Review: Lay Down Sally

Lay Down Sally is Australia’s answer to Book of Mormon. Laugh out loud, side splittingly, leave your face sore funny. Playing at Chapel off Chapel, the show opened last Tuesday Night to a sold out theatre. The audience and was not to be disappointed.

Written by Spencer Hadlow, Andrew White and Taylen Furness, The show starts directly after Sally Robbins (played by Nicola Guzzardi) 2004 Olympic lay down incident. It follows on to explore Sally’s determined comeback into Australia’s heart as she battles to win Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in cycling! With the help of Steven Bradbury and Nick Giannopolis the Australian trio sing their way into our hearts, if not to glory.

The musical opens on a mostly bare stage with the cast already positioned in Olympic stances. On the screen were quotes about the incident from Australian public figures. From there it was catchy musical hit after hit beginning with the namesake "Lay Down Sally".

The set remained basic with no scene changes, this was also true of costumes with the whole cast sticking to one staple look. This allowed the audience to focus completely on the script and music which were detailed and expansive.

Behind the humour and silliness the show critiques Australias media and our almost unhealthy obsession with sport and our sporting heroes. They did this through parody with 2 media personalities commenting on Sally's struggles. By using humour to address this issue the audience is asked to consider their own role in condemning sporting losses.

The cast was outstanding. In particular their execution of the witty dialogue and with their classically trained voices they proved the Aussie accent can be appreciated in song. The songs themselves were creative and well performed.

The use of multimedia on the television was effectively utilised to add another layer of humour by incorporating previously filmed footage, maps and the 98 windows screen.

While every factor of the show was enjoyable what truly tickled my fancy was the incorporation of Aussie Humour complete with classic stereotypes and icons including just juice puns, bloody oaths, and Vegemite.

Lay Down Sally was memorable in its uniqueness and how Australian it was. A very funny and entertaining musical that everyone should take the time to see even if you don't like musicals. It's playing at Chapel off Chapel until the 24th of October so don't miss it!

Written by Samara Barr

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