Review: THE NURSERY WEB at The Butterfly Club

Written by New-Yorker-turned-Melburnian Kotryna Gesait, The Nursery Web holds a mirror up to the way we behave in love.

A play in three parts, the traditional beginning, middle, and end to the story are reordered. The piece begins with "the middle"; two men in the routine of a long, loving relationship but who both yearn for some spice. The interesting thing about the spice they needed was that it wasn't sexual but almost spiritual, having both found room in their hearts for more life to live and desires to explore. This part of the piece highlighted the delightful emerging talent of AaRon Campbell, a current student at 16th Street Actors Centre. A genuine, mesmerising, and identifiable performance.

Next comes "the end"; the hardest part. A situation familiar to too many; needing to end an unhealthy but addictive relationship. This is the most tense that the piece gets whilst introducing the recent QUT graduate Olivia Ramsay. As the one that puts her foot down and calls it quits, Ramsay delivers a moving performance and is definitely one to watch. The intensity and effect of this scene would benefit from a more controlled emotional crescendo but the use of the aisle in this scene is a clever construct.

The final piece to the puzzle is how it all begins. This storyline is, of course, the sweetest and the dynamics between Olivia Ramsay and Michelle Nussey are just magical to witness. A wonderful note to end on, leaving the audience with a glimmer of hope and happiness as they leave the theatre...and some thoughts on our relationship with Netflix!

Punctuating all three phases of The Nursery Web is the excellent Melina Wylie as The Announcer. Whilst the choice to dress her in glitzy cabaret garb felt a little out of place and confusing, Wylie is captivating and beguiling as she uses some seriously spot on, left field metaphors to describe what happens to our brains and our rationale as we fall in and out of love.

Overall a lovely, light original script which hits close to home and gives us an important reminder when it comes to infatuation: only be outside their window in a Cusack way, not a Durst way.

The Nursery Web @ The Butterfly Club, Melbourne
Until Sunday 5th February

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