Category: Whats On

Cabaret, Theatre, Whats On

Paul Capsis in RESIDENT ALIEN

Superb sojourn in the life of a legend

By Joana Simmons

“If I have any talent at all, it is not for doing but for being.”

Resident Alien, presented by Cameron Lukey, is a thought-provoking look at English writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp. The seasoned and critically-acclaimed Paul Capsis embodies this textured effeminate character and has the audience swept up as he recounts stories and moments from his fascinating life.

Resident Alien Photo Credit Sarah Walker.jpg

Quentin Crisp was a self-described flamboyant homosexual.  He’s a man who defied convention by criticising Gay liberation and Diana, Princess of Wales. At a time when homosexuality was illegal, Crisp remained true to himself and expressed himself by dying his long hair lavender, wearing nail polish, and dressing in an often androgynous style. Despite the ridicule and violence often directed toward him, Crisp carried on, meeting hostility with wit. When he tried to join the army with the outbreak of World War he was rejected by the medical board, who determined that he was suffering from sexual perversion.  Instead, Crisp remained in London and entertained the American GIs, whose friendliness inculcated a love for Americans and he moved to Manhattan in 1981, when he was 72 years old. Crisp continued to tour, write, and lecture; including instructions on how to live life with style and the importance of manners.

The play by Tim Fountain picks up in Quentin’s dusty single-room Manhattan apartment, littered with books and dirty plates, where Crisp speaks to the audience as he prepares to be visited by Mr Brown and Mr Black.  His monologue moves naturally and conversationally through a plethora of opinions and anecdotes, from the mundane to the ones that strike a chord in your heart and get your brain spinning. Paul Capsis is outstanding in this role. Each single look and mannerism is captivating and his skillful delivery of the wordy and lengthy script is astonishing.

Director Gary Abrahams has helped construct a theatre piece that gives you more than something to sink your teeth into- it’s a piece of theatre that needs to sink in. To be able to stage one man’s story and views and have it make us reflect on our own whilst still being entertaining is true craftsmanship. Romaine Harper’s costume and set design gives immediate depth and background to this interesting person as the Fortyfivedownstairs performance space is transformed into Crisp’s apartment, cleverly lit by lighting designer Rob Sowinski and all accompanied by Daniel Nixon’s sound design.  You can tell the production is high-calibre and many hours have been spent on tying everything into one professional and glamorous bow.

Sometimes we go to the theatre to laugh, sometimes we go to cry, sometimes we go to forget about our own lives and live in a different world for a moment in time. Resident Alien gives us all these things. It’s remarkable, it’s memorable and it’s still got me reflecting now. If you go to the theatre and you enjoyed yourself, that’s great. If you go to the theatre and it makes you question yourself, that’s art.  Congratulations to all the creatives involved for producing such a high-class production.

Venue: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, CBD

Season:Until June 12 2016

Bookings: http://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/wp2016/event/resident-alien/2016-05-25/

Image by Sarah Walker

Cabaret, Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

Australia Tour 2016 of SINGING IN THE RAIN

A perfect storm of local talent

By Jessica Cornish

The beloved 1950s American musical comedy Singing In The Rain has seamlessly transitioned from the silver screen to Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre for 2016. Exploring the 1920’s Hollywood film industry’s shift from silent films to the talkies and the challenges a studio faces when one of their biggest draw cards have the voice and personality of a shrill creature from another world, the Gene Kelly hit now features a host of new local stars.

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With direction by Jonathan Church, choreography by Andrew Wright and musical direction by Adrian Kirk, this creative team have created a well-polished, colourful and picturesque Australian production of the great American classic. A strong ensemble with excellent diction, slick dance moves and a good energy contributed to the overall high-quality performances throughout the night.

Leading romantics were played by the well-seasoned Adam Garcia and Gretel Scarlett. Garcia fit the part well and seemed to naturally channel the 1920s heartthrob with suave charm, while appealing leading lady Ms Scarlett gave consistently strong vocal performances. Comedic relief was provided by the talented Erika Heynatz, who brilliantly portrayed the incredibly narcissistic and obnoxious beauty Lena Lamont. And last but not least, the 2008 So You Think You Can Dance competition winner Jack Chambers was a standout performer of the evening, consistently demonstrating vast stamina and charisma to make him the perfect sidekick as Cosmo Brown.

Highlight musical numbers included the classic vaudeville-themed song-and-tapdance number “Fit as a Fiddle”, the lyrical tongue-twister “Moses Supposes”, melodically catchy “Make ’em Laugh” and of course, “Singing in the Rain”. The staging of the highly anticipated theme song did not disappoint, replicating the iconic after-hour streets of Hollywood with a literal and spectacular down-pouring of rain soaking the stage and its inhabitants. I particularly enjoyed watching the cast members joyfully splashing in puddles and kicking water onto nearby audience members armed with plastic ponchos.

Singing in the Rain is a classic musical that captures all that is good about the world of traditional musical theatre and has been successfully presented to Australian audiences in a colourful, eye-catching and crisp-sounding production that will be residing in Melbourne until July.

Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne

Price: Ranging from $71.00- $117.00.

Melbourne Season: Tuesday to Sunday until July 5.

Tickets: http://www.daintygroup.com/tour/singin-in-the-rain-aus/

Image by Jeff Busby

Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

The London Palladium Production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Plenty of charm and delightful performances

By Caitlin McGrane

When I was growing up, there was a dodgy VHS copy of The Sound of Music on constant rotation; my sister and I would watch it endlessly and my primary school even did a choral concert of all the songs. Suffice to say we were big fans. The London Palladium version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic currently showing at The Regent Theatre on Collins Street delighted the audience on opening night with its innovative take on the original musical. It is no small undertaking to adapt such a timeless and well-loved family favourite, but director Jeremy Sams, along with the cast, production crew and creatives behind this incarnation have certainly attempted to breathe new life into the story.

The Sound of Music.jpg

As we all probably know, the musical tells the story of the von Trapp family singers – a young Austrian trainee nun, Maria (Amy Lehpalmer) is sent to nanny the seven Von Trapp children whose lonely widower father Captain Georg von Trapp (Cameron Daddo) runs his house like one of his navy ships. Lehpalmer and Daddo both inhabited their roles well, however, it would have been good to see some on-stage chemistry between the two prior to the surprising declaration that they were in love. When their feelings for each other were revealed I couldn’t help but feel like it was expressed in blunt, rushed exposition; it would have been nice if they could have taken a little more time to show us their blossoming romance. That said, Lehpalmer really made the role of Maria her own by drawing enough on Julie Andrews’ lovable doofus for recognition, but not so much as to become tiresome or repetitive. Daddo made an excellent and empathetic Captain von Trapp, although his voice sounded slightly weak from where I was sitting.

Without the seven von Trapp children however, Lehpalmer and Daddo would have been totally lost. Liesl (Stefanie Jones), Friedrich (Alexander Glenk), Louisa (Darcy McGrath), Kurt (Beaumont Farrell), Brigitta (Karina Thompson), Marta (Ruby Moore) and Gretl (Heidi Sprague) were an absolute delight to watch. They were all consummate professional performers who impressed with their vocal range, naturalism and command of the stage. Given that each child will be played by several actors, the ensemble that performed on opening night really did do a terrific job – they harmonised well and with such impossible smoothness that I’d happily watch them all over again performing their ‘Goodnight’ song.

Under the musical direction of Luke Hunter, the songs were well performed and, despite my love for the film version, having a live orchestra really brought all the songs to life for me, because it made for a truly immersive experience. The magnificent Marina Prior was great as Baroness Schraeder, although she was slightly more sympathetic than her cinematic counterpart. Uncle Max (David James) was great fun but almost seemed to be in different play, which was bizarre but not unwelcome. Mother Abbess (Jacqueline Dark) was absolutely astonishing and her sweeping operatic voice ensured that each time she appeared we were guaranteed an aural treat. Rolf was inhabited perfectly by Du Toit Brendenkamp who conjured fantastic pathos. In the stage version, the von Trapp house help Frau Schmidt (Lorraine Bayly) and Franz (John Hannan) have far too much to do and keep appearing to explain the plot to the audience, which was unbelievably tiresome. On the whole though, the rest of the cast did well supporting the nine main members of the von Trapp family.

Lighting (Mark Henderson), set and costumes (Robert Jones) were all terrifically well executed, and I think in a production of this scale it would probably be a bad sign if I had noticed them too much. Choreography by Arlene Phillips was tremendous – there was a balletic quality to the movement that more or less kept the pace up throughout the show.

The only area where I felt the production fell down was some of the script’s outdated attempts at comedy. Now I’m not necessarily representative of all adults, but when I’m attending The Sound of Music I don’t require ‘adult’ jokes to keep me entertained. Despite this production being based upon the 2006 London revival, there were a couple of one-liners about the Nazis that didn’t quite land because they now feel pretty unnecessary and just not funny. In addition, and I’m becoming quite tired of saying this, but it is not acceptable in my opinion to use sex work as a punchline. Particularly in what is being advertised as a ‘family friendly’ show because it perpetuates the idea that sex workers are worthy of derision. When Franz says that Frau Schmidt ‘could have made a lot of money’ in the Navy the whole Regent Theatre audience audibly gasped and barely anyone laughed. It is deeply dehumanising, as well as profoundly unfunny, and I feel these kinds of outdated lines needed to be removed.

In the end though, despite all my reservations I came away with a huge smile on my face. The wonderful naffness of the script, in conjunction with really energetic and committed performances from the main cast combined to give the audience some really great light entertainment. By no means groundbreaking or profound – but not all theatre need be – this was a perfectly satisfactory way to spend an evening with my mum.

The Sound of Music is now showing at the Regent Theatre. Melbourne show details are below, or head to the tour website for more information about other cities.

MELBOURNE

Venue: Regent Theatre, Melbourne

Season: From 13 May 2016

Performance Times: Tues–Sat 7.30pm, Wed 1.00pm, Sat 2.00pm, Sun 12noon and 5.30pm

Price: Tickets from $79.90*

Bookings: soundofmusictour.com.au or phone 1300 111 011

Review, Theatre, Whats On

Belvoir Presents THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Beautiful reimagining of a classic

By Bradley Storer

The Glass Menagerie, the first great success of legendary American playwright Tennessee Williams, is a curious thing – not entirely a traditional naturalistic play nor an abstract lyrical Symbolist piece, it lives in the blurry division between fantasy, reality and memory. Director Eamon Flack emphasizes this essential ambiguity from the outset, as narrator Tom Wingfield (Luke Mullins) enters casually through the audience and seemingly begins to construct the play both physically and textually before our very eyes in his opening monologue.

The Glass Menagerie.jpg

The multifaceted set designed by Michael Hankin, the tiny Wingfield family apartment that unfolds in continually surprising ways, is surrounded by cameras (with video design by Sean Bacon) that project images onto near by screens as the play unfurls, creating delectable moments of intimacy with the characters and thrilling moments of theatrical ingenuity at the same time it theatricalizes and distances these moments as though we are seeing scenes from an old Hollywood picture – further suggesting the way Tom has shaped and crafted his memories until the line between his nostalgic remembrance and the reality has disappeared completely.

Mullins as Wingfield is remarkable, combining the soul of a poet with a bitter and sardonic twist of humour that one senses is the result of a sensitive spirit yearning for the freedom his home life denies him. Pamela Rabe as his mother Amanda, one of the great Southern belles of the Williams canon, gives a truly titanic performance, moving from a shrewd no-nonsense woman beaten down by the harsh realities of her life to the winsome love-struck girl of her youth with ease in the space of a single scene, creating a portrait of a woman burdened by both her massive maternal love and the seething resentment underneath. Rose Riley as Laura, Tom’s shy and disabled sister, brings a surprising and refreshing tom-boyishness to the role, and when her closed-off but scintillating face is projected in big screen, it is easy to see why Laura is the heart (and the central mystery) of this nostalgic play.

The first act is close to perfection, but the second act where the lives of the Wingfelds is interrupted by the visit of a gentleman caller (a jovial Harry Greenwood) seems to get a bit lost, and the final moments of the play fail to bring together the wide-ranging resources used throughout into a  satisfying conclusion. But when this production succeeds, which it often does, those moments are truly magical.

Venue: Malthouse Theatre, Merlyn Theatre, 113 Sturt St

Dates: 18th May – 5th June

Times: Tuesday 6:30pm, Wednesday – Saturday 7:30pm, Saturday 1pm, Sunday 5pm

Bookings: www.malthousetheatre.com.au, (03) 9685 5111, boxoffice@malthousetheatre.com.au

Prices: Adult $65, Concession $50, Senior $60, Tertiary Student and Under 30’s $35

Image by Pia Johnson, Malthouse and Belvoir

Review, Theatre, Whats On

MTC Presents STRAIGHT WHITE MEN

Four blokes and one family Christmas

By Myron My

Upon entering Fairfax Studio at the Arts Centre Melbourne, you can’t help but notice Candy Bowers as the Stagehand-in-Charge sitting up in her booth, playing some hip hop music, including Khia’s racy “My Neck, My Back”. As the music plays, she regularly glances over the audience while flicking through a newspaper, the back page emblazoned with “Black Lives Matter”. Considering we are about to see Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men, a play about a family of the four eponymous men getting together for Christmas celebrations, the ruthless satire is punching us in the face, especially as she makes her way down to the stage and introduces us to the make-believe world.

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The “brotherly” chemistry between Hamish Michael, Luke Ryan and Gareth Reeves, as siblings Drew, Jake and Matt respectively, is undeniable. Their scenes together have a believable authenticity and you do feel like they have known each other for their entire lives. Michael in particular is a highlight as the youngest sibling, trying to help his family while trying not to be seen as the baby of said family. Ryan also impresses with his alpha-male banker who would prefer that the status quo under which he is comfortably living is not ruffled. Reeves as the oldest sibling offers an accomplished performance as a white man struggling to find his place in society and to not be seen as living off his privilege. Despite the other characters being louder and more animated than Reeves’, he manages to have a quiet but strong presence on stage. John Gaden as patriarch Ed, brings a nurturing and fragile depth to the man who only wants the best for his children.

The set and costume design is another impressive feat by Eugyeene Teh. While this is a little more conservative than what I’ve previously seen in his work (and this is due to the script itself), he captures the mood perfectly and once again is able to make the environment just as much of a character in the story as the four men on stage. Along with Lisa Mibus‘ intelligent lighting and David Heinrich‘s sleek sound design, all the elements come together seamlessly for Straight White Men.

While I enjoyed the show, especially the stellar performances from the cast, I feel Lee’s script ultimately lacked a deeper exploration of what these men are actually arguing about and the privilege they have, to really leave a mark. There are some extremely funny scenes and some that capture realistic sibling relationships, but the overall story seems to become preoccupied with this humour at the expense of the more powerful issues. It is clear Lee knows what she wants to say but possibly not how she wants to say it.

Straight White Men is an enjoyable performance, but this play ends up more a family Christmas dramedy than an intended piece of satire that will have people – mainly straight white men – questioning their privilege and perceiving how lucky they are.

Venue: Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, 3004
Season: Until 18 June | Mon – Tues 6.30pm, Wed 1pm, Wed-Fri 8pm, Sat 4pm and 8.30pm
Tickets: $39 – 77
Bookings: MTC

Cabaret, Review, Whats On

Michaela Burger and Greg Wain are EXPOSING EDITH

Be enraptured

By Jessica Cornish

Exposing Edith has returned for a short season at the beautiful Melba Spiegeltent. This captivating 70-minute cabaret blends a mixture of impersonation and interpretation through 14 songs and monologues to explore the life and lovers of Edith Piaf.

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The work stars Michaela Burger as Piaf accompanied by Greg Wain on acoustic guitar, and this duo have created a beautiful theatre piece.

Burger’s vocals were outstanding. Her warm vibrato and vintage French pop sound filled the tent of mirrors as she sang a mixture of French and English songs. And with a little smoke and those mirrors you could even be forgiven for mistaking Ms Burger for the real deal as there is a striking resemblance between the performer and Piaf, with her dark braided hair and petite stature.

Wain was the perfect addition to accompany Ms Burger: he had a gentle stage presence and seamlessly incorporated some interesting chord colourings and strum patterns into the songs throughout the evening. The music was an utter joy to listen to throughout the night, and the pair even added their own flair to the traditional songs in cleverly playing around with the texture of sounds by incorporating loop pedals, echo and delay in to the performance.

Of course “La Vie En Rose” and “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” were powerful moments within the show and instantly recognisable to all audience members. However, don’t presume every song will be an Edith classic: for example, the performers open the show with a one-minute musical creation attempting to summarise large chunks of the performer’s life.

The lighting rig and set were minimalistic, and props were only a microphone, chair and a black feather boa. The performance space thus beautifully mirrored traditional performances from Edith herself, where one would find a vast stage with only the 4-foot-something French icon encased in a spotlight.

Exposing Edith is an excellent starting point for a new generation of music lovers to be exposed to the incredible life and songs of Edith Piaf, although potentially a little underwhelming to those more die-hard fans who already have a solid knowledge of the lady. However, the songstress’ story is cleverly told from the revealing perspectives of both the character and Ms Burger, and the music? It’s just stunning.

Dates:
Wednesday, 18 May – 7:00pm
Thursday, 19 May – 7:00pm
Friday, 20 May – 7:00pm
Saturday, 21 May – 7:00pm

Bookings:
Adult: $35
Concession: $30
Web: trybooking.com

Venue:
Circus Oz Home
35 Johnston Street
Collingwood , Victoria , 3066

Comedy, Review, Whats On

John Dore in REVOLVING DORE

Take a spin with this disarming and charming comic

By Joana Simmons

John Dore’s conversational observational comedy show, Revolving Dore, is a-dore-able. This seasoned comic (who headlined in the Perth and Melbourne Fringe Festivals and was a finalist in RAW Comedy and Green Faces and written for and starred in Channel 31’s Live On Bowen) observes the mundane humdrum of daily life and spins it into side-splitting stories and sentiments.

Revolving Dore

For an hour, John takes the audience out of the brisk Melbourne evening and under his arm – he is so relaxed and relatable you want to be friends with him, and since his endearing honesty and hilarious charm make you laugh your pants off you think a bit about being a “more than friends” with him too. Covering content from work stories to sick days, dinner parties to mouse traps, and David Attenbrough to red backs, Dore’s well thought-out segues make the show seamless.

His comedic dexterity is multi-dimensional. There’s moments of physical comedy, where his facial expression and long limbs paint pictures words can’t. A simple use of the microphone for a very specific sound effect you just have to be there to appreciate, and comedic timing and callbacks that just hit the nail on the head. He doesn’t take the easy route to laughs by covering run-of-the-mill content or picking on an audience member or using swearing as a punch line – rather, he shines his own unique light on things we can all relate to, and makes them hilarious and effortless.

Do yourselves a favour and get down to The Butterfly Club, get yourself a mulled wine, and get ready for this comedy treat. See John Dore now so you can say you saw him before he was big, because he’s going to be. I mean, with talent like his he’s more than halfway there, so support the industry, tell your friends, and make sure he gets his foot in the dore.

Show Details: Revolving Dore

Dates: 18th – 22nd of May

Time: 7pm

Cost: $25-32

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne

Tickets: thebutterflyclub.com

Performances, Review, Whats On

Next Wave Festival 2016: THE HORSE

Silence in space made into music

By Myron My

Every now and again, there is a production that pushes the boundaries of what can be done. Dylan Sheridan’s The Horse is one of these shows, in that it uses a variety of tools to create an immersive musical space travel experience for its audience. As director, composer and performer (electronics), Sheridan vividly creates an intergalactic world with a saxophone, violin, cello, electronics and automated instruments.

The Horse.jpg

The Horse takes its title from the Horsehead Nebula, a cloud of gas and dust in outer space, 1,500 light years from Earth. So named due to the shape of its swirling gases, it is visible in the night sky as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter, though above the Horsehead is a bright pink gas which contrasts with the dark gas found below. For his composition inspired by this phemonemon, Sheridan translates actual interstellar data into the music of The Horse. For the most part this metamorphosis of information into art creates interesting results, but at times – perhaps deliberately – it feels like not much is happening to keep us engaged musically.

The perfectly executed lighting takes some of its cues from the colours of the nebula, shining a cold light on one half of the stage, and a warm, glowing light on the other. The close of the performance also cleverly has us physically moving from the darkness towards the pink glow, further building on this evocative environment Sheridan has created so well.

While The Horse creates a delicate mood of space exploration and dream states, there is also a sense of trepidation and unease from what is transpiring. The show begins in pitch black until a dull light shines on a single automated violin being strummed. The highly skilled musicians – Benjamin Price (saxophone), Emily Shepherd (violin) and Robert Manley (cello) – constantly appear suddenly and slowly fade away as if they are spirits. At another one point, a light shines on a single square patch of grass, with birds chirping in the background that immediately turns to darkness and we begin to hear train engines working from all directions.

There are some parts in The Horse that feel like they go on for a little too long or need to be more engaging for the audience; however, if you allow yourself to be taken in by the experience, you really do feel like you have left Earth to drift into new realms. While the Horsehead Nebula still has about 5 million years left before it erodes away, The Horse is only on until the end of the week so make sure you book your tickets and support some creative emerging talent.

Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, 3051 
Season: Until 22 May | Thurs – Sat 8.15pm, Sun 7.15pm 
Tickets: $23 Full | $18 Conc 
Bookings: Next Wave Festival

Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

Melbourne Premiere: HEATHERS THE MUSICAL

Black comedy classic into a fantastically biting and bitchy musical

By Caitlin McGrane

Before I went to see Heathers: The Musical I had vowed to myself that I would watch the cult movie so I was prepared, but I ultimately didn’t, and more’s the better, as I feel it would have utterly ruined the fresh first-time delight if I had. That said, there is still plenty for fans of the film to love – those classic lines (that even I knew) delivered with just enough homage to avoid pastiche. Heathers is a twisted classic story of high school popularity, love, sex. And murder. Written for the stage by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, the show delivers acerbic wit and darkly poignant comedy in spades.

Heathers the Musical.jpg

Veronica Sawyer (Hilary Cole) is a Senior at Westerberg High School in Ohio; in desperation to make her final year more bearable, Veronica asks the eponymous popular girl gang, the Heathers, if they can help her by just letting her associate with them. Veronica falls in line with the Heathers, until she meets broody Baudelaire-quoting heartthrob J.D. (Stephen Madsen) whereupon things start to go slightly pear-shaped… Cole and Madsen both inhabited their roles wholly and convincingly: their chemistry positively palpable.

The Heathers comprise of ‘mythic bitch’ Heather Chandler (Lucy Maunder), neurotic bulimic Heather Duke (Hannah Fredericksen), and bland cheerleader Heather McNamara (Rebecca Hetherington). All three performers are exceptionally funny, but Fredericksen really stole the show as Heather Duke whose ascension to Queen B was hilariously unhinged. Vincent Hooper and Jakob Ambrose looked like they were having heaps of fun on stage as the lewd and cringe-inducing jocks Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly. Lauren McKenna positively shone as Ms Fleming, whose culturally appropriative Afro-inspired dress and hair were so bad they were genius. It would also be remiss not to mention Mitchell Hicks‘ impressive work as J.D.’s unfathomably repulsive father ‘Big Bud’; his every appearance on stage made me want to run screaming from the auditorium. The other members of the ensemble cast – Sage Douglas, Heather Manley and Stephen McDowell were all excellent, and provided the much-needed pace for many of the song-and-dance numbers.

The only area in which the production was let down was in sound design; while director Trevor Ashley and musical director Bev Kennedy did a wonderful job bringing the musical to the Arts Centre stage, on opening night the sound quality in the theatre was not successfully monitored or moderated. This meant that while the cast were performing it was virtually impossible to hear what they were sing-speaking over the noise of the band. This aside, the rest of the production coordination was outstanding.

I therefore thoroughly enjoyed what I could hear of the songs, particularly the LGBT-inspired number delivered by Ram and Kurt’s fathers. Despite being mostly unable to discern the lyrics, I still had a fantastic time; I couldn’t care less what they were singing about half the time because the performances were making me laugh, which is what I wanted. The melodies weren’t original, or even particularly catchy, but every song simultaneously captured the spirit of the 80s, as well as the neuroses of high school to which we can all relate.

Well-thought out set design (Emma Vine), lighting design (Gavan Swift) and choreography (Cameron Mitchell) were essential to support the cast while they careered about on stage. Angela White’s costumes were exceptional and instantly transported us back to 1988.

Heathers had the audience – many of whom were no doubt hard-to-please movie fans – whooping and rolling in the aisles for so much of the performance that any glitches or technical missteps went entirely unnoticed. Indeed, such was the excitement of the ladies in the row in front of me that when J.D. made a brief appearance in the audience one of them quietly screamed, ‘Ooh Julie! Look who you’ve got next to you!’ And I think that just about summed up the experience – it really did make me giddy with high school excitement, albeit with rather more murderous inclinations. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Heathers is showing at the Arts Centre on Southbank until 22 May 2016. For tickets and more information visit: http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2016/musicals/heathers-the-musical

Performances, Theatre, Whats On

Next Wave Festival 2016: SEDIH/SUNNO

An exquisite and emotional experience

By Myron My

There is so much I want to write down right now but I am unsure if it’s a critical review of the show I just saw or a visceral personal response. Such is the effect that Rani Pramesti has on you when you walk out of Sedih//Sunno. “Sedih” is Bahasa Indonesia for ‘sadness’ and “sunno” is ‘to listen’ in Fijian Hindi, so the show is an invitation to listen to our sadness. Or as one of the performers advised us, it is a mediation on such sadness.

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Sedih//Sunno is a collaborative performance installation piece by Pramesti, Ria Soemardjo, Kei Murakami and Shivanjani Lal, all sharing stories with us in this multi-sensory and multi-cultural show. As we take our seat in a room surrounded by gorgeous Indonesian batik fabrics, we hear the four women speaking over the top of each other in their various languages as if they are conversing at home with their family. I don’t understand any of it (except some snippets of Japanese), but it feels lively, fun and inviting.

The conversation soon quietens and Pramesti enters the space, asking for permission to join us. She puts the intimate group at ease with her gentle humour and calm nature, and I almost feel like I am at primary school show-and-tell, as Pramesti shares with us stories of her childhood and her mother’s childhood. While devising the show, Pramesti reveals she discovered her mother had been sexually abused when she was eight years old, which changed the nature of the work drastically. It became a piece about keeping company with your sadness and not hiding it away on its own. The integrity of the performance and safety of the audience is always paramount for the four artists and they are with us every step of the way through the performance.

As we continue moving through the space, we are handed small pieces of batik and directed to Pramesti who helps us in folding the sheets and putting them away, no doubt something she has done numerous times with her mother. As I sat down, listening to the beautiful music from Soemardjo’s tamboura and her Javanese-inspired vocals, and watching as the rest of the group folded their fabrics with Pramesti, I was taken back to my own childhood, where I would help my late mother fold linen. It was a very vivid experience and raised questions of my own personal grief and sadness since my mother passed away eight years ago.

Sedih//Sunno can be seen as a rite of passage of accepting sadness as part of our lives. It is about reflecting on those moments and opening up to ourselves as to how they have made us who we are. At another point in the show, we are provided with smalls bells and shown a path that has four glass bowls of water. As we walk past each bowl, we ring our bell as we dunk it in and out of the water three times. Again, through the guidance of these artists we are able to acknowledge sadness and the passing of time.

So there have been some tears shed as I write this and maybe if I had written this review a few hours after I saw it rather than immediately, my response would have been slightly different, but Pramesti and her team are owed our honesty and should be aware of the poignant experience with which they have provided people. Pramesti’s mother says in a recorded conversation that “life is beautiful and unplanned”, but you really should plan to see Sedih//Sunno before it sells out.

Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, 3051
Season: Until 15 May | Wed – Sat 6.30pm, Sat 3pm, Sun 5.30pm
Tickets: $28 Full | $23 Conc
Bookings: Next Wave Festival

Image by Daniela Rodriguez