AYA: Critics' Reviews

Site Design: Rogan Brown

Webmaster: Philip Crouch

Theatre critics reviews of AYA performances:

1. Hobart One Act Play Festival 28 August 2010.

Isolation of Good Intentions
"A well conceived and intentioned piece of didactic theatre for presentation in community and care facilities. Requiring the intimacy of audience and action available in 'the round', this piece did not translate well to the proscenium arch setting where physical distance can exacerbate emotional distance.

Nevertheless the point was made with clarity and force. The plight of the elderly was portrayed with insight and passion by a group of actors all over 50 themselves. A solid effort with strong production values."

- Frank Bansel, festival adjudicator for OneFest.

2. Cygnet and Channel Classifieds 21 April 2011

The Flickering Wick - Kingston School for Seniors

‘….It’s a case of Have Show, Will Travel. AYA have performed in many venues, not all of which are physically or acoustically ideal. AYA performed their latest play “The Flickering Wick Project” recently at the Kingston School for Seniors in the Kingston Senior Citizen’s Hall as a theatre-in-the-round fully rehearsed reading. Not that is was round, as such, because not all venues and seating plans suit that style of theatre. Adaptability is the catch cry, with all cast learning how to adjust to each different situation. At the Kingston performance the cast adjusted to using the end of a long hall with audience members in rows in front, rather than the preferred circular type arrangement.

Although this style hampered movement somewhat, the cast of AYA enjoys the challenge. Philip Crouch said: “We were rather ragged around the edges, but the point is that members get the chance to express themselves, and an audience who isn’t often noticed or listened to gets a chance to tell us their concerns”…’

- Merlene Abbott, journalist and theatre critic