FUN HOME, the queerest of queer musicals opened at The Court Theatre on Saturday 10 August.
Magnificently directed by Kathleen Burns, FUN HOME, deals with heavy thought-provoking topics like coming out in different eras, death, family and suicide, with subtle nuance and gentle humour. Fantastic, funny and heartfelt songs punctuate this Tony Award-winning musical, which sees three actors step up to play (real life) protagonist Alison Bechdel at three different ages, childhood (Carla Ladstaetter), college years (Emma Katene) and adulthood (Kelly Hocking).
All three are brilliant in their respective roles – Hocking physically becomes the spitting image of Bechdel with a nuanced performance that suggests tireless research into her character, Katene (my favourite performance of the night) brings the angst of frustration of early adulthood as ‘medium Alison’ tries to get the world to see things her way, and Ladstaetter, perhaps most of the audience’s favourite performer of the night, capturing a knowing innocent of a childhood spent absorbing the mixed-contrasting messages around her.
Other great turns include Michael Lee Porter’s masterful imagining of Bruce Bechdel, easily the play’s most complex and tragic character – Porter brings every layer to life, from narcism to self-loathing, to a repressed rage that eventually becomes too much to contain.
Thanks to the clever interweaving scriptwriting, absorbing score and an invested ensemble cast, FUN HOME’s themes never feel too heavy with optimistic outlooks of a progressive world and a grounding humour unpinning every scene.
If you only see one musical this year – it has to be FUN HOME at The Court Theatre.
Article & Photos | Oliver Hall.
