Type – New work, Dramedy
If you liked – Kimberly Akimbo, Cost of Living
RARA: A new play with heart that’s yet to find its true identity.
A voiceover at the start of the new Katie Lees Foundation-backed play RARA feels inspired by CATS: The Jellicle Ball, where we’re told that the world of RARA isn’t the type of show for you to just sit back and enjoy, but that theatre is fun and that you’re encouraged to be loud. The setup positions you into thinking we’re about to enter some Mackenzie-styled world of organized mayhem with an unhinged fashion, especially with the stage hands making the pre-show rounds in headsets trying to “calm” an audience as if in a studio setting.
What we get when we reach the premise of RARA though – outside of a few well-choreographed dance numbers – isn’t quite compatible with the setup. That’s okay though, because RARA is still finding its identity; it has plenty of foundations to work with.
Three besties Elle (Meg Denman), Millie (Gabriella Oxley) and Zara (Caitlin Green) are on the verge of dancing on the stage of ‘Diva-Nation’. Don’t ask me what it is, because I’m still not sure. We’re told many times about the iconic level of ‘Diva-Nation’, and that it has something to do with dancing like the pop-Queens of the naughties, but whether it’s a Tik Tok series or something akin to The X-Factor, I’m still not sure. But it’s pretty important to them regardless.
Zara has thankfully recovered from a broken ankle after a drug-addled night in Ibiza, but Elle is working her way through a more hidden pain, one she’s been dealing with since she’s been two. An unexpected flare-up in her ankle from her chronic arthritis threatens to burn her dreams to ash. So she handles it the same way she has been for years, on her own.
After some very strong pain medication, Elle is visited by the CIA (Chronic Illness Angels) who come in the form of her best friends. They have to help her, or they’ll die – God must run a tight ship up top. Together, they help Elle to find her strength while also reminding her that it’s okay to let other people in. Vulnerability after all is its own kind of strength.
Meg Denman also serves as playwright here for RARA and she has a beautiful literary voice that sits in the dialogue. Denman finds a balance between humour and heart in RARA, choosing to deal with a hidden illness instead of going outward. She digs into the bonds of female friendship, and the pain we keep to ourselves as a mask of strength.
Direction by Saskia Faniis creates a strong connection between the three actors. There’s an intense believability that they’ve gone through a life of laughter, love and struggles. With the set of Flight Path Theatre filled in halfway with a makeshift curtain and Elle’s bedroom sitting centre, the actors needed to project much more to fight against the now removed resonance. The energy that it lacked meant that golden lines were missed from Denman’s script, and the pacing moved at times sluggishly slow for a show who’s setup wanted audiences to vocally respond to the piece.
Is RARA worth seeing in Sydney?
I imagine that RARA, once it finds its development to go further, wants to move at a quickfire pace, moving between dance numbers, flashbacks, and heartfelt scenes in the intimacy of a bedroom. That’s the beauty of attending a new work, you can see the outline and the foundations even though the colours aren’t fully there just yet. Perhaps that’s why funding in the arts at a foundational level is so important.
If you live in the inner west, or are a regular attendee at Flight Path Theatre, go to see some new Australian work where it starts. Supporting this type of work means that creatives like Denman have the opportunity to developt their craft further, and then, well, who know where we’ll see them next!
Tickets and Practical Info for RARA in Sydney 🎟️
Tue, 10 Nov, 7pm – Sat, 14 Nov, 9:30pm AEDT
Flight Path Theatre
Marrickville NSW, Australia
Hosted by Katie Lees Foundation
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/rara-by-meg-denman-klf26
Written by Meg Denman
Directed by Saskia Faniis
Dramaturgy by Xavier Hazard & Louie O’Carroll
Presented by Jezebel Productions
