Category: Festivals

Festivals, Whats On

Poppy Seed Festival Presents LADYCAKE

Inventive, outrageous, and entertaining

By Myron My

When you hear the quote, “Let them eat cake”, you can’t help but think of Marie Antoinette. Interestingly enough, there is no official account of the lady ever having said this, and most facts point to it being almost impossible for the phrase to have been coined by her. Performed as part of the Poppy Seed Festival, LadyCake looks at the life of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of three of her handmaidens and how there is much uncertainty on what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to the last Queen of France.

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The three performers, Candace Miles, Madelaine Nunn and Anna Rodway – who also created the story – seem to relish playing the three handmaidens, and to be having real fun in messing with history in such a macabre and ostentatious way. While set in the 18th century, the script includes references to modern innovations – such as the internet – darkly reminding us that despite the centuries, the roles women play in society have not changed that much. This is further highlighted in the scenes where they each play Marie’s disapproving mother Maria Theresa, and the general population who slowly began to turn against the Queen.

Anastasia Poppenburg creates an opulent world in a highly simplistic style with bright pink and green fabrics on display, and luscious trees and plants lining the garden where the handmaidens spend their time gossiping. The eventual downfall of the Queen is signified in a bold and devastating manner and the ensuing final moments of LadyCake shows how idle gossip easily becomes confused with fact while also showing the ludicrous expectations that women have to face in a patriarchal society, both then and now.

Furthermore, Lucy Wilkin‘s garish costumes of large pink froufrou dresses and big blonde poufs perfectly encapsulate the absurd demands these women are meant to adhere to, not only in their service to their Queen, but to society in general.

Three Birds Theatre have come a long way since their 2015 Fringe Festival show, Three Birds One Cock, which looked at the female characters of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. While LadyCake could do with some tightening of the script with scenes that played out too long or just felt unnecessary, there is huge potential for this innovative company to generate a strong reputation for itself and its unique brand of theatre.

Venue: Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton
Season: until 27 November | Tues – Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm
Tickets: $35 Full | $25 Concession
Bookings: Poppy Seed Festival

Image by Sarah Walker

Cabaret, Events, Festivals, Review

MMW Presents HEAPS GAY HEAPS YUMMY

Spectacular night out – but not for everyone

By Caitlin McGrane

Heaps Gay and YUMMY were the hostesses with the mostess on Wednesday night, bringing their unbridled enthusiasm and vibrancy from their home in Sydney where they host queer parties and events, and run their website writing about all things queer. I’m so glad Heaps Gay partnered with legendary cabaret act YUMMY to bring us the biggest, queerest love-in I’ve ever been to. It was delicious, but the aftermath has left a sour taste in my mouth.

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Walking into the State Library of Victoria for a massive queer dance party on a Wednesday night, I had no idea what to expect. The State Library is ultra-familiar to me, it was where I got my first real job, and have spent many magical hours wandering the labyrinthine corridors imagining how great it would be to have a massive fucking party in the dome.

The dome itself didn’t open until 10pm, so we spent the first couple of hours in the aptly named Queens Hall dancing to some amazing DJs, and watching brilliant drag queen shows. The library opened its arms to Melbourne’s huge queer community, and it seemed like literally everyone showed up. As a shy newcomer to the queer community, I was feeling pretty apprehensive. It was one of the best nights out I’ve ever had. However, in the days since I have been forced to reconsider how much I enjoyed it; as a white cisgender able-bodied woman my experience at HGHY was not necessarily everyone’s experience. I have been told about numerous incidents of harassment from the security guards, some of whom looked ‘visibly disgusted’ at people making out and ‘grabbing you if they didn’t see your wristband as you walked past’; there was also no security outside at the end of the event, so a group of men verbally harassed people while they left. The venue also had some serious accessibility issues – the stage was not visible for disabled people; the lifts into Queens Hall and the Dome were not adequately sign-posted; the bathrooms were not gender-inclusive with ‘M/F’ still on the doors. All-in-all, these just seem like rookie mistakes in organising a LGBTIQA+ event.

The line-up was amazing, HTML Flowers upped the fucking ante with their amazing beats, and featured a special guest appearance from angelic bb Daisy Catterall. The level of talent was out of control, although artists weren’t always signposted (especially in the dome), and there wasn’t a set list that I could find, so I felt like I had to cobble together who was playing through guesswork and actually knowing who some artists were. Heaps Gay Heaps Yummy at Melbourne Music Week is an incredible platform for queer artists, and I would have appreciated knowing who was playing and when for numerous reasons, but mostly so I could a) find out more about them later, and b) write this review a little easier. It also seems a little bit tokenistic to put together such an amazing inclusive line-up, then not ensure artists and patrons are sufficiently protected from dickheads.

In any case, the night was expertly MC’d by YUMMY, and featured some incredible performances from Donny Benét, HABITS, Brooke Powers, Karen From Finance, KT Spit  and DJ Ruby Slippers among others; but for me the highlight was FURY performing the very best poem about gay marriage that I have ever heard.

Check out Heaps Gay here: http://heapsgay.com/ and YUMMY here: https://www.facebook.com/yummytheshow/?fref=ts. Melbourne Music Week is on until Saturday 19 November, get more info here: http://mmw.melbourne.vic.gov.au/

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

Poppy Seed Festival Presents BLESSED

Dark and dusty divinity

By Myron My

The Poppy Seed Festival returns to Melbourne for its second year, opening with Fleur Kilpatrick’s Blessed , a modern retelling of angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary informing her that she is to be the mother of Jesus presented by Attic Erratic. While her previous work, The City They Burned, successfully re-imagined the story of Lot and the fall of Sodom into contemporary times, in this production there is perhaps too much effort in pushing the religious undertones, whereupon I feel the authenticity of what Kilpatrick is attempting to create gets blurred.

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The story follows Maggie and Grey (Olivia Monticciolo and Matt Hickey), who after years of no contact are reunited in Grey’s grimy and shabby home. These are people who are from the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum and living in community housing, who are struggling to make ends meet with low-paying jobs.

While the idea of these two characters being involved with The Annunciation is an interesting exploration of the above issues facing many today, the story never quite gets to making as much as an impact or statement as it should; and for me, if this is a love story, then Hickey and Monticciolo are also unsuccessful in finding it in their characters. While effort has clearly gone into developing Grey and Maggie, the relationship between them doesn’t seem to resonate convincingly on stage and the journey to get to the finale seemed to stagnate at times. Even some adroit direction by Danny Delahunty failed to ignite a spark in the performances or keep the momentum building.

The set design by Luc Favre is a highlight however, and clearly depicts the squalid environment in which Grey and Maggie find themselves in. The unkempt bedroom and the rubbish and clothes strewn across the room are a great visual extension of where Grey has found himself in life.

Kilpatrick may have a deeper message to impart with Blessed in terms of class, love and equality, but unfortunately this production feels as messy as Grey’s bedroom.

Venue: Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank VIC 3006
Season: Until 20 November | Tues – Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm
Tickets: $38 Full | $28 Conc
Bookings: Malthouse Theatre

Image by Sarah Walker

Cabaret, Festivals, Performances, Review

Melbourne Festival 2016: THE SECRET NOISE

Hidden music is brought to light, movement and sound

By Joana Simmons

In our world full of commercial pop music all sounding the same (looking at you, Taylor Swift) we are rarely challenged with sounds that are out of the ordinary. Sydney-based company Ensemble Offspring brings us The Secret Noise as part of the esteemed Melbourne Festival, with concept and composition by Damien Ricketson, and direction by Carlos Gomes. In a performance that sits somewhere between music, dance and installation, the multi-talented cast of seven (including Narelle Benjamin, Katherine Cogill, Katia Molino, Jason Noble, Claire Edwardes and Bree van Reyk) creates a world full of secret music; sounds that have slipped under the rug.

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The beginning of the performance is small pop-up scenes and installations around the North Melbourne Town Hall where we have intimate exchanges with the performers. They take our drawings we coloured in upon arrival, and use them as inspiration for their contortion or composition. It’s a wonderful connection and exchange that gives each individual something different – not “we are performing this for everyone”, but “this is just for YOU.” The audience roams between these, and gathers in their seats. For the next hour, the cast plays a range of instruments – some of which I don’t know the name – but all make interesting sounds. There’s sacred forms of ceremonial music, legally extinguished compositions, a DJ playing an LP backwards, love songs and my favourite, whirling different tubes and pipes around really fast like helicopters that made interesting bird-like wind sounds. Strong fluid and flexible contemporary dancers integrate the interesting sounds and music to bring the whole thing together. Their incredible strength, technique and stamina captivates us.

The well-designed lighting (Fausto Brusamolino) gives the intimate installations at the start a special glow, and lights the full performance in a way that makes us feel like we are in a secret world. The costumes are simple and effective. I did find it difficult to see sometimes, as we were all sitting on the same level and some of the dance was on the floor or down one side of the room, so if you are vertically challenged, try and find a spot close to the front, but there is still plenty to listen to if you can’t see.

It is unclear what the journey of the show is, if there is one, but the skill level is so high and varied that is pay-off enough. It’s one of those performances where it resonates as something different with everyone: some moments weren’t quite my cup of tea but there were many that were. Challenge yourselves to explore something brilliantly different, The Secret Noise is defying genres and discovering magical creative gems for audiences of all ages to share and enjoy.

The Secret Noise was performed as part of the 2016 Melbourne Festival.
14-15 October
North Melbourne Town Hall

www.festival.melbourne.com

Events, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Festival 2016: THE MONEY

Put your money where your ethics are

By Myron My

“Are you a benefactor or a silent witness?” That is the question we are asked upon entering Kaleider’s  The Money. Presented as part of this year’s Melbourne Festival, the show is a live experiment on the way society works and how people with different background and experiences can come together for a common goal.

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Those who choose to be – or become – benefactors sit in the middle of the chambers in the Prahran Town Hall. They each provide $20 to the kitty and have 60 minutes to decide what to do with the money. The money cannot be given to a registered charity, the money cannot be split, it must be spent on legal activity and it must be a unanimous decision between the benefactors. Other than that, we can do whatever we choose.

What begins with three benefactors ends up with nine. Ideas range from going to dinner together (which is shot down by one benefactor who would rather read a book than have dinner with strangers) to giving it a to a homeless man. Eventually, with the serendipitous luck of having someone form a local community group called Welcome To Eltham, we decided to donate the money to the group to assist with welcoming refugees into the community.

As a performance, it is difficult to dictate how “entertaining” this can be, as this is a case where each evening is going to be completely and utterly different as the number of people – and the type of people – choosing to be benefactors will greatly influence the proceedings and subsequent outcome. More people might mean more money, but it also means more difficulty in keeping everyone satisfied with how to spend it. There’s always going to be a doubt that not everyone is going to be completely sold on an idea, yet – due to pack mentality or peer pressure – acquiesce.

Having chosen to be a benefactor, I am unable to comment on how it feels for a silent witness to watch as suggestions and ideas are thrown around, accepted, or rejected, and to be perfectly honest, they (and the fact the discussion is being live-streamed) are mainly forgotten about, expect for when we encourage them to join us as benefactors.

The Money is an interesting event concept in that it gives you the opportunity to think about the things that money can do beyond materialism and consumerism. From little things big things can indeed grow, and the meet-up reunion the benefactors from this session will hold in the months to come to see the effects of their invested money scheme will hopefully be testament to that.

Venue: Footscray Town Hall, 61 Napier St, Footscray
Season: until 16 October | Fri – Sat 7:30pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 11am and 4pm
Tickets: $49 Full Silent Witness | $39 Concession Silent Witness | $20+ to be a Benefactor

Venue: Parliament of Victoria, Legislative Assembly Chamber, Spring St.
Season: 19 – 23 October | Wed-Fri 6pm & 8.30pm, Sat 2pm & 7.30pm, Sun 11am & 4pm
Tickets: $49 Full Silent Witness | $39 Concession Silent Witness | $20+ to be a Benefactor

Bookings: Melbourne Festival 

Festivals, Musical Theatre, Whats On

Melbourne Festival 2016: OUR LADIES OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR

It’s a wild and wonderful ride

By Leeor Adar

I was expecting St Trinians, but instead I was treated to something so much better. A musical theatre lover I am not, but Lee Hall’s adaptation of Alan Warner’s Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour may have cured me.

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The internationally renowned National Theatre of Scotland has indeed graced our good Melbourne Festival this year with a riotously funny, endearing and poignant show concerning the misdemeanors of Scotland’s wildest Catholic schoolgirls.

On a journey to Edinburgh for a choral competition, our girls are planning to booze, cruise and find a worthy specimen for their hormone-driven desires. Initially, their voices sing out unaccompanied to Felix Mendelssohn’s Lift Thine Eyes, but it’s a momentary holy light before the girls embark onto far wilder renditions of Jeff Lynne’s Don’t Bring Me Down and disco classic Shine a Little Love. The cast are all talented sopranos, and they heartily reimagine 70s rock and disco classics as they travel between dive bars and blow up a drug dealer’s shack with fireworks. They manage to do their mischief all the while under the watchful gaze of a Virgin Mary statue.

There is heart to this production. The desire to rise up and beyond their incestuous poverty is an ever-present theme. One character, Orla (Joanne McGuinness), a cancer sufferer and virgin until further notice, peers across the world with the gentle eyes of someone who may soon leave it. Kay (Karen Fishwick) is the local doctor’s daughter, and a university hopeful whose momentary lapse into recklessness could change her life forever.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour feels like any wild party – there are moments of pure inclusive ecstasy, and moments of poignant truths. Vicky Featherstone has directed a fluid and thoroughly engaging production to rival anything we’ve seen on the Melbourne musical stages. Featherstone’s cast gel so effortlessly it feels like these girls have known one another forever. The cast must be commended on their highly physical performances, and a further accolade must be given to choreographer, Imogen Knight, for their well-crafted movement.

Overall, the entire production team have created a show that captivated and sent their audience into fits of laughter. A standing ovation was what they received for their efforts, and I expect Melbourne will be delighted to see the National Theatre of Scotland return next year.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour is performing at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne until Saturday 22 October. Tickets available at https://www.festival.melbourne/2016/events/our-ladies-of-perpetual-succour/#.V_iM_DJh2CQ

Festivals, Performances, Whats On

Melbourne Fringe 2016: ____DAY NIGHT’S DREAM

Evocative, intimate wanderings into a nocturne of dreaming

By Myron My

One delightful certainty during the Melbourne Fringe Festival is that there will be a number of performances being held in random and uncommon locations, and ____day Night’s Dream is another great example of this. This immersive show explores the dreams of seven people, and it does so on a 16th-floor apartment overlooking the city.

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Interestingly, the dreams are all based on the performers’ (Iryna Byeylyayeva, James Christensen, Aram Geleris, Daniel Holmes, Madeleine Johnson, Sara Laurena and Freya McGrath) own dreams, and performing them within the confines of the apartment creates a literal intimacy as well as a metaphorical one, having been invited into this very personal space to be privy to these personal dreams.

Director Declan Mulcahy has takencare to depict the retelling of each dream differently, ensuring the audience is engaged and also not permitting us to get too comfortable with what might happen next – just like in dreams. One unnerving dream unfolds in a bedroom, another takes place via a TV screen that is wheeled out to us in the living room, while a third experience involves a tactile recount of the dreamer’s story.

The apartment is small and while fitting everyone is a tight squeeze, the creators have wisely chosen to split the group, with scenes being performed simultaneously in different rooms. The unfortunate downside to this is that there are times when it is difficult to focus on the dream at hand as you can overhear others being told. This is particularly the case in the living room where I was so eager to hear and attempt to make sense of the recitations by the blindfolded man sitting at a computer screen, “staring” at a blank word doc, but it proved impossible with another exchange taking place only three feet away.

The final dream is quite a surreal experience in ____day Night’s Dream, as we watch and listen in the communal courtyard, while the rest of the building’s tenants go about their business. And then – just like a real dream – it’s over and we are left to walk out into the darkness. Perhaps this is what a waking dream feels like.

Venue: Cnr Bouverie St and Victoria St, Carlton, 3053

Season: until 1 October | 8pm and 10pm
Length: 50 minutes 

Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Circus, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Fringe 2016: JUGG LIFE

Throwing around innovative ideas, and catching everyone’s attention

By Myron My

There was a time when it seemed juggling was simply a person throwing a handful of balls in the air and keeping them there. While it is skillful, there was surely not much you could do with it to keep audience entertained for a prolonged period. However, presented as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, jugglers Byron Hutton and Joe Fisher breathe amazing life into the art form with a highly engaging circus show, aptly titled Jugg Life.

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While the two use a variety of balls, pins and rings for their acts, it is the incorporation of music, percussion and their innovation in challenging what juggling that makes this show a definite crowd-pleaser. Their routines involve both some precision timing and the maintaining of impeccable hand-eye coordination not only for themselves but with each other, as objects are often passed adroitly back and forth while in mid-routine.

The energy and chemistry Hutton and Fisher possess is infectious, and watching them trying to one-up each other during their “street fighter” combat juggling is highly enjoyable to watch. The two remain strongly connected throughout the show and the support they have for each other is evident.

The set-up of the stage elicits an environment of fun, with bright boxes to store their props and a drum kit sitting in the corner, and the way they use the latter further displays their juggling prowess. The music is perfectly suited to keep energy levels up and the choreography of the routines to the music – particularly with the Polyphonic! app where the two create their own electronic songs – shows the real thought that has been put into Jugg Life.

Usually, juggling might not considered be as wow-inducing as jumps on a tight rope or balancing upside down on seven chairs, but Jugg Life certainly closes the gap. It’s a strong show by Hutton and Fisher who have taken juggling to a whole new exciting level.

Venue: Fringe Hub – Arts House, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, 3051
Season: until 1 October | 6.30pm
Length: 50 minutes
Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Festivals, Review, Theatre

Melbourne Fringe 2016: GIVE UP

Engaging performer shares his experiences with depression

By Myron My

Guillym Davenport has given up. His depression has finally got the better of him so he’s spending the night alone, in his bedroom, eating pizza and drinking booze – with us. The show isn’t ready, and he’s not prepared, but come on in anyway…. In Give Up, presented as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Davenport looks at the issues of mental health and what happens when it all gets too much.

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Davenport is charming, funny and very likeable on stage and there is some intelligent discussion generated about mental health. Unfortunately his attempts at pairing this with the deconstruction of theatre do not work well, creating a haphazard show that doesn’t quite seem to know where it’s headed.

There’s a scene in which it feels like Davenport is legitimately opening up to the audience as he discusses his depression. He mentions his frustrations at wanting to talk about his mental health with friends but finding the conversation being relegated to talking about trivial things like what TV shows they are watching. It is a genuine moment of vulnerability as he fights back the tears and struggles to finish his sentences.

However, when you compare this to the theatrical pretence of the show being unrehearsed and under-prepared, and the self-conscious way in which the final few moments of the show then play out, it almost cheapens this earnestness and makes me question the authenticity of these earlier parts. I feel this work can either try and deconstruct theatre and put itself outside the issues as meta-fiction, or tackle depression as a very real and personal concern from the inside. The problem has come in trying to achieve both, especially with the theme of mental health needing to be addressed in a sensitive and intelligent way.

There is a definite place for works like Give Up in contemporary theatre, as mental health – especially in young men – is an extremely important issue to acknowledge, identify and explore. As it currently stands however, I feel this show needs more work on refining the way it is structured and executed to ensure the audience feels the full impact of the worthy message Davenport is trying to share.

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

Season: until 1 October | 10:15pm

Length: 50 minutes

Tickets: $18 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival

Festivals, Kids Theatre, Whats On

Melbourne Fringe 2016: THE FAIRYTALE COOKBOOK

Serving up delicious and dynamic kids’ theatre

By Rebecca Waese

The Fairytale Cookbook, devised by Jason Geary and delivered by a rotating cast of seriously funny performers from Impro Melbourne, serves up a winning recipe for school holiday fun this Fringe Festival.

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Under the skillful guidance of the Chef character, played by Timothy Redmond on the day I attended, the kids in the audience were encouraged to pick the ingredients to make original fairytales that sent the actors into the realm of the ridiculous and super silly. I had thought the show would ask the kids to make up new endings for the likes of Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin, but it was far more creative than that. Kids could pick characters from a wide-ranging list including a two-headed person, a ninja, a mermaid or a dancing bear and see the characters take on challenges in magical situations. In the performance I saw with my six-year-old daughter, the fairytales included a spider who could only move forwards through the world and a genie who lived in a tooth and got captured by a giant beard. The kids were delighted to see their ideas come to life and the players, combined from the Company and the Rookie ensembles, really listened to the kids, allowing them to clap for the person who would play the lead role in each story, decide how the stories would end, and do all the important character-building and plot development, even when, in our show, it called for potatoes to shoot out of a toilet named Flushhead.

The age guide of 3 and up does not mean the show is too young for older kids. While the players were gentle and patient with the littlest spectators, there was enough wit and bite to have the entire audience, adults included, truly enjoying the show. There were no props or sets or costumes needed. The cast used only the list of storytelling ingredients and said yes to all the suggestions from the kids and the collective creative energy in the room was palpable. After the show, my kids were inspired to make up new combinations of fairy tales at home from the list for hours. My daughter told me, “The show didn’t feel like an hour! It felt like a few minutes because I was having so much fun.”

High-quality, super funny, deeply creative and empowering, The Fairytale Cookbook was a terrific intro to impro for kids. Do yourself a favour and take yourself and your kids to this show.

 Venue: Fringe Hub: Arts House – Meeting Room. $15

521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne.

Dates: Thurs Sept 29-Sat October 1, 10 am- 11 am.

Bookings: https://melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/fairytale-cookbook/5c51cecb-6313-476c-8b70-b17bb38fa036

Rebecca Waese is a Lecturer in Creative Arts and English at La Trobe University.