The Vegemite Tales
- Posted on August 3, 2007 11:43 AM
- 1 comment
The Vegemite Tales
1st August 2007
Review by Nick Howard
I must admit that shortly before being offered two tickets to the opening night of The Vegemite Tales I knew little more about it than it probably had something to do with Vegemite, and that Blair McDonough was on the performers. Of course I had seen the posters in the tube stations but when passing them I simply had a fleeting contemplation of, “Oh, I should go and see that one day”.
Anyway, its turns out that it isn’t about Vegemite at all (in fact I don’t think I heard the word uttered once), and is in fact about the lives of a group of young Australian expats living in London. Being an Australian expat and doing exactly the same thing, it is obviously a subject close to my heart.
The play is centred around six young people (five Aussies and one Italian) living in a 3 bedroom flat supposedly in Acton. Why it is set in here I don’t know as it could have been set in any number of antipodean diaspora scattered throughout London. I am confused further by the fact that towards the end of the play they have a going away party for one of the house mates in the Walkabout in Shaftsbury Avenue – If you lived in Acton, what self-respecting Aussie would traipse all the way into central London for a VB at the Walkabout when just around the corner in Acton Town is an establishment known as the Redback; they sell VB and is perfectly good Aussie pub. Struth, bloody fair dinkum, crikey, stone the crows!!! Anyway, that is only a minor oversight and is hardly any reason to get upset – it was just a good excuse to throw in a few Aussie expletives.
So anyway, the play contains plenty of themes which most young Australians abroad, or any expats for that matter, can relate to. The play is fast paced and full of comedy. It also has a good splash of romance and a small dollop of tragedy to top it off. Although some of the wit may be lost on non-Aussies, I think generally this show would appeal to most people. All it all The Vegemite Tales is a great play and well worth going along to see.
Check out interviews with the cast on the official Vegemite Tales Uncut blog.
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Comments (1)
james
Great review... summed up in the way only an ozzie can!
Posted on August 3, 2007 1:47 PM
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