Written by Joanna Murray – Smith – Directed by Jordan Best
Lighting Design by Linda Buck – Set & Props designed by
Jordan Best and Roz Hall
Costume Design by Jordan Best & Cast – Stage Managed by
Owen Davis
Composed by Andrew Hackwill – Musical Arrangements by Leisa
Keen
Choreographed by Nathan Rutup & Sally Taylor
Produced by Echo Theatre, The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts
Centre August 27th – 29th 2026.
Evening performance on August 29th reviewed by
BILL STEPHENS.
Written by Joanne Murray-Smith as a tour-de-force performance
piece to showcase the talents of musical
theatre star, Caroline O’Connor, “Bombshells” originally consisted of six short
vignettes, focussed on the travails of six different women. O’Connor toured the
piece nationally and it was filmed and broadcast on ABC television.
Later Sharon Millerchip, who had starred opposite O’Connor
for a national tour of “Chicago”, repeated O’Connor’s feat by performing
“Bombshells” for a season at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney.
In 2024, Jordan Best, had the idea of staging a production
of “Bombshells” for her company, Echo Theatre, casting each vignette with a
different actress. It worked a treat. So much so that “Arts On Tour” has picked
up the production for an eleven-city NSW regional tour, of which these
performances in Queanbeyan were the first.
In remounting her production for touring, Best wisely took
the opportunity to omit the nightclub singer segment designed to provide the
opportunity for O’Connor to exercise her remarkable vocals.
This handsomely mounted touring version has been slimmed
down to five different stories, told without interval, with each story performed
by a different actress. Each has her own attractive setting, and all remain on
stage for the duration of the play.
 |
| Yanina Clifton as Meryl. |
Yanina Clifton delivers a poignant performance in the first monologue as Meryl, a mother on the verge of 40 and a nervous breakdown. Meryl verbalises her thoughts as she sinks under her efforts to meet her own expectations of being the perfect wife and mother, while breast-feeding her infant, trying to cope with her inquisitive daughter, and worries about completing the housework and having dinner prepared before her perfect husband arrives home from work.
Her situation is almost too sad to laugh at, but Murray-Smith’s
razor-sharp dialogue makes it impossible not to.
 |
| Louise Bennett as Tiggy |
Louise Bennet plays Tiggy, a cacti enthusiast from the Queanbeyan East Cactus & Succulent Club. In the midst of her illustrated lecture on cacti, Tiggy is distracted by her marital problems and her comments become as sharp and spiky as her cacti as she struggles to keep her lecture on track.
 |
| Sally Taylor as Mary O'Donnell |
No such problems for Mary O’Donnell, captivatingly created by Sally Taylor. Mary is supremely confident that she will cement her position as the Liza Minnelli of St. Clare’s College with her self-devised solo Shaunessy the Mystery Cat. Just as she finishes her rehearsal, Mary learns that her arch-rival has chosen the same solo. In desperation, Mary decides to dance her solo to the music of Shaft.
 |
| Ella Buckley as Theresa |
Ella Buckley plays a bride, Theresa, who is preparing for her wedding. As she dons her wedding dress, Theresa confides her joy in finally getting to wear this gown. But as her thoughts drift towards her life after the wedding, Theresa begins to panic at the realisation that she knows very little about her groom, realising that her only reason for getting engaged was to wear the wedding dress.
 |
| Laineie Hart as Winsome. |
The final character is portrayed by Lainie Hart. Her name is Winsome, and she’s a well-dressed, outwardly sophisticated widow, who at 65 decides to embark on a new hobby; reading books to blind clients. When one of her clients’ requests that she read him extracts from a racy novel, Winsome discovers rather more joys to book-reading than she had an imagined.
The five actors remain on stage in their individual settings
for the duration of the performance, with each monologue separated by a short oscillating
lightshow which hints tantalisingly at how each character has progressed
following their revelations.
Stylish and absorbing, “Bombshells” is a delightfully
satisfying production notable for the depth of characterisation achieved by
each of the performers, and for the careful attention paid to every aspect,
especially presentation and choreography.
Photos by Ben Appleton - Photox
TOUR DATES: Queanbeyan 27-29th August. - Cowra, Sept. 2.– Springwood, Sept 4 - Picton, Sept. 5. -Coffs Harbour, Sept 11.– Port Macquarie, Sept 12. – Dubbo, 16. -Belrose Sept18 & 19. – Griffith, Sept 23. – Albury, Sept. 25. – Bathurst, Sept. 27.
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.
