Category: Review

Review, Theatre, Whats On September 13, 2015

REVIEW: Red Stitch Presents DETROIT

Neighbourly dangers unleashed

By Narelle Wood

I’ll be honest, I knew very little about Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit going in. I expected something gritty in keeping with my impressions of the city, and my previous experiences of Red Stitch productions had always been positive. In both cases, Detroit didn’t disappoint.

The play is set in the backyards of two adjoining houses in what at one stage promised to be a housing estate with neighbours friendly enough to borrow cups of sugar from one another. When Kenny and Sharon move next-door, Mary and Ben take the opportunity to get to know their neighbours, a friendship is forged and things slowly spiral out of control. There is impending doom from the beginning; Mary and Ben are struggling with the economic downturn, Kenny and Sharon are not long out of rehab, and all four are looking for a way through their lives.

The tragedy in Detroit comes from Lisa D’Amour’s characters, rather than a set of tragic events. Mary (Sarah Sutherland), Ben (Brett Cousins), Kenny (Paul Ashcroft) and Sharon (Ngaire Dawn Fair) are complex in both the characters themselves and the relationships they forge with each other. But the complexities are restrained; it is a slow reveal of the different characters’ traits that leads to the tragic ends.. Upon entering the theatre the list of warnings about the content is extensive, but they are not overtly portrayed. Under Tanya Dickson’s direction, the cast create nuanced performances, striking a balance between overt friendly neighbours and the dark secrets the characters are hiding.

The small space of Red Stitch Actors Theatre doesn’t afford much opportunity for set changes, so the transitions between scenes are managed through multi-media projections of the suburbs and contrasting techno night-club music. The combination is jarring and reinforces the unlikeliness of the friendship between the two couples. The lighting and projections are at times eerie, especially when all four characters finally let go of their inhibitions.

Detroit is intriguing, disturbing and slightly nostalgic (thanks to Chris Wallace’s brief appearance to reminisce about the neighbourhoods of yesteryear). If you are looking to stretch your theatre repertoire this would be a good introduction to the darker side of entertainment; gritty, without the hyperbole.

Venue: Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel St, St Kilda East
Season: Until 26th September, 8pm, 6.30pm Sundays, 3pm Saturday matiness
Tickets: Full $45| Conc $37
Bookings: redstitch.net

Performances, Review, Whats On September 11, 2015

REVIEW: The Intergalactic Nemesis

Irrepressible and impressive fun

By Rachel Holkner

It is difficult to describe The Intergalactic Nemesis. Is it a traditional radio play, but with pictures? A graphic novel plus sound effects? A troupe of storytellers with a piano and a laptop? They introduce themselves as a “Live-Action Graphic Novel” but this performance is so much more than that. With a history reminiscent of other science-fiction radio dramas adapted for stage or screen (Orson Welles, Douglas Adams), The Intergalactic Nemesis the stage show is adapted from a stage play, in turn adapted from a radio drama and now also available as a comic book and video series on Youtube. So does the story itself warrant this multi-media attention?

It’s a traditional tale of alien invasion set in 1933 with a mismatched team of heroes destined to save the Earth. But it’s not the story that will draw you to see this show: it’s the unusual production, the performance and the promise of “awesome”. On stage is a table of mysterious objects, a laptop, and a piano. Through projected illustrations, an improvised soundtrack and live sound effects the story unfolds across space and time.

The three actors Rachel Landon, Christopher Lee Gibson and Brock England are a delight in hamming up their somewhat stereotypical roles as characters in this 1930s sci-fi mystery story. If there had been any sets they would have been chewed to pieces by these enthusiastic performers. Having the 1,200 illustrations projected behind the players, with the computer being on stage, gave an air of being shown a giant Powerpoint presentation. The art matched the atmosphere perfectly, yet I felt it wasn’t always necessary as the action on stage was much more appealing.

With over half a dozen parts each, the trio not only spoke their lines but acted out their roles as much as standing behind a microphone allowed them .Accompanist Harlan Hodges very successfully fleshes out the show with a wide variety of mood music, trills and stings on the piano, yet it is foley artist Kelly Matthews who steals the show.

Even watching her prepare various props for upcoming scenes was fascinating as you’re kept wondering what each strange object might be used for. Concrete blocks, sheets of plastic, odd packets and tubes make a huge variety of creative sound effects. A small box of macaroni shaken in just the right way makes for a very compelling steam train chuffing along.

Some of the 1930’s-style jokes unfortunately fall a little flat as they don’t always translate for a modern Australian audience, and there was a big deal made about audience participation during the lengthy introduction which did not quite eventuate as it might if it were a broadcast performance. I can see this working much better with a larger audience of children than the sedate evening performance I attended.

The greatest highlight were the moments when the show became self-referential: when the performers played wonderfully off one another. Most of these moments felt very well-practised however and are in danger of becoming stale. The projected comic images keep the show running exactly to schedule and are unfortunately somewhat limiting as they remove the opportunity for the actors and sound artists, who know their roles so well, to improvise and add freshness to the performance.

Nonetheless, The Intergalactic Nemesis is a terrific family show, highly entertaining and warmly recommended for people who like to know how things work behind the scenes.

See more at http://www.theintergalacticnemesis.com
Dates: 9 – 13 September 2015
Tickets: $30-$45
Venue: Arts Centre Playhouse

Performances, Review, Whats On September 11, 2015

REVIEW: James McLean’s BIG ENOUGH AND UGLY ENOUGH

Assorted anecdotes told with disarming charm

By Jessica Cornish

Big Enough and Ugly Enough follows James McLean’s move from the picturesque Adelaide Hills to the thriving metropolis of Melbourne. Armed with a collection of pieces of junk he dragged down in a box bestowed upon him by his dead grandmother (whose recounted voice somewhat reminded me of Aussie legend Dame Edna!), he tells us witty short stories of his encounters and misdeeds in his new life in Melbourne.

It seems that when you’re a newcomer to the streets of Melbourne you can easily fall into all sorts of adventures: fathering a feline, being robbed by men with a preoccupation with their navels, and landing a depressing job in the hospo industry. At least he could afford to live in an apartment alone near a tramline; being in a share house could have bought a whole other series of dramas.

James put on a great hour show: although initially starting out a little wooden and seemingly uncomfortable, he soon eased comfortably into the performance. His depiction of himself is played in a charming ‘no-frills’ way, and felt authentically like the same guy I might then encounter myself on a Melbournian street. Despite seeming a little flustered before starting at the piano, the few songs included were slick and strongly performed with well-articulated lyrics that even the oldies in the very back wooden pews could understand. Similarly his show was well-written and evidently well-rehearsed, as the smoothness of the audio cues and scene transitions relied on his carefully constructed script. I particularly enjoyed the sophisticated use of voice-overs, subtle light changes and multi-character personas adopted in each story snippet. All these elements combined to add more layers to the performance, and worked intelligently in keeping up the pace of the performance and engaging the audience throughout – a challenge which can sometimes prove difficult in one-man shows.

This show however was quirky, funny and charismatic, and his words painted pictures of some great characters you can find milling around the streets of Melbourne, and talked familiarly of iconic Melbourne hot spots such as Fitzroy and St Kilda. James is a loveable guy on stage, and you can’t help but be on his side throughout the whole night: in fact, even my male date for the evening managed to develop a bit of a crush…

Big Enough and Ugly Enough will be performed as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival until September 13 at The Butterfly Club, in the prime time-slot of 8:30pm.

Tickets: https://thebutterflyclub.com/show/big-enough-and-ugly-enough

Review, Theatre, Whats On September 7, 2015

REVIEW: Dramatic Pause Presents DO YOU FEAR THE DARK?

Fearsome fables of the night

By Myron My

We’re all afraid of something: no use in denying that. Sometimes it can be irrational and other times it can be rational and justified. In Do You Fear The Dark? we are presented with two short stories by theatre company Dramatic Pause that looks at both of these kinds of fears. Written by Hayley Lawson-Smith, the stories both focus on a mother’s relationship with her children, but in two very different ways.

In the first and stronger story of the pair, “Perhaps”, a mother (Victoria Haslam) worries about what’s become of her two runaway daughters. Her minds races through various scenarios, some of which are humorous, like joining the circus, while others are more dire, like being taken by a man under the ruse that he had lost his dog. Her dark thoughts are acted out on stage by Ariel Simone and Shae O’Reilly as her daughters and Zak Zavod as quite literally everyone else.

With the darkness surrounding it, the second story, “Tom Tat”, has more of a fairytale feel akin to what the Grimm brothers might have created. Here, Tom Tat (Zavod) comes to collect a debt from Pandora (Haslam). While she fights him, he is adamant he will have what he is owed: her daughter’s soul. It’s a fierce power struggle between the two as to who will be victorious, however, there were times when the dialogue became repetitious and lessened the intensity of the overall story. This was originally a 20-minute play, but having seen it in this longer form, I feel the story would probably benefit more as the shorter and tauter piece.

The cast of four is great and the individual performances are impressive, however it is Zavod that demands all of our attention. His multiple-character work in “Perhaps” is just brilliant and his ability to switch from one end of the spectrum to the other in seconds showcases the talent he possesses. He elicits an equal feeling of fun and dread from the audience in his roles and his scenes with Haslam in “Tom Tat” remained a joy to watch.

Accompanying the actors on stage is musician Natasha Broadstock playing the bassoon and various percussion instruments, which effectively builds on the suspense. Furthermore, the ethereal choreography throughout the pieces is used purposefully, and nicely enhances the fear and trepidation that the various characters feel.

Despite my issue with some of the dialogue in Tom Tat, Do You Fear The Dark? does a fine job in creating a macabre environment for its audience. While one story is an exploration of the human psyche and how our thoughts can overpower us and the second ponders the extent a mother will go to to protect her child, both stories will gradually draw you in to their darkness.

Do You Fear The Dark? was performed at The Butterfly Club between 2 – 6 September 2015.

Music, Review, Theatre, Whats On September 6, 2015

REVIEW: Joshua Harmon’s BAD JEWS

Strong performances and serious laughs

By Myron My

Already a hit on Broadway and the West End, Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews has crossed continents for its Australian premiere. The “bad Jews” here are three family members, siblings Jonah and Liam, and their cousin Diana (who prefers to be called by her Hebrew name Daphna) who have come together for the funeral of their grandfather. Over the course of the evening, their relationships, cultural identity, class and life are all explored, often with hilarious results.

Daphna (Maria Angelico) is not concerned with any form of financial gain from her late grandfather, and all she requests from her cousins (Simon Corfield and Matt Whitty) is her grandfather’s “chai”, a gold ring that represents his soul and that he had since he was a child. While this “simple” request soon creates much tension for the three, it creates an equal amount of laughs for us.

Director Gary Abrahams’ exhaustive casting search has more than paid off with the actors he has chosen. Angelico is definitely a find as Daphna, who, despite playing a character that can be abrupt and hostile towards anyone “different”, still manages to show the vulnerability that is hiding under Daphna’s strong cultural and religious ideals. However, it is Corfield as the arrogant and self-entitled Liam who remains the star of Bad Jews. The antithesis of Daphna, he is not a follower of the faith and nor does he have the strong connection to family that his cousin does. Corfield does such a phenomenal job with his portrayal that I actually hated seeing his character on stage and really wished he would shut his mouth every time he spoke. Everything about Liam; the way he speaks, the way he stands, the way he moves, is all powerfully convincing as a privileged, upper-class white man.

Anna Burgess as Liam’s girlfriend, Melody, brings an innocence to the show and some brilliant comic relief, with one memorable scene in particular being a highlight of Bad Jews. It’s perhaps because of these three strong characters that Whitty’s Jonah unfortunately left little impression as scenes involving the character usually had him doing nothing more than standing around with an exasperated look on his face. I’ve seen Whitty perform before and he is assuredly a good actor but unfortunately the character needed to have a stronger presence if he was going to compete against the likes of Daphna, Liam and Melody.

Despite the one-act play taking place entirely in a studio apartment, Abrahams ensures that the pacing never drags or falters. His use of the space and a mixture of verbal as well as physical comedy ensures our attention is always on the stage.

Ultimately none of the characters are actually very nice people and we are left wondering who exactly is the “bad” Jew and who is the rightful heir to the “chai”. Even with a few ‘rants’ that went on for too long, Harmon’s script is a clever and well-observed character study on what makes us ‘us’, and with the talented group of actors on board, this is a production that makes for an enjoyable and entertaining night out.

Venue: Alex Theatre, 135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Season: Extended until 19 September | Tues-Sat 8.00pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 3pm
Tickets: Between $40 – $55
Bookings: Alex Theatre

Image by Jeff Busby

Review, Theatre, Whats On September 2, 2015

REVIEW: MTC Presents BETRAYAL

You’ll be talking about it afterwards…

By Caitlin McGrane

Harold Pinter’s seminal and affecting play Betrayal transports the audience back to London in the 1970s, a time historically associated with sexual liberation and experimentation. Emma (Alison Bell) and Jerry (Nathan O’Keefe) have had an affair for seven years; they have a flat where they meet on afternoons to escape from their spouses and families. While Jerry’s wife is only ever alluded to, Emma’s husband Robert (Mark Saturno) is Jerry’s best friend and plays second fiddle to Emma and Jerry while they conduct their illicit affair.

Emma’s marriage is clearly violent and unhappy, and while the script is tight and trimmed of all fat, it is a crying shame that Robert gets all the best lines. To Saturno’s credit he delivers the lines extremely well, but it is still jarring for a character so repugnant to be so well received. Bell shines as Emma, lending an often-needed lightness to a woman troubled and conflicted. Pinter is known for his silences, and Bell was fearless letting them hang over the audience. I also enjoyed O’Keefe as the spineless Jerry whose selfishness regarding Emma is matched only by Robert’s concern about her as his possession. I walked away from the theatre reminded once again of the astonishing selfish fragility of the male ego: I want to go for drinks with Emma and roll our eyes at men’s ridiculous desire to control and subjugate women; I’d like to watch a spin-off about Emma and what she did without Robert.

Director Geordie Brookman and lighting and set designer Geoff Cobham have constructed a mis en scene that evokes the spirit of the time, with scene changes taking place like a record; nearly all costume changes occur on stage, the actors seeming to choose their clothes from a rotating rack, which was a novel and interesting way of showing Emma and Jerry’s intimacy. The soundtrack, composed by Jason Sweeney, is harsh yet strangely effective at reflecting the mood of each scene.

In all, Betrayal was an excellent way to spend Saturday night, and I would highly recommend seeing it then dissecting it over wine with friends. Betrayal is showing at MTC’s Southbank Theatre until 3 October 2015. Tickets available here: http://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/mainstage-2015/betrayal/

Image by Shane Reid

Review, Theatre, Whats On August 26, 2015

REVIEW: Malthouse Theatre Presents ANTIGONE

Sophocles revitalised

By Margaret Wieringa

A shipping container stands, raised on stilts, above a desolate patch of dirt. A man carrying a naked woman slowly descends the staircase and places her on the ground, and is joined by two other figures who all partially undress and take grotesque poses. Industrial sounds fill the space, but are gradually joined by a lone woman singing. The audience is transfixed.

Director Adena Jacobs has taken the ancient play by Sophocles and re-imagined it for 2015. It is barren and tough, with little movement yet the complexity of the original is present. Each scene seems long, yet sparse. It is fascinating.

Jane Montgomery Griffiths, who adapted the play, dominates as Creon, the leader who bows to public perception over what may be argued as the moral thing to do: to allow Antigone to bury her brother against societal rules. But when Antigone sounds her final song, her final prayer, her final ritual; this is the pinnacle of Emily Milledge’s performance.

I’ve always found the staging at Malthouse to be fascinating, and in this performance lighting director Paul Jackson uses exposed white lighting, at times dim and other times blindingly bright to add to the stark hopelessness of the play. And then there is the bloody water. A slow appearance that comes to dominate the scene, to reflect the torment, to disallow any character to escape the tragedy.

I’m not a classical scholar, I am very aware that there are far deeper readings to this piece. But what an interpretation like this does so well is to remind you why classic theatre needs to be adapted and performed again and again; universal truths are universal, and the tragedy of ancient times is just as relevant in the politically and morally-challenging present as ever.

WARNING: Contains adult themes, coarse language, partial nudity, strobe lighting, smoke and haze effects
Where: The Malthouse Theatre, Sturt St, Southbank
When: 21 Aug – 13 Sep
Tickets: $35 – $65
Book: http://malthousetheatre.com.au or call 9685 5111

Review, Theatre, Whats On August 24, 2015

REVIEW: MTC Presents THE WEIR

Spectacular veteran cast share a drink

By Christine Young

The Weir takes place at a country pub in the south of Ireland where a handful of locals have taken refuge on a cold, windy night, though there’s no doubt they enjoy a regular tipple regardless of the weather. The stage in the Arts Centre’s Fairfax Studio is aptly decked out as a cosy pub with a bar for gossiping and a hearth for conversations from the heart.

It’s clearly an important meeting place for local bachelors of a certain age who gather for a bit of ‘craic’ (conversation) which is central to the Irish psyche and way of life. The Weir is true ‘slice of life’ theatre: the audience eavesdrops on a conversation between the publican Brendan and locals Jack and Jim who are soon joined by Finbar and the mysterious newcomer Valerie.

The cast of MTC’s (Melbourne Theatre Company) production is impressive and all are veterans of Australian stage and screen: Nadine Garner (Valerie), Peter Kowitz (Jack), Finbar (Greg Stone), Jim (Robert Menzies) and Brendan (Ian Meadows). You may not recognise all their names but their faces are familiar from recent ABC programs such as Janet King, Doctor Blake Mysteries and The Moodys.

So the casting is excellent, the acting is brilliant, and the setting is just right. But the play itself is slow going and this reviewer found the first half, well, boring. It’s quite possible that I missed the whole point but it seemed to me that the initial conversations and stories were so pedestrian that they weren’t very interesting. Even naturalistic theatre needs some contrived excitement to propel a play’s narrative.

The play only began to pique my interest when Nadine Garner as Valerie delivers a heart-wrenching monologue which becomes the ‘psychological moment’. From this point onwards, the characters begin to speak authentically and drop the bravado.

That said, there are plenty more learned people than me who have given The Weir high praise. The play was Irish playwright Conor Mcpherson’s breakthrough script in 1997-98 and it won several prestigious theatre awards following its premiere season in London.

It’s not my glass of brandy … but it is wonderful to see some of our finest actors treading the boards together.

Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne
Date: Until 26 September, 2015
Tickets: $49-$119
Booking: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au

Review, Theatre, Whats On August 23, 2015

REVIEW: Q44 Presents SAVAGE IN LIMBO

Engrossing and impressive production

By Myron My

It’s Monday night at an almost empty, seedy Bronx bar in the mid-80s, and five 32-year-olds are not quite sure where their lives are heading, or even what exactly it is they want. What they do know, is that they want change, excitement and passion, and they want it now. Savage in Limbo by acclaimed playwright John Patrick Shanley offers a comedic yet honest look at hope, dreams and missed opportunities.

Sarah Nicolazzo is the shining star of this production as Linda Rotunda, the local girl that all the men know. Her boyfriend has just announced to her he wants to see ugly girls and she is just a little distraught. Nicolazzo delivers a brilliant performance and the excellent physicality and subtle facial expressions she uses to portray Linda are highly natural.

Samantha Mesh as the title character, Denise Savage, convincingly displays the pent-up frustration over where Denise’s life has led. She is still living with her mother, single and unhappy. Something has to give and she’s decided that it’s going to be her virginity, and possibly to Linda’s boyfriend. Nicolazzo and Mesh are highly entertaining to watch, and bounce off each others’ charisma well in their equally strong performances.

Anthony Scundi as the boyfriend, Tony Aronica, plays the role with a level of macho naivety that actually has us disliking him much less than we ought to. Rounding out the talented cast, in supporting roles but still with plenty to say, were Kostas Ilias as Murk the bartender and Andrea McCannon as April, the alcoholic ex-nun.

The design of the bar interior was well thought-out, however I would have liked to have seen a bit more flair and colour with the costumes, especially given the period we were in. Having all five people dressed in black (apart from the Murk’s shirt) wasn’t always visually arresting. Thankfully this didn’t affect the show much due to Gabriella Rose-Carter‘s direction in keeping the characters moving and active with each other. Apart from getting great performances from the cast, she also managed to keep them interesting when they were listening to each other, which I particularly noticed during the Santa Claus scene.

Being thirty-two, I have found myself having similar thoughts to and experiencing life-moments like these characters. Even though it’s been over 30 years since Savage in Limbo was written, it’s somewhat comforting to know that some things never change. Or maybe it should be unsettling? Either way, Q44 Theatre have made a commendable production that burrows into your mind for you to ponder over after the final bow has taken place.

Venue: Q44 Theatre, 550 Swan St, Richmond.
Season: Until 6 September | Wed- Sat 7:30pm, Sun 6:30pm
Tickets: $35 Full | $27 Conc
Bookings: Q44 Theatre

Music, Opera, Performances, Review August 15, 2015August 15, 2015

REVIEW: Victorian Opera Presents REMEMBRANCE

How do you choose to remember?

By Deborah Langley

It’s a cold night in Melbourne and I must admit I’m feeling quite nostalgic. It’s been a hard week for me, the week I said goodbye to my grandmother, of funerals and sadness, of tears and regret. So it was with a heavy heart that I went along to the Victorian Opera’s Remembrance at the Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall.

On this the centenary year of the ANZAC landing in Gallipoli, I was ready to remember: to shed a tear for the wasted youth and reminisce of times gone by, of what could have been and what we have lost.

With stories, songs and images we were given an historical and musical account of Australia’s involvement in World War 1. From the time of enlistment in 1914, with diggers leaving us and training in Egypt, through to landing in Gallipoli, the Somme and the Western Front and finally the homecoming of some of our luckier diggers. Remembrance gives a respectful reimagining, complete with authentic wartime ditties, but unfortunately this ultimately did not feel a truly heartfelt tribute.

Written and directed by award-winning Australian author Rodney Hall, and composed and conducted by acclaimed artistic director Richard Mills, Remembrance stars one of Australia’s best-known operatic tenors David Hobson, along with eight of Victorian Opera’s talented young artists.

Elizabeth Lewis is a standout in the ensemble, embodying characters both vocally and physically, while Michael Petruccelli and Nathan Lay give equally memorable performances as diggers throughout the war as the cast create a series of moving musical portraits against the backdrop of archival footage.

Accompanied by an impressive chamber orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and a large rousing community choir, Remembrance does offer a glimpse into what life might have been like during World War 1: something we should all continue to remember.

Victorian Opera’s Remembrance was performed at Hamer Hall on August 13 2015, before touring:

Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
15 August 2015, 7:00pm

The Cube, Wodonga
31 August 2015, 10:30am & 7:30pm

West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul
3 September 2015, 8:00pm

Eastbank Centre, Shepparton
12 September 2015, 7:30pm

http://www.victorianopera.com.au/what-s-on/remembrance/#TabDatesTickets