Poster design by Alex M Beckinsale
first production for 2019 is the Adelaide premiere of
Nerve - a dark and gritty romantic comedy by American playwright Adam Szymkowicz.
Staged upstairs in Adelaide's East End Cinema Place local The Elephant British Pub, Nerve runs from 5 June 2019 until 15 June 2019. Tickets can be purchased via TryBooking.com and are priced at $30/concession, $36/adult and $180/group of 6 (plus TryBooking fee).
The saying
forewarned is forearmed is apt for this production - so here's a spoiler alert: In my opinion,
Nerve is not for the faint-hearted or the broken-hearted. Each character's core being is unravelled in some challenging and confronting ways, as they literally bare all, including what they deem are their weaknesses and vulnerabilities - over the course of 90 minutes, this production has as many ups and downs as a roller coaster ride.
(Images courtesy of IKAG Productions)
If you are passionate about and appreciate quality productions and theatre, IKAG Productions Adelaide premiere of
Nerve is not to be missed. With its team of some of Adelaide's most talented, up and coming creatives, including sound designer Samuel Rodda,
Nerve is a well rounded production - with Samuel putting his talent to innovative use by compiling a playlist of 27 tracks from Adelaide-based artists including IKAG Productions collaborative musical talents Mary Webb, Hey Harriett, Indiago and Riverwood and matching the tracks, to play throughout the entire performance, with the tunes and lyrics reflecting the thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions of
Nerve's two characters, Elliot and Susan.
In my case, I clicked on the Spotify link and listened to Samuel's 27 track playlist of the soundtrack (totally free and great quality) for Nerve: The Show before seeing the performance and was glad I did, as doing so provided greater dimension, emphasis and insight to Tom Gentry's character Elliot and Katherine Silbereisen's character Susan. Layer, by layer,
Nerve peels away the fabric of Elliot and Susan - Elliot wears his heart on a sleeve, falls in love all too easily and does not take rejection lightly. Susan is closed off and defensive and struggles to connect and establish positive relationships with others as she struggles to connect with herself - employing dramatic and at times traumatic coping strategies to do so (which IKAG Productions makeup and special effects artist Liana Krassas helps create with vivid and graphic effect).
IKAG Productions founder/director/actor Tom Gentry writes in his prologue of
Nerve's program,
Internet dating is not what it was in 2003, when this play was written. It was only when I was fortunate enough to speak with Adam Szymkowicz recently that I learnt, in addition to being a reference to the Paul Simon song 'Look at That', the title is also the name of an American dating site that was popular around the turn of the millennium, one whose format would be quite alien to many users of Tinder, Zoosk, and whatever crap else is popular right now. Allusions to this format (among other things) date the dialogue quite a bit (not a pun), but ultimately, I decided not to change anything. All I can say is congratulations Tom - you made the right decision!
