100 Cousins at Herald Theatre

The latest offering from Massive Company centres on an inner-city boarding house where a marginalised group of down-and-outs spend their days arguing, telling stories, caring for each other and enjoying the distractions provided by their flights of fancy.

It is a promising set-up that closely mirrors Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths. But unlike the Russian classic, 100 Cousins unfolds a series of personal stories and never really engages with questions about the value of using fantasy as a shelter from the pain of daily life.

The production reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the Massive Company's method of devising drama out of the life stories of its young actors. On the plus side we get emotionally engaging scenarios and quirky, multi-dimensional characters.

The difficulty lies in assembling all the pieces, and the task of weaving together the experiences of seven fascinating characters is a stretch, even for the formidable storytelling talents of Briar Grace-Smith.

Equally troublesome are the tensions created when authentic street-level stories are shaped by highly sophisticated dramaturgy. The theatrical style often seems disconnected from the drama, and while the young actors provide the raw story material, the storytelling voice clearly belongs to the company's seasoned professionals.

Each of the play's seven characters carries enough back-story to fuel their own full-length play. Miriama McDowell as Becks creates an intriguing, Ophelia-like character, whose troubled past asserts itself when she is seduced into the fantasy world of the disco king, Sione.

In a beautifully realised scene, Becks' girlish thrill at joining in Sione's illusion suddenly evaporates as she slips into a schizophrenic psycho-drama on an earlier trauma.

Unfortunately the frisson created by this scene is rapidly crowded out by the demands of the multi-pronged storyline.

Joe Folau brings an endearing charm to his portrayal of Sione, the naive island boy on a quixotic mission to recreate the magic of Saturday Night Fever. His disco routines provide welcome comic relief, though it is sometimes unclear whether the dancing is a parody or a tribute.

Madeleine Sami's character is the hard-bitten house leader whose sharp tongue masks her vulnerability and compassion.  The role is something of a cliche, but Sami invests the character with a quiet dignity, while her monologues showcase a remarkable ability to embody a range of different characters.

The other characters each deliver moments of compelling intensity as the play democratically struggles to accommodate its competing storylines.

Samantha Scott's direction keeps the stage action tightly choreographed but her reliance on physical theatre devices imparts an artificial tone to much of the drama.

Tracey Collins' set is a beautifully subtle bricolage of interwoven textures.

The design effectively mirrors the shifting moods of the work and this is ably reinforced by some fine lighting effects and Marc Chesterman's atmospheric soundtrack.