Review: The Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour

**Picture**: Applause for The *Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour* (Image Credit: Creative Futures Photography)

Yeronga’s Paint Factory offers a range of nooks and crannies, several of which are cleverly reimagined by exceptional performers and creatives during Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival. My 2024 Anywhere Festival hot tip is to book a ticket for at least one of the final Radio Variety Hour shows presented by The Dire Theatre Company—particularly if you are a fan of original theatre, radio, podcasts, and classic tales.

The structure of the show is deceptively simple. The staff of a ‘40-50s radio station perform a popular radio drama, complete with sound effects (and the occasional water spritz) to set the blindfolded audience’s imagination alight. And, when the radio show is ‘off air,’ there is the chance to see the ‘real-life’ tensions and backstories of the radio station staff. Of course, as the night unfolds, there is the opportunity to discover that not all is what it seems…

The show is co-directed by actors Adam O'Brien, David Rienits, and Isabelle Rienits, who are joined in the Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour by Rachel Rienits (actor) and Kirra Rose (special effects). In such a collaborative piece, and where your reviewer was blindfolded for some of the show, it is perhaps unfair to single out any one performance. Let’s just say I loved Rachel Rienits’ work (solid accents, great character work, and a fabulous ‘You Are My Sunshine’), and Isabelle Rienits played a pivotal role as a very believable young Baxter. Adam O'Brien and David Rienits’ work as Dracula, narrators, and other cast members was powerfully Shakespearean, and really worked so very well in this show; it’s always great to see the work of experienced and talented actors.

The warehouse Paint Factory space is the perfect backdrop for this intimate show, and the Dire Theatre Company team has gone to great lengths to create the perfect setting—where the use of the blindfolds, and roving actors and sound/foley, makes for an immersive experience. I guess that we all leapt in our seats as the whip cracked around us, and when the ‘bats’ flapped overhead, during the Dracula radio show. The five talented performers are great voice artists (look forward to some great accents), and fabulous stage actors. And they are equally able to remain calm when having to respond to significant tech challenges (on the first night, members of the audience were completely unaware of a mid-performance power outage until the show was over!).

In an ideal world I would love to have been able to see each of their Anywhere Festival shows, as the Dire Theatre Company are presenting three different radio hours across three consecutive nights. Sadly, you have already missed Dracula, but fans of Jane Eyre and The War of the Worlds have a few treats in store.

For future development of the work, I’d suggest that the Dire Theatre Company team considers providing great opportunities for audiences to watch the show: possibly inviting half of the audience to remain ‘blindfolds off’ during the first part of the radio show, and then switching to allow the rest of the audience to have the same opportunity. And perhaps consider running all three shows as a package—or even across one afternoon/evening as a 180-minute single show (with intervals). I’d certainly be queuing up to see more of their work, and I hope that the Dire Theatre Company team consider another road trip back to Brisbane.

Catherine Lawrence

**Picture**: *The* *Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour* (Image Credit: Creative Futures Photography)

Audience information: The 2024 Anywhere Festival Brisbane program included only three performances of The Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour (2-4 August 2024) at The Paint Factory, 115 Hyde Road, Yeronga. Undercover warehouse location (wrap up warmly). Very occasional coarse language. Mature audiences (suggest 14+). Some parking onsite and in adjacent streets. Tickets: $25-$30, plus $3 booking fee. 70+ minutes.

The reviewer attended the 2 August 2024 8pm show.

Review: The Dire Theatre Company Radio Variety Hour

Geoff Lawrence