First Love is a Revolution - Spoiler-free Review

Photo: Jamie Hornsby

4.5 out of 5 stars - 4 shows remaining - SATURDAY ALREADY SOLD OUT!

TICKETS: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/first-love-is-the-revolution-af2025

This is a play about hunger and desire. It’s Romeo and Juliet pushed to deranged extremes, where the unlikely sweethearts are a 14-year old boy and a young fox with brutal birthrights. Rdeca’s whole family have fleas. Her mum is pushing her into making her first kill, a snivelling mole, before she’s ready. Basti is being bullied at school by kids who call him a shrimp. His dad is too busy flirting with the neighbour to be of any real help. Beneath the light of a full moon, Basti captures Rdeca, and so begins a star-crossed romance between hunter and prey. This is not a story to take in a literal sense but rather enjoy the themes and the fantasy behind it.

 

After reviewing Dance Nation last week, I was surprised to see a familiar face grace the stage once more in this production, but Wirra Benveniste was back as the widowed mother fox (Chochineal) of 3 and was sublime in her role. Themes explored within Beneviste’s character isn’t something she would be familiar with at such a young age yet executed effortlessly. They also portrayed a chicken as a side character (Quentin).

 

Jamie Campbell was almost unrecognisable after seeing his acting chops for the first time in Transparency in 2024. Although a smaller role in comparison to the other actors, Campbell’s characterisation as a mole was evident 100% of his stage time. Nearly being killed in the opening scene, he is left to literally twitch with the ants for a while, which made this reviewer shudder at the thought of ants crawling over me, but didn’t break character.

 

Portraying one of the three fox pups (Thoreau), as well as a guard dog, one with gnarly pitbull (Rovis) features is Emma Gregory. Both characters were equally hilarious to watch, all the way through to Rovis getting the snip, which only antagonised the pooch more. Special mention to killing her own character with her own other character – but I won’t say which one survived – you’ll have to catch a performance to find out!

 

Playing 3 characters: Gustina another fox pup, Gemma, the human neighbour, and Smulan, a cat, Eliza Barnes was fortunate enough to have a few quick changes – both costume and characters. Throughout, Barnes portrayed each role with individuality and conciseness. It is evident they have put in the work to identify the needs and obstacles of each character and execute them with distinction.

 

Photo: Jamie Hornsby

Jaxon O’Neill is a delight to watch, having suitable growth through his character before his downfall, as the human father, Simon. Donning the feathers to become a second chicken was a highlight, as was the apron that without, would have made for some confronting viewing – if you want to know what I mean, catch a performance!

 

14-year-old Basti aka Sebastian Cunningham was portrayed brilliantly by Rohan Becker. Many comedic moments were shared between Becker and O’Neill from their first scene with the cereal to the many attempts at tying a tie. Simultaneously, Becker’s chemistry with the protagonist, and youngest fox, was delightful to experience. As mentioned above, it’s Romeo and Juliet pushed to the extremes… you'll know what I mean when you watch it! The naivety of the character, the love of a fox, and the attempts to get his father’s attention… properly, made a character that the audience wanted to succeed and cheered on.

 

Our protagonist, Rdeca, the youngest fox pup, was perfectly executed by Ariel Dzino. The relationships that Rdeca had with every single other character told a story of its own and once again, made the audience care about what was coming next. The belief that love could be found between man and fox, even for an hour was achieved through Dzino’s characterisation and effective storytelling.

Working with the Intimacy/ Fight Coordinator really is a must in this production, and Renato Musolino needs a special mention for respecting the text and carrying out the violence, and the sex in a respectful way among the cast members. There also needs to be a special mention to the cast as a whole working with their environment and remaining safe – uneven bricks, and a stone backdrop isn’t the easiest to work with, let alone steep steps and low lighting. There are many, many moments where impact with the ground, and eventually the stone wall could make for some painful cast members after each performance. 

The stellar cast of 7 brings First Love is a Revolution to life in an all-natural environment, performing in the Barbara Hardy Garden at Holden Street Theatres. As much as the production was thrilling and the cast excelled in their creations, the environment left something to be desired, with distracting music and general chatter being heard from the public area above. A couple of latecomers didn’t help escaping reality for 75 minutes either, given the audience entry point is simultaneously used as a stage entry point.

While having reservations about the performance space, the garden does have an element that complements the story and the setting. Fairy lights above, a single speaker for sounds and lack of microphones did not hinder the experience either.

 

If you have any spare time this week – ANY AT ALL – get along to see First Love is a Revolution. Hannah Smith has outdone herself in directing this production. I can’t wait to see what she does next!