Review: SUDS' Off-Offstage — A Band 6 for Off-Offstage

Off-Offstage is structured as a variety show, featuring monologues, group performances, and songs performed by its motley cast of SUDS members who have (presumably) suffered through the epic highs and lows of HSC Drama themselves.

Photography and design by Kath Thomas

It’s the night of Off-Offstage: the chance for high achievers in HSC Drama to show what they’re made of. But, by the time the lights go up on the show’s first monologue, we know that the night ends with a murder. It’s all very White Lotus. 

Off-Offstage is an original comedy co-written, produced, and directed by Kate Wilkins and Rhayne Fountain. The show satirises HSC OnSTAGE, where the best works from drama students across New South Wales are exhibited at the beginning of each year. It’s a fresh and witty take on the type of people and performances that often grace the stage. 

Much like the object of its parody, Off-Offstage is structured as a variety show, featuring monologues, group performances, and songs performed by its motley cast of SUDS members who have (presumably) suffered through the epic highs and lows of HSC Drama themselves. The show is held together through a myriad of framing devices: voiceover provides context for the uninitiated, the show’s directors pop in to introduce each new block of performances, and the spectre of the murdered diva looms large over each gag. When does it all go wrong? And how? 

The show manages to capture many of the truisms of amateur theatre, combined with fine-tuned observations more specific to OnSTAGE itself. Lizzie Lemon, Jáydàn, and the other characters all come from various Sydney private and selective schools, with the exception of a token regional student. Characters soberly commit to their various pieces of soul-baring and social commentary. They yell their lines, use far too many props, and are fixated on adult vices like drinking, smoking, and taking drugs at Splendour in the Grass (reminding me a little too much of my own very edgy playwriting submission that failed to receive an Onstage nomination). Overall, it’s a pretty good replication of bad theatre. 

But, Off-Off pushes the needle further than the likes of similar parodies through subtle quirks in characterisation. At the conclusion of each performance, we are treated to a small insight into the anxiety ridden inner lives of each character, which is a smart choice. These moments are funny, but also work well to round out the characters and make the audience reflect on how each persona’s (poor) dramatic choices mirror their worldview. These are teenagers who, knowing precious little about their own emotional worlds or the world beyond their high school, have embarked on a mission to create great art. The effect, of course, is hilarity. 

The show’s cast were strong across the board — with performances that eerily mirrored the earnestness and aggressive, naked ambition of high achieving theatre kids. Moreover, Off-Off’s direction placed a clear emphasis on the physicality of each role: actors were constantly in motion, and many pieces revolved around physical gags like jumping on a trampoline, miming a stilted violin performance, or writhing around under a king size sheet. This sense of movement and physical commitment was crucial to the impression of energy and vivacity that the performances left. What’s more, with temperatures over 30 degrees by the kickoff of the 2pm matinee and, with dozens of bodies crammed into the dark and poorly ventilated Cellar Theatre, the off-offstagers were also tasked with delivering these demanding performances in oppressive heat. Despite challenging conditions, the cast's commitment to energetic and spirited delivery was clear. 

Unfortunately, there were some sound issues that made performers hard to hear over their backing tracks during musical numbers — a shame when the wit of a scene hinged upon being able to decipher the lyrics. There was also more potential to explore and satirise the vapid social commentary offered by this genre of performance, which would have added further depth and variety to the piece. 

The show concludes with a return to the murder plot line and a little audience participation. Ultimately, the cast sees off the audience with a musical number professing their love for Drama (and for White Lotus, from which the murder plot device was ostensibly plucked). Although a little out of left field, commitment from the performers sold this too — and audiences responded enthusiastically. 

For those familiar with OnSTAGE, or fellow sufferers of HSC Drama in years past, Off-Offstage hit all the right notes. In fact, an audience of reformed theatre kids was the perfect stomping ground for the piece (we have plenty of our own obnoxious choices to reflect on, after all). The specificity of the writers’ observations and conscious choice to lean further into the personalities that populate the stage helps to lift the work above similar parodies of amateur theatre. It’s always painful to be reminded of the sins you committed while wearing stage blacks but, if the audience’s laughter was anything to go by, Off-Offstage was a job well done.