Glimpse

You can SMS, Skype, Facebook and Tweet, yet despite so many communication advances, face-to-face communication still remains elusively difficult in some many ways, particularly when it comes to family. This is the premise of Glimpse, a new work by newborn company The Kin Collective. Developed through a collaborative improvisation process, Glimpse is reminiscent of Robert Altman's 1993 film Short Cuts. There are around half a dozen stories that loosely interconnect while playing out in parallel to each other. The delight for the audience is in working out how they are related and exploring how a glimpse into someone's life may change our initial perceptions of them. With high profile company members such as Marg Downey (Fast Forward, Kath & Kim), Michala Banas (McLeod's Daughters, Winners And Losers) and Noni Hazlehurst (Play School, City Homicide), expectations were high. And for the most part they were met head on. A glacial pace to a repetitive opening scene between two homeless people was fortunately a one-off, with meter and dialogue improving markedly throughout the rest of the 90 minute performance. Downey, as a school teacher caring for a sick husband, was pure pleasure on stage as she contemplated a surprising offer from Dan Hamill doing an excellent Jude Law impersonation, while Linc Hasler was heartbreaking as an angry man at his mother's funeral. The moments between Downey and Laura Maitland (who also directed the work) as her teenage daughter were achingly real. The many story strands were well braided into one cohesive performance, but it was confusing at times when new characters were introduced, perhaps with such a large cast (eight in total) I didn't expect them to be playing multiple roles. In the end, the sheer premise of the piece meant we only met characters for fleeting moments, when their tales seemed worthy of much longer examinations. I wanted to know more. Glimpse is a very promising debut for an exciting new company and let's hope we see more than glimpses of them in the future.

Fortyfivedownstairs to Sunday 2 December