tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77959253228871155962024-03-27T04:04:53.509-07:00That Guy who Watches Canberra TheatreThat Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.comBlogger439125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-6335767118635315452024-03-19T01:30:00.000-07:002024-03-19T15:15:56.173-07:00After Rebecca, The Miscellany Co-Operative, ACT Hub, 19-25 March<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhtOxY0tdgXpiVV8WBC3b-DKl69dHo8ZmMOpcNrM_ks_-jsvB0ZPU5Z3JJG6d07HWRX2WFXz7NdYdoJvCMq08iKku8Bc-oSMbyzusevJIRPAma_VfuTr_H8Phjo_8PaVgPY72NQ8UUt7hk4yB13pTZ5kh1cil85f9bTx9WcjiXucB6vTarFzv8lgnYi6N/s1200/Cooper.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhtOxY0tdgXpiVV8WBC3b-DKl69dHo8ZmMOpcNrM_ks_-jsvB0ZPU5Z3JJG6d07HWRX2WFXz7NdYdoJvCMq08iKku8Bc-oSMbyzusevJIRPAma_VfuTr_H8Phjo_8PaVgPY72NQ8UUt7hk4yB13pTZ5kh1cil85f9bTx9WcjiXucB6vTarFzv8lgnYi6N/s320/Cooper.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />Daphne DuMaurier's novel, written in 1938, was almost immediately adapted into an iconic film by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Joan Fontaine, Lawrence Olivier and Judith Anderson, and has been adapted multiple times since (including two further film adaptations, most recently a Netflix one in 2020), 8 TV adaptations, for stage three times (one play by DuMaurier, one musical and one opera), and with three associated novels approved by the DuMaurier estate. It's a gothic in the style of the Brontes, with a grand country estate, a creepy housekeeper, and a leading man who these days comes across less as broodingly romantic and more kinda dodgy. Emma Gibson's update is modern, urgent, driven and uses the original cleverly, bringing out the mysteriousness and doubling down on the dodgyness of the leading man, letting the implications play through to a shatteringly powerful ending. </p><p>Michelle Cooper is the sole performer as the unnamed narrator (keeping this feature from the original) - this time a modern young woman, uncertain of herself and brought into a situation that grows increasingly perilous. She's a skilled narrator, embodying the various figures of the story well, and we see her develop as the signs become increasingly obvious that something is deeply wrong with the man who's taken her off to his remote property, and her increasing isolation has a distinctly threatening undercurrent that eventually becomes an overcurrent. It's a well paced performance that draws you in before bringing out the dark realities that underly the story. </p><p>Daniel McCusker's set, lighting and sound gives the space simplicity and adaptability - not-too-cluttered and not so basic that it feels bare. </p><p>A great case for engaging with a classic story with modern eyes distinctly open to how this holds up in the modern world, making clever choices. It's a show that should absolutely be seen while it's here (or wherever else it ends up - this is a show that is strong enough that it should have a long afterlife).</p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-32176677329562252072024-03-16T01:30:00.000-07:002024-03-16T13:48:48.650-07:00Cameron Ribbons: Eulogiser Bunny, Q the Locals and Sophia Borserio, The Q, 16 March<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1FlLjbR-n4PR0TmqQWZt5XcfZRZ-1-lu8YKx3MHBPqjG4nCoTwRz0pQcSUrXy4SEy3KUho5AJJnbvthlgFm2rfRa4HyqScGYeJWvLZAdopqeghw7X8DaioVgEcuo8TE0ZEf7I6P5UEfZMpzjxFOIuGbs3H0WuDFM7rtpdO0xj_FPZqN2QJ6oing_URfa/s1200/cameron%20ribbons.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1FlLjbR-n4PR0TmqQWZt5XcfZRZ-1-lu8YKx3MHBPqjG4nCoTwRz0pQcSUrXy4SEy3KUho5AJJnbvthlgFm2rfRa4HyqScGYeJWvLZAdopqeghw7X8DaioVgEcuo8TE0ZEf7I6P5UEfZMpzjxFOIuGbs3H0WuDFM7rtpdO0xj_FPZqN2QJ6oing_URfa/s320/cameron%20ribbons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> This is one of those standup shows where the best part of the show is probably the pun in the title. The concept has potential - the performer does a mock-eulogy of themselves - but the content is largely dad-jokes with a side order of whimsical nonsense rather than any particularly deep personal reflection, and it's also sabotaged by some unusually messy tech-work and some plot that's only just there as a bare thread to sorta hold the evening together (messed up by a lot of the plot resolution being in video that resolutely refuses to play back smoothly and kinda kills any sense of comic pace). <p></p><p>Normally I write longer than this but a show that comes across as this half-arsed really isn't worth that much more reflection. </p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-70175806426082446212024-03-08T01:00:00.000-08:002024-03-08T21:37:01.640-08:00Bring It On: The Musical, Canberra Philharmonic in association with Erindale Theatre, 29 Feb-16 Mar<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vEmSVOMSOBkcNd4v6Q6xmm3OuW8cvZanfiSB1fTK2X8GN8lAL6k9w4tx6zmJRYsEsVNR3VfRjU8W-ijLAzGywcyXw0zkWBcqw6ltlq0gwT1sNEdc3pqg5Aw3RnZN5AD0Hv0QfcpnLIM3OyeNcf3I9En0BETt-T4WKt6B2DxXl9IANN0yTxiYxasJdVgn/s4053/The%20Cast%20of%20Bring%20It%20On-The%20Musical.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2864" data-original-width="4053" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vEmSVOMSOBkcNd4v6Q6xmm3OuW8cvZanfiSB1fTK2X8GN8lAL6k9w4tx6zmJRYsEsVNR3VfRjU8W-ijLAzGywcyXw0zkWBcqw6ltlq0gwT1sNEdc3pqg5Aw3RnZN5AD0Hv0QfcpnLIM3OyeNcf3I9En0BETt-T4WKt6B2DxXl9IANN0yTxiYxasJdVgn/s320/The%20Cast%20of%20Bring%20It%20On-The%20Musical.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> The 2000 film "Bring it On" was an entertaining teenage cheerleading comedy that looked at the sport with a slightly cynical side eye, through the perspective of Kirsten Dunst's cheerthusiast Torrance, Eliza Dushku's cheerskeptic gymnast Missy and Gabrielle Union's Isis, indignant about how her team's culture had been appropriated by a bunch of white girls. It did well enough to produce six follow-up direct-to-video sequels, all of which feature variations on the same basic setup - cheerleading rivalries and some aspect of street-dance culture infiltrating their world to a greater or lesser extent, and, in 2011, it was adapted to become a stage musical by the team of Tom Kitt and Amanda Green (fresh from the "High Fidelity" musical as a team, Kitt also fresh from getting a Putlizer as composer of "Next to Normal" and recently orchestrating "American Idiot") plus Lin-Manuel Miranda (post "In The Heights", pre "Hamilton"), with a script by Jeff Whitty, following up on "Avenue Q". Weirdly the musical doesn't directly adapt the first movie, instead being kinda a distillation of the general themes of them all into a story of another Cheerthusiast whose dreams of conquering the cheer-world seem to be dashed when redistricting means she's moved to an inner city school with, shock-horror, no cheersquad. If you can't guess that she'll learn lessons in tolerance while creating a new cheersquad with the various diverse underdog types at her new school, congratulations for missing out on 90% of pop culture tropes. <p></p><div>Philo gives this an energetic production with a skilled production team assembling a strong cast to meet the physical, musical and acting demands of the show - Jessica Gowing as our heroine, Campbell, with just the right mix of ruthless determination and charm, Jess Marshall as her no-bullshit counterpart at the new school, Hannah Lance as the seemingly sweet Eva, Katie Lis as the bubbly and enthusiastic Bridget, Ashleigh Maynard as the somewhat accidentally bitchy Skylar, Emma English as the nicely dim Kylar, Diana Caban Velez as the double-act of Nautica and La Cienega, Frank Shanahan as the dopey boyfriend Campbell leaves behind, Grayson Woodham as the brainier boyfriend she picks up along the way, Jeremy Chan as the booty-obsessed Twig, Ash Syme as the too-cool-for-this Cameron and a rich and diverse ensemble of dancers, singers and a few ring-in-cheer-people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Isaac Gordon directs a tight ship, keeping the show ever flowing, with the assistance of CHarlotte Morphett's razor-tight choreography and Alexander Unikowski's high-energy music direction as the score various from hip-hop to balladry to traditional music theatre narrative ensembles. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is an energetic, light piece that feels contemporary, lively, and thoroughly entertaining. This is by no means essential viewing but if you're looking for a fun time there's certainly a lot of fun to be had here.</div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-21675858114230273482024-03-07T00:30:00.000-08:002024-03-07T11:54:48.238-08:00Happy Meals, Happy Kids, Q the locals and Sunny Productions, The Q, 7-9 March 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4ENsjnGgQ23lrvWtvK1KmzbrMvRcUuHOvUX_5qIAexwPIR6F_GeFs_b31OBSWIYXbYxue_qp7eEbSUGFz9xWrNUBTiJe-T_MJxBySygcF3xTb39vYlZ0ncmmBvjhwwU6vxnqIZp-uyVP-qKHtx8P3I2himfFh8BdXo9zHh_Pm5iRuwZuY8U3W0XwQQxW/s2048/happymeals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4ENsjnGgQ23lrvWtvK1KmzbrMvRcUuHOvUX_5qIAexwPIR6F_GeFs_b31OBSWIYXbYxue_qp7eEbSUGFz9xWrNUBTiJe-T_MJxBySygcF3xTb39vYlZ0ncmmBvjhwwU6vxnqIZp-uyVP-qKHtx8P3I2himfFh8BdXo9zHh_Pm5iRuwZuY8U3W0XwQQxW/s320/happymeals.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> There's been an interesting run of Youth Theatre recently, with a lot of fairly dark material dealing with teenagers facing not-too-distant future dystopias in plays like "This Changes Everything" (2022) and "The Trials" (2023). "Happy Meals, Happy Kids" continues that trend with a group of 6 teenagers in the remains of a McDonalds preparing for one climactic event as the fate of the world hovers over them. But there's also a spirit of life and of resistance from these characters as they reflect on how they'd forced themselves to grow up too quickly (academically, socially, professionally) and are now regretting how fast their youth is passing - while we see that they still have occasional moments of youth hovering within them, whether it's desire to reconnect to family, to just dance and enjoy themselves, to experience anything that isn't the pervasive doom that hovers over them. It would be easy for a play like this to be essentially nihilistic, but Jade Breen's writing and their co-direction with Ella Buckley means the play is ever-more effective for letting a varied sense of humanity through the dark situation - a humanity we can embrace even as we know, intellectually, that it's probably going to be hurt by outside forces. <p></p><p>Katie Bisset plays the teenager who attempts to organise the rest with a strong sense of purpose, even as it becomes more apparent that her gestures may be futile. Caitlin Bisset, Joshua James and Phoebe Silberman play the three more disruptive members of the group, trying to divert themselves from the realities of what's coming, with jokes, games and reminiscences. Wajanoah Mascot Donohoe plays Bisson's closest partner, a supportive figure with his own neuroses and nerves. And Zoe Ross plays the isolated one, melting down in the bathroom as the pressures overwhelm her. </p><p>Ros Hall's set and Sen McNamara's costumes evoke the chaotic times, from the trashed details of the set to the small tears and scrapes of the costumes.</p><p>Breen is a skilled writing talent, writing passionately and with care, creating a varied cast of characters in a brutal situation and taking them to a grim but inevitable conclusion. It's a confident and powerful piece and I can't wait to see how their talents are explored further.</p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-15032172705972702112024-02-29T00:30:00.000-08:002024-03-03T22:23:52.612-08:00Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Canberra Rep, 22 Feb-9 Mar<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8WGu-vwu2fVHl7_0JtnaFwAfZ1lVjRZ0l4gXraBvFyk3tO5gDVr48Ue9-6ugWLMEHJfo_yEglKmSBuxOyW7y0hcpPbbIGskltl-zEvWGEIIKjUYspoV9UPWACy5hOpN3ZHk0n9OqHh9ifnfbsreHYEm3Nboo8N8RspkYg_yTf7xxGjj8JOzUDhPptEp7/s2048/last%20of%20the%20red%20hot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2047" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8WGu-vwu2fVHl7_0JtnaFwAfZ1lVjRZ0l4gXraBvFyk3tO5gDVr48Ue9-6ugWLMEHJfo_yEglKmSBuxOyW7y0hcpPbbIGskltl-zEvWGEIIKjUYspoV9UPWACy5hOpN3ZHk0n9OqHh9ifnfbsreHYEm3Nboo8N8RspkYg_yTf7xxGjj8JOzUDhPptEp7/s320/last%20of%20the%20red%20hot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Neil Simon is a chronicler of a very specific era in American Comedy - his '60s comedies leaned more into the aspirational middle-aged, middle-class that was the bulk of the Broadway audience in that era, of the same ilk as writers like Jean Kerr ("Mary, Mary") and William Gibson ("Two for the Seasaw"). More prolific than either, he kept on writing til the early 2000s across plays, musicals, and movies creating quite a sizable legacy. His 1969 comedy "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" takes on the swinging cultural mores that he'd been witness to (those who have seen the miniseries "Fosse/Verdon" may remember Simon was a witness to a lot of Fosse's infidelities) and the complicated emotions those brought up in an older generation. <p></p><p>In some ways, it's very much a middle-aged man's view of the era (Simon was 42 when he wrote it), and some of the attitudes of that era do pervade the play (it could be retitled "I'm scared of every woman who isn't my wife" - Simon's later play, "Jake's Women", could be retitled "I'm also scared of some of the women who have been my wife"). But in other ways, it offers a great range of roles for three actresses to get their teeth into as they each visit the apartment owned by Barney Cashman's mother for an afternoon Barney intends to be an intimate, special experience, which turns out to be more revealing of both himself and the women he's invited over than it is the carnal delights he's been hoping for. Each act of this three-act play is a two-hander between the neurotic Cashman and a different woman who each get a lot of time to create distinctive, complex characters.</p><p>First up there's Victoria Tyrell Dixon as the tough-talking Elaine, an experienced woman whose bluntness unnerves Barney but who's absolutely able to see through his blather and his self-delusion to realise that he's never going to be able to follow through on what he claims to want. It's very distinctive from the previously more poised roles I've seen her in and it's a delight to see her deadpan disappointment building as the act builds. Stephanie Bailey follows as the impulsive, goofy Bobbi, whose continual patter about her personal dramas reveals a woman whose experiences are wildly at odds with Barney's conventional nature. She also gets to sing a few bits of Bacharach and is thoroughly engaging. Janie Lawson wraps up the show with the moody, depressed Jeanette, who gets laughs from her wordless entrance all the way through (though the script slightly sabotages her by having some very 1969-style-dramatic-therapy where depression can apparently be cured by yelling at someone a lot). Playing against them is David Cannell who anchors the piece as our ironically-titled-red-hot-lover-who-is-really-more-lukewarm-neurotic - we see him get into the cycle of being a slightly more polished seducer (as his Fiona-Leach provided suits get more polished and his preparatory moves get a rhythm to them) and also how the inner Barney is still a conventionally happily married man with an abstract yearning that the afternoons with these women is never going to cure. </p><p>This is very much what you'd expect from a Neil Simon play of the era- it's gentle, non-threatening theatre with charm and some pretty decent jokes - but it is very much of its era and the main enjoyable quality is the performances of the three different women. </p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-61622279177016153172024-02-22T01:00:00.000-08:002024-02-22T12:03:19.598-08:00Next to Normal, Queanbeyan Players, Belconnen Community Theatre, 15-24 February 2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjII3mVkRdT8XQm3Wc4lPlWSRHYiQSOsKlt_DkE0EraQvVRDX8VNYhFhWmwqGK1cNuCixG4rziSyTJ7MQL3C6M8GcCrsD59qQ5rvpWZIg05e7L159BwhwaBEirAodoBvByqkr8MLkavU42YUJEobSjmtwP0PSzMlYm5Omznesp4xHQgVAc9-4W5LQp6s6/s2048/next%20to.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjII3mVkRdT8XQm3Wc4lPlWSRHYiQSOsKlt_DkE0EraQvVRDX8VNYhFhWmwqGK1cNuCixG4rziSyTJ7MQL3C6M8GcCrsD59qQ5rvpWZIg05e7L159BwhwaBEirAodoBvByqkr8MLkavU42YUJEobSjmtwP0PSzMlYm5Omznesp4xHQgVAc9-4W5LQp6s6/s320/next%20to.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is the third time I've seen a production of this 2008 musical, after a <a href="https://cantheatrewatcher.blogspot.com/2015/01/next-to-normal-doorstep-arts-hayes.html" target="_blank">not entirely successful production at the Hayes</a> and a <a href="https://cantheatrewatcher.blogspot.com/2016/07/next-to-normal-phoenix-players-anu-arts.html" target="_blank">much better production a year later by Phoenix players</a>. It's a challenging show to get right - a chamber-rock-opera for a cast of 6 and a band of 6, dealing with mental illness and family trauma in an intense two and a half hours. It's about how the struggles for mental health take their toll not only on the person suffering but on those around them as well, and it's about how the desire for normality can obscure dealing with brutal lingering aftereffects of trauma. <p></p><p>Queanbeyan Players has assembled a strong cast for this production - Sarah Hull navigates a challenging score that requires her to sing the pure clarity of "I miss the Mountains" and the rock tempos of "You don't know" with aplomb, humanity, warmth and just the right amount of incipient mania. Dave Smith moves outside his normal confident heroic tenor types into a figure who's motives are far murkier and may in fact be no help whatsoever to his wife and family. Kara Murphy plays their daughter, so guarded from her homelife that a new relationship may parallel the experiences of her parents. Luke Ferdinands has the voice of an angel and the moves of a demon as the embodiment of the family's foundational trauma, insinuating himself into each of the character's lives with ease. John Whinfield as the gentle Henry gives the show its moments of pure innocence and kindness. Andrew Finegan as the doctors who try to treat Diana gives a slightly distant professionalism and, in the end, a desperate pleading for his work to have meant anything at all in the face of clear signs it's been futile. </p><p>The creative team of Belinda Hassall, Christopher Bennie and Jen Hinton assemble a strong production, using domestic spaces as a battleground for the internal struggles of a family. </p><p>This is not an easy show for cast or audiences - it takes us to places of hurt and pain and deals with trauma that lingers well after the end of the show. But it's a powerful experience and absolutely worth catching. </p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-62971386873105519122024-02-16T00:30:00.000-08:002024-02-20T11:25:35.536-08:00Tiny Beautiful Things, Queensland Theatre in association with Trish Wadley Productions, Belvoir Street Theatre , 1 Feb-2 Mar<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEyEzBb_B6ZtXeai6slY0tv-w21kVTRzW7DykRiMIxaounCrDXOioprf95BZooEkn8O4Vq9_xCqns1sbmNHvF8JMj5pKsL1a9sMb6Bh9MVbDk67HuYklMbwmzwXB5VrHHDZnBIK-3LqCZjytFBj-IZrbMLZ3qsCo1a39N8H9Eab5mCh9sT8X1ccp03BnW/s1920/tiny%20beautiful.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEyEzBb_B6ZtXeai6slY0tv-w21kVTRzW7DykRiMIxaounCrDXOioprf95BZooEkn8O4Vq9_xCqns1sbmNHvF8JMj5pKsL1a9sMb6Bh9MVbDk67HuYklMbwmzwXB5VrHHDZnBIK-3LqCZjytFBj-IZrbMLZ3qsCo1a39N8H9Eab5mCh9sT8X1ccp03BnW/s320/tiny%20beautiful.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Nia Vardalos’ adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s book “Tiny Beautiful Things” is a small play that contains big thoughts. It takes the format of a recap of the two years from 2010-2012 that Strayed spent writing the advice column for the online literary magazine, “The Rumpus”, where she wrote responses to people struggling with issues with their family, with their love life, with surviving death of their loved ones, their own guilty past, their addictions, traumas, and hopes. She responded by drawing on her own experiences with what she called “Radical honesty”, revealing her own issues with her parents, her previous addictions, her mistakes, and her successes in ways that remain true and powerful over a decade later – because it’s about experiences we all share or will share at some point or another, and about getting comfort from another person’s experiences.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Lee Lewis’ production keeps the scale small – cast of four, one domestic set as Sugar wanders the set clearing up after a busy day with her family and three actors embodying the letter writers open their hearts to her seeking guidance. There’s an honesty and gentleness to the performances – Mandy McElhinney as Sugar carries the heart and the warmth of the story, with Stephen Geronimos, Nic Prior, and Angela Nica Sullen as the three letter writers, each presenting their issues to her and listening as she discusses both theirs and other people’s issues. There’s a cumulative power to each of these conversations – it never just feels like a series of bits, each response digs deeper into Sugar and her own experiences and widens our knowledge – and by the end, we’ve felt an entire journey in the company of a warm and trusted guide.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Simone Romaniuk’s set and costumes give this a comfy home-like intimacy, with Bernie Tan-Hayes’ lighting and Brady Watkins composition and sound design defining the spaces these people live in just right.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">While yes, this is a show that could feel like a set of homilies, somehow this is so much more. It’s a celebration of humanity, in our flawed, questing, confused, quizzical, and yearning nature, and it’s a powerful experience.</p><p></p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-9293786997910897192024-02-15T00:30:00.000-08:002024-02-18T03:05:10.106-08:00A fool in love, Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf Theatre, 6 Feb-17 Mar<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF98eHOjCBKoYqO5Y4VRi8kGHK4n0GaexTt166nR16m-zHtaK2TWlBn3CfegqCGWvrEGlFOLdvcXqBgfj5dlKRnJADAfy_VUjUCOx8QMhepBManR9PbmdxMR-_OIt3L0MLD2TlNgXGxmYINe2B0jM-tmGemc4dHfNinMzOCybvGNaTvtAeAAN3S5mQzOEa/s1920/8_a-fool-in-love_sydney-theatre-company_credit_daniel-boud_018.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF98eHOjCBKoYqO5Y4VRi8kGHK4n0GaexTt166nR16m-zHtaK2TWlBn3CfegqCGWvrEGlFOLdvcXqBgfj5dlKRnJADAfy_VUjUCOx8QMhepBManR9PbmdxMR-_OIt3L0MLD2TlNgXGxmYINe2B0jM-tmGemc4dHfNinMzOCybvGNaTvtAeAAN3S5mQzOEa/s320/8_a-fool-in-love_sydney-theatre-company_credit_daniel-boud_018.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Lope De Vega's 1613 comedy "La Dama Boba" is one of an estimated 1,800 to his name (431 of which have survived to the present day), and on this presentation seems like a viable variation on commedia del arte precepts - the plot rides on the highly-controlled marriage of a heiress to a vast fortune, and the challenges to that marriage due to her foolish nature and the multiple conniving plots of various suitors to her and her intellectual sister. I'm not entirely sure it utterly survives the weight of Van Badham's adaptation in which she's inserted her own highly laboured post-modern jokes about modern culture, herself and her work as an opinion writer on the Guardian and the nature of renaissance dialogue, nor that Kenneth Moraleda's production, which like most productions of comedies of this era imposes a style I'd call "broad panto" does it a lot of favours, but there are some pleasures in this, mostly relating to design and the right central performances from the central pair of lovers, Contessa Treffone as the titular fool Phynayah and Arkia Ashraf as the central wooer, and some nice goofing on the sidelines from Megan Wilding and Alfie Gledhill as the secondary characters who's sidenline wooing is appropriately riduculous. <div><br /></div><div>Elsewhere it's over the top comedy that does a lot of nudging in the ribs to let you know just how hilarious it thinks itself - on occasion, it does almost get there but mostly it's pushing very hard and some performers in particular are not served well by this approach - it all feels a little desperate to please. Isabel Hudson's design has a nice surrealism and playfulness but, in particular in the second half when the plot seems to be reaching for something a bit more thoughtful, this feels desperate to be thought of as fluff, wheras instead it's like gorging on fairy floss ... too much turns the stomach a little.<p></p></div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-42428851070089117492024-02-14T00:30:00.000-08:002024-02-15T14:53:46.797-08:00Queers, Everyman Theatre, ACT Hub, 14-24 Feb<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKi4onhVfwYL1OeIC41pVdHyi7PGas6lz_-hs1eTFr3mcBBTA64AAhyphenhyphenzUSY3oql5QorUqt0kkgGlwt90YPyzdON9cxkEZ6BOzHWK8JHhj6lY9kaV07U5Ukm4OvK5YIiCa9qt29hYrFtZKCfO9hKff0jX2L3Hkv0xNmwemsDVgBBrHMdSl7KtaaJxaepeJ/s1200/queers-Everyman-Theatre-Canberra-ecdce7af.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKi4onhVfwYL1OeIC41pVdHyi7PGas6lz_-hs1eTFr3mcBBTA64AAhyphenhyphenzUSY3oql5QorUqt0kkgGlwt90YPyzdON9cxkEZ6BOzHWK8JHhj6lY9kaV07U5Ukm4OvK5YIiCa9qt29hYrFtZKCfO9hKff0jX2L3Hkv0xNmwemsDVgBBrHMdSl7KtaaJxaepeJ/s320/queers-Everyman-Theatre-Canberra-ecdce7af.webp" width="320" /></a></div>(photo - Eva Schroeder)<br /> <div><br /></div><div>I missed the run of this back in 2019, so it's a delight to have a chance to catch this in a perfectly cast revival, done with care, intimacy, skill, and gentle power. A series of 7 monologues, originally prepared in 2017 as both a TV program on BBC 4 and a series of performances at the old vic on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences act, which decrimalised homosexual acts in private, Queers has five men and 2 women telling stories from 1917 to 2016 of desire, of personal revelation, of internal torments and their public expressions, somewhat along the line of Alan Bennet's beloved "Talking Heads" series - where the subtext of what the character can't quite say out loud rings loud and true. Mark Gatiss from the comedy team "The League of Gentlemen" and occasional "Doctor Who" and "Sherlock" writer selected and curated the monologues, writing the first of them and working with the rest of the writers to find a mix of perspectives on a century bisected by a piece of legislation - about the progress we have and haven't made, and about how this has affected a range of individuals.<div><br /></div><div>Steph Roberts and Jarrad West's production brings them together in a timeless pub, "The Princes Arms", with us gathered around at the various tables. The performers are scattered around the venue - at the piano, Louiza Blomfield and Callum Tolhurst-Close (no relation to me as far as I know) sing-and-play a song of the era where the next story takes place, before transitioning to an intimate monologue. Each of the performers immediately grab our attention and don't let it go for around 20 minutes (those who can do maths will realise immediately with 7 performers at 20 minutes each plus a song and a short break between performers, this is a longish evening, though it never really feels like it during any of the monologues). </div><div><br /></div><div>We start with Alexander Hoskinson's soldier in 1917, looking back on his youth and an early encounter, and a recent experience of near desire, told sensatively and engrossingly - his Perce is pure innocent sweetness and we take him immediately to heart. Next it's 1929 and Natasha Vickery tells of a desire that carefully conceals itself - Vickery presents as brash, not-quite-as-confident-as-she'd-like-to-appear, telling secrets about her adventures in seeking personal pleasures in a risky world. In 1957, Karen Vickery tells the story of a wife finding out things about her husband and what she's able to accommodate within her marriage, in a perfectly presented boozy yarn. In 1967 we have Geoffrey Borny sharing the secret world that is soon to pass with legalisation with regret (and those of us who remember his appearance in "Cassanova" around a decade ago get a reminder how entertaining Borny is when he's completely filthy). 1987 shows Joel Horwood as a struggling actor challenged by the nature of gay representation in the middle of a pandemic - there's a perfect mix here between the actor's personal ego and the wider political context of the world around them and Horwoods' restless performance captures it with exquisite tension. In 1994 Patrick Galen-Mules plays a young man realising the power of community and his own sexuality in the middle of a political disappointment with a mix of joy, shyness and naivete (he's also the only performer who doesn't move from their spot during the monologue - presumably because at 17, he can't go to the bar for a drink, but his endearing shyness draws you in). In the closing monologue in 2016, Joe Dinn gives us pure queer joy as a groom preparing for his wedding day - he's a goofy charming presence. </div><div><br /></div><div>Introducing each act is Louiza Blomfield's perfect voice singing, first as a charming lounge singer, then later as the era gets closer adopting more the mode of an enthusiastic kareoke-er, in stunning outfits appropriate to each era. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a great mix of subtly effective lighting by Stephen Still and interweaved sound effects to highten the monologues from Nathan Patrech, adding power to the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a beautiful production of a show that is completely up my alley, both in terms of its celebration of actors and of the socio-political nature of the stories being told, and I hope it's up your alley too. </div></div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-18742055908085018642024-01-20T01:00:00.000-08:002024-01-23T01:39:58.332-08:00Ode to Joy (How Gordon Got to Go to the Nasty Pig Party), Stories Untold Productions and James Ley, Sydney Festival, Neilson Nutshell, 16-21 Jan<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdTGVBO0UQSlSTU0kLUGM4JD7wwnJv0tqnSxtOAWEehMVgevV6h3kcw-FxHqeVU7pfllwSyKLsw4H6A8fe-f55K9Fsuhi7vTSPT1uaugRZ2V6qFOYq6Vmvj8eCNO3vhh1C8l9yenTdyfp9XhWItFVBfvLRgt2wdSvHxmmhhP3-ZGQo71w6Vo_atGsYj9K/s600/How%20gordon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdTGVBO0UQSlSTU0kLUGM4JD7wwnJv0tqnSxtOAWEehMVgevV6h3kcw-FxHqeVU7pfllwSyKLsw4H6A8fe-f55K9Fsuhi7vTSPT1uaugRZ2V6qFOYq6Vmvj8eCNO3vhh1C8l9yenTdyfp9XhWItFVBfvLRgt2wdSvHxmmhhP3-ZGQo71w6Vo_atGsYj9K/s320/How%20gordon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is a wild rollicking hour of entertainment, the story of a public servant investigating the effects of Great Britain leaving the European Union on Scotland, who finds himself in the middle of the wild world of debauched European sex parties. It comes with a full glossary of gay for the audience (as a practicing homosexual for over 20 years I appreciated it as it also told me about the effects of a fair few party drugs I've never gotten my hands on), an ever-present dance soundtrack, and is enthusiastically narrated by a character called Manpussy (Marc MacKinnon), who comes across like a Scottish Brian Blessed with a filthier vocabulary. <p></p><div>It's a fast and furious comedy played largely on a bare stage with a few costumes up the back, and is probably the definition of special-interest-theatre, but, dammit, I was definitely interested. It's an act of queer liberation at its most primal, looking at the networks gay men build around them and how these are formed and deformed by how they react to the society around them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lawrence Boothman as the titular Gordon is gorgeously gormless, goofy but also clearly game for anything. Sean Connor as Manpussy's partner in both life and in lust, Cumpig is a good foil, both playing up to Gordon's emerging lusts and endearingly amenable to any of Manpussy's outrageous suggestions.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a brisk, wild piece of festival eccentricity and a fine theatrical aperitif to begin the year with. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-50420683198633993822024-01-19T19:00:00.000-08:002024-01-22T01:56:54.384-08:00The Hello Girls, Heart Strings Theatre in association with Hayes Theatre Company, 10 January -4 February<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTYuOzfOBuQR9i6Wjzkt6sb8eNiDk9Yq_1YOT5GlXZvJEGLBxLlHPO_Z4y7uIHmCQEXG_OGp8D8fXSD5F7-S9ZwL5AtGeMn-ESxdKdg6oeHftOTmhRk12XBt73kjbCU1LlwLDT4BcfAWJYfQ-G2042Vg5pem5Nqw1eHhSNu_PLi4KLSYJf78MEXXtk8Ys/s1920/the-hello-girls-d-photo-credit-philip-erbacher.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTYuOzfOBuQR9i6Wjzkt6sb8eNiDk9Yq_1YOT5GlXZvJEGLBxLlHPO_Z4y7uIHmCQEXG_OGp8D8fXSD5F7-S9ZwL5AtGeMn-ESxdKdg6oeHftOTmhRk12XBt73kjbCU1LlwLDT4BcfAWJYfQ-G2042Vg5pem5Nqw1eHhSNu_PLi4KLSYJf78MEXXtk8Ys/s320/the-hello-girls-d-photo-credit-philip-erbacher.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> One of the challenges of international travel is, occasionally you miss shows that are playing at home. Fortunately, sometimes they come back - such is the case with this production that premiered in Canberra back in September, now back for a season at the Hayes.<p></p><div>And it's certainly worth the trip to catch this cast, a strong ensemble who give the show powerful energy and charm. The subject, the women who were selected by the US Army to work as telephone operators in the European war, is certainly an intriguing and undertold story. There's a lot of good stylish choices in the production...</div><div><br /></div><div>So why am I not completely enthusiastic about this? Well, largely it's the material - Peter Mills' lyrics and music rarely rise above the serviceable, and the characters mostly lack depth. While it's an unfamiliar story, the style is very familiar - empowerment ballads, the spunky competent women being underestimated then wowing everybody with little more than token resistance. We never really get a sense of anything being much of a challenge or a struggle, and there's never really a doubt that the women will win through (the historic disappointment they had post-war as the army dismissed their work is mostly confined to a footnote). </div><div><br /></div><div>There's also a couple of moments of direction I was not in love with - moments when the character singing wasn't given focus so I had to hunt around the stage to find them, and one moment of choreography which felt distinctly tacky. For the most part, I find it a professionally staged production of a show that is a perfectly okay Theatre In Education piece but probably shouldn't be the work of a major music theatre company looking to be the cutting edge of the form. </div><div><br /></div><div>Again, I enjoyed the work of the cast quite a lot. Rhianna McCourt leads with power as Grace, Kira Leiva gives good sneaky sidekick as Suzanne, Nikola Gucciardo is loveable as the naive Helen, Kaitlin Nihill is powerful as the uberfrench Louise, Joel Hutchings is toughly stern as Riser, Matthew Hearne is playful and charming as Matterson and David Hooley gives strong authority as General Pershing. But there's only so much they can do with material which is distinctly mid-level. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-80308831608668011252024-01-19T00:30:00.000-08:002024-01-21T01:38:33.142-08:00Tiddas, Belvoir Street Theatre and Sydney Festival, Upstairs theatre, 12 Jan-28 Jan<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCV0ibhOTj28xZIcrjMrXUjNk92mrBDxnkt-ogvNjreK8I9fqfYxZdVO82VYcjME8jTBJJhZooAtrizEFrpz4kPKgONmzON6Lv28bKpOv74FKpouC7eqZymUQf8wS30tZkQVr_qg8BLH4sXZsQ6_77C9PI_uxyuF8PEd3PPInuIraNB4hc37Oph_eiygO/s1920/tiddas.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCV0ibhOTj28xZIcrjMrXUjNk92mrBDxnkt-ogvNjreK8I9fqfYxZdVO82VYcjME8jTBJJhZooAtrizEFrpz4kPKgONmzON6Lv28bKpOv74FKpouC7eqZymUQf8wS30tZkQVr_qg8BLH4sXZsQ6_77C9PI_uxyuF8PEd3PPInuIraNB4hc37Oph_eiygO/s320/tiddas.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Tiddas is the story of five friends who gather to form a book group - mostly indigenous and mostly born in Mudgee but now living in Brisbane, they have professional and personal challenges that come out during the course of the various meetings as they read, reflect, and contemplate It's a warm piece, but it doesn't shy away from raising some of the challenges and tensions that can come with long-term friendships, as long-untold thoughts simmer in the background until they come out at inopportune moments. The six women, all in their early 40s, confront issues of career, family, and their obligations as indigenous women to serve their culture. <p></p><div>Anita Heiss has based the script on her own novel, and there's a slight sense that the 90 minutes duration play is rushing through the incidents a little - some of the issues presented feel only lightly explored. In particular, there's a strong confrontation partway through where it feels like non-indigenous audience allies are being confronted with how performative a lot of allyship can be ... but this is allowed to dribble away with the issues hidden behind a personal failing rather than a wider social problem. The play premiered at Brisbane's LaBoite in 2022, based on a novel from 2014, and in this revival, there's obviously been an update to reference the Ocboer 2023 referendum ... but it remains just a reference rather than something really used to pursue a deeper and more urgent dramatic question about how aboriginal engagement with the white populace is even possible. Still, the play isn't really written to deal with something of that size ... but for the seconds it's referenced, it feels like a much bigger play than it ultimately is. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's reasonably strong performances across the cast - Louise Brehmer's blowsy, brash Nadine; Lara Croydon's opinionated, confident Izzy; Jade Lomas-Roman's warm, emotional Xanthe; Anna McMahon's growing confidence as Veronica; and Perry Mooney's confident Ellen. Co-director Roxanne McDonald does double duty as the somewhat underwritten Nan (who's basically there more as a visual presence for a lot of the show) and the brief cameo as Mum, and Sean Dow plays 5 different roles as a range of different men in the women's lives, easily differentiated through performance and bearing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Zoe Rouse's set design is beautiful though it doesn't always allow for the smoothest of scene transitions, and technically this is finely done.</div><div><br /></div><div>My main issue is that this really isn't stretching too far beyond the "nice night out" stereotype - it's distinctly unambitious theatre, which is not really what I come to Belvoir for. Belvoir's commitment to indigenous drama has been a proud feature of their work, but I think that drama needs to be unafraid to engage in the harder questions that come up rather than just offer comfort viewing. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-28081554599928942922023-12-24T03:00:00.000-08:002023-12-24T03:34:28.078-08:002023 Well I Liked It awards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dfN4xjx9oOzh35pJxqDFuT0X_oVd1d416fvBtrktom0d3E3gCEQu4Sl_ZMEllkkHZCf0Hmsmd0w_fThYJD3IeCV6CjATUOXV310gK5bvMLKlrOIQ9KxGOApcS1L3eu06O1qDnQUwa3ikXJ6RezH0jiMYtuF6ykJkiyStF6XTm8orRgmYVdit5QoLcsvo/s1440/trophies-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dfN4xjx9oOzh35pJxqDFuT0X_oVd1d416fvBtrktom0d3E3gCEQu4Sl_ZMEllkkHZCf0Hmsmd0w_fThYJD3IeCV6CjATUOXV310gK5bvMLKlrOIQ9KxGOApcS1L3eu06O1qDnQUwa3ikXJ6RezH0jiMYtuF6ykJkiyStF6XTm8orRgmYVdit5QoLcsvo/s320/trophies-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> It's the end of the year so it's time for Canberra's 4th most prestigious theatre awards (I might progress it to 3rd most prestigious if anybody happens to mention it in their program bio this year, hint hint). For those who haven't looked through the backlog, this has been the opportunity for me to go through the year in theatre and give out the "Well I liked it" awards (or WILIs for short ... yes, this is a blog that absolutely belives in dick jokes). <p></p><p>A key early contender was the musical "Downtown" - a show that, I must admit, I was a little wary of. A revue made up of 1960s songs seemed like boomer nostalgia turned to 11, something cosy, unchallenging and a bit over familiar. But instead we got a thoughtful retrospective on the era, its attitudes, its fashions, and what happened to the women who were subject to those attitudes, wearing those fashions and listening to those songs. It was impecably staged by a cast of 5 actresses and an ensemble of 4, with wit, style and an unbeatable level of charm. </p><p>Joel Horwood made his impact locally three times -as the heartbreaking lead in "Holding the Man", and as impressively by directing two plays which featured an egomaniac declaring their retirement and then trying to get everybody around them to ignore that retirement as much as possible - the hysterical "Hay Fever" and the tragic "King Lear" - both featuring powerhouse performances at the centre from Andrea Close and Karen Vickery respectively, and both with a clump of Canberra's strongest acting talent assembled with purpose to engage and delight the audience.</p><p>Two interstate tours hit Queanbeyan with intelligent non-traditional takes on theatre - Statera Circus's "Boop" which did a fine presentation of the standard juggling/tumbling/stunts we've seen multiple glossy takes on, and brought it in with simplicity and skill. Meanwhile re:group Performance Collective combined video, personal recollections and some astonishingly tight staging in the innovative "Coil", a clever look at how the places we gather form who we are. Both were cutting edge works on a touring budget, and both were incredibly welcome to catch in a "I'd never expected to see anything like that" way. </p><p>Three shows seen interstate presented three classic American plays in modern and powerful ways - STC's "Fences" in a strong realistic production, taking August Wilson's examination of struggling 1950s black masculinity (perfectly performed by Bert LaBonte and played against an ensemble which included one of the great Zahra Newman performances); Red Line Theatre's "Streetcar named desire" (which is not reviewed elsewhere here because I saw it at first preview, but which was a pitch perfect production using every inch of the tiny Old Fitz stage, just the right size for something affordable for Stella and Stanley and a too-small-arena for them to be confronted by Sheridan Harbridge's damaged-but-dreamy Blanch, in a show directed by Alexander Berlarge that used the intimacy of the space so well that the penultimate scene as Stanley confronts Blanche could be played out lit, apparently, by a single lightbulb); and Belvoir/State Theatre Company of South Australia's "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill", which had another great Zahra Newman performance sounding perfectly like Billie Holliday on one of her last performances as she reminisces about her glory days and the mistreatment that had led her to touring gigs while her body and mind were falling apart. </p><p> The Q's production of "Puffs" looked at a modern multimedia cultural behemoth through jaundiced eyes, looking at how someone else's heroic narrative can be an irritating set of traumas to those around them, played out by a mostly young ensemble with verve, wit, heartbreak and inventiveness. It was playful, engaging theatre that made me smile, laugh out loud and even very slightly quiver my lip.</p><p>Sydney hosted two great productions of shows by the late Stephen Sondheim this year that I saw and loved - Belvoir's playful, minamalist-but-had-everything-it-needed "Into the Woods", and Hayes Theatre's "A Little Night Music" which was not very-much-bigger but stylish, witty and immaculately performed - both were minamalist on the orchestra and staging but maximalist in the talent of the cast, from the oldest (Peter Carroll in "Woods", Nancye Hayes in "Night Music") down to the smallest bit part. The Act Hub also delighted me (though not some of the grumpier critics around town) with "Marry Me a little", a revue of his rarities that gave a good opportunity for Alexander Unikowski to step out of the orchestra pit and Hannah Lance to stand and dance next to him with charm and wit in an eclectic show that played with missed connections, heartbreak and elaborate vegetable visual puns.</p><p>Former Canberran Damien Warren-Smith brought two of his shows to town, and I got a chance to see both of them, "Garry Starr: Greece Lightning" and "Garry Starr Performs Everything" - both are inspired one-man shows where Warren-Smith uses the persona of goofy manchild Garry Starr to dive in a ridiculous manner into Greek Mythology (in the case of the first) or the entire history of theatre (in the case of the second). He's back next year for another run of "Greece Lightning" (and hopefully we'll also get a run shortly of his upcoming Adelaide Fringe show, "Classic Penguins", in which, due to the impending climate crisis endangering penguins, he performs every Penguin Classic novel in the course of an hour). </p><p>The long-awaited Canberra tour of "Come From Away" was a delight, an unlikely fusion of verbatim theatre, Canadian folk-rock, and immaculate staging to tell the story of people in a remote part of Canada finding a strange sense of community in the wake of September 11th. It was a late-in-the-tour visit but you could not tell from the energy of the cast, which was unflaggable. </p><p>Two new plays got great productions this year - Belvoir with former-Canberran David Finnigan's "Scenes from the Climate Era", which was urgent, thoughtful and surprisingly non-diadactic in its reflections on where we are and where we are very likely to be shortly; and Canberra Youth Theatre with current-Canberran Joanna Richards' "You Can't Tell Anyone", a skilful examination of 8 different personalities under pressure when stuck in a room that none of them can get out of, pushing each other's buttons brutally. </p><p>The two shows I saw while in New York, "Hadestown" and "Death, Let me do my show" were both great shows- "Hadestown", please god, will tour to Australia sometime in the next few years and as long as they keep the staging for "Wait for me", it'll be worth whatever ticket price and stunt casting they throw at it. "Death Let Me do My Show" is really Rachael Bloom's solo show and unless she particularly wants a paid vacation to Australia we're much less likely to see it, but if we do, grab the chance as it's a delight.</p><p>Finally, Andrew Bovell's "Speaking in Tongues" got a stylish revival with a perfect quartet of actors showing off what they can do in a staging that was intimate, clever and very powerful. It was a demonstration of four actors at the top of their game and of how skilled Bovell's script is in playing with time, space, recollections and connections missed and misleading. Fine intimate theatre. </p><p>Congrats to all who got a mention (and commiserations to those who didn't, but this is a long article already and I don't particularly want to make it much longer). </p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-51461504791026595952023-11-30T00:30:00.000-08:002023-11-30T12:19:04.271-08:00King Lear, Echo Theatre, The Q, 30 Nov-3 Dec<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycot7mS9kEgTm4WHXVs-WznHca5RF4YSmhvAZSJaAeziU1Mb0KjaexzaWs-0dw25g72MI-RNoSVn8azDcsgbO9_Fm4Nl03RxF-p_3CnfL1wgid48FqZMU9IRFeJ5MOdyS99EsPS_xJzZEj-bKMmVakPYSYCErKvdui2Mx9UZv3d1w4gvMPgqsbIbscW9r/s5000/Lear.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3333" data-original-width="5000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycot7mS9kEgTm4WHXVs-WznHca5RF4YSmhvAZSJaAeziU1Mb0KjaexzaWs-0dw25g72MI-RNoSVn8azDcsgbO9_Fm4Nl03RxF-p_3CnfL1wgid48FqZMU9IRFeJ5MOdyS99EsPS_xJzZEj-bKMmVakPYSYCErKvdui2Mx9UZv3d1w4gvMPgqsbIbscW9r/s320/Lear.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>"King Lear" is one of the Shakesperean plays where I always have a little difficulty - the setup requires multiple characters to be excessively gullible, it's incredibly grim, and Lear himself finds himself subject to his fate largely due to his own monstrous ego, rather than because of any more sympathetic fault. This production certanily owns the grimness, using simple staging, minimal but precise lighting by Zac Harvey and a soundtrack with dark undertones by Neville Pye and Sophia Carlton. Set in an almost pagan world (the invocations of a whole pantheon of gods in this production are gently underlined), costumed by Helen Wotjas in a stylish combination of now-and-then, Joel Horwood 's production serves the play with simplicity and skill.<p></p><p>Leading the cast is a titanic performance by Karen Vickery, by turns playful, wrathful, disturbing, emotional and mind-bogglingly human. We're drawn into her foolish Queen, demanding the treatment of her title despite having given up the responsiblity, disturbed as she curses out her daughters, overwhelmed by her rages, and ultimately touched by the broken person she becomes.</p><p>It's a murderer's row of talent in the cast, from the reliable strength of Michael Sparks, Lainie Hart, Natasha Vickery, Jim Adamik, Josh Wiseman, to emerging performers like Lewis McDonald, Holly Ross, Glenn Brighenti, Petronella Von Tienen and Tom Cullen, and new-to-me faces like Christina Falsone, and all find their moments of impact. There's not a weak link in the performers, whether it be Hart's haughty rage, Brighenti's snippy servileness, McDonald's sneeringly lustful evil, Wiseman's attempts to hold onto his sanity while lost inside a persona, Falsone's extreme loyalty, Sparks' vulnerability, Adamik's righteous rage, Von Tienen's gentle joys as the fool and compassion as Cordelia, or Cullen's brutal joy in cruelty. </p><p>Special mention to stage manager Maggie Hawkins who does a hell of a job in setting the scattered earth in act one and bringing it to organised piles for the beginning of act two, and has carefully drilled the cast into smooth set transitions. </p><p>If you're interested in grand powerful epic Shakespeare (while I could spot a few trims in the text, this still winds up at around 3 hours 20 minutes), this is certainly one to catch. </p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-39130669837264213272023-11-23T00:30:00.000-08:002023-11-23T11:28:03.159-08:00The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised), Canberra Rep, Theatre 3, 16 Nov-2 Dec<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyI8-pm43wZoagXjCNyx-phI3-KAk5rUJagzWhpSDwZGpZLtKttB6lWqn11PRA6tFVfFWWxfa7F0s9Ezp7MhFzafNdqbbGpiEcGBQAIXaC-H6wkRQ3IuFUw4zi7jkMztbe_tBrEiaGjVc2s6BF0jFcDHOvhmVFlb8LBxra3GTPYcY81EcWf9jGkDXqmW0m/s2048/complete%20works.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="2048" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyI8-pm43wZoagXjCNyx-phI3-KAk5rUJagzWhpSDwZGpZLtKttB6lWqn11PRA6tFVfFWWxfa7F0s9Ezp7MhFzafNdqbbGpiEcGBQAIXaC-H6wkRQ3IuFUw4zi7jkMztbe_tBrEiaGjVc2s6BF0jFcDHOvhmVFlb8LBxra3GTPYcY81EcWf9jGkDXqmW0m/s320/complete%20works.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> "Complete Works" is basically a template for three performers to mess around with some of the best-known works in the English language, throwing everything they have into delighting the audience. It's very much a go-for-broke effort, throwing everything into a big blender with jokes coming at such speed that if one fails, there's another three dozen to follow that the sheer weight of it overwhelms you into delight. Rep's production brings this together under the guidance of Ylaria Rogers, who gives her cast a whole lotta rope while keeping the evening from falling into complete chaos, instead just having the semblance of chaos. <p></p><p>The three performers giving it their all are, in alphabetical order, Callum Docherty (playing the ADHD one, distractible, goofy, constantly after the next diversion), Alex McPherson (the closest the show has to a straight-guy, but still with a great affection for a diversion into talking about anything other than the ostensible topic), and Ryan Street (who does a lot of the transition-narration in the style of a harassed Kermit-The-Frog type, if Kermit also loved taking on the women's roles by throwing a shawl on and miming vomiting on the audience). The show is a test of stamina as much as anything, keeping the energy level at 11 for just under 2 hours, and these three certainly have it to burn. </p><p>Kayla Circeran's set is a great playground for the actors, giving them plenty of spots to play in while simultaneously looking like a backstage junkyard. Stephan Still's lighting picks out areas and gives appropriate moodyness where required for all the mini-playlets. </p><p>In short, this is a romp, whether for Shakespeare scholars who can laugh at the tiniest joke, or for people who just want to laugh at people sticking swords under each other's arms and having a prolonged death scene. There's no intellectual justification for it beyond that it's fun. But it is definitely fun.</p>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-37257734158867798982023-11-18T00:30:00.000-08:002023-11-25T22:34:39.345-08:00A Little Night Music, Hayes Theatre Company, Hayes Theatre, 13 Oct-18 Nov<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2p0RvNZOC2ZzaB1-3sTZgwtoTG9OSLDZCvaoXp2G7DYypsEX9vJ-1Pu70qKeIncuRuSndZkDPFpq5tjS8RB5snRZuuqZdj8WG0I0pjlviYdF3UpnZrlZ6X1ExPSR27BWXuYYD64IQnueM7nl-U7Bwjn4ozke2Hl7EKUktJqbl6pHbFrlRK7mto1Vek4yg/s1920/little%20night.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2p0RvNZOC2ZzaB1-3sTZgwtoTG9OSLDZCvaoXp2G7DYypsEX9vJ-1Pu70qKeIncuRuSndZkDPFpq5tjS8RB5snRZuuqZdj8WG0I0pjlviYdF3UpnZrlZ6X1ExPSR27BWXuYYD64IQnueM7nl-U7Bwjn4ozke2Hl7EKUktJqbl6pHbFrlRK7mto1Vek4yg/s320/little%20night.webp" width="320" /></a></div>This is the fourth production I've seen of Sondheim's sophisticated romantic comedy, after one at the Sydney theatre company in 1990 starring Geraldine Turner, John Waters and a young Toni Collette as the maid, one at the Theatre Royal in 1997 with Ruth Cracknell, Helen Morse, John O'May and Pamela Rabe, and one on Broadway in 2010 with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Strich. It's a clever comedy of lust and misaligned love, albeit a comedy with a death and a suicide attempt (but then it is based on an Ingmar Bergman film). Hugh Wheeler's script is the rare Sondheim script that has the structural skill and wit that Sondheim himself had (it's no wonder that Wheeler was recruited for this and "Sweeney Todd", one close to farce, one close to thriller, both genres that require a strong sense of structure), and the show is lush, romantic and all-round delightful. <p></p><div>In all these previous viewings, though, the central pair, Desiree and Frederick, have always been played by performers somewhat older than me. So it's a bit of a shock to suddenly discover I'm past their age, and into an age where love-stories are very much second-time-around stories (it's also the first time that I've been in a permanent relationship while watching this). It's a show very much about misdirected desires finding a new (or returning to a previous) partner, with a complex series of five love triangles between eight characters, and of course, being Sondheim, all those triangles means it's a show entirely in derivativs of 3/4 (or waltz) time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Dean Bryant's production captures the sophistication and the grand passions inside the production well, using simple staging (minimal props, a couch, a couple of chairs) and the intimacy of the Hayes space to let the actors spill their personal issues straight into the audience as much as possible, dragging us into their dilemmas and issues. The orchestration for a band of five is surprisingly adaptable and rarely sounds underpowered (though there's a slight case of over-miking during the act one climax when the entire cast is singing at full force). </div><div><br /></div><div>Blazey Best enjoys the wryly teasing nature of Desiree, along with the rueful sadness during "Send in the Clowns". Leon Ford gives Frederick an endearing pompousness which drops away with repeated exposure to Desiree. Nancye Hayes gives Madame Armfeldt just the right amount of hauteur and pride in her debauched accommplishments. Melanie Bird is a sweetnatured-without-being-dim Anne, and Jeremi Campese manages Henrik's angst without making it painful rather than funny. Joshua Robson and Erin Claire as the Count and Countess Malcolm provide suitible pompousness and wounded-target-of-a-lot-of-that-pompousness. Kiana Daniele enjoys the role of the lusty Petra in every opportunity it gives her, wehther it be teashing with Anne and Henrik, or in her own spotlight song. </div><div><br /></div><div>In short, this is a production I was delighted to catch the closing night of after fearing I was going to miss it entirely before the production extended for one week. If it makes a comeback, be sure to catch it. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-15726548025148820732023-11-17T18:30:00.000-08:002023-11-22T01:43:59.448-08:00Oil, Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1, 4 Nov-16 Dec<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFrJRsOLLIJ5SWAMm_pJ4NDqCSL6OP1hxvRNdvMfip3Sb6NBzgmb9rzLN37ww3ez0FZSf_JK-9cTMRqU_FTcfEezZ58Qsq75wHl-nlAOBPIT0W8CC7dOOXmwtSWWbbfimvk1cKC87R7ZaeIGDNbT0BmecpDe4ZwFSQPI4RVq2ODir28Cm4wS6koUJOp6-/s1920/oil%20stc.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFrJRsOLLIJ5SWAMm_pJ4NDqCSL6OP1hxvRNdvMfip3Sb6NBzgmb9rzLN37ww3ez0FZSf_JK-9cTMRqU_FTcfEezZ58Qsq75wHl-nlAOBPIT0W8CC7dOOXmwtSWWbbfimvk1cKC87R7ZaeIGDNbT0BmecpDe4ZwFSQPI4RVq2ODir28Cm4wS6koUJOp6-/s320/oil%20stc.webp" width="320" /></a></div> "Oil" frames wide political issues through a deeply personal story, as the history and future of the oil industry on this planet is told through multiple scenes of a mother and daughter traveling through time - originally met in a bitter Cornwall winter as oil promises an escape and a light that never goes out, moving forward to the middle east as British companies take over the gulf and the same woman gets involved with a British oil company representative, into the 70s when she's a top-level oil exec right at the time when Libya starts retaking the rights to exploit its own oil, and on into futures both not-so-distant and very-much-distant. It's a beautifully presented and performed production, with the contrasting personal narrative of a mother and rebellious daughter playing with and against the wider historic narrative, with elements reflecting each other. Ella Hickson's script requires grand resources to give this personal story scale and to capture the very distinctive tone, somewhere between strict reality and abstract lesson-play, and Paige Rattray's production mostly captures this very well.<p></p><div>That may not be apparent in the first scene, which is both very dimly lit and acted in broad-to-the-point-of-incomprehension cornish accents. It does feel a little bewhildering watching grim happenings in a frozen cabin in the middle of nowhere (or in this case, on a platform on top of a pile of black dust). But the following four scenes are grand contrasts, well lit, clear and played with power by the company. Brooke Satchwell as protagonist May, and Charlotte Friels as the daughter Amy carry the bulk of the evening, with the rest of the cast playing various cameos as lovers, friends, enemies and business associates in smaller but striking cameos. The in-the-round-staging means that this story stays close and personal even as it traverses time and place widely, coming to a strong ending that lays bare where we're headed. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is compelling, thoughtful political theatre presented lushly and grandly in a way that still lands powerfully. Absoultely worth catching. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-83373256170301107562023-11-17T00:30:00.000-08:002023-11-21T02:15:18.882-08:00The Master and Margarita, Belvoir Street Theatre, 11 Nov-10 Dec<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubVSET7tjzwDWApSaKbhMbr_uN1EHKyqtV0zPGELWUtbwbH-pb8rq-2ZVmXSvNPufx2I5nWpmeo3m1xkdLDCLeeA2VcquIcHvq0hba3lQRRk60ubdnljPG-uSax1jubUhZkT2qhZt1C3Q0c4k9eXnOoOubE778ZY6lRTs_7mSiDbiLBFl3nQNB4Q5_nnP/s1920/belvoir_mastermargarita_photobrettboardman_007926_gareth-davies-marco-chiappi-josh-price-amber-mcmahon-matilda-ridgway.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubVSET7tjzwDWApSaKbhMbr_uN1EHKyqtV0zPGELWUtbwbH-pb8rq-2ZVmXSvNPufx2I5nWpmeo3m1xkdLDCLeeA2VcquIcHvq0hba3lQRRk60ubdnljPG-uSax1jubUhZkT2qhZt1C3Q0c4k9eXnOoOubE778ZY6lRTs_7mSiDbiLBFl3nQNB4Q5_nnP/s320/belvoir_mastermargarita_photobrettboardman_007926_gareth-davies-marco-chiappi-josh-price-amber-mcmahon-matilda-ridgway.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Eamon Flack's production of "Master and Margarita" begins with three performers picking up a copy of the titular novel and reading it out loud. But soon strange things begin to happen, and soon we're off on a rollicking story full of magic, mysticism, religion, copious nudity, romance and a murderous cat. It's a strange adaptation that feels like it's simultaneously trying to tell the story of the novel and the circumstances of its creation, with byways all over the place. But it's a distinctively Belvoir flavour of romp,too, with dance, eccentricly outlandish performances, magic, a mega-fast revolve and enough stuff left all over the stage by the end of the show to make it very probably a nightmare for the stage crew to reset again. <p></p><div>The cast are game for anything, from Matilda Ridgeway's narrator to Josh Price's Behemoth the Cat. Bulgakov's novel may or may not be anything like this, but certainly this is a compelling night out in the theatre. In some ways it's the most sophisticatedly produced piece of student theatre I've ever seen, with ideas thrown at it in abundance, but it's played to perfection by the cast. If you don't fall onto the wavelength of this, I can imagine it becoming a very tedious evening very quickly, but fortunately this hit me in all the right places. I think the best way to go into this may just be to know as little as possible going in apart from that anything can happen and probably will. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-51196029980851905572023-11-16T00:30:00.000-08:002023-11-20T02:22:47.952-08:00The Dictionary of Lost words, Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia, Drama Theatre, Opera House, 26 Oct-16 Dec (and subsequent season in Melbourne 17 Feb-10 March 2024)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEmEf9LwiFK9oQxD392lAeOcPoZVaiZqSQIVHafRJa_TioNJHErLh5F4z9vJkffp54UzztsU4moGnRYbxDbSDe3f3ALEM4BtI7zCNrtQDtGLlmEN6oTveTe-6WXNlm4GLvG8R0nnzPp4Vt1tjJwQXzCui7Gczxta_yJh-HKJcaqzMGgRN0SVYx_fr-kir/s1920/dictionary%20of%20lost%20words.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEmEf9LwiFK9oQxD392lAeOcPoZVaiZqSQIVHafRJa_TioNJHErLh5F4z9vJkffp54UzztsU4moGnRYbxDbSDe3f3ALEM4BtI7zCNrtQDtGLlmEN6oTveTe-6WXNlm4GLvG8R0nnzPp4Vt1tjJwQXzCui7Gczxta_yJh-HKJcaqzMGgRN0SVYx_fr-kir/s320/dictionary%20of%20lost%20words.webp" width="320" /></a></div>Pip Williams' novel is not one I'd heard of before this was announced as part of the Sydney Theatre Company's 2023 season, but a new Australian novel getting a theatre adaptation so quickly meant it was something to keep an eye out - and what's arrived is a richly theatrical presentation of a dense story covering the process of putting the Oxford English Dictionary together, from the point of view of a young woman who discovers the words that are being left out - mostly the words of the lower classes and women due to the embedded prejudices of the men creating the dictionary. It's an essentially literary conceit, to tell a tale that relies so much on words and their definition, and Verity Laughton's adaptation doesn't entirely succeed in making the central character, Esme, into an active protagonist - she remains someone to whom things happen rather than someone who makes things happen - but it's a story that moves along nicely enough through several decades as a young woman broadens her horizons on a journey that will reverberate beyond her lifetime.<p></p><div>Jessica Arthur's staging uses a simple two-levelled set (the floor largely playing the "scrippy" where the dictionary is being put together, the gallery above for additional scenes and for a projection screen for locations, dates and a few other surprising elements, in a production that flows smoothly across three hours of fairly dense plot. The cast of 8 slip across multiple roles smoothly creating a rich array of individuals, friends, colleagues, lovers and servants. Tilda Cobham-Hervey is a solid centre as Esme, aging from an inquisitive 2 year old to an experienced woman feeling the weight of her experiences. </div><div><br /></div><div>If in the end, this feels somewhat familiar (there's a fair few familiar stops off in the years from the late 19th century to the early 1920s) it's almost the definition of comfort viewing, wrapping the audience up in a big hug of a story. It's not a perfect show but it's an engrossing one that works with an audience, providing some laughs, heartbreak, and a few thoughts for the drive home. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-16799823136806197862023-11-09T03:42:00.001-08:002023-11-09T03:42:41.072-08:00Garry Starr Performs Everything, MILKE, The Q, 9 November 2023 (and probably touring everywhere continualy for the next coupla years)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSaIiKOKDh2Hfk9LHIHN_MYzeWedHxUjY1bIn1RZysBxRqWmmO-yAbP39JuHFTUPk1EMpgYtSBXPhp4lgjd5_138cBh7JuGMfPfgb0ePKUXb-YlyMZHBVfBws-H6qJwrqMirGdqhZt0L6FGoZnAjoFhDTA5VloWEgUc2OOvWVR3OhA2hr3PWs_2uln3Cj/s495/garry%20performs.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="495" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSaIiKOKDh2Hfk9LHIHN_MYzeWedHxUjY1bIn1RZysBxRqWmmO-yAbP39JuHFTUPk1EMpgYtSBXPhp4lgjd5_138cBh7JuGMfPfgb0ePKUXb-YlyMZHBVfBws-H6qJwrqMirGdqhZt0L6FGoZnAjoFhDTA5VloWEgUc2OOvWVR3OhA2hr3PWs_2uln3Cj/s320/garry%20performs.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /> So, I wrote up Garry's other show, <a href="https://cantheatrewatcher.blogspot.com/2023/06/garry-starr-greece-lightning-smiths.html" target="_blank">Greece Lightning</a>, back when it played Smith's Alternative in June, but due to a fault known as "being in Sydney" at the time, I missed the last run of this at the Q. Fortunately, it was back for another night so I booked fast. And it's just as good if not even better, a superb demonstration of Damien Warren-Smith's control of his body, his talent at playing with an audience, his shamelessness in indulging with ridiculous bits and, of course, some gratious knob gags. <p></p><div>This time around Garry turns his eyes to the various genres of theatre - from Shakespere to Burlesque, via a lot of dancing, some gorgeous circus skills, some light flashing of the merkin, some grape catching, and a big closing number. Once again we get to see Garry mangle the English language as much as he mangles the various forms of theatre he goes through - treating sex-farce, Pinter, romcom, and Bunraku with equal delight and the proper amount of disrespect. Garry's gleeful idiocy, persistence, and inability to notice what a dill he's being are a constant delight, and draw audience members to him to play along in the various required scenarios. There's a lovely sense that for the hour of the show, we're in the hands of a master who will tease us, provoke us, and leave us a giggling mess on the floor, before performing one truly remarkable physical act that leaves you gasping in all the right ways. </div><div><br /></div><div>Garry is off to England to finish the year, but hopefully he'll be back touring Australia and delighting audiences shortly. So keep an eye out, and book fast!</div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-75985734313270370542023-11-03T01:30:00.031-07:002023-11-03T15:37:38.867-07:00Under the Influence, Q the Locals, The Q, 3-4 Nov <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJVFS4FFtBJr7fRyLCs5ratQxGTAX_PLR8_hd0yq7FuF7SbACfRTfzCi-7FxErwkDJV4xLFfmBNGtBLwFAOh5Dqj4h2jipFWFprXXZ2hg-QQf5SNsW7YHC-Nt-KDL1F6-Ws5gZDVMMdRSukpmJn3Rk4NglA1K8C6_z8MFNkyA7BKqPiy5ipw5i7f1S_I_/s2048/under%20the%20inf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJVFS4FFtBJr7fRyLCs5ratQxGTAX_PLR8_hd0yq7FuF7SbACfRTfzCi-7FxErwkDJV4xLFfmBNGtBLwFAOh5Dqj4h2jipFWFprXXZ2hg-QQf5SNsW7YHC-Nt-KDL1F6-Ws5gZDVMMdRSukpmJn3Rk4NglA1K8C6_z8MFNkyA7BKqPiy5ipw5i7f1S_I_/s320/under%20the%20inf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I've seen Moya Simpson and John Shortis twice before - once in 2005 as two thirds of "The Three Scrooges", their christmas show with Peter J Casey, and once in 2008 in their cabaret show at Vivaldis, "We don't need another Euro", about Eruopean songs that have made their way into english-language hits; and I've sen Mikelangelo twice before, both times supporting Amanda Palmer on tour (once at the National Gallery in 2011, once at the Canberra Theatre in what google tells me was 2020). So now they're together in a show that Shortis and Simpson have apparently done a couple of time before, the "Under the Influence" shows where they team with another musician to explore their works and influences, and to share tunes. Over the course of a bit over two hours (intermission included), they explore everything from Balkan folk music to Dick Dale, Count Von Count, Nancy Sinatra, Dusty Springfield and Elvis, using Mikelangelo's multiple past bands, from the Black Sea Gentlemen to Tin Star to P Harness with multiple changes of instruments, harmonies, and, in Mikelangelo's case, a few outfit changes. <p></p><div>It's a glorious occasion - Shortis and Simpson play support more than, perhaps, you'd expect, but Mikelangelo is such a grand presence with strong deep vocals, snappy slicked-back hair and absolute stage power that it's wiser to yield than to try to upstage him. Together with a sharp tight backing band ("The Reprobates") and some gorgeous stage lighting, it's a fun evening of song and performance that is absolutely worth catching. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-77544427695758934432023-10-26T01:30:00.134-07:002023-10-26T12:17:08.751-07:00Speaking in Tongues, Free Rain Theatre, ACT Hub, 25 Oct-4 Nov<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUkk-6ooMrufxZj5pytqpAX5BTjQjk36zf9ophyVjyl8y9yqNRyonrxv2w9FXP1iVReoaqgy7VvMGtR2wqvx-P5lACha2C3FkKLVILS0RDZxR0GDymxCU1x8jiug1IDRJfQaqwQ_vhyA_2-72Ya67szWmYcmax_m7BRzy77AvRJFTSOkivuQA2v7ZkaO_/s2048/speaking.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1728" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUkk-6ooMrufxZj5pytqpAX5BTjQjk36zf9ophyVjyl8y9yqNRyonrxv2w9FXP1iVReoaqgy7VvMGtR2wqvx-P5lACha2C3FkKLVILS0RDZxR0GDymxCU1x8jiug1IDRJfQaqwQ_vhyA_2-72Ya67szWmYcmax_m7BRzy77AvRJFTSOkivuQA2v7ZkaO_/s320/speaking.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>It's a familiar setup. Two pairs of people meet in a bar and go back to a sordid hotel. The dance of seduction between both of them, the feelings of desperation and inhibition playing against one another, the words so familiar that they overlap. The push and pull secret desires, of confessing more than you should to someone you barely know, of struggling for a connection you know is going to be fleeting - it's a compelling dance between this quartet of characters. And then later that night, re-united with their partners, the scene is just as familiar - the secret you're holding from your spouse, the feeling something has broken, the longing to confess and be forgiven. Beyond that, there's further connections, spiraling out of the home into two mysterious disappearances, emotional chaos and emptiness. <p></p><div>Andrew Bovell's play "Speaking in Tongues" is a challenging work for actors - a piece for a quartet with an opening twenty minutes consisting largely of overlapping dialogue where two characters are saying exactly the same phrase at the same time, followed by extensive scenes of duologues and interweaving monologues. There's a challenge in the opening twenty minutes to keep the dialogue synchronous yet create individual characters, and then in the later scenes to maintain a connection even when you're the silent one on stage.</div><div><br /></div><div> All four cast members pass this test with aplomb and stop the show from feeling like just a technical exercise, into something vibrant and emotionally true. It's a show that resets in Act Two, introducing a whole new quartet of characters- except we've already been told enough striking details about them in Act One that as soon as they're introduced we know exactly who they are and what their role in the wider picture is - and as we delve further into them, the theme of connections sought and lost gets darker, with darker implications about some of the hidden fears that lie between men and women. There's so many strong images created both verbally and onstage (whether it be Steph Robert's obviously tipsy, sardonic Sonja contrasted with Jess Waterhouse's tense Jane in the opening scene, the contrast between Arran McKenna's avuncular Leon and Robibe Haltner's damaged Pete in their meeting at a bar, the effect of a rearranged hairdo and some striking lipstick on Roberts in her change to the stonewalling Sarah in act two, Jess Waterhouse's isolated, desperate Valerie, McKenna's in-over-his-head Nick or Robbie Haltner's pair of lost men in act two, Neil and John). </div><div><br /></div><div>Cate Clelland's production is simple - a spare staging with a group of cubes rearranged to create hotel rooms, bars, homes, a therapist's office, a police station, and an isolated backroad - but relishes in the intimacy and direct connection between actor and audience that this allows. Craig Mueller's lighting washes the stage in various noir-ish colours, and Justin Mullins' sound design uses a core song in various cover versions to drive the hypnotic, inquisitive but bewildered nature of the quest for connection that drives everyone. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is a powerful, compelling jigsaw puzzle of a play, where in this production the pieces are painted boldly and strongly enough to pull them together with ease. It's gripping, funny, truthful and painful, and altogether powerful, pure theatre. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-70733971070066411652023-10-14T01:00:00.063-07:002023-10-22T02:52:27.574-07:00Blaque Showgirls, Griffin Theatre Company, Stables Theatre, 4 Sept-21 October<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2RZE689fVARZQrEkdIGJeMavCpF7e6Da8wJVLxt6fLgqmGgumpGoPb1bfJfL-5YOt-7tYt-w4ZIm61DpGtO0VJzop0QHOJVqDNGvQmnQPsr-upkEVjP3tq0ueHbovHV7E1whtPAlrG6xTkjDTtRgaXpGizn8GExfkkKrfPZ00y1cVX-QqPJLKUGJz453/s1920/matt-cooper-angeline-penrith-and-stephanie-somerville_blaqueshowgirls_photobrettboardman.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2RZE689fVARZQrEkdIGJeMavCpF7e6Da8wJVLxt6fLgqmGgumpGoPb1bfJfL-5YOt-7tYt-w4ZIm61DpGtO0VJzop0QHOJVqDNGvQmnQPsr-upkEVjP3tq0ueHbovHV7E1whtPAlrG6xTkjDTtRgaXpGizn8GExfkkKrfPZ00y1cVX-QqPJLKUGJz453/s320/matt-cooper-angeline-penrith-and-stephanie-somerville_blaqueshowgirls_photobrettboardman.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br />The road to the stage is never quite a straight line for any new play. In this case, after a delay of about a year because both director and writer were pregnant, "Blaque Showgirls" finally arrives at Griffin, a wildly inventive spoof of Paul Verhoven's 1996 movie (which I've never seen, but I'm gay and grew up in the 90s so I feel like I know most of the key details anyway), throwing in additional questions about racial identity and the honest creation of art. In Sharri Sebbens and Ursula Yovich's production, it's a flashy, silly, and somewhat scathing take on the popular myths we have about fame and success with a strong identity all its own. <p></p><div>Leading the cast as our dimwit heroine is Stephanie Somerville as our dimwit heroine, Ginny, convinced of her talent even if absolutely nobody else is, bringing vast amounts of idiotic delusion to the role. As best friend Molly, Angline Penrith sells the absurd things that happen to her with a gentle self-effacing charm, and when she gets the bits of the script that are Obviously The Authors Message, she sells that too with integrity and power. Jonathan Jeffrey as the imperious lead dancer Chandon gives great bitch and moves like a godess too. Matty Mills as Kyle is pure sleaze in all the right ways. Filling in for an injured Matthew Cooper as True Love interest is an endearingly sweet and committed Ian Michael and giving charm and honesty even as his dialogue gets increasingly ridiculous.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cris Baldwin on Set and Costumes gives maximum tacky glam. Verity Hampson lights the tiny Griffin space with skill and acute accuracy. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is a delightful way to spend an evening, clever, insightful and thoroughly satiric. You'll leave the venue grinning. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-7529848237165807132023-10-13T19:30:00.068-07:002023-10-21T03:28:57.039-07:00The Visitors, Sydney Theatre Company, Mooghalin Performing Arts Inc and Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera house, 11 Sept-14 October 2023 and subsequent tour including Canberra Theatre centre 8-11 Nov<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYPrGL7yjmgUa75CdVn8EzkLenb3K_a7OySOFjcFrJvdVkuxAfdB-79i9cJTMXngp7eieNoYQUz_ZW6FvQws1JBMPVdi3jLYNPeM4ZHu2piNFl0KHAcVbPXZ_MTQO3U-daxlUbwZSI6Ne2Z6SNrmqU1fa8w8iGGslWRw3QYWsIPn5hiDJBB8tZX5-1oSH/s1920/visit.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgYPrGL7yjmgUa75CdVn8EzkLenb3K_a7OySOFjcFrJvdVkuxAfdB-79i9cJTMXngp7eieNoYQUz_ZW6FvQws1JBMPVdi3jLYNPeM4ZHu2piNFl0KHAcVbPXZ_MTQO3U-daxlUbwZSI6Ne2Z6SNrmqU1fa8w8iGGslWRw3QYWsIPn5hiDJBB8tZX5-1oSH/s320/visit.webp" width="320" /></a></div>It's January 1788, and six leaders of the Eora nation gather. There's a fleet of ships off the shore, and the leaders are discussing how they should meet them. When a young man from the Botany Bay mob arrives, the issue becomes more urgent, and decisions are made - then negotiated. 225 years later, in an auditorium a short walk away from where those ships landed, it's impossible not to take these discussions and think of the 225 years of history that followed - on the day of this performance, also the day a referendum asked to recognise the descendants of these characters and give them a constitutional voice to government.<div><br /></div><div>Jane Harrison's script has a classic structure - in some ways, it resembles "Twelve Angry Men" as the characters reach initial decisions then are swayed by debate, with Dalara Williams' Wallace taking the place of Juror number 8 as the dissenter and the one persuading the rest of the group to take another point of view. Wesley Enoch stages the drama on a visually striking rocky outcrop (set and costume by Elizabeth Gadsby), with the characters constantly in motion. There's a great sense of light and shade, from the joking of Elaine Crombie's Jaky to the overwhelmed Joseph Wunijjaka's young Lawrence, Guy Simon's procedure-obsessed Gary, Beau Dean Riley Smith's practical Albert and Kyle Morrison's nervous but wise Albert. </div><div><br /></div><div>Inevitably, the practicalities of live theatre means that there was a late cast substitution, with Aaron Pedersen standing in for an unavailable Luke Carroll as Gordon. This is a challenging role, as Gordon is the angriest of the six leaders, and Pedersen (understandably, on short notice, without a full rehearsal period) doesn't really give it a lot of notes beyond rage. I hope by the time the tour has reached Canberra, if Pedersen is still with the tour, he's found his way deeper into the role and can give it all that the role needs - as it stands, it's a slightly weak note in an otherwise strong production. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is a powerful, relevant work that lays a different perspective on one of Australia's foundational myths, and is well worth catching. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7795925322887115596.post-31255066698030964262023-10-13T01:30:00.065-07:002023-10-20T02:52:07.118-07:00Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Belvoir Street Theatre, State Theatre company of South Australia and Melbourne theatre company, Belvoir Street Theatre, 14 Sept-15 Oct (subsequently Melbourne Theatre company 19 Oct-2 Dec<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMV3djUmeOtlF-LiEhGT4DQ-8eQZBXAsgOKJ9-eOQmeRFyWQPHwpjYa4nH-SWarNJHycq2OVyxRO4wuYKgVpl8yA0vhrSIxGNMlWsV9Ox10eLJS2wVTZPqzBytAg61PUeDreWTtANVtl2Cf6y9OfEM_wuFX6eUIYOAz0dDYH4Fc88-KvPMXUm1JmI3Vdnc/s1920/kym-purling_zahra-newman_by_matt_byrne-656.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1920" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMV3djUmeOtlF-LiEhGT4DQ-8eQZBXAsgOKJ9-eOQmeRFyWQPHwpjYa4nH-SWarNJHycq2OVyxRO4wuYKgVpl8yA0vhrSIxGNMlWsV9Ox10eLJS2wVTZPqzBytAg61PUeDreWTtANVtl2Cf6y9OfEM_wuFX6eUIYOAz0dDYH4Fc88-KvPMXUm1JmI3Vdnc/s320/kym-purling_zahra-newman_by_matt_byrne-656.webp" width="320" /></a></div>Belvoir's production of this show introduces Zahra Newman as Billie Holiday with care - coming onstage in full light, the lights descend when she sings the first notes of "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", and she sings in silhouette. Vocally, the resemblance is uncanny, so when the lights come up, she IS Billie Holiday. And for the next hour and a half, she remains the living embodiment of Billie Holiday in one of her final performances, in a Philidelphia club <p></p><div>The show features her singing 14 classic songs with a three-piece band and talking to the audience between songs, inevitably talking about her career, blighted by a traumatic upbringing, racist incidents while touring, and a fall into drug addiction and alcoholism. It's a gripping performance, something that could easily become awkward or banal like any other biomusical, but in Newman's hands it's thrilling, lively, emotionally intense and a powerful production. </div><div><br /></div><div>The role is a tour-de-force, but a highly challenging one. First, recapture one of the great voices of the 20th century. Then have the acting chops to tell her story, with only the occasional interruption or redirection from Kym Pulling's bandleader, in a style that suggests the emotional turmoil yet comes across with crystal-clear clarity. Newman is a thrilling presence on the high-wire, handling Lainie Robertson's challenging script with skill and power - seemingly loose and chaotic, but at the same time clear as a bell and insightful and making every emotion register. </div><div><br /></div><div>Kym Pulling's band is tight and sounds great throughout, and the combination of Alisa Peterson's beautiful set and Govin Ruben's lighting gives the event a great sense of period style - immersing us in the sense of time-traveling back to the late 50s in an intimate club environment (even down the lampshades hovering over the auditorium). It's a beautiful production that deserves to be widely seen. </div>That Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142533016588637476noreply@blogger.com0