New independent theatre group Reprise Theatre Company opened their show The Final Two at the Hayman Theatre and it’s a comical caper filled with camp performances and hilarious black comedy.
The play from writer Arthur Brown, a writer who is trans and dedicated to bring queer and trans narratives to the stage, tells the story of the final two contestants on a long running reality TV dating show called This Funny Feeling.
It’s the night before the big finale when Declan will choose whether he’s found true love with either Chloe or Shaz. Things go astray when self absorbed Shaz (Maia Whitelaw) and the frumpier Chloe (Phoebe Eames) summon the ghost of Season 1 contestant Vanessa (Marquis Tajaran).
Vanessa bursts into their world big, bold, and camp as hell. Delivering monologues of perfection – Tajaran completely owned the stage,
It kicks off a comedy of disasters as Vanessa goes off to reek havoc on the key people from the show including host Matt Maker (Zachary Borthwick) and the desirable Declan (Jarrad Whitehurst).
The show is mountains of fun, the performances are completely over-the-top as they should be for this story, and impressively while there are five big performances occurring at the same time, they all manage to remain balanced and not overstep each other’s moment in the spotlight.
The style is reminiscent of the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, think The Young Ones or DAAS Kapital, but the themes are of today, a world of dating shows and social media, influencers and style over substance.
The production is from a new venture Reprise Theatre Company founded by James Gant and Myles Keeffe. Helming Final Two is director Adrijan Teddy Levis who has dedicated the show to their fourteen-year-old self.
“I dedicate this show to the weird, terrified trans kid in 2014 who made a decision to never be afraid of who he was, and who he had to become.” Levis wrote in the show’s program.
Final Two is playing at the Hayman Theatre at Curtin University until 28 November, tickets are on sale now.
OUTinPerth co-editor Leigh Andrew Hill is an empoyee of Curtin University.
