Theatre / Gia Ophelia by Grace Wilson. Directed by Jo Bradley. JB Theatre Co in association with Bakehouse Theatre Co. The Courtyard Studio, until July 11. REVIEWED BY ALANNA MACLEAN

Gia Ophelia is a one woman show of some power.

It tracks a life that’s not just about an actor ageing out of the Ophelia role she desperately wants to play but about what can happen to fertility.

Gia (Annie Stafford) is an actor desperate to play Ophelia but nudging 30. Rather, will Gertrude be next?

The other major question of her life involves a dance with uncertain fertility in a relationship where the boyfriend’s mother constantly asks when the babies are going to arrive.

Meanwhile she is living the life of a jobbing actor doing commercials and serving coffee.

A chance arrives in the form of an interstate acting workshop which seems to be heading to a production of Hamlet. This may be Gia’s last chance to play Ophelia before Gertrude is more likely.

Under firm direction by Jo Bradley, Stafford’s performance is full of energy and focus. Her shining short hair echoes the false blonding of Hamlet and Ophelia in Laurence Olivier’s film (where ironically Olivier at 40 odd was still seen as suitable for the lead and Jean Simmons’ Ophelia was very much younger).

But the training at the workshop is shallow and the Shakespeare words are never tackled. Stafford nails the equally shallow students and leader and the impact of a casting offer which is not Ophelia as Gia flees back to a relationship that may not survive.

There’s no final resolution to the dilemmas that this questioning play examines but there’s an invitation to consider them a little more deeply.

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