take note; if you are going to be on the stage, for heaven’s sake make sure you can be heard!
Thank you Greenough and OuTaTown Productions for a wonderful performance.
“Who’s Up Next?!!” The Agony and Xstasy of the Auditionee is playing at Erskineville Town Hall until 14 September. For tickets and showtimes, go to https://sydneyfringe.com/events/whos-up-next-the-agony-and-xtasy-of-the-auditionee/
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Credits:
- Producer/Director/Designer – Allan Walpole
- Artist – Christine Greenough