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Beauty in believing against the odds

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Jay HannaThe West Australian
Ruby’s Wish
Camera IconRuby’s Wish Credit: Kathy Luu

Ruby’s Wish

State Theatre Centre of WA

4.5 stars

REVIEW JAY HANNA

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Ruby’s Wish is children’s theatre at its finest.

It’s so good in fact, that it’s a shame the adult audience for this Awesome Festival offering will be mostly limited to those chaperoning children.

While there is a lot for kids to enjoy in this tale about brave little Ruby, a gravely ill girl who refuses to give up on her dreams, there’s also plenty that will appeal to grown-ups in the clever, confounding, multilayered production.

Actors Holly Austin, Adriano Cappelletta and narrator Alice Osborne first introduce themselves to the audience before introducing their characters and easing into their roles. It’s a great way of framing the story for little people and allowing them to make sense of what is going on.

Ruby is a puppet who is mostly brought to life (complete with incredibly realistic and age-appropriate gestures) by Osborne.

When Ruby is strong and well, she is larger; she shrinks when she feels dwarfed by pain. Ruby’s stressed, strained dad (Cappelletta) is careful not to indulge his daughter’s flights of fancy lest she be let down by life.

Enter the socially awkward, tongue-tied Dot (Austin) who, as her clown doctor alter ego Dr Audy Yo (audio, do you get it?) feels free to express herself without words. She pulls out all the stops to win over Ruby and her dad. When beatboxing doesn’t work, she morphs into a jazz orchestra.

While Dot helps bridge the gap between father and daughter, she also breaks down some of her own barriers in the process.

The visuals are simple but effective. Ruby’s fears are manifest in frightening animated scenes of an X-ray forest and a mop monster brought to life.

The play is at its most potent when it subverts expectations and nowhere more so than when Ruby’s wish is revealed.

It’s a powerful realisation that this sick little girl’s most cherished wish is not what we assumed it to be. The big reveal is a show stopper.

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