Felicity’s Score: 4 scary possums
Anya Tate-Manning is the performer and co-creator behind ‘My Best Dead Friend’; a disarmingly amusing and heartbreaking compilation of memories spanning a decade in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Anya recounts a childhood in a restless town where the hockey kids are cool, and she…is not. She is a self-professed coward, obsessed with TV shows, and spent her teenage years in the 90s. She attributes her survival to an invaluable friendship group. This gang of diverse pals find themselves often housed in a cottage on a hill owned by on the of teens; Ali. Left to their own devices in their own private place, they discuss anything from TV shows (Anya hopes) to the Communist Manifesto. It is, in some ways, perfect. Well, was perfect. Now Anya is an adult. And Ali has died.
Isobel MackKinnon and Anya Tate-Manning have created something reflective without being stale, something nostalgic without being indulgent. My Best Dead Friend is a triumph as it flits between comedy and tragedy within a moments notice, yet rarely giving viewers whiplash. Meg Rollandi’s design fits the duality of the performance perfectly, an ingenious use of the stage, lighting, and sound allow this show to take that leap from really good to really good.
Highlights include a scene in which the poetry from figures such as Ginsberg, Baxter, Maniapoto providing the soundtrack to a Marx inspired revolution headed by Anya, her friends, and a piece of chalk. To be fair, the only poetry ‘Anya’ had contributed was from the Backstreet Boys, but, to be fair again, she did have that plan to marry Nick Carter. This was obviously prefaced with a multimedia presentation on the Backstreet Boys. Small details like timing and correct placement of any projections prove a well thought out and rehearsed production. Group all of this with fast-paced blink-and-you’ll-miss-it political commentary in the midst of several stand-up routines, and you’re onto a winner.
Tate-Manning’s presence on stage is warm and inviting, she allows us to be transported to her memory-scape with ease. Her storytelling would be light hearted, and then completely sobering. A moving performance.
Felicity Anderson, Theatre Now
11 – 12 Oct 2019
Venue: Riverside Theatres
Theatre Company: Zanetti Productions
Duration: 1Approx. 1 hour (no interval)
Adult $42
Concession $37
30 Club $30
Child 18 & Under $30
Friday 11 October 2019 at 7:45pm
Saturday 12 October 2019 at 2:15pm & 7:45pm
By Anya Tate-Manning and Isobel MacKinnon
“Hilarious and refreshing” (Perth Arts Live)
“Authentic and brilliant” (The Australia Times)
Get your friends together for a night out with a special one-hour comedy theatre show based on real life events.
December 1998. Dunedin, New Zealand. High summer in a town where there isn’t a lot to do. This is a comedy about death, revolution, unfulfilled love, and a possum.
A hit around the world with seasons in Melbourne, Perth, Edinburgh and it’s homeland of New Zealand, don’t miss this award-winning, heart-warming coming of age story all about friendship.
