Presented by: Theatre Guild Student Society
Reviewed: 23 April, 2025
The Theatre Guild Student Society is fast getting a reputation for delivering good complex and confronting plays. Their latest production, Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes is no exception.
Kirkwood’s script, although set in 2008, tackles issues that are timeless: sibling rivalries, love/hate relationships, religion versus science, anti-immunisation and the use and mis-use of technology, and possibly even more if one looks deep enough. Kirkwood doesn’t bombard the audience with these themes but allows them to seep through gradually scene by scene – very clever writing. That being said, the script is perhaps a little long. It’s quite possible that it could end two scenes before the actual ending.
Bella Wheatland is making her directorial debut with this production and it is a very impressive one. She dissects the writing and elicits every dramatic and humorous moment from the script and has obviously worked closely with each and every actor. Every moment, movement and emotion is succinct and clear in each actors’ performance. Wheatland has gathered an exemplary creative team to make her vision live: Tahneisha Mottishaw (set design), Jessie Chugg (costume design) with assistance from Eva Yoxall-Vale, Conille Solomon (sound design) and Ella Anderson (lighting design). All technical aspects come together to make the production cohesive and looking and sounding excellent.
As the protagonist/antagonist sisters, Alice and Jenny, Lily Koch and Airlie Windle bounce off one another brilliantly. Koch as the scientific Alice is intense in manner, trying to put up a hard exterior but showing a frail side. Her scenes opposite Windle in particular are absolutely mesmorising. Windle gives a standout performance as ‘screw-up’ Jenny. Her emotional rollercoaster of a performance is superb, and her comic timing and delivery is to be admired. Nothing is overdone. In fact, this can be said of the entire cast – every performance is pitch perfect.
As Alice’s moody, brooding son, Luke, Atticus Chave is a performer to watch out for. He imbues Luke with a monotonal persona that he also manages to make naïve and innocent. A scene in Act Two where he just stands and stares at a spot in the audience showing immense focus and concentration (not once is there an eye blink) would put a lot of actors to shame. Excellent work.
Henry Chipperfield plays a mysterious character known only as The Bosun. He indeed plays it mysteriously, using his body and facial expressions forcibly. His two huge scientific tirades are very nicely performed. Although too young to play an elderly woman, Lily Watkins gives a very credible performance as Karen, the sisters’ mother. She is another actor that can garner laughs in the right spots whilst revealing deeper emotions.
Amy Liew as Natalie does well but needs to watch her volume. On opening night it was often hard to hear her even in the confines of the little theatre. Ashi Mashoof as Henri impresses with his perfect Swiss accent and is totally believable.
There was only one problem with the production on opening night and that was the excruciatingly long scene changes. They were also loud and clunky; some even seemed under rehearsed. People were bringing on or taking off one thing at a time; sometimes bumping into each other – the whole thing just seemed under prepared and messy. To be fair, with two runs now under their belt, it may be a lot better.
Mosquitoes deserves to be seen and TGSS should be congratulated for putting on such a complex, moving production.
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Photo credit: supplied
Venue: Little Theatre
Season: Until 26 April 2025
Duration: 2 hrs 45 mins including a 20 min interval
Tickets: $10 – $15
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1365455
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