Coco set to bewitch live theatre fans

Blackheath Theatre Company is providing a powerful and dramatic kickstart to its 2021 performance season. It will showcase the complex and contradictory life of fashion icon, Coco Chanel. The play, More than a Little Black Dress by Australian playwright, Jo Denver, explores the complex nature of her life, starting with the younger Chanel’s early rise to prominence in the fashion world. It balances the storyline with an examination of the older Chanel’s interrogation after World War 2 by the Free French Collaboration Tribunal about her association with well-known Nazi figures.

Director Sabine Erika outlined her approach in tackling what promises to be a compelling piece of theatre: “It is challenging in the sense that the action unfolds on two sides of the same stage. It will be an alternately lit tableau in fact. But we have assembled a fine cast of actors who are a joy to direct. They have taken to the nuances of the twisting storyline and will deliver a performance that I believe will capture the audience’s imagination.”

Pictured here are stills taken by Kylie Blakemore of the Tribunal rehearsal session featuring Coco (Lucy Twomey), interrogators Monsieur Renouf (Ralph Andrews) and Madame Raymond (Trish Donahue) and director Sabine Erika.

Asked what insights the audience may take away from the portrayal of the world-renowned goddess of fashion and style, Sabine predicted: “They will experience a tale of two personalities inside one human being. The younger charming, cultured fashion icon with the world at her feet, balanced against the older scheming iron lady diverting her infamous association with the Nazi leadership that occupied Paris. It is an intriguing and well told tale, offering a great deal of food for thought.”

The play – the headline start to the BTC’s three 2021 performance seasons – will run for six performances from Thursday 13 May to Sunday 16 May at the Phillips Hall, 265 Great Western Highway, Blackheath. Tickets have gone on sale Click Here or from the office of Century 21 Williams Real Estate, 36 Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath.