Book and Lyrics by Vic Zerbst. Music by Vic Zerbst and Oliver John Cameron. Supported by Sydney Festival
Retreading familiar territory, Converted! puts the ‘camp’ in conversion camp
Reviewed by Justin Clarke
Rebel Theatre, Pier 2/3 Suite 2/13A Hickson Road, Dawes Point
3rd – 25th January, 2025
Tickets: https://atyp.com.au/ATYP-productions/converted/
Type: Musical/Satire/Queer Joy
If you liked: The Book of Mormon, The Prom, Bare: A Pop Opera
Satire, disco and conversion camps, three things I never thought I’d type in the same sentence. The Australian Theatre for Young People’s latest new Australian musical offering, Converted! offers a pop-filled look at the increasingly banned practice of conversion therapy, retreading along the same messages that have come before it, whilst attempting to say something new.
Maya (Megan Robinson) is desperate to be seen and liked as she sits alone in the schoolyard. Fundamentally feeling like she is different to her peers, her idolisation of the school counsellor, Ms. Newsome (Cassie Hamilton) leads her to enrol at the ‘Fix Yourself!’ camp for low self-esteem teens. As the name infers, the Camp Leaders want to “fix” a lot more than the campers’ self-esteem issues. With a rebellion against the camp overlouds led by the tough-exteriored Bone (Teo Vergara), Maya must ultimately decide who or what it is she’s trying to fix before she loses what’s right in front of her.
Award-winning comedy writer Vic Zerbst leans heavily on satire and parody here. Comedy and conversion therapy are not unfamiliar bedfellows, South Parks’ infamous parodying once saw the meek Butters tricked to be enrolled at a Christian conversion camp, and the same energy is borrowed here throughout Converted! albeit without as much controversial subject matter.
Aided by Brockman’s lighting design, the atmosphere is drenched in the binary. Blues and pinks adorn the stage bleeding into the fabric of Savanna Wegman’s costume and set design. We’re very much thrust into the binary world of Converted! which most definitely puts the “camp” in conversion camp along the way.
…succeeds in restating the vital importance of being true to who you are, no matter what age you are
The Breakfast Club styled group of “low self esteem” younglings, Bone, Horace (Teo Persechino), Denver (Redd Scott) and Sammy (Melody Kiptoo) each seek to find the thing that they are told needs fixing. Meanwhile basketball enthusiast Kyle (Ashley Garner also taking extremely swift costume changes as Silent Greg along the way) finds himself at the wrong camp, ultimately becoming a metaphor for the role cisgendered allies can play.
Aided by the disco-esque pop tunes from composer Oliver John Cameron, the notion of sexuality permeates the entirety of the messages being told here. In a world where the online, and social spheres of the world are louder than ever, when are we able to let young people just be themselves?
Whilst the piece aims to say something new about sexuality and conformity in the face of adversity, it fails to create any real sense of adversity when it comes to gender expression. With the set, the counsellors and the Karen-like overload of the camp, Mrs Doctor (Helen Dallimore) pushing the notion of the binary world, they still refer to each camper using their requested and appropriate pronouns. It teeters on the precipice of giving depth and vitriol to the symbolism of the camp itself, opting for a more recognisable and often walked road comedic route in musical theatre. Therein giving the piece a somewhat muddled core.
Director Hayden Tonazzi harnesses the multiple strings at play, pulling them all together to create inventive imagery and magic on stage. The mirrors that are at the heart of the camp puts a reflective message of onus onto the audience, whilst hidden trapdoors and inflatable set pieces lift the production to its funnest levels.
Converted! may not offer something inherently new, but it will succeed in restating the vital importance of being true to who you are, no matter what age you are. With more states outlawing conversion therapy as a practice, Converted! is a wholly relevant tongue-in-cheek time away at camp throughout the Sydney Festival that offers visual delights and some outrageous laughs along the way.
Theatre Thought: With so much on at the Sydney Festival, how do you decide which show catches your interest? Do you go by price, genre, medium, or a true choice of spin the wheel?
CAST
MAYA
Megan Robinson (she/they)
BONE
Teo Vergara (they/them)
MRS DOCTOR
Helen Dallimore (she/her)
MR DOCTOR
Nat Jobe (he/him)
HORACE
Teo Persechino (he/they)
DENVER
Redd Scott (they/them)
SAMMY
Melody Kiptoo (she/they)
MS NEWSOME
Cassie Hamilton (she/her)
KYLE / SILENT GREG
Ashley Garner (he/him)
ON-STAGE SWING / DANCE CAPTAIN
Scarlet Lindsay (she/they)
ON-STAGE SWING
Paul Leandre Escorrido (he/they)
CREATIVE TEAM
DIRECTOR
Hayden Tonazzi (they/he)
DRAMATURG
Jane FitzGerald (she/her)
CHOREOGRAPHER
Jeremy Lloyd (they/he)
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Mark Chamberlain (he/him)
MUSIC SUPERVISOR
Oliver John Cameron (he/they)
TRACK PRODUCTION & ORCHESTRATION
Liam Scarratt (he/him)
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER
Savanna Wegman (she/they)
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Brockman (they/them)
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Harry Dowling (he/him)
STAGE MANAGER
Anastasia Mowen (they/she)
ASM & COMPANY MANAGER
Milly Grindrod (she/her)
ASM
Abby Dinger (they/them)
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
Kate Beere (she/her)
AUDIO ENGINEER
Oliver Brighton (he/him)
AUDIO SWING
Jeremy Cardew (he/him)
ADDITIONAL AUDIO EQUIPMENT
Focused Productions
ADDITIONAL LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
Audio Visual Events®
INFLATABLE FABRICATION
Marty Jay
SET CONSTRUCTION
Belvoir St Theatre
SET ELECTRICS
Aron Murray
TECHNICAL PLACEMENT & MIC TECHNICIAN
Ruby Baird (she/her)
TECHNICAL PLACEMENT & MIC TECHNICIAN
Jack Talty (they/them)
MARKETING IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
Kate Cornish
PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Boud
GRAPHIC DESIGN
6T4 Design (Jenny Sullivan)
PRODUCER
Phillipa Sprott (she/her)
DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER
Hayden Tonazzi (they/he)
