Toby Truslove, Mary Saudi, Rob Johnson, Billy McPherson, Zoe Terakes, Deborah Galanos and Virginia Gay. Photo: Brett Boardman
Introduced as a celebration of return to live theatre, with an opening song and dance number of grinning ‘amateur’ actors decked out in betasselled gold lamé, it’s clear that The Boomkak Panto is not taking itself too seriously.
Or is it? Part comedy, part cabaret, part satire, this panto flits across social inclusion, Aboriginal knowledge, the integrity of politicians, tiny outback towns versus big development, refugee status versus white privilege, and what it means to belong. Oh, and there is a love story of course, a non-binary romance. Will Zoe (Zoe Terakes) win back the heart of Yazmin (Mary Soudi) or be beaten by their rival, the absolutely non-reconstructed and hilariously awful Butch (Rob Johnson). It’s a broad brush, but delivered as colourful, glittery paint splatter.
Boomkak is a one-horse town except, as Zoe laments, there is not even a horse. That would be exciting. It’s got a scout hall, a disused tomato sauce factory, the ‘best Iranian-Egyptian-Lebanese restaurant in Australia’, run by Yazmin’s mother Parnia (Deborah Galanos), and its administration is overseen by local councillor and Aboriginal elder Darren (Billy McPherson). It’s also home to Alison (Virgina Gay), who is jaded by years of theatre administration in the UK, and John (Toby Truslove), an actor driven from the stage by his fear of audience.
What happens in Boomkak? Zoe’s thwarted love affair makes them wonder about leaving Boomkak for Sydney; in the tradition of good farce, Parnia waits for Darren to propose; Butch ramps up everything that is bad about patriarchal stereotypes. And then the baddie arrives in the form of pinstripe-cloak-wearing evil developer BD (also Rob Johnson). Cue ominous music, purple lighting and smoke.
‘Boo me off!’ he hisses to the audience, twirling his moustache, and we do. Because that is what panto is all about. Oh no, it isn’t. Oh, yes it is! Audience participation is required. It’s a sort of antidote to lockdown.
Incensed by BD’s plans to destroy their town, the locals decide to raise funds for a fightback by staging a panto. And we are off and running. Alison is horrified. Gay’s monologue, detailing the horrors of productions she has had the misfortune to oversee, is the highlight of the show. Not only does it set up all the disasters to come, it is wonderful both in its comic delivery and its length. And its invitation to imagine Snow White with only four dwarves, and with costumes that belong to Aladdin. ‘You think panto is all fairytales and morals?’ Alison is overruled of course, and the show goes on.
It has bad acting (well done), new songs from Eddie Perfect, a couple of Aussie rock classics, dance and old-fashioned silliness. It also has cameo performances. Surprise guests. The night I went, ‘Carol Richards’ – an out-of-towner with tickets on herself – auditions for the panto, performing a monologue from Twelfth Night. Helen Dallimore gets no credit for her ridiculously funny and awful Viola, but she deserves one.
The dastardly BD (boo, hiss) tries to recruit local support and the rehearsals stagger on, ended by a fire that closes Act One.
Unsurprisingly, Act Two begins in a more sombre mood, although jokes about mayors having holidays in Hawaii are guaranteed to raise a laugh. Holed up at Alison and John’s untouched home, where the paint shade is ‘White Privilege’, some soul-searching goes on. Here the panto becomes more like a musical, and an opportunity to showcase the voices of Terakes, Saudi, and Galanos.
Perfect’s Screw You number is another highlight, performed with great energy. In fact, fun and energy pervade the whole show. The cast is uniformly great (and let’s not forget the Musician, Hamed Sadeghi) and they do, as is noted, look like they ‘have been covered in superglue and rolled through a costume shop’.
There are shades of Waiting for Guffman in Boomkak (at least that’s where my mind went watching it). The show is laden with theatrical in-jokes, which I dare suggest will go over many heads. A black-and-white photo of Pamela Rabe lies on the auditioners’ desk in Act One (maybe different portrait shots appear on different nights?). There are Helpmann jokes and acting techniques referenced and lampooned in Act Two.
Virgina Gay, who is not the principal boy but, as Alison, has the pivotal role that ultimately saves the day, also wrote and, with Richard Carroll, co-directs Boomkak. At 2.5 hours it is perhaps a tad long for its subject matter, but the pace may pick up as the season progresses. Expect tyranny with tinsel, and you won’t be disappointed.
Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre
Dates: 20 November – 23 December 2021
Prices: Full price from $68, Seniors from $58, Concession from $48, 30-Down from $46, Student Saver from $33
Tickets: https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-boomkak-panto/ or (02) 9699 3444
