The Trail to Oregon! - 7.5/10
Flinders Uni Performing Arts Society
Tickets: The Trail to Oregon! Tickets
Starkid Productions is a name known by theatre fans worldwide for their quirky shows, filled with fun songs and wacky, crude humour (with LOTS of swearing). The Adelaide theatre community has slowly become more acquainted with Starkid's work in recent years, and The Trail to Oregon is the latest in the list of Starkid shows to premiere in Adelaide, thanks to the Flinders University Performing Arts Society (FUPAS).
The story is (very loosely) based on the text-based 1971 educational computer game The Oregon Trail. Those who remember playing the game at any point in its 55 years will know that the real goal of the game is not to make it to Oregon, but rather, to simply not die in a miserable or embarrassing manner along the way. As a Starkid fan who has seen the original Trail to Oregon production (on YouTube), I had a pretty strong idea of what I was in for. This production absolutely met all my expectations, and ended up being a rollicking good time, filled with many laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of audience participation! The show asks the audience to give each member of the family a name, gets you clapping along with some of the songs, and has you cheering specifically for Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Suffice to say, there isn’t a dull moment.
The key to the show was simplicity. Director Allegra Vaiente made perfect use of the limited space, with the band and cast cohabiting the stage and zero set pieces save for a “wagon” and a singular table. This allowed the true focus of the show to be on the characters, their relationships, and, of course, the jokes. The choreography by Eva Wilde was my favourite kind - simple but effective. The six-piece band was led perfectly by Hamish Westbury and was well on par with orchestras one would find in an older, more established theatre company. All vamps and rubato moments were handled expertly, which can be surprisingly difficult.
Special mention goes to Jules Moylan as costume designer. The costumes were what really brought the old Western theme together. Even the band could be seen wearing wide-brim hats and red paisley neckerchiefs, which was a really sweet detail that also helped bring everything together and feel cohesive.
But the true highlight was the cast - the Chosen Ones family. They truly worked best as an ensemble, bouncing off each other’s energy and interacting like a true family. Amethyst Westbury played the classic bumbling but well-meaning Father (named Butt Fluff by the audience that night) with tongue-in-cheek charm. Katie Adams played the overbearing mama bear type Mother (given name Hanky Panky) with an alarming accuracy - some of her facial expressions and reactions to her family are immediately recognisable by anyone who’s ever been within 10 feet of a mother!
Milly Willcox was sweet as Daughter (named Tuna Mornay), a teenaged girl trying to grow up and become her own person on the trail. Kate Wooding was absolutely hilarious as Son (aptly named Stupid, which lead to some unintentionally golden lines), a 7-year-old boy whose answer to most questions is “I don’t know”. Brandon Calmiano played Grandpa (who was named by the audience… Six Seven) with the classic “I’m-too-old-for-this-sh*t” energy, his scene with lobster Cornwallis being a highlight (yes, there are lobsters).
Special mentions go out to Marley Haitana as The Bandit King McDoon and Katrina Macfarlane as Cletus Jones, both being stand-outs in their named roles and the many varied ensemble roles (some highlights of which include General Store Guy, the blind, deaf and horny ox, Cornwallis, a Scottish medical examiner and a French bartender with facial hair that looks like it came from a Lorax costume). Wagon on Fire, the Act One closer, has always been my favourite song of the whole show, and Marley gave it their all. I was headbanging to myself the whole time!
The only aspect that dampened the experience was the sound. There were many issues with microphone levels. Unfortunately, throughout most of the songs, the cast couldn’t be understood or even heard at all. Harmonies were lost, and complete verses were completely unintelligible, even as someone that already knows the songs. It was either that, or the booming, bellowing voices of certain characters would consistently blow out their microphone. The Holden Street theatre is very small, so I don’t think microphones were even necessary for dialogue.
Technical issues aside, it is very clear that this show is a passion project put together by a group of young people who are true Starkid fans. They were eager, enthusiastic, and knew not to take the show (or themselves) too seriously. I thoroughly enjoyed the show because I could actively see the entire cast enjoying it too. And at the end of the day, that’s what shows should really be about.
- Carolina Fioravanti
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