Review: Based In Truth, THE SECRET SINGER Shares The Heartwarming Tale Of Wanting To Reconnect With The Joy Of Music

Wednesday 29th August 2018, 7:30pm, Eternity Playhouse

The personal heartwarming story of an unusual singing student wanting to reconnect with her love of music plays out in Joanna Weinberg's new 75 minute musical THE SECRET SINGER. In addition to writing the work, Weinberg has also composed new music for this show and takes on the role of directing the production.

The premise of THE SECRET SINGER is based on the true story of Weinberg's mature aged singing student Jenny Simm who, after years of not singing, had a lifechanging medical diagnosis and wanted to sing again, and sing often, hoping to audition for various community choirs to enable her to sing in front of people every day. For the work, Weinberg has presented a characterization of Jenny (Kate Mannix) as an older woman that looks, at face value, like a bag lady draped in an odd assortment of clothes, wheeling a shopping trolley and guided by a white cane. Weinberg's representation of a stylized version of herself as Emjay, a former pop singer who now makes ends meet by giving singing lessons by the half hour.

The former Burton Street Tabernacle is in some ways an appropriate venue to represent the church hall which serves as a multi purpose space for yoga lessons, kiddie craft sessions and singing lessons. Production designer Brigette Thorn and Weinberg however try to give the work an intimacy in the staging by centering the work on the Persian rug at centre stage and having the furnishings and representation of a stained glass window retain a low height. This distances the work from the audience so they are sitting on the outside looking in rather than gaining the connection that could be achieved with the work.

The underlying story of Jenny's journey to finding her voice again is an incredible tale and for the most part Weinberg captures this but her statement in the program indicates that she has manipulated the story to achieve 'good theatre' over accurate representation of facts. Jenny's story of a childhood of ridicule and bullying, abusive husbands and a lifelong belief that she was stupid is intriguing enough and the deviations from reality unnecessarily push the work into implausible territory. Seeking to alter the story to increase laughs or heighten pathos has in ways turned this relationship into a caricature and therefore diminished the impact of the work. Whilst the performances are generally strong, this stretching reality also results in somewhat stilted expressions when both Lemon and Mannix both have the ability to present honest stories if presented with the right text and direction.

THE SECRET SINGER is a poignant reminder to not judge people at face value and also support other people's dreams. The work however feels like it could do with some tightening and polishing, including removing the artifice and trusting that Jenny's true story is enough.

THE SECRET SINGER

28 August - 9 September 2018

http://www.darlinghursttheatre.com/whats-on/the-secret-singer

photos by Stephen Reinhardt