Review: The Girl on the Moon
Picture (L to R): Aoife Kissane and Matias Nuñez in The Girl on the Moon (Picture credit: Creative Futures Photography)
It’s great to see new drama on stage—particularly when the ‘stage’ is one of the expansive nooks and crannies of the Yeronga Paint Factory (a former factory for the manufacture of paint, the Paint Factory is now described as ‘Australia’s first fully integrated Arts Village in the Brisbane suburb of Yeronga’).
One of the many marvellous things about the Anywhere Festival is the emphasis on using spaces that are ‘anywhere but’ a traditional black box theatre. The Girl on the Moon would certainly work well within a more traditional space, but congratulations to the team (including co-producers Indiah Morris and Teah Peters) on bringing this show to this new arts village. I loved the use of the Paint Factory space and ‘set,’ which worked so well for this piece.
Aoife Kissane (Robyn) and Matias Nuñez (Pluto/Dad) are talented creatives and performers who use the found space to great effect—believably transforming the two-level steel workspace into two flats and a garage to tell a 60-minute story about friendship, loss, and family.
Picture: Matias Nuñez (Credit: Creative Futures Photography)
Picture: Balcony conversations (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
The play is set in Brisbane, but this is a ‘boy meets girl’ story that translates well to any city, in any country. The Girl on the Moon is a beautifully-crafted work, interweaving episodic flashbacks and numerous lists within the piece. And the soundscape is used to great effect, enhancing the rhythm of the piece (just don’t sit in front of the loudspeakers as you may miss small fragments of the dialogue).
The Girl on the Moon is well-cast. Kissane’s opening speech to the moon was poignant, the development of the relationship between Pluto and Robyn was highly-believable, the conversations in the garage inspired audience giggles, and Pluto’s ‘facts’ spoken direct to the audience worked really well. However, I’d love to have seen this play as a three-hander. Nuñez easily switches from the two roles of Dad and the ‘new kid in town’. But having a third performer in the mix would enhance the portrayal of the close relationship between Robyn and her father—adding to the tension, and better charting the depressive withdrawal and decline of a divorcing parent.
I think the promotional information might be updated for future shows. If writing the promo, I’d describe The Girl on The Moon as a must-see show about family, and the life-changing potential of first love and friendship. Or even about Pluto, as the new star-gazing kid on the block, being the catalyst to inspire Robyn to repair her life (and inherited car)—and for them both to look to the future (and not just to the stars).
Girl on the Moon is thought-provoking, sad, and optimistic. See it if you can.
Picture (L to R): Matias Nuñez and Aoife Kissane (Image credit: Creative Futures Photography)
Audience information: References to suicide and depression, and very limited coarse language. You may find it useful to take a torch or use your phone flashlight when walking to the entrance for the show, and (top tip) don’t sit near the loudspeaker. The Girl on the Moon (only four Anywhere Festival performances, 5-8 May, 2022), at the Paint Factory, 115 Hyde Road, Yeronga QLD 4102. Tickets $26. 60 minutes.
The reviewer attended the Friday 6 May performance.
Picture Credit: Creative Futures Photography. A copy of this review first appeared at Anywhere Festival