Shake And Stir: Scene Analysis

Shake & Stir’s 2015 production of Tag successfully integrates the audience through a curated selection of dramatic elements and acting and directorial choices. It effectively highlights the risks of relying on the Internet for self-esteem, but fails to investigate further and, overall, provides merely a skin-deep theatrical analysis of the psychology behind both the victims and the bullies. The play is fast and funny, but – perhaps because of its brief duration – fails to deliver a sufficient backstory for many of the characters and does little to establish their motives and psyche.

Brandishing a pink feather duster, an explosion of fuchsia cavorts into the space from behind a grey panel: a welcome contrast to the ashen hues of the theatre. She begins to dust the panels chirpily, as her son, seated at a laptop computer, heralds her arrival with a nasally …show more content…
This introductory scene works to centre the play in reality and appeal to a young audience: a bored child on his laptop as a parent talks on and on. It also introduces us to the characters, the vivacious and talkative mother and the bored and Internet-addicted son. The funny facet of the play is explored in depth here, as the actors work to acquire the audience’s attention.

Much of the production is dedicated to the humourous side of the affair, with slapstick comedy, pop culture references (the fictional “fields of Tyrion” mentioned are likely a reference to Bethesda’s fantasy role-playing game series The Elder Scrolls, or possibly the similar game series Dragon Age), and typical Australian vernacular used to comic effect (one of the protagonists describes mean girl Madison Molloy as “hot like Nandos Perri-Perri”). Despite the serious implications of the theme of cyber bullying, the audience is lulled into a false sense of security through the comedic aspect of the play. This is abruptly brought to a halt during the last scene of the production, in which