Black Swan’s final three offerings for 2011 were a study of three very different dysfunctional families.

When The Rain Stops Falling, written by Andrew Bovell and directed by Adam Mitchell, was one of those productions that you have to see more than once. Not because it was too much to absorb in one sitting but because it was just that good that you had to see it again and take more people back with you. I saw it a few times while it was still in the rehearsal room and then twice more in the theatre.

Adam works beautifully with ensemble casts (think pool (no water) – HotBed Ensemble 2009) but it was his careful casting and stunning design team that helped to make this production faultless. Pair that with a script that deals with some difficult issues, written with a beauty that shouldn’t be possible when writing about such ugly incidents. It makes for gripping, soul searching and poignant theatre that leaves you talking about the show long after you see it.

The set design by Bryan Woltjen artfully made use of the new Heath Ledger Theatre’s state of the art computerised fly system. The entire set and every part that made it up symbolised so much more than its functional application provided. Black ‘legs’ and ‘borders’ gave the director control over what the audience could see at any given time. The single wooden table that was used in each different location at the end a symbol for a ‘last supper’ before the events of the past cease to affect the generations of the future.

Steel rods flown in from above were the perfect canvas for lighting designer Trent Suidgeest to create the endless rain that engulfed the play. Artfully placed bud lights at the end of these steal rods created one of the most beautiful star canopies above the stage that I have ever seen. An enormous white staircase was both Uluru and a symbol for one of the characters’ deaths.

The actors moved seamlessly from scene to scene. Some of them shared the stage at times with older or younger versions of themselves. At other times the entire cast was onstage in their own ‘worlds’ as two actors played out their scene oblivious to their onstage audience. I simply don’t have the room to talk about every individual performance but I wish I could. They were all just that good. A stunning production that will never leave me.

The Damned, written by Reg Cribb and directed by Andrew Lewis, was a gritty look at youth isolation in rural WA and the consequences of boredom and restlessness. The feedback from schools that attended this production was fabulous, with many teachers contacting me to mention that their students had not stopped talking about the show.

“I just wanted to take this opportunity to pass on my thanks to the cast, crew and playwright of The Damned for a fantastic and memorable night at the theatre.  Last Thursday I took a group of students to see the performance and they were blown away, one commenting that ‘it was better than TV.’

A number of our kids had never been inside a theatre before and the whole experience for them was inspiring. All the students commented that Reg Cribb had written and developed characters that were ‘real’ versions of teenagers, not what adults think teenagers are like.

They loved the show, but the highlight for them was when the cast were leaving the theatre they made time to chat to the students, answer any questions they had and sign their programmes. The students could not believe that these ‘famous actors’ had taken the time to talk to them and made them feel very special. This experience really made a great night of theatre into a whole other wonderful experience for my students.”  – Teacher, Clarkson Community High School.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Black Swan’s Artistic Director Kate Cherry, was a coproduction between Black Swan and Queensland Theatre Company.

Rehearsing and opening in Brisbane for a three week season before it arrived in Perth meant that the actors were well and truly settled into their roles before Perth audiences were wowed by their performances.

Enjoyed by over 1500 English and Drama students, this view into the Pollitt family’s evening in real time was brilliantly played out by a stellar cast of actors from all over Australia including WA’s much loved Caitlin Beresford-Ord, who many of you will know from Black Swan’s in-school workshops.

With a stunning soundscape composed by Ben Collins (HotBed Ensemble 2010) the audience were transported to balmy Mississippi, aided by the atmospheric set design by Bruce McKinvin.