The Tropical North Theatre Company presented two short play productions at the Clink Theatre in Port Douglas on both Saturday and Sunday evenings this weekend (30th and 31st August) written and performed by an exciting group of new fresh local talent.

Off the Rock explored a young city girls journey as she comes to grips with living and trying to make friends in a remote area.  Clever use of exterior characters to illustrate her complex mental turmoil as she tries to fit in with the locals takes the audience on a roller coaster ride of confused emotions.

The young cast delivered a mix of emotions with intriguing use of lighting and repartee that took the audience on a rotation from despair, to exasperation to laughter to joy.

Charlotte Rinaldi, as the character Jude, took on the lead responsibility confidently with excellent support from Max Brennan’s insecure and paranoid character Sam, Tobias Tamus Jansse as the laid back Evan, Nina Dalton as the ever over optimistic Lou and co-writer Mollie Pedley as the loud, aggressive Tina.

The locals who vied for Jude’s friendship and put her in a perpetual state of insecurity and confusion were portrayed eagerly and realistically by Nita Delgado, Kloee Revell and Jade Schuck. 

It was a clever concept, superbly performed and to achieve a realism that gave the audience an insight into how hard it is for the youth of today to fit in.

After the interval the outstanding talent of Isabella Allison, who also co-wrote the first short play, was on show in her own one woman show entitled, I was going to be a superhero, exploring the horror and hardship faced by women around the world.

A confronting, no holds barred, piece made all the more amazing considering it was written and performed by a 16yr old.  Isabella is a genuine talent and congratulations go out to the Clink and the Tropical North Theatre Company for supporting and nurturing the wealth of creativity that is obviously in abundance in the area.

The evening was a real team effort and deserved to be better supported. Those who didn’t make it to the productions over the weekend should consider themselves unlucky, they missed a treat !!