Tony Martin, Canberra Comedy Festival, Playhouse, Canberra theatre

 
It is nice to see a comedy hero who I've appreciated since the mid 90s. And here he's telling some reasonably amusing jokes in a not-particularly structured evening of material that never really seems to be straining for anything greater than some light chuckles. There's a few hints that there may be darker personal territory that could be delved into for more insight, but it's mostly just time with a 57 year old guy giving light observations about life, illnesses and a cheap biography of Michael Douglas. I didn't hate this and I don't have much right to bitch about this but this does feel a little like a show done for the sake of having a show rather than anything coming from burning passions or a particular desire to say anything beyond "hell, recognise me from TV"? I do feel now that we've seen standup that can take the form into new and interesting places, this feels clunky and very safe.  

King of Pigs, Red line Productions and Critical Stages Touring, The Q. 24-26 April 2022

 

(Note, this is a photo of the 2018 original production, not of the current touring cast).

In a series of short scenes, we're exposed to what happens when women are met with male violence - whether on a casual date or as part of a short-or-long-term relationship. Kate Skinner has the marathon part of the one woman at the centre of all these relationships, shifting into various ages and lives and about how things can go so wrong so quickly, and how long-term buried problems can resurface again and again. Three of the four men are figures of menace, whether it be Tom Stokes as a controlling husband hiding his brutality under a middle-class veneer, Anthony Yangoyan as a wannabe footballer taking his frustrations out on his partner, or Sam Alhaje as the guy who just took a mate's night out too far. Jason Chong is to a certain extent the eyes and ears of the play as the one who interacts with everybody as a counselor with his own home complications, seeing the issues outside his house maybe have a reflection in his own relationship as well. Blazey Best directs a production that rides the complex transitions that Steve Roger's writing sets up, giving us snapshots of a situation that's all too familiar but feels fresh and, alas, eternally relevant.

There's sharp work from Isabel  Hudson's simple set design, together with costumes that allow the men to be separately identified very quickly, and assists Skinner with her many character transitions. 

This is important, relevant theatre that's played expertly and is absolutely necessary viewing, both for the subject matter and the skill of the performers and production crew.

Otello, Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, in repertory 19 Feb-19 Mar 2022.

 

"Othello" is considered the Shakespeare play with one of the biggest race problems - for centuries the play and the opera were both largely performed in blackface. Opera Australia's production, a remount of a production that's been in their repertoire since 2003, eschews the blackface (as can be seen above, both Otello and Desdemona are played by South Korean performers), and thereby highlights another issue with the plot - the grotesque nature of a plot that seems to assume that the proper treatment for sexual infidelity by a wife is murder, and the only tragedy is that Desdemona is falsely accused, not that her husband is a bit overfond of murder to resolve his issues.

Still there is great power in a plot of elemental passions, jealousy and vengenace, played out on a grand sweeping set (designed by Hans Schavernoch) of an off-centre staircase with cracks and holes in it that looks like a Workplace Health and Safety incident waiting to happen, particularly at the rate the chorus and most cast members ascend and descend the stairs. Verdi's score matches Shakespeare's drama, introducing the action in a grand symphonic storm and giving grand melodic arias to all three leads, Otello, Desdemona and Iago. Pre-show advice was that lead Youngoon Lee had injured his coxyx and therefore we were getting a somewhat restaged production tonight - the only key elements of restaging obvious was that Otello occasionally used a cane and was kept on the ground floor rather than ever having to rush around the staircase - keeping the lead on the one level meant that every other cast member had to come to him and therefore doubled down on his stage presence. Karah Son as Desdemona is, alas, playing a character who's a bit thin, more talked about than much allowed to express any significant thoughts or opinions, however she does have two great arias back-to-back in Act IV and she knocks them both out of the park. Italian baritone Marco Vratogna sings Iago with passion and intensity, locked into his sinister plot from the outset and determined to see it through. Of the rest of the leads, most are strong, although the Cassio of Viglio Manino does come across as a little goofy - he's not quite the pretty-boy type to inspire jealousy so much as an overaged Bertie Wooster in RAF gear type.

This was my first full in--person opera experience, previously I've seen a couple of TV productions , two of the musicals OA have done in the Joan Sutherland and the cut-down Julie Taymor "Magic Flute" which is sung in english.  - and it's impressive to watch something of this kinda scale and power done well (as it is here). From my rush seats in row S it was an impressive watch - I'm not sure I could indulge the full cost of a ticket on a regular basis but I'm happy to go on paying Rush prices where I've got a spare night. 

Hand to God, Red Line Productions, Old Fitz, 24 Feb-26 Mar 2022

 

In a small town Sunday school, Margery is attempting to teach her three students to make puppets as part of the ministry. She's recently widowed and is struggling to raise her quiet son Jason, while handling the attentions both of student Timothy and the overly-handsy Pastor Greg. But when Jason begins a weird relationship with his puppet, Tyrone, everything starts to tumble into chaos. 

Robert Askins' american comedy looks at the limitations of faith and good honest American family values with a brutal honesty - in the intimite confines of the Old Fitz theatre, it's a compelling story full of twists and turns, darkly hilarious and very twisted. 

As anyone who saw "Appleton Ladies Potato Race" knows, Merridy Eastman has a great skill at appearing joyously demented on stage, and she channels this skill well into the stressed out Sunday school teacher who crosses several ethical boundries on the way to relieving her tensions. Phillip Lynch has the double role of Jason and Tyrone, skillfully splitting the two of them so you really believe his right arm is an entirely different person taking over, and letting Tyrone take the focus as he becomes more and more powerful as an agent of chaos. There's a skill and lack of ego in letting the puppet be the focus rather than the actor drawing attention to themselves. Elsewhere, Ryan Morgan is gleefully driven as the troubled Timothy, Gerard Carroll projects smug complacency as Pastor Greg and Michelle Ny as Jason's protector Jessica is charming, fierce and surprisingly seductive in turns. 

Director Alexander Berlarge has previously delivered two great reinventions of modern musicals in Cry Baby and American Psycho - here he gives us a seemingly cosy playroom that turns into a nightmare, mostly providing truth and pace to the piece (although the epilogue feels a little awkwardly placed, and maybe needs to be picked up with more pace after the climax to avoid feeling extraneous). There's great set and costume design from Emma White and lighting and sound design from  Phoebe Pilcher

and Daniel Herten. It's a fine production that does credit to a script that could feel snarky or shallow in lesser hands - here all the characters, even the demonic puppet, feel real and three-dimensional. Definitely worth catching.

Opening Night, Belvoir St Theatre, 26 Feb-27 Mar 2022

 

It's four days to opening night and Myrtle is struggling. She can't relate to the character she's playing, and the writer, the director and the leading man are no help, generally insulting her when she tries to seek help about who she's meant to be playing and to deliver more than a 2 dimensional caricature. And that night at the stage girl there's a disturbing encounter with a fan. The next few days are a nightmare of rehearsal, obsession, self-examination and paranoia before the big night...

I have to admit I've never seen any John Cassavetes films, let alone the somewhat obscure 1977 film this play is based on - but it's a piece of meta-theatre looking at the process of making theatre and how it often can bare down on the women at the centre of it, relying on them to make material which isn't fleshed out into something greater than it is. There's a modern feel to this as the questions of female agency on stage still haven't fully been thought through and work continues to arrive with limited roles for actresses all too often. Fortunately this is a play that raises the questions and provokes thought about them, even if the resolution is perhaps a little too tidy to entirely resolve everything - and the adaptation to contemporary and local doesn't entirely flow through the material, which feels a little more distanced by a couple of small aesthetic details than maybe it should (the casual smoking and drinking, the way that Australian stage doors work compared to Broadway), but all in all this is an effective thought provoking night out.

Carissa Liacciardello does double duty as adapter and director, to my mind doing better at the second than the first - the dialogue and structure is more functional rather than transcendent, but she does have a great eye for an effective stage image and is able to move in and around the various levels of reality this story tells, from performance-to-rehearsal-to-real-life-to-nightmare and back again with splitsecond timing. She has slightly sabotaged herself by choosing a set by David Fleischer that doesn't really quite suit the Belvoir stage - admittedly this is a set that has to do a lot more than just be its initial state, but the initial impression is that there's a lot of space between the actors and the audience, leading to this being a show that works better as the show slips into the surreal  - it's not a show that quite fits into the space where it's being performed.

Leanna Walsmann is a big part of that as Myrtle, the actress with reasonable complains who's never quite listened to like she should be and is therefore driven inwards to find her own solutions. The production is largely built around her - the play is a deep dive seen through her eyes and mentality, and she's barely offstage for the whole 100 minutes of action - and she makes it all fascinating. Elsewhere, Luke Mullins is suitably creepy as the director, reflecting the ego of a man who wants the benefits of the title but is not willing to roll his sleeves up and do the difficult emotional work of exploring the material, Toni Scanlan is interesting as the writer of the play-within-the-play, constantly suggesting possibilities but never really providing concrete assistance, and Matt Zaremes and Jing-xuan Chan don't really have a lot to work with in their small roles as co-star and dresser respectively, and Caitlin Burley is largely a creepy presence rather than a full character as the fangirl Nancy. 

Nick Schiliper's split-second lighting deserves almost a co-starring credit as it moves from show-to-life-to-nightmare (alongside his associate Jazime Rizk) and Max Lyndevert's sound design creates good mood too (though competing a bit with an actual storm on the night I saw it). 

It's an interesting mood piece that provokes thought about the roles women accept and what happens when they begin to fight against it. - better at being surreal than in the initial scenes that try to establish a reality - I think it's a show I enjoyed thinking about the ideas in it more than the presentation of those ideas. So it probably falls into the category of "interesting" rather than "compelling", but they were good thoughts to be provoked.

Keating!, Queanbeyan Players, Belconnen Theatre, Feb 25-Mar 6 2022

 The chase for the "great Australian Musical" has been one of the great quests of Australian theatre, but Casey Bennetto's 2005 musical "Keating" probably has come the closet to getting genuine widespread public acclaim. From humble beginnings as a small Melbourne Comedy festival show to an expanded Belvoir production that toured virtually nonstop from 2006-2008, it's a sensational piece of legend-building spectacle, with a mix of pastiche, satire, and authentic emotional heart-string-pulling material, plus it recognises the power of rap battles as a representation of political debate well before a certain famous American musical of recent vintage (then again, both are pre-dated by the 1980's "Rap Master Ronnie" by Gary Trudeau).  Using the popular labour mythology of Keating as a stylish smoothie right out of the 60s Rat Pack (the official publicity image for the Belvoir production was Keating's Rolling Stone cover-shot), it tells a familiar story of struggle, rise to power and dealing with the challenges that happen once in office. There's great choices of matching material to the moment, whether it be Alexander Downer's funky "Freaky", the every-Australian-ad-of-the-80s-sounding "The Mateship", the Elvis comeback special vibe to "Sweet"... it's a major achievement and it's a pity Bennetto has never really been able to duplicate it since. 

This production inflates the cast size slightly but still recognises the essential nature of the piece as small and focussed very much on Keating's solo power, and knows when to go big, and as importantly when to keep things small (particularly in the penultimate number, "Light on the Hill"). Sarah Hull's recent work has shown she's got a real skill for 21st-century musicals, between "High Fidelity" and "Wedding Singer", she has a fine contemporary eye and a great sense of how to appropriately scale new work for a local audience. Together with collaborators David Santolin on choreography and Jenna Hinton as musical director she's staged a fine production that gives life to the material in delightful ways.

At the centre is Steven O'Mara as Keating, performing a marathon part with complete focus and charisma. He's got the style, moves, and charisma, as well as a powerful voice that carries him through the show in great style. There's great supporting cameos as well, whether it be Anthony Swadling's ingratiating Hawke, Zachary Izzard's raptastic John Hewson, Andrew Finegan's funky freak of an Alexander Downer, Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope's loomingly beige-suited Gareth Evans, Alissa Pearson's scarlet seductress Cheryl Kernot or Matt Greenwood's creepy gnome John Howard. 

Jeannie Norberry's costume design gives style on what presumably is a fairly tight budget, Nick Cossart's sound design makes sure every witty lyric is heard and enjoyed, and Sarah Hull's set design gives the cast plenty of options in creating memorable stage pictures. 

This is a classic Australian show given an excellent local production and is deservedly sold out. If you can catch the digital screenings planned for the coming weeks, please do so, this cast and production absolutely deserve your attention. It's an effort that should make Queanbeyan Players very proud.