Wayside Bride Review

08.05.22

For two and half hours the Belvoir upstairs theatre became Kings Cross in the 1970s as Alana Valentine’s Wayside Bride captured the soul and spirit of those who turned to Ted Noffs when there was nowhere else to go. Wayside Chapel was a haven for the poor and for those who didn’t fulfil societal norms.

Ella Butler’s costume design subtly augments the seventies, and Michael Hankin’s set design with its fluid open plan for different scenes is appropriately humble and devoid of religious opulence reflecting the raw, controversial beginnings of Wayside.

Valentine is renowned for her verbatim theatre and Wayside Bride reinforces her mastery in creating the dialogue from interviews with people who were married at Wayside Chapel in the 1970s. This dimension of real people speaking their own memories gives a richness to the play and the cast embodies and brings to life their diversity and vibrancy. Valentine’s mother was married at Wayside Chapel so she had a personal connection and wove herself as the playwright into the play as a ‘device’, as Alana (played by Emily Goddard), explained through the fourth wall. Alana’s relationship with all the characters and their disparate stories propelled and united the narrative.

Hannah Goodwin’s and Eamon Flack’s direction with its fast-paced momentum fused the multiple, discrete stories seamlessly,

A cast of ten with seven understudies/standbys (clearly prepared for a covid spike) were real, authentic and we cared for each one of them. In particular, Sacha Horler’s performance as Margaret Noffs (she also played Valentine’s mother) was real, authentic and someone we could connect with; a strong, passionate woman fulfilling the adage ‘behind every great man is a great woman’. Marco Chiappi brilliantly epitomises both a homeless and a flamboyant gay and Maggie Blinco’s dignified both the grandmother recalling her contentious marriage to a Vietnamese man and an ethereal woman with a fragile mind.

Wayside Bride is both nostalgic (as over 60-year-olds in the audience were clearly reminiscing with a fondness of the era) and a testament to Ted Noffs founding of the Wayside Chapel as a community drop-in and crisis centre for people on the margins of society – as it remains today.

4 Stars 

Sara, 19 (She/Her) 

Belvoir St Theatre’s REP season of Wayside Bride plays at Belvoir St Theatre until 29 May. Book your tickets here.