Review - The Platform at La Mama Collaboration

The Platform at La Mama Collaboration

Creative Director - Adam J. A. Cass

Lead Artist Facilitator - Georgia Symons

Executive Producer – Rose Godde

Ensemble: Adrian Del Re, Alanah Parkin, Cassandra-Elli Yiannacou, Cera Maree Brown, Chris Hosking, Danae Crawford, Dominic Weintraub, Ebony Beaton, Harley Hefford, Jalen Lyle-Holmes, Jai Leeworthy, Jeni Bezuidenhout, Jonathan Walpole, Julia Hanna, Kate Weston, Laura Hartnell, Lucy Pitt, Martin Hoggart, Melissa Davidson, Niamh Vlahakis, Sandra Chui, Shannon Ly and Steph Cordell.

August 12-23, La Mama

What is not to be missed, at the moment, is the vibrant and exhilarating energy of youth surrounding and permeating every nook and cranny at La Mama.   With its distinguished history of experimentation what better place then La Mama to endorse the experimentation of the young emerging theatre makers that is Platform Youth.

Supported and nurtured by Executive Producer Rose Goode who highlighted to me just how well this troupe is refining collaborative skills and Lead by Artist Facilitator Georgia Symonds very ably guided by Playwright Adam Cass twenty three or so young theatre makers are exploring the craft of writing, developing, designing, directing and performing new works from inception. 

And with some glitches mostly issues of time management, but hey that was opening night Platform Youth and their mentors have pulled off something that is many things including acutely insightful, confronting and rewarding and intimate.    

One can take ‘pot-luck’ and be one of five audience members at any of the 13 minute performances or request to follow the specific interest of a particular young theatre maker. 

I probably need to declare an interest here and state that I was specifically keen to see the work of Ebony Beaton who I know.  I found her Direction of Expose the Clothes beguiling and performance of Connect a gloriously bemusing contradictory physical piece to be truly fascinating and very much of the feminine.  And hey Adam Cass was doing his BA at La Trobe at the same time I was doing mine and I am always impressed by his generosity of spirit and curious to see what he is up to.

I was disarmed by The Shed, provoked by 3AM THOUGHTS, delighted by the work of Sebastian Bertoli in Like Breathing and so enjoyed Jalen Lyle-Holmes fun energetic performance in Expose the Clothes.

There is so much to see in this collaboration that one would need to make several visits to catch all the shows.  It is the wholehearted commitment to the work and the careful attention to the presentation of each piece that is especially impressive.  And looking back over the performances I was lucky enough to catch they were all full of a sense of fluidity and curiosity that is youth.

So worth catching!

Suzanne Sandow