Review: Three Blind Mice
Adelaide Fringe
Three Blind Mice is a clever story with wonderful characters and a shrewd message. It’ll make you laugh and it’ll make you think. ★★★★★
Presented by and starring Victorian College of the Arts graduate trio Izabella Yena, Ruby Johnston and Benjamin Nichol, the play tells the story of agoraphobic 20-something Shaz (Johnston), who spends her fifth successive year locked away in her house.
Her only contact with the outside world is politically motivated neighbour Lorraine (Yena) and worldly postman Jono (Nichol).
Shaz spends her time cleaning, attempting to get shorter and dreaming about falling in love with Jono. After a foreboding warning from Lorraine, her home is invaded by two anthropomorphic mice (Yena and Nichol) with whom she must learn to live.
Although written with the current political landscape in mind, Three Blind Mice is subtle with its underlying themes. Australians’ fear of the unknown and particularly our attitudes towards asylum seekers are conveyed beautifully, with slogans and various characters from the political scene making appearances within the characters throughout.
The script is superb; it is witty and subtle and fuses wonderfully with the brash and over-the-top characters.
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No one performance outshines the others – the three actors complement each other and it is clear they have fantastic chemistry. Johnston’s portrayal of the neurotic Shaz is sublime (she breathes the character through her body language and facial expressions), while Nichol and Yena’s ability to switch between detestable and adorable as they move between their characters is a joy.
The performance is paced wisely, with clever use of montage-like movements to simulate the passage of time. The satirical humour is tasteful, and while many of the characters have strange accents and quirks, these only add to the hilarious script.
Three Blind Mice is a must-see.
Five stars
Three Blind Mice is showing at the Bakehouse Theatre until March 4.
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