POV - Perth Festival

Reviewed by Kate O'Sullivan

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POV puts an 11-year-old girl in charge of the stage as she sets out to document her family’s story. Each night, a different pair of adult actors plays her parents — and they walk on without having read the script.

The set-up is deliciously nerve-wracking. In the lead-up to the season, well-known local performers are invited to take part with barely any detail. They’re told to hold a Working With Children Check and to show up early. Two days before their performance, one is asked to prepare a Werner Herzog impression, the other to research Bipolar Affective Disorder. That’s it. The rest unfolds live.

When the audience enters, the actors (for this performance Andrea Gibbs adn Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa) are already there, sitting on stage. Then Bub (played on this night by Grace Tione) arrives and explains she’s making a documentary about her family. From this moment on, she runs the room. She directs the adults where to stand and how to deliver lines, feeding them dialogue page by page, via clipboards, screens, or headphones. The text is scripted, but the adult actors are seeing it for the first time under lights, discovering the story as we do. The tension doesn’t come from inventing lines — it comes from responding honestly to revelations that they couldn’t have anticipated.

Early on, the show has a playful edge. There’s real pleasure in watching seasoned performers hand over control and scramble (perfectly professionally) to keep up. Bub films the reenactments, and the live footage is projected around the space. Some shots are chaotic and gleefully messy; others are surprisingly composed and cinematic. That contrast feels telling: Bub is reaching for something polished and meaningful, even as her youth peeks through the frame.

As the narrative develops, we learn that Bub’s mother lives with bipolar disorder, and that her father doesn’t quite know how to explain it to his daughter. The humour gradually gives way to something more searching. A key scene is repeated several times, each version slightly altered, as if the performance itself is trying to land on the version that makes sense, or brings comfort or clarity. In these moments, the theatrical device stops feeling clever and starts feeling raw.

The structure is demanding, for performers and audience alike. A well-timed interval (cleverly dubbed as necessary for the child actor under the Live Performance Award) offers breathing room and allows for some quiet technical reshuffling before the second half deepens the emotional stakes.

What makes POV so compelling is that it can’t be replicated. With new actors each night, every performance carries its own energy and risk. We’re watching something genuinely live: accomplished adults stepping into uncertainty, guided by a young performer who holds the reins with remarkable steadiness. The result is thoughtful, inventive theatre that balances vulnerability with control, and leaves a lasting impression.

Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by Perth Festival.