Rough Trade – Review

“I’m thrilled to be having my Victorian debut with this play that is so close to my heart.”

Katie Pollock

I returned from Queensland just in time to review the latest production by Theatre Works and Rogue Projects called Rough Trade. Any show spruiking dancing dildos in its press release has got to be fun, right?

Rough Trade is the latest work from award-winning playwright Katie Pollock at Explosives Factory in St Kilda. This one-woman show is a celebration of resilience, aging, humour, and, as I mentioned earlier, dancing dildos. Inspired by true stories from the internet, the play looks at what happens when life kicks you to the ground, and you find yourself dependent on a Facebook community group where you trade and swap things called Rough Trade. The group’s members become your lifeline to the outside world during the COVID lockdown, and you learn more about yourself and its members with every message you send and every household thing you swap. Even dildos and sex toys are apparently able to be swapped for something else on Rough Trade!

One-man shows appear to be getting some love lately in Melbourne. Two recent productions, Loaded and Happy Days with Judith Lucy (which technically had two performers) both had strengths and weaknesses. Rough Trade is no different. The continuous monologue format allows for greater character development but can be an arduous experience for the audience. Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell is probably the most successful one-woman show I can recall and has similarities to Rough Trade. One thing is certain, the lead performer must be engaging for the show to work.

Katie Pollock’s script shines with witty one-liners and keen observations about COVID, agism, sex and the dreaded L word…Love! It’s a well-written and solidly structured piece that wants us to question the role social media plays in our lives. The lead character is a woman, who like most of us, gets things wrong and is a little fucked up. Pollock, who is also performing here, has a warm natural charm about her but perhaps her heart is invested in the story too much for her to truly let the character she created fly on stage. The character as played by Pollock needed more fire in her belly. A more experienced actor in the role would find fresh ideas to offer the piece and add levels to this well-written and at times poetic monologue.

With women over 55 the fastest-growing group experiencing homelessness in Australia, Rough Trade shines a light on the systemic and compounding factors placing women in this precarious position. The play premiered as part of the Made in Sydney program at the 2022 Sydney Fringe Festival, where it garnered critical acclaim and three award nominations including Best in Theatre and Best in Spoken Word. Indeed Pollock’s writing is strong and confident with a saucy sense of humour. Nicely directed by Anthony Skuse and performed by the playwright herself, Rough Trade is a witty and at times touching story about feeling invisible, aging, hope and human nature.

It ends on 29th July so you’ve only a few days left to see it!

“At times absurd and hilarious, at other times infuriating and then heart-rending,
Pollockʼs monologue frequently catches you off-guard.” City Hub

Show Details: ROUGH TRADE
Dates: Must end on Saturday 29th July, 7.30pm nightly
Cost: Adult $45, Concession $35, Preview $28, Mob TIX $20 + bf
Duration: 60 minutes (no interval)
Venue: TW Explosives Factory, Rear Laneway 67 Inkerman St, St Kilda VIC 3182
Tickets: https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2023/rough-trade

More Info: https://linktr.ee/noelanderson

Start Your Own Blog and Get $25 Credit

Produced by Harlequin Ink

Unknown's avatar

Published by noelanderson2014.com

NOEL ANDERSON (Writer & Director) completed NIDA Playwright Studio 1996 and also trained at Stella Adler Studio (New York), The Gate Theatre (London), Independent Theatre (Sydney) and Brisbane Academy of Music. He has worked as an actor, director, writer throughout Australia, his written work includes: Germ Warfare, Circles and The Carer which played at Sydney’s Belvoir Street theatre. Noel's strictly adult play, Sammy & Dave, which he also directed, played to packed houses at the Stables Theatre (Sydney), running for a staggering 3 months. In 2001-2002, Noel’s children’s play Kylie Kastle Throws a Party was performed in hundreds of schools across the country by Troubadour Theatre Co. As director & dramaturg, Noel worked on Kingdom - an Australian musical based on the King Arthur Legend and also The Other Half, a TV pilot for Beyond Films. Noel assistant directed on the first ever Aboriginal sitcom produced on SBS TV called The Masters, and counts Sylvia Plath’s play Letter’s Home at Belvoir Street Theatre among his best directing work. In 2004 -2006, Noel worked on a feature film script, Adult Services and a new play, Moonshot, about the American Lunar landing. But, needing adventure, he packed up and moved to Melbourne where he directed Dark Angels with Pop Diva Katie Underwood (Bardot). In 2008, Noel’s short play "Pulling Out" won Midsumma’s Pink Shorts Festival and Noel's production The Water Sellers at Dante's was awarded Best Director by the Monash Theatre Festival. In 2013, Noel's written work was performed in the show Love Letters at the Melbourne Arts Centre and his play Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes of Fame played to full houses at La Mama, Courthouse. Other directing work includes: Oliver (The Gold Coast Performing Arts Centre), Friday Night in Town, A Fitzroy Romance, Blowing Whistles, Australia Dot Com (Melbourne Comedy Festival), Narelle MacDonald : Descent into Pop Madness and Especes Menacees (performed in French) for the Melbourne French Theatre Company. Be sure to catch Noel's six part TV series NEXT... about internet dating on Foxtel and Apple TV in 2017. Other credits include : The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, The Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, The Sydney Film Festival, and The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games . In 2015 Noel's play Andy Warhol's Ffteen Minutes of Fame returned to Melbourne, playing to sold out performances at the Jewish Museum of Australia alongside Andy Warhol's Geniuses Exhibition. Noel then directed Price Check the musical at Theatreworks. He finished 2015 with a musical he directed and co-wrote called Audrey Hepburn and I Considers Our Assets at the Melba Spiegeltent, home of Circus Oz.

Popular Culture and Entertaintainment

, , , , , ,

Leave a comment

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑