FRINGE – The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts – CIT – Higher Ground – 4.5K

It is nice to know that away from the glitz, the booze and the routine stand up acts of the Garden, at the other end of the Rundle / Hindley Street divide, quality theatre can be found, and in abundance.

The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts, written and performed by the Englishman, Richard Fry, will provide you with more reflection than just the show’s one hour length.

Young gay angst is the topic, the fear of being exposed, rejected and ridiculed by a world that we get repeatedly told is liberal in its views to such things. The consequences of ‘the one thing you know you can never admit’ are exposed by Fry, such as living a lie, withdrawal and, at its worst, suicide. He quotes that in Britain it is estimated that one young gay guy kills himself every day.

Fry’s mastery of his work is worth the price of admission, reeling off poetry to explain the malaise but presenting the nasties for a while with a sugar coating – the coming together of people to fight the plague and to make the world generally a better place – something to do, Fry suggests, as part of our journey to inevitable death.

This is compelling and moving theatre, staying within the bounds of melodrama and ‘made for Hollywood’ Fry makes us laugh, feel ashamed and evokes sympathy for lost souls and those who suffer around them when the worst happens. It is theatre about them, but mostly about us.

Whilst this revewer generally eschews the use of the word ‘important’ when attached to theatre or movies, the Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts is one exception worth making.

Kryztoff Rating  4.5K

In furtherance of the cause, Fry has started an Australian Facebook page at www.facebook.com/unbeatablehearts for those who wish to be enjoined in the cause. Any sufferer, or friend, relative or parent of someone caught up in the maelstrom of societal norms when you are not ought to consider joining.

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