Review: Hoke's Bluff

Action Hero arrives in Melbourne bringing a light Americana teeny boppy show

"Whatever it takes" the banner read on the gym decorated theatre.

Lines like these that seemingly belonged in a Degrassi High after school special were particularly prevalent in the UK groups show. It relied on the underdog team standing up against great grief and overcoming it all.

The plot relied on spectacle and capturing this culture of teen movies. This was hard at first for many of the more elite theatre goers who joked later that this "was the closest they got to a sport game in their life".

Action Hero, created by Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse, is a company that focuses on theatre, performance and live art. The company has been particularly noted for their ability to involve the audience continuously. Hoke's Bluff was no different. The audience had to walk on the stage in order to get to their seats and whilst doing so the actors invited them to collect popcorn. As soon as you sat down there was a flag and the Hoke's Bluff team mascot encouraged all to cheer and get involved. Minor characters like Tyler were played by the audience.

At first it was hard to follow the characters in the play. There were only 3 performers on stage and the scene changes were quite abrupt but as the play furthered it became clearer.

It was both a story on teen triumph in sport and all the knitty gritty of growing up including the awkward teen romance. The cheerleader Connie and the sport star Conor were the protagonists of this show.

Music was a big part of the show. Songs like Flashdance were expected at any time as the show went from Minaj to some generic 80s Power Ballad.

The show ended, the team had won.

Written by Maria Dunne

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.