Gal Pals, is a journey through what it means to be a queer kid in an increasingly hate filled, temperature rising, and extremist world. Based in the dorm room of a conversion camp in rural WA, we get glimpses of the week-long visit that five teenage girls have been either forced or have volunteered themselves into. The Blue Room Theatre space is turned into a room reminiscent of But I’m A Cheerleader, pastel pinks and yellow, with a detailed paper mache tree encroaching over the right side of the stage, a strong stylistic world guiding us into the next 90 minutes of intense emotional distress.
I often find with cast sizes more than 3-4 there always has to be at least one character who exists purely for serving other characters and the plot, but, each of these five have so much of their own detail and rich journeys you are captivated with every single scene. Sam Nerida delivers a heartful, emotionally driven, and intense but gentle story that leaves one desiring for more. There were some moments that jumped out as a bit out of place, for example, a small scene, somewhere in the middle, where we seemed to awkwardly shift gear into a didactic moment where they needed to make sure the audience was on the same page with our understanding of comp-het.
Kat (Rhiannon Bryan). Photography by Shae Khreish.
While the script does an amazing job in giving each of the five cast their own depth, the actors excel in bringing this energy to the stage. Rhiannon Bryan as Kat is the reserved christian and has a delightfully bright energy intermittently crushed down by her ‘catholic’ guilt, Ionia Venoutsos as Hez powers onto stage outraged after being lied to by her parents and maintains this strong energy throughout but softening when brought down in confidence. Hayley Perrin as Cassie has a gorgeously soft presence to her and whilst some of the angst and pessimism of being a young person is channelled through her character she stands strong with a powerful optimism that uplifts. Sophie Quin as Zara has something hovering below the surface pushing her to be at this camp and brings this out in her confident but somehow still reserved presence, wonderfully crafted. Crystal Nguyen as Sloane, acting as a leading force in our group, here on her fourth visit to the camp has a real cocky attitude, knowing all about personalities and passes judgement quickly but has a real turn when brought down a peg to the real world. Perhaps a side effect of coming on opening night I would say the quick wittedness and pace of the script would sometimes get away from the performers, but I imagine even after a couple more shows the group would be a powerhouse and channel a great intensity in the script
Cassie (Hayley Perrin), Hez (Ionia Venoutsos), Zara (Sophie Quin) and Sloane (Crystal Nguyen). Photograhy by Shae Khreish.
There were some design decisions that placed some tension between certain aspects of the show. A moment that stood out was after some conflict between the repressed Christian and one of the other girls about religion, the scene transitioned with a recording of a speech scomo gave while passing the religious discrimination bill. To make literal what is being implied in the text feels redundant and every time it came up I felt it removed tension away from characters and reminded me that they aren’t actually real people.
Gal Pals is a sensitive, soft, and gorgeously expressive, despite the fact that our industry is full of queer people I feel it is quite rare to see a show exploring in detail the difficulties of growing up queer and even for this, the show is worth seeing, but they hit it out of the park with detailed characters and a group of performers that are a joy to watch. I think if I saw this when I was fourteen it would’ve changed my life.
Gal Pals is on at The Blue Room Theatre from 9-27 April.