REVIEW: See You Next Tuesday || Static Drive Co & The Blue Room Theatre

See You Next Tuesday
Review by Lorna Mackie
20 June 2019

See You Next Tuesday, presented by The Blue Room Theatre and Static Drive Co, follows the story of Evie, a 17-year-old bag of crazy hormones and big emotions, as she sneaks out of her house to have sex. A lot.

Evie, played by a powerhouse Greek chorus of performers (Caitlin McFeat, Tess Metcalf and Ramiah Alcantara), is a complex character. The use of the Greek chorus was an inspired writing and directing choice, cleverly illustrating the conflicting drives, emotions and influences on Evie’s behaviour. Despite the fast-paced, stream-of-consciousness dialogue often overlapping, the thread of the story was never lost, and the style and delivery absolutely nailed the voices many of us have in our heads on a day-to-day basis.

The performers were all very strong and blended well, presenting the three aspects of Evie’s personality seamlessly, although it has to be said that Tess Metcalf was a standout as the conscience/nerdy aspect of the personality; her delivery was genuine, endearing and engaging.

The staging of the show was simple, using some interesting devices such as clothes-swapping to show the passage of time with varying degrees of success. In particular, the use of some floating mobile props part of the way through did not fit the tone of the scene.

However, the absolute success of the show was the normalisation of the sexual themes explored by the 17-year-old central character, as it challenges the stigma around young people openly discussing sex. The dialogue is deliberately uncensored and delightfully sharp. The narrative of young women owning their own sexual identity and acknowledging that women have the same desires and drives as men is a message that needs more air time.

Another success of the show is the stunning soundscape created by Umairah Murtaza (Sakidasumi). The music subtly enhanced the emotion of each scene without overpowering the dialogue and showed a masterful hand in the composition and balance.

The photography collaboration with Chiluba Young displayed in the foyer adds another fascinating dimension and insight into the character of Evie.

The show is not for children (there is a strong language warning, and the sexual content goes well beyond “sexual themes”), but See You Next Tuesday is a fascinating and strong work, and is recommended for anyone seeking an insight into the inner workings of a teenager’s mind.

See You Next Tuesday runs from 18 June to 6 July at The Blue Room Theatre. For tickets and show information, go here: https://blueroom.org.au/events/see-you-next-tuesday/