Review: Kimberly Akimbo
by David Lindsay-Abaire at the Javeenbah Theatre Company.
Directed by Kaela Gray. Features Cassie Baan, Sam Modra, Rory Schiele, Naomi Thompson, Maegan Weir.
By arrangement with Muscle Theatre International. Season ends September 14. For bookings info@javeenbah,org,au
David Lindsay-Abaire’s Kimberly Akimbo (Naomi Thompson) is a complex bitter-sweet tale with laughs generated by the fate of a 16-year-old who is dying. That causes
Kimberly – known as Kim – who has a condition like progeria to age at four and a half times as fast as normal.
The result is that Kim , who is 16, is locked in the body of an elderly woman. This leaves her alone and isolated until school friend Jeff (Sam Modra) – who is also a misfit- takes an interest in her.
To make matters more complex Kim belongs to a dysfunctional family including mum Patty (Cassie Baan), Dad (Rory Schiele) and Aunty Debra (Maegan Weir).
The danger here is that we spend so much time chuckling at the stupidity of the family that we can loose contact with Kim’s tragic prognosis.
Kim is quiet and slightly sad – well played by Naomi Thompson – while it is left to the family to create all the mayhem.
Cassie Baan as the larger-than-life Aunty Debra steeles much of the show in a sub-plot I am not about to spoil.
My one observation is that more needs to be done to demonstrate that Kim is 16 and not 60-plus.
