Watching The Complete Show of Water Skiing may not enhance your knowledge of the water sport by much but it sure is a refreshingly good time!
After Jenwin’s (Zendra Giraudo) grandfather passes away, she finds The Complete Book of Water Skiing among his belongings. With some rather forceful encouragement from best friend Abison (Lucy Wong) and hesitant willingness from fellow friend Lily (Crystal Nguyen), the trio decide to give the sport a go and even enter into the Baldivis water skiing competition!
Guided by the book, Abi leads some rigorous training and utilises some rather untraditional techniques to do so, which is a joy to watch for the audience but potentially painful for Jenny and Lily (lots of ping-pong balls are involved). Meanwhile, Lily analyses the book, educating us on some of its rather alarming content as well its various forms of bizarre tricks and poses.
The Cast of The Complete Show of Water Skiing.
Director Laura Liu has not missed the chance to go all out with Medina Dizdarevic’s playful script, finding plenty of opportunities to up the ante with how wonderfully ridiculous the on-stage action gets; including a watershed finale choreographed by Zendra.
Flowing throughout the show are references to the characters’ Chinese culture, showing both simple day-to-day interactions as well as the process of grieving. A particularly poignant moment occurs as Jenny realises, she’s doing this in an attempt to learn more about her grandfather who she struggled to know on a deeper level due to a language barrier.
The Cast of The Complete Show of Water Skiing.
The three performers have a great synergy and really lean into their roles which replicate those typically seen within friendship groups. Lucy Wong provides enough confidence and positive delusion for the whole group, Crystal Nguyen inserts some much-needed rational thinking and sass, and Zendra demonstrates the feelings of loss and apprehension we can all relate to after a life changing event.
Running somewhere under an hour long, the show whizzes by and could certainly add some extra time exploring some of the deeper issues they begin to touch on, without compromising the show’s snappy pace.
The Complete Show of Water Skiing is a hilarious show full of light-hearted and wholesome fun. This team has elevated a simple concept and turned it into a show that’s hard not to love and recommend… even if you’re not into water sports!
The Complete Show of Water Skiing is on now until Feb 12 at The Blue Room Theatre.