Dinkum Assorted

Dinkum Assorted is a script of staggering length and intricacy. In the depths of World War II, no fewer than 15 women working at a biscuit factory in the fictional rural town of Warrabadanga are getting ready for the bombs to drop while they toil to feed their families. The plot is expansive and tangled, knitting together the lives of these women into a nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance with singing, dancing, drama and comedy presented to us by a superb cast bringing Linda Aronson's 25-year-old play to engrossing life.

The choreography required for 15 speaking characters to occupy the stage simultaneously must be a nightmare, but the overlapping, mingling chaos of dialogue frequently present was executed beautifully with the organising presence of Colleen Cook as Grace the foreman. The numerous sub-plots of individual characters' lives were interleaved wonderfully with the shared struggle to save the biscuit factory from closure, and the incredibly loud and unapologetic Australianisms worked into the play lent it a distinct air of authenticity, evoking a time and place we may never have inhabited but can relate to intimately. Whether you know much about the history of World War II or not, you'll end up rooting for the cast of Dinkum Assorted and sharing in their cheerful and absurd sense of self-importance as vital figures in the conflict with the Japanese.