Month: September 2015

Festivals, Late Night Shows, Performances

REVIEW: Elena Gabrielle Presents DIRRTY

Cheerfully unsanitary

By Myron My

From the opening act of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival late-night variety show Dirrty, it is very clear that this is not going to be a regular type of variety show. To say anymore about what transpires would be to ruin the surprise that curator Elena Gabrielle has planned. The night itself involves a variety of performance artists invited by Gabrielle to celebrate all things sex and taboo in their own unique ways.

Dirrty

The condoms and lube are freely available and there is a lot of flesh – both male and female – on display. There are songs about the joys of protected sex and the answer to where exactly JonBenét Ramsey as been is revealed. It is indeed, a hedonistic night for all.

Gabrielle is unashamedly the heart, blood and tears (and possible other bodily functions) of this sexy show. All her acts are playful, engaging to watch, and most importantly, fun. Her own spin on “All That Jazz” and “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend” showcases her range of talents, including her impressive singing and her brilliant sense of humour. Gabrielle could front this show solely based on her own acts and it would be a standout for this festival.

However, this is promoted as a variety show and as such, the success of a production like this is based on its guest artists – and unfortunately on this night, I didn’t feel the other performances were as captivating or exciting to watch as Gabrielle’s. They were all nicely aligned with the “dirrty” theme for the evening and pushing the boundaries of “conservatism”, but apart from the admirable Ladybird Blue, the other artists didn’t have the same pulling power to drawn me in.

If you can handle the 11.30pm time slot, Dirrty is worth a look, if only to see Gabrielle strut her stuff. This is definitely a show where you can leave your inhibitions at the door and if you don’t, Gabrielle and guests will make sure they take them off you instead.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Season: 26 September, 1-3 October | 11.30pm

Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Comedy, Festivals, Performances

REVIEW: Andrew Milne and Patch Blank in I DON’T LIKE YOU

From frenemies to fragments, and narrative to nuance

By Myron My

Andrew Milne and Patch Blank have brought their unique clowning and performance art production I Don’t Like You to audiences as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival. Their debut show initially explores the relationship and emotions between two friends who actually don’t really like each other…

I Don't Like You

I Don’t Like You starts off strongly and with a seemingly clear aim of where it is headed. The duo are very skilled at finding humour in a range of situations and reminded me a little of the physical comedy popularised in modern culture by Mr. Bean with their highly expressive faces and exaggerated movements. Milne and Blank play well together and their best work is when they are interacting with each other.

In the second act, the two begin to experiment with concepts of postmodernism and to break down the structures they have set up. The silliness and jokiness and silence they were playing with becomes fragmented, and the audience becomes slightly more actively involved in the show while also significantly unaware of what is going to happen next. At one point, Milne begins to aggressively speak to the audience as he emphatically blows up balloon animals, exclaiming and explaining “it’s only air”…

As part of I Don’t Like You’s deconstruction of theatre, Milne hangs a gun on the wall early in the show, a cheeky nod to the principle of Chekhov’s Gun (which states, “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”) What happens with this production is that events or objects in the first half are deliberately forgotten and others suddenly occur or appear in the second half. Increasingly, the show’s title seems to not simply be referring to the relationship of two people on stage, but to be a critique of theatre and performance itself as the artists attempt to re-think what these terms actually mean.

Milne and Blank certainly have a knack with physical comedy, clowning and (meta)theatre. There are some clever and funny moments in I Don’t Like You and as first-time performers it will be interesting to see how they continue expanding on their interest in breaking theatre and its rules.

Venue: Club Voltaire, 14 Raglan St, North Melbourne, 3051

Season: Until 4 October | 9.30pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc | $15 Cheap Tuesday

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Dance, Events, News

NEWS: The Australian Ballet’s 2016 PROGRAM LAUNCH

Performances to entrance and transcend

By Narelle Wood

I’ve been a subscriber with the Australian Ballet for the last six years and each year I’m left wondering how exactly they will manage to top, or even equal, that year’s season. This was especially the case after the year’s Australian premiere of David McAllister’s Sleeping Beauty; one of the most exquisite and luxurious performances I’ve seen. The 2016 season plans to be just as exciting and enthralling, but for completely different reasons.

Vitesse at The Australian Ballet 2016

The five works have been selected because they in some way encapsulate the transformative nature of ballet, either through stretching the dancers, the audiences or the very idea what ballet should be. The Melbourne season begins with Vitesse, part of the contemporary mix, providing a selection of ballets ranging from the chic and sleek of “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated”, to the the Edvard Munch-inspired “Forgotten Land” to the speedy and fabulous “Danse a Grande Vitesse”, the performance’s namesake. The 2016’s classical repertoire includes a reprise of Stephen Baynes’ 2012 Swan Lake, an Australian premiere of Stanton Welch’s Romeo and Juliet and the comedic and playful fun of Coppelia.
The showcase piece for the Australian Ballet’s 54th season is John Neumeier’s Nijinsky. It was apparently fourteen years ago artistic director David McAllister first broached the idea of staging this ballet, and in 2016 this finally becomes a reality. Described as ‘a biopic of a legend’, this ballet celebrates the accomplishments and mastery of Russian dancer Nijinsky and his ‘unprecedented on-stage intensity’.

While Coppelia may be the only ballet here with lightness at its heart, the program sounds every bit intriguing as it does transformative. There is no doubt that the Australian Ballet will once again exceed all expectations by taking the audience on a completely different, and at times, unexpected journey. As always, I find it hard to pick what I am looking forward to most; the opulent costumes and sets, the unparalleled athleticism, the stories and music, or the grace and elegance of the dancing. 2016 is promising to be another season of exquisite, and world-class, ballet.

Season: Melbourne season begins 11-21st March
Performance Details: Available at australianballet2016.com.au

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Ashleigh Kreveld is FRANKLY WINEHOUSE

Resurrecting a remarkable artist

By Jessica Cornish

So I never had the chance to see the real Amy Winehouse perform in a world away from television or youtube, but Ashleigh Kreveld certainly gave it a great crack in recreating the experience for me. Fitted out with a cheeky British accent, gold hoops, painted eyeliner and of course the signature beehive and red lips, she lived delightfully up to the illusion of an intimate encounter with Ms. Winehouse.

Frankly Winehouse

Ashleigh’s portrayals of her iconic songs were distinctly impressive: she gave a solid performance throughout, and particularly shone vocally in the higher to mid-range numbers, such as the tricky variations on the jazz standard “Round Midnight”. With such competent vocal skill, I would have even been happy to see more numbers added to the mix. Moreover, Ashleigh’s acting and conviction particularly shone during her songs. The standout for the evening was her powerful rendition of “I Heard Love is Blind”, recounting a one nightstand Winehouse had whilst her troubled husband was in jail.

Ashleigh likewise captured the audience retelling tales of her character’s volatile and destructive relationship with hubby Blake, and how he introduced her to the world of A class drugs after their marriage. I think my favourite moments were when these real-life stories played out in the cabaret: when hearing these bits and pieces of her life, you can’t help but want save this girl from darker times to come…

That said, the dialogue became a little bit uncomfortable and didn’t always make clear sense at times: lines such as “(I dressed) more like a black Jewish man” may even have been authentic quotes, but were lost without context upon me and my friend. No doubt it comes with being an adoring over-protective fan of hers, however I couldn’t help feeling that overall the late Amy’s character was being slightly cheated. No-one could deny that she suffered from a myriad of disorders and issues, but of course there was more to this woman and performer than just addiction after addiction. It would have been nice to see more of her character development and history explored, and more light and shade found in the complexity of the famous Winehouse persona, rather than just focusing on her constant vices and woes.

However for me, this is one of the best Fringe shows currently going around: Frankly Winehouse was an entertaining hour well spent, and reminded me poignantly of how amazing Amy Winehouse was . Along with the impressive title performer, the space was used intelligently, the blocking was really effective, and the lighting design worked admirably for the intimate cabaret setting. And of course, it couldn’t have been an Amy Winehouse tribute night without those solid renditions of her more commercial hits such as “Rehab”, her well-known Zutton’s cover of “Valerie”, and the infamous “Fuck Me Pumps”. If you’re also an Amy fan, there’s still a couple nights to catch Frankly Winehouse in action at The Butterfly Club for the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Dates: Until Sun 27 Sept, 10pm

Venue: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, off Little Collins St (between Swanston & Elizabeth) in the Melbourne CBD.

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe

Cabaret, Performances, Whats On

REVIEW: Becky Lou’s SEEN & HEARD

Candid confessionals from amazing artists

By Myron My

Earlier this year, Becky Lou dazzled audiences with her debut solo show Shake, in which she recalled moments of her life that in some way, shape or form led her to a career in burlesque. It was a unique opportunity to hear her speak, as well as entertain us with a number of memorable burlesque acts. Presented as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Lou’s Seen & Heard brings together a number of her favourite performers on stage to share with the audience some highly personal moments from their lives.

Seen And Heard

There is a rotation of six guest artists from a variety of performance backgrounds for Seen & Heard’s run and tonight’s line-up consists of drag queen Karen from Finance, burlesque performer Honey B. Goode and vaudevillian Clara Cupcakes. Tonight’s guests put on quite a show, including Karen from Finance’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You”, which had me in stitches and Hunter’s humourous depiction of what a stripper is actually thinking about when giving a lap dance.

However, it is when they begin sharing their intimate anecdotes that Seen & Heard really comes to life. While not all talks are polished and there’s a feeling of nervousness with some, the guests are sharing some highly personal moments with a roomful of strangers potentially for the first time, so this raw uncertainty is something that can be overlooked. Lou and her guests have always been seen and not heard, and to be more specific, not heard as themselves but as their character or persona. As Clara states, she’s rarely spoken in her real voice when dressed up in her make-up and costumes.

With a performer on the stage, there is always an admiration of such artists but embedded in the idea of us and them: the audience and the star. Becky Lou’s Seen & Heard reminds us that these people are just like us: in fact, they too wet themselves, they too flatulate and they too can have the most incredibly random sexual mishaps… It’s a way of connecting the performers candidly with their audiences, and it’s an entertaining and unique experience for both.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Season: Until 27 September | 10pm

Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Circus, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: The Broadwalk Republic Presents BARBAROI

Dark, dangerous and death-dealing circus

By Myron My

Traditionally, circus is about bright colours and laughter. However in the 2015 Melbourne Fringe circus show Barbaroi, circus is transformed into a dark, gritty and dirty art form. Coming out of the darkness are shady characters and misfits of society… It’s an enthralling hour of entertainment from the seedy underbelly of the arts.

Barbaroi

The strong opening sequence sets the mood for the show with The Barbaroi (Avan Whaite, Stan Ricketson, Will Meager, Phoebe Carlson, Caz Walsh and Hazel Bock) entering and exiting the stage, completing various flips and tricks as they do. The lighting work during this is highly effective with six square spotlights on stage shaping the darkness, subsequently allowing the performers to be coming in and out of the shadows. The fast movements of the performers combined with the erratic but perfectly timed lighting choreography is a captivating sight.

There is barely a lull in Barbaroi with the audience kept on the edge of their seats for its entirety. Bock steals the show with her two sets of foot-juggling, that are just gobsmacking in their skill. She also plays the femme fatale-esque persona with the right amount of sass and attitude, which results in her having a particularly strong presence on stage.

Strong men Meager and Ricketson are amazing to watch during the teeterboard act – and not just due to their physique, as they achieve some phenomenal flips and twists. You would think The Barbaroi couldn’t make their acts any more difficult than they already do but then they turn the dial up even more and still breathtakingly succeed. Even Carlson’s bottle-walking act completely changes our expectations and its difficulty with just a simple action.

Barbaroi is the type of show that requires an immense amount of trust and support from each of the performers. Throughout the show, those not directly involved in the act remain on stage and watch, reinforcing the idea that The Barbaroi are one team and depend on each other to succeed. The set-up between acts  is well executed and along with the music played, emphasises the roughness and the “danger” of where we are and what we are witnessing.

The clapping and cheering from the audience at the conclusion of Barbaroi’s opening night for Fringe was more than well deserved. There is a high calibre of talented circus performers on display that deserve to be seen by many people during this two-week run. It is high-octane circus that will have your eyes transfixed on the stage and your heart beating at rapid speeds, until those spotlights finally go out.

Venue: Gasworks Arts Park, 21 Graham St, Albert Park, 3206

Season: Until 3 October | 24-26 September, 9.20pm | 29 Sept – 3 Oct, 8pm

Tickets: $27 Full | $24 Conc | $20 Cheap Tuesday

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: The Last Great Hunt Presents FAG/STAG

Authentic, open, affecting theatre

By Myron My

After rave reviews and an extended season at Perth’s Fringe World Festival in 2015, Perth-based theatre company The Last Great Hunt have brought FAG/STAG to this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival. Written and performed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs, it is the simple story of two best friends, one gay and one straight, who are going through some pretty challenging times in their lives.

FAG STAG Image by Jamie Breen

Jimmy (Fowler) and Corgan (Isaacs) each take a seat on opposite ends of the stage. At their disposal, they each have a mobile phone to check their dating apps (grindr for Jimmy and tinder for Corgan) and a PlayStation controller. Using these two items, they recall the moments of their lives leading up to their friend Tamara’s wedding. Tamara also happens to be Corgan’s ex-girlfriend. Corgan is still not completely over their break-up and Jimmy has just broken up with his boyfriend. Life is great.

As an audience member, I much prefer to be shown things in stories rather than be told. However, due to the overall style of the production, I was immediately drawn into FAG/STAG. Having been created through long form improvisations that were later recorded and transcribed, there is a genuine sense of vulnerability coming from the actors as they explore what it means to be a 20-something male in Australia who doesn’t quite have it all together. The duologues are extremely natural in language and in delivery with the experiences of love, happiness, fear and sadness they encounter being so familiar that you cannot help but relate to them with your own.

Fowler and Isaacs are not afraid to play with silence and allow the audience the time to fully comprehend the situations the characters find themselves in. There are some deeply honest and moving elements in FAG/STAG, where the effects stayed with me long after the show ended. However, there are many humorous moments in the show as in life, and the ability that Fowler and Isaacs have in noticing these moments and bringing them to the surface is highly skillful. The final minutes of the performance perfectly sum up what the two have been exploring and created something which will now forever be linked to an iconic song for me.

Just like life, not everything is completely resolved by the end of FAG/STAG, but you walk out with the hope that Jimmy and Corgan are better and stronger because of their experiences and perhaps so are we. Ultimately, despite our individual differences, we are all the same and we all share the same experiences and thoughts and it’s important to be there for each other. Even if it’s just to play Donkey Kong.

FAG/STAG is the kind of theatre that I wish was made more often. FAG/STAG is the kind of theatre that people need to go and see.

Venue: Fringe Hub, Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, 3051

Season: Until 3 October | Tues-Sat 9pm, Sun 8pm

Tickets:$25 Full | $20 Conc | $15 Cheap Tuesday

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Image by Jamie Breen

Festivals, Performances, Theatre

REVIEW: Melbourne Fringe Presents SUBURBIA

Driving out into the dark streets for immersive theatre experience

By Myron My

Most people dream of having their own little slice of the suburban dream; a loving family, a dog and a place to call home. What could be better than that? However, if you look under the surface, you’ll find that things are not always what they seem. Playing as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Suburbia offers a glimpse into these lives we know little about.

Suburbia

My fellow two passengers and I meet at the steps of the North Melbourne Town Hall and are led to a parked car and the driver takes us through the streets of North Melbourne, stopping intermittently at various locations where we get to witness our neighbourhood in a very different light. We don’t stay at any location more than a couple of minutes and there is barely any dialogue exchanged. The soundtrack composition by Simone Gustafsson that plays in the car is perfectly suited to the theme of the night, provoking feelings of uncertainty and curiosity.

It is up to us to determine the scene, relationships and mood purely by what we see. There’s the couple having a heated argument in their car and the woman who is crossing the roundabout with determination. Suburbia is about showing us these snippets into the lives of those around us: those we don’t know and those we don’t see. The most striking moment of all was something that lasted just mere seconds but is the creepiest thing I have seen in “real life” in a very long time and I wonder what would have happened had someone from the public just happened to walk by.

Timing is of the essence with this show. As we drive from one vignette to another, there is no doubt that the rest of the cast (Cazz Bainbridge, Xavier O’Shannessy, Ross De Winter, Anneli Bjorasen, Claudia Nugent, Davina Wright and Carolyn Butler) is frantically racing to get to their next location on time (not that this haste is ever obvious, however).

As we are driven around, my voyeuristic urges begin to slowly take over and I begin to look through other people’s windows and watch as local people walk past or cycle by or take their dog out for a late-night walk. I wonder if they’re aware of what is also happening right in front of their eyes.

Suburbia is an enjoyable immersive experience that will linger in your mind long after the car pulls back up to the North Melbourne Town Hall. The shared experiences with your fellow passengers can be varied (ours were), but the performance is a reminder that just because we don’t see these people in our own neighbourhoods doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

*Playing at Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall until Oct 3, the current 2015 Melbourne Fringe season of Suburbia is completely sold out*

Image by Rebekah Kamsky, featuring Davina Wright and Xavier O’Shannessy

Festivals, Musical Theatre, Performances, Whats On

REVIEW: La Mama Presents ALPHA

Word play and body art evoke and emote

By Myron My

In this day and age, queer identity is more important than ever. Or is it? In Sebastian Robinson and Tamara Natt’s 2015 Melbourne Fringe production Alpha, the two performers explore the idea of what modern-day queer identity looks like – and if it actually exists. Through poetry, movement, music and sound, the two create a world where the roles we choose to take on in life are revealed and questioned.

Alpha

Robinson and Natt appear on an empty stage, dressed in matching white shoes and black tracksuit outfits. They spend the next 50 minutes creating some beautiful visuals for us not only through their soft and fluid movements and exploration of the space but also through their words. From a Britney Spears song to an Auslan interpretation of a Delta Goodrem song to one of their original works of poetry, Alpha shows how words can do so much to an environment even when you are staring at a relatively empty stage.

Sound designer Milly O’Sullivan, is also on stage with the two performers, creating a live soundscape with her guitar that manages to quietly nestle its way into your mind. Whether it be accompanying the poetry being recited or the scene being acted out or the bodies moving on the stage, O’Sullivan’s sounds heighten every emotion and thought the audience are invited to experience.

At times however, I felt there was so much happening with Alpha and subsequently in my head, that it was difficult to fully grasp and appreciate all the ideas that were being presented. Perhaps this is the point that Robinson and Natt are trying to make with this work. Maybe there is no such thing as queer identity. Maybe the very concept is too big to grasp. There is no constant in the world so maybe we only need to be aware of our own personal identity to love and be loved. Either way, it’s worth your time seeing this show and coming to your own conclusions.

Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton

Season: Until 27 September | Thurs – Sat 10pm, Sun 6.30pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: 
Melbourne Fringe Festival

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Adam J. Cass’ BOCK KILLS HER FATHER

Violence comes to light

By Myron My

My second play by writer Adam J. Cass during this 2015 Melbourne Fringe festival continues with his running critique of society and the treatment of its people. However, unlike the refugee theme of Fractured, Bock Kills Her Father contemplates the long-lasting effects a group of women must deal with after being at the mercy of one man.

Bock Kills Her Father

Penny Harpham‘s strong direction never allows the action on the small La Mama stage to become overwhelming or cramped, especially when there are five aggressive and angry characters on stage. The choreography for the fight scenes is executed well, with some very convincingly painful moments. There is only one time where the fight scenes disappoint and that is when Sarah (powerfully played by Annie Lumsden) is attacked. Due to the hardness of the adult women we had previously seen, it felt more like something young children would do to each other and as such, its intensity was lost.

Despite this, Cass has created a script that draws the audience into the pressure cooker of how a patriarchal society – and in this case, a cowering unseen man – still has the power to control these women’s lives. For the most part, the language is raw and authentic and I could not help but be reminded of Patricia Cornelius’s Shit, which played during MTC’s NEON season earlier this year. In fact, thematically Bock Kills Her Father could easily be appreciated as a natural prequel to Shit, in considering how the cycle of women being victims will continue to repeat itself if society does nothing.

These women however – the five actors on stage – do a great job in these physically and emotionally demanding roles. Emina Ashman, as the slightly unhinged D’Agostino, captures the attention of the audience in every scene she is in. Ashman’s portrayal is a perfect combination of endearing, annoying and incredibly frightening. Together with Marissa O’Reilly and Ruby Hughes (as Taylor and Chambers), the three women are all highly convincing in their characters and in their relationships with each other. I would have liked to see the Lead Actress* be pushed slightly more with difficult title character Bock, to ensure all her character’s choices seem genuine and not forced.

While Bock Kills Her Father isn’t the most polished of works, the grittiness and dirtiness of the world we find ourselves in makes this work in its favour. Nothing is ever going to be perfect for these women; they are unlikely to find inner peace and let go of their inner rage until those who have done them wrong are forced out of hiding and held accountable for what they have done. Bock Kills Her Father is an enthralling piece of Fringe theatre that has a lot to say about society’s treatment of women.

Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton

Season: Until 27 September | Wed 6.30pm, Thurs-Sat 7:30pm, Sun 4:00pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: 
Melbourne Fringe Festival

* The lead actress requested that her name be removed from the article