{"id":8799,"date":"2019-04-01T04:06:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T18:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/?p=8799"},"modified":"2019-04-01T19:29:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T09:29:38","slug":"robot-song-arena-theatre-company-theatre-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/robot-song-arena-theatre-company-theatre-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Robot Song (Arena Theatre Company) – theatre review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robot Song is an energetic, highly creative new work from Arena Theatre Company – and specifically writer, director and designer Jolyon James. What a wild ride it is, but one well worth taking. The love and laughter in the room on opening night were infectious.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nEleven year-old Juniper May (Ashlea Pyke) is in her final year of primary school, but she hates it because she’s picked on. She likes art, music, computers and YouTube \u2026 and loves robots. She’s even called \u201cRobot\u201d at school, where others perceive her as distant and cold. Her worst moment comes when she’s presented with a truly horrible letter signed by all her classmates. They call her \u201ca total freak\u201d, say they wish she was never born and tell her nobody wants her at the school. No wonder she doesn\u2019t want to go back there.<\/p>\n

Juniper, who has many nicknames coined by her artistic father (Phil McInnes), sees the world differently. She makes up words that are meaningful to her, writes most things down and thinks it’s cool there are words within words; like \u201ceat\u201d in \u201cbreathe\u201d. Her dad has taught her to appreciate an amazing robot named Battletac from an \u201880s Japanese television series (though only 10 episodes were made). She spends countless hours playing with the contents of a recycle bin she’s \u201cbefriended\u201d.<\/p>\n

Robot Song, which unfolds through dialogue and music (and a little audience interaction), manages to cleverly turn around Juniper ‘s feeling of despair has into hope and promise. Without spoiling the surprise, part of that is achieved from Juniper\u2019s contact with a whiteboard. The show includes a lot of animated, animatronic and tactile elements and it benefits as a result. A reveal near the end is totally joyful and represents the cherry on top.<\/p>\n

Robot Song plays on the wide-eyed innocence of being a child \u2013 just letting your imagination soar. It’s family-friendly.<\/p>\n

The three performers – who also include Jo Abbott on keyboard as Juniper\u2019s mum – pour their hearts into the work. From Pyke\u2019s first appearance on stage, she’s no wallflower. She makes for a charismatic central character. Both she and McInnes are accomplished singers. He’s a very natural performer who can make you believe that whatever his character imagines is real.<\/p>\n

Creator Jolyon James was inspired to craft Robot Song after one of his two sons was diagnosed with autism. James grew up in a family of professional artists. Over the past 40 years he’s been squirrelling away ideas he thought might someday be useful. This is the outcome. He had already built a WALL-E style robot and creative projects had always been part of the interaction he had with his offspring. In fact, he would go so far as to say these were often their clearest moments of communication.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAs James puts in in the program that accompanies the musical play, \u201cRobot Song is primarily a personal reflection about parenting and the profound ability creativity has to cut through when language fails.\u201d Hear, hear, I say. Let\u2019s have more of it \u2026 especially if material this good can come out of it. Then, and only then, can the love be spread around in a world desperately in need of it. Nate Gilkes is the composer and Ania Reynolds the musical director.<\/p>\n

An hour long, Robot Song \u2013 a celebration of diversity and being your own person \u2013 is playing at Theatre Works until 13 April 2019.<\/p>\n

Alex First<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robot Song is an energetic, highly creative new work from Arena Theatre Company – and specifically writer, director and designer Jolyon James. What a wild ride it is, but one well worth taking. The love and laughter in the room on opening night were infectious. Eleven year-old Juniper May (Ashlea Pyke) is in her final…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[801],"tags":[37,18,2707,9,38,590,1354],"class_list":["post-8799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theatre","tag-melbourne","tag-music","tag-parenting","tag-play","tag-theatre","tag-theatre-review","tag-theatre-works"],"yoast_head":"\nRobot Song (Arena Theatre Company) - theatre review -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/robot-song-arena-theatre-company-theatre-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robot Song (Arena Theatre Company) - theatre review -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robot Song is an energetic, highly creative new work from Arena Theatre Company – and specifically writer, director and designer Jolyon James. 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(Capitol) – theatre review","author":"David Edwards","date":"March 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"What a legacy the Swedish pop group ABBA has left the world!\u00a0That was my overwhelming sentiment while watching the fun of Mamma Mia! unfold at Capitol Theatre in Sydney. It's a heartwarming romp that gets better until the final three crowd-pleasing numbers. The whole audience is on its feet clapping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/category\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Mamma-Mia-Capitol-03.jpg?fit=1024%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Mamma-Mia-Capitol-03.jpg?fit=1024%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Mamma-Mia-Capitol-03.jpg?fit=1024%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Mamma-Mia-Capitol-03.jpg?fit=1024%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":154532,"url":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/the-hate-race-malthouse-theatre-theatre-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":8799,"position":4},"title":"The Hate Race (Malthouse Theatre) – theatre review","author":"Alex First","date":"February 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Racism comes in many forms and from many quarters and can strike with the speed of a bullet train.\u00a0That subject is explored in a dramatic and humorous way through a series of anecdotes from the coloured English daughter of West Indian parents.\u00a0Her mother is an actress and her father a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/category\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rsz_tz2_4044_253-small.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rsz_tz2_4044_253-small.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rsz_tz2_4044_253-small.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rsz_tz2_4044_253-small.jpg?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166807,"url":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/kimberly-akimbo-a-musical-mtc-and-state-theatre-company-south-australia-musical-theatre-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":8799,"position":5},"title":"Kimberly Akimbo: a musical (MTC and State Theatre Company South Australia) – musical theatre review","author":"Alex First","date":"July 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"MTC keeps lifting the bar. Kimberly Akimbo is a superb, zany, comical and tender production. The five-time Tony Award winner, which included Best Musical, concerns a lonely girl about to turn 16 who has a very rare genetic condition. She ages four to five times faster than normal, which means\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rsz_3kimberly_akimbo_cast_1_image_by_sam_roberts-1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rsz_3kimberly_akimbo_cast_1_image_by_sam_roberts-1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rsz_3kimberly_akimbo_cast_1_image_by_sam_roberts-1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/rsz_3kimberly_akimbo_cast_1_image_by_sam_roberts-1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}