Theatre Review - Tovarich

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Tovarich

By Robert E. Sherwood

Directors Kevin Jackson and Elaine Hudson

Sydney Acting Studio until June 4

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP

The Sydney Acting Studio production of Tovarich is under way at its theatre space in Redfern.

Upper-class Parisian Charles Dupont and his family engage the services of Tina and Michel as their servants. They don’t know that they’ve employed Tatiana, the Grand Duchess Petrovna and her husband, Mikhail, Prince of Ouratieff who are exiles from the Russian Revolution.

Sydney Acting Studio students featured are Seth Eden, Tallulah Redmond-Stephen, Ruby El-Kaddoumi, George Tilley, Roy Wallace-Cant, Melissa Cremascoliu, Justin Knights, Hamish Macdonald. Kate Jirelle and Saif Alawadi.

For a low budget production, the programme is exceptional. Looks like they attracted sponsorship from Moët. That’s a lesson for all theatre companies. Create a programme that people will want to keep. It ensures that your brand remains front-of-mind.

This production is significant because last December, the director was Kevin Jackson. Sadly, Kevin shuffled off his mortal coil on January 18, at age 74, and Elaine Hudson took over. I first met Kevin when he came in to direct a production at my school. As an actor, acting teacher and director, he was a passionate and outstanding personality in Australian theatre.