Holden Street Theatres have a deserved reputation for supporting local theatre and new talent. Tonight the Flinders University Honours Drama graduating students get to present their production of the Australian play First Love The Revolution.

Written by Australian playwright Rita Kalnejais (renowned for her play and subsequent film Babyteeth) this is a play that sets out to challenge its audience to think about the animal world in different ways. Many of us love our domestic pets but can wild animals and humans fall in love? Taking the trope of a Romeo & Juliet scenario a young boy finds himself drawn to and then besotted by a young vixen caught in his trap. The families of both young lovers reject their connections but the two form a bond which leads them both to radicalize each other to find new freedoms.

The acting is engaging and believable especially as the majority of roles are as animals and a number of the cast take multiple roles. There is humour too – a scene with a guard dog protecting the two grass seed obsessed chickens show the comic chops of the cast. The performance of the two leads is especially impressive. Rdeca the young vixen is animated and full of the attitude required for the part.

Presented in a courtyard garden (so intimate you need to be careful a fox doesn’t spill your wine glass) – the space is well used, although an influx of ants on the bricks had me concerned for one of the actors as he lay injured in the dirt. Perhaps appropriate, given mangy animal carcasses do in fact get covered and eaten by ants (perhaps they were in the cast?) but uncomfortable for the actor all the same. Background music seeping over from the bar was also a distraction but this will hopefully be rectified for subsequent performances.

It is heartening to see local talent getting a chance to strut their stuff and to develop their craft. The Fringe is crammed with professional productions but tonight these young drama graduates show they can hold their own  and they have the stuff to take them further.