Category: Whats On

Review, Theatre, Whats On

Malthouse Theatre Presents THE HOMOSEXUALS

Gleefully funny

By Leeor Adar

How dare we, or you, or anyone, be politically incorrect (PC is very in, in case you weren’t paying attention). Lee Lewis’ romp as director into taboo territory is loud, colourful, slapstick, and rainbow-shoots dance hits of the bygones. This production of The Homosexuals is everything you would expect it to be, and then a little more sardonic.

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And it is funny. The shining light of this show isn’t the performers so much as their sharp dialogue catapulted from Declan Greene’s pen. I can see the delivery only sharpening as the season goes on, and like Greene’s usual work, is so right now. Right now, and reflected in the play is the war between white homosexual men and other sexual and racial minorities that continue to be marginalised by cookie-cutter ideals. It rages in this production, and offers a farcical gaze upon the pompous rhetoric of queer theorist ‘Bae-Bae’ (played with natural grace and disdain by the genderqueer Mama Alto).

The play is set in a tiny modern apartment in Darlinghurst where Warren (Simon Bourke), the identified ‘older gay gentleman’ looks through his lens at the young and chiselled Adonis (Lincoln Younes). Clichés aside, Warren attempts to hide his interest in the Adonis from his shrieky partner, Kim (Simon Corfield). Cue the realisation that married paradise does not exist even for the queer community. What is meant to be the night of the Mardi-Gras and offensive costume party (hint: blackface/Hiroshimaface/Naziface), turns into a comedy of near-misses as a druggie and part-time cook (Mama Alto) is mistaken for the gloriously self-righteous ‘Bae Bae’. A series of mad antics ensue in what is sure to be a night of laughs.

A real shout-out must go to the top-notch comic delivery of Diana (Genevieve Lemon), who propelled the silliness on stage and brought a sage moment towards the close of the fare. Unfortunately this is where the script diverts too sharply from the rest of the play; the tone suddenly shifts to a serious place that doesn’t have the same wondrous reality-shatter of other works that manage to take comedy to dark places. The point is already made in the piece itself – the audience knows. The show ultimately ends with a whimper, no bang in sight. I found this a touch disappointing given all the walls shattered earlier in the evening.

However, if you want to catch a show that pokes fun at itself and definitely makes you laugh – then by all means, enter the rainbow world of The Homosexuals, or ‘Faggots’, currently showing at the Malthouse Theatre until Sunday 12 March.

Book your tickets here: https://tickets.malthousetheatre.com.au/booking/production/syos/3205

Image by Brett Boardman

Events, Theatre, Whats On

Sly Rat Theatre Presents THE TEMPEST

An enchanting event

By Margaret Wieringa

A small boat is wrecked in a magical tempest leaving the survivors to wander an island, guided by spirits and controlled by an ousted Italian noble. Sit back in your camping chair or spread out on your picnic rug; it’s time to be enchanted with some Shakespeare in the park.

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This is the second Shakespearean performance that Sly Rat Theatre Company have put on in Pipemakers Park in Maribrynong and it was again a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We are introduced to the island by Prospero (Brendan Ewing) as he shows the power of his magic, controlling everyone and everything including his daughter and the very spirits of the island. Ewing starts the performance loud and dominant, unfortunately leaving himself very little room to expand the performance. Consequently, we get a strong sense of the outrage and anger of Prospero, but it far more difficult to glean his softer and more complex side.

For this production, artistic directors Alan Chambers and Andy Harmsen have gender-swapped many of the characters (the original play has only one or, depending on the reading of Ariel, two females) and this leads to a completely different reading of some parts of the performance. The idea of women dominating the society that they have left through dishonesty and deceit, and of a man rising up to take his true place – it adds a new level. It also meant that the royals, all female, were young, angry warriors dressed in wild Mad-Max/steampunk costumes and dominating the stage. These costumes contrasted vastly from the island spirits in wispy veils with lots of softness. Unfortunately, many seemed to be wearing poorly-fitting dresses, and while it was clear that the actresses were wearing skin-coloured undergarments, the sense of wardrobe malfunction was somewhat distracting.

Possibly the most impressive costume would have had to have been Caliban, played by Seton Pollock in a beige lyrca suit with all kinds of mutations built in – a hunchback with a distorted spine, one very large thigh and, most obviously, elongated arms with heavy, stumped ends which gave him an animalistic gait perfect for his portrayal of this tragic character.

One thing the production needed to consider further was the sound design. There were some scenes that worked really beautifully, creating the sense of the island (especially at the start, matched with sporadic giggles from the island spirits), but some of the other soundscapes really dominated, detracting from the acting.

However, this is a performance that is being crafted for everyone to enjoy – right down to the kids. There are many standout comedy moments, most notably the slapstick antics of the sailors and the other stand-out clowns of the evening, the wonderful drunks played hilariously by Katherine Moss and Tara Houghton.

Really, though, the performance is the icing on the cake of a delightful night out. You can relax, open some wine, eat a picnic or grab some food from the food truck. Enjoy the warmth in the air, the sun through the trees, and as the day draws to a close, let Shakespeare’s Tempest take you away.

Venue: Pipemakers Park, Van Ness Avenue, Maribrynong

Season: Feb 17-19 +24-26, March 3-5, 6:30pm

Tickets: It’s all free – just come on down!

Review, Theatre, Whats On

Malthouse Presents LITTLE EMPERORS

Brave, beautiful and necessary

 By Leeor Adar

2016 saw the glass-globe political bubble of China’s One Child Policy shatter. Picking up the pieces of what is presented as a haunted generation of youth and families, the brave new work of Lachlan Philpott and director Wang Chong is both penetrating and poignant.

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A talented cast drive this absorbing story of Kaiwen (Yuchen Wang), separated from a family he is too young to remember and suddenly asked to return to the world that rejected him. His tenuous connection with his sister, Huishan, (Alice Qin) harbours a familiar Chinese communal secret, and we are plunged into a world built on memory, the subconscious and heartbreaking reality. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching character is that of their mother, played with such varied and breathtaking emotion by Diana [Xiaojie Lin] – a character so tormented by living the life she endured against her will.

Philpott’s writing is achingly familiar as it speaks to something even I, an outsider, can recognise as the universal desire for closeness with our kin. Philpott’s opportunity to visit Beijing and meet with local people whilst collaborating with Chong has given a real dimension to his work. It would be easy to dismiss Philpott’s writing as another outsider attempting to discuss the unrelatable, but Little Emperors provides a rare glimpse into a world rarely discussed or acknowledged by its own people. In the play, Kaiwen now living in Melbourne directs his own work to confront the One Child Policy, but his cast one by one vanish as they find unearthing their secrets either too painful or unspeakable.

Where this play is overall potent, the uncomfortable dialogue and acting between Kaiwen and his sound technician (Liam Maguire) distracts. While it would be easy to dismiss the relationship between these two characters, it reveals a savage loneliness of Kaiwen. This loneliness breathes throughout the play as our characters battle inner torments they find difficult to express to those around them. It is evident that those who live in Kaiwen’s originating home struggle with what occurred in their own way.

The staging of Little Emperors is visually and stylistically brilliant. The entire stage is one murky pool of water through which our characters navigate uniquely. Kaiwen walks in the water with ease, but he also uses it with a violence to convey his own turbulent mind. Little white chairs serve as stepping-stones for the women, as they, chair after chair, exhaustingly negotiate every social interaction with forced labour. In one scene, the mother beats her own body with the body of water, side to side, in an unrelenting force of self-flagellation. Romanie Harper’s set design is so effective I cannot think of a more fluid use of staging to convey the inner tumult and complexities of these characters. Nothing is left unused or unturned on the Little Emperors stage. James Paul’s sound design matches the staging with a moodiness that permeates everything around it – this little world created before us grips us in an oxymoron of vitality and gloom.

I walk out of the theatre feeling closer to a truth I heard about in passing, and I feel for a moment closer to a community I have had limited interaction with. Australian audiences can gain much by seeing this work, and it assists in breaking cultural boundaries and giving insights where none have really been offered before. This is brave, beautiful and necessary theatre.

Little Emperors will be performed until the 26 February at the Malthouse Theatre. Bookings: http://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/little-emperors

Image by Tim Grey

Cabaret, Opera, Whats On

Victorian Opera Presents ‘TIS PITY: AN OPERATIC FANTASIA OF SELLING THE SKIN AND TEETH

In praise of a cabaret goddess

By Bradley Storer

A sinister puppeteer dangles a dark-haired poppet on strings, twisting her to his amusement and satisfaction, as he sings of the evening ahead with hints of the debauchery and debasement to come. The star of the evening, the international cabaret star and dishevelled diva Meow Meow, misses her entrance to the Melbourne Recital Centre (of course) and is forced to drag around props and costumes before she ascends a staircase to become a glorious goddess of the ancient world. We are promised bite-sized pieces depicting the goddess’ many daughters throughout the ages, from Ancient Greece to the modern day.

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Meow Meow is, as always, a combination of high-diva glamour and self-deprecating humour, always ready with an off-the-cuff remark that never fails to make the audience laugh. Her magnificent voice is on full show here, from a gutsy alto to a light classical soprano all utilized to maximum effect throughout the night. Her leading man Kanen Breen takes on many roles in the performance, from lover to pimp to bishop, with a ghoulish visage, an elastic physicality and a thrilling tenor voice that rings to every corner of the Recital Centre.

The text of the performance, from composer and librettist Richard Mills, is quite dense and delivered at a rapid pace – the performers are miked but not amplified loud enough, so often the words blended into a flurry of sound, and climatic lines to songs were drowned out by the orchestra. The vignette structure of the performance also seems extremely rushed, with one or two sections going by so quickly and without remark that I found it hard to decipher what they were.

The show also never seems to decide quite clearly what their subject matter is. At the start of the show the proclaimed intent seems to be examining the evolving perception of prostitution throughout history, but what emerges seems to be more a comment on attitudes towards women and femininity in general rather than prostitution. While this is certainly not a problem in itself, not making the focus of the work clear only serves to add to the audience’s confusion. The inclusion of three dancers (Alexander Bryce, Patrick Weir and Thomas Johansson) as bit players to Meow Meow and Breen’s escapades, while wonderful in their dancing and delivering good performances, never seem adequately utilized enough to justify having them in the show.

The only few moments that work and connect with the audience are those where Meow Meow is left alone onstage to simply sing – in these moments, she is tender, heart-breaking and most importantly real. In the finale where Meow Meow sings about the troubles of modern times, a line about ‘building a wall’ around her heart becomes an uncomfortably contemporary parallel to the path of current politics.

Tis Pity feels like it needs re-structuring and reconsideration of its overall message before it can truly work as a theatrical piece, but having a star such as Meow Meow back on our stage is a delight worth savouring.

Venue: Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, 31 Sturt St, Southbank

Dates: 4 – 8 February

Times: 7:30pm

Tickets: $118 – $30

Bookings: melbournerecital.com.au, (03) 9699 3333

Image by Karl Giant

Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

Australian Premiere: THE BOOK OF MORMON

Truly crass, highly sophisticated, and utterly sensational

By Tania Herbert

Taglined as ‘The Only Book that Matters’, The Book of Mormon is the Tony-Award glutton and Broadway spectacular written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park and Team America fame), joined by songwriter Robert (Bobby) Lopez (of Avenue Q and Frozen fame). The opening night of the long-awaited Australian premiere certainly met the definition of ‘gala’- prequelled by a cocktail party filled with every identifiable face in Melbourne (particularly if you’re a fan of The Bachelor), and concluded with a standing ovation as Trey and Matt joined the cast onstage for the final number. Even the actual Mormons are taking advantage of the hype, with giant posters currently framing Southern Cross Station.

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The plot is the usual musical-esque small-town boy heading out into the world to make it big. Less usual though is the setting of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Elder Price (Ryan Bondy) is a newly-minted Mormon missionary, ready to change the world and fulfil his dream of ringing doorbells throughout Orlando Florida. However, his hopes are challenged once he finds himself paired with the goofy and inept Elder Cunningham (A.J. Holmes) and shipped off to remote Northern Uganda. Once there, the Brothers discover that The Lion King was way off the mark, and it’s all up to them to save the village from insurgent rebels.

The show is approachable for a range of audiences- 10-man acapella for the musicians, continual nods to musical comedy classics for the genre fans, and enough excessive costuming and production value to please any contemporary Broadway hedonist. However even those with no prior experience will be well entertained by the true hilarity of this piece of comedic genius that barely pauses for breath. Perhaps one of the most unique elements of the show is the working of humour into every element of production- set changes, exits, and lighting all feature as jokes and the humour ranges from the outright crass to artful parody.

The cast are universally stunning. Both leads come to Melbourne as Mormon veterans (Bondy performing in all three US companies, and Holmes in ‘every company.. thus far’), and the polish and passion shows in the truly flawless performances. The leads are backed up by two mostly separate ensembles- the Mormon brothers and the Ugandan villagers. The contrast in music, dance and characterisation styles for the two ensembles was one of the most rewarding parts of the production for me- adding more variety to an already exceptionally catchy bunch of tunes. Many of the cast also come from international productions of the show, along with the best of local talent. VCA graduate Zahra Newman was the particular standout as the adorable (yet still with a very impressive belt) Nabulungi, the chief’s daughter looking for a life ‘less shitty’.

Whilst only vaguely reminiscent of the of South Park episode All About Mormons (Season 7, Episode 12), fans of Matt and Trey are still rewarded, with South Park’s Jesus Christ making an appearance, and lead characters not so vaguely reminiscent of the pair themselves as they appeared in Baseketball.

For a show that spends so much time spoofing, The Book of Mormon is also truly unique, and covers a massive amount of ground in politics, comedy and moral ambiguities. The comic timing is flawless, the dancing immaculate, and the vocals spine tingling.

In typical Matt-and-Trey style though, the show is horrifyingly offensive and nothing is sacred. It’s a little like the Broadway version of Cards Against Humanity as you find yourself laughing at religion, African poverty, FGM and AIDS. If you don’t cringe at least once, you probably need to work on your politically correctness. Given all the inappropriateness, the show is also strangely sensitive, and a timely reminder that with a bit of tolerance, imagination and community, we can all be a lot happier.

The show is certainly not friendly for families, the politically sensitive or the easily offended, but if you don’t fall into one of those categories, it’s fair to say you’re going to have a pretty good night out with The Book of Mormon. With the new world of Brexit and Trump, it may seem like things are pretty grim at the moment, however this musical is the ultimate reminder that in the end, the world can still be a pretty funny place– as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

THE BOOK OF MORMON is currently playing at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne. Tickets are on sale until June 25, and can be purchased at bookofmormonmusical.com.au

Warning: Adult themes and coarse language!

Image by Jeff Busby

Cabaret, Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

Midsumma Festival 2017: FREE ADMISSION

Wise, witty, and built to break down boundaries

By Myron My

It’s been eight years since I first saw Ursula Martinez performing in London and was introduced to her hilarious tongue-in-cheek humour. Presented as part of this year’s Midsumma Festival, Martinez returns to the stage with Free Admission, a show full of her unique comedy stylings which has us questioning how our thoughts and choices can easily prevent us from leading the life we desire, while also wittily providing a literal lesson in construction for us.

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Martinez’s delivery is well-paced. with an intentional air of awkwardness as she initially explains in a slow speech, as if what she is sharing about life is taboo and shouldn’t be spoken about. As the show progresses the confidence in her voice begins to pick up and find her a new rhythm. While a small portion of the dialogue is quite jarring (and perhaps that is her intention), the majority gives Martinez the opportunity to open up amusingly but affectingly about her insecurities, hopes, fears and disappointments.

As she shares these with us, Martinez begins to build an actual wall between herself and her audience, further emphasising this idea of being caged in or locked up with your own thoughts and shutting out the world and other people. With America’s current attempts to build a wall along the border of Mexico, this is quite a powerful topical element of the show, and while Free Admission does not explicitly reference this, it is still poignantly political with reference to gender and sexuality, refugees, feminism and equality.

The last two concerns are further addressed with Martinez’s outfit; wearing a black top with a crisp white pant-suit and her hair tied up in a bun, she dons a pair of dirty work-gloves and begins constructing her wall. Appearances can be deceiving and Martinez is all about breaking preconceived notions and ideas.

By the end, Martinez shows the freedom and joy of breaking through the walls in our lives in a finale that is uplifting and positive. Free Admission is a well-crafted and intelligent comedy show that is busy building up big ideas and deconstructing important issues: it has a lot to say, and a whole lot more to love and think about.

Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Southbank
Season: Until 5 February | Fri 9:15pm, Sat 3pm and 6:30pm, Sun 5pm
Tickets: $35 – $45
Bookings: Midsumma Festival

Review, Theatre, Whats On

The Butterfly Club Presents TAKE A SEAT

Death waits for no-one

By Myron My

When you die, will you be getting into heaven or will you be sent to hell? For a group of people this question will be answered sooner than they had hoped in Kieran Gould-Bowen’s Take A Seat. Set in a waiting room for the lately deceased, these recently departed are given an opportunity to reflect on their lives before judgement is passed upon them.

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The cast of seven consists of four actors making their stage debut, including Kotryna Gesait and Mursal Ahmadi who show distinct ability in understanding the characters and using their bodies and facial expressions to give authenticity to the depiction of what their lives were like.

As happens in waiting rooms, when your number is called it is time to go. So as one character leaves to meet their fate, Gould-Bowen has others enter – after all, death waits for no one and people die all the time. While this allows for dynamics to change between the remaining characters and for different emotions and reactions to occur, it also means that we don’t have the opportunity to further explore some of the more interesting characters that have come and gone.

I also feel the direction in Take A Seat needed to be tighter, for – while understanding the limitations of the setting – having characters constantly moving seats for the sake of movement proved to be quite distracting. Meanwhile, one character’s constant pacing and clicking of a pen to show his anxiety only becomes frustrating for me as an audience member. This device is also repeated in another character whose movement might have a different purpose but still has the same result: some more sophisticated techniques to exhibit character would have been preferable.

Gould-Dowen cleverly makes use of the piano on stage in having one of the characters play while others share their personal stories with these strangers. The underscore effectively adds poignancy in the script and builds on emotions the characters are feeling: it would be great if this could somehow be incorporated into the first half of the show with some of the other stories also.

Take A Seat is a look at some of the life issues people are facing in society today through the dead characters in its waiting room. There is potential here and some promising performances, but I feel further work is needed on direction, and in instigating deeper exploration of these characters to avoid any coming across as stereotypes or purely functional.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 29 January | Fri 6pm, Sat 7pm and 8:30pm, Sun 7pm
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

Midsumma Festival 2017: THE HELENDALE NUDE FOOTY CALENDAR

Laying truths bare

By Myron My

A local football club has run out of funds and is at a loss at what to do. “What is it that we have that people want?”, laments one footballer shortly before taking off his top and showing off his toned body. And so The Helendale Nude Footy Calendar adventure begins. However, there are two parallel stories occurring in two other country towns: at Karandah Heads, two locals encounter a celebrity staying at their caravan park, and at Galshank, a gay high school student tries to figure out what he wants. Presented as part of this year’s Midsumma Festival, the three stories in The Helendale Nude Footy Calendar explore sexuality, relationships and love, and the different ways these issues can present themselves.

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Helendale – the most fleshed out of the three stories (pun intended) – focuses on Angus (Chris Edwards) who secretly (or maybe not so secretly) swoons over footballer Mason (Guy Talon). Edwards is well cast as the shy, nervous and incredibly sarcastic Angus, with his body language and mannerisms bringing to the surface his anxieties and desires. The support cast members do well with their characters and are given the opportunity to show multiple sides of their personalities. They’re not just footballers but also friends, brothers and boyfriends and Sam Nix as Angus’ brother Tom is a great example of embracing this chance for strong character development. There are scenes of bravado when Tom is with “the boys” talking football but there are sincere moments when speaking to his brother about life and reaching for the opportunities it has to offer.

Over in Karandah Heads, Reef (James Hardy) helps run his mum’s caravan park when a highly awkward and not-out teen Curtis (Linus Tolliday) arrives with his family. The two form a friendly bond until a world-famous celebrity (Wil King) arrives to stay and subsequently throws their lives into chaos. Tolliday is perfect as Curtis with his awkwardness and stammered speech and Hardy puts in a great performance of someone who has put walls up so high that he has completely closed himself off from meeting anyone.

Galshank introduces a group of schoolboys all dealing with their impending adulthood and attempting to figure out who they are. Conor (Patrick Cook) is in love with his gay best friend Heath (Dean Robinson) who is more interested in experiencing life, which includes an interest in his English teacher, Jack (Jack Matthews), who also happens to be Conor’s stepfather. While Helendale and Karandah Heads have a clear focus in their stories, Galshank falters a little, stretching itself thin in sharing too many stories and perspectives.

At the root of all these stories are loneliness and the fear of being alone. All the characters are searching for a connection with someone in a way that befits him, and writer Jake Stewart explores this truthfully and honestly. Stewart also has a great eye for comedy and while there are many laughs to be had, he ensures the heart of each story is not lost. A scene in Karandah Heads for example surprisingly transforms into initially jarring farce that actually works in further revealing the states of mind of its characters. It is refreshing to see that in no story is there a character struggling to come out or to accept his homosexuality. Furthermore, no characters in any story have issues with being gay, most notably in Helendale with hetero footballers treating Angus the same way they treat each other – and even openly talking about Angus’ sexuality in a positive way.

Stewart also directs the show and he manages to create some evocative moments on stage. There are instances where characters from one town seemingly acknowledge the presence of those from another, building on the shared experience of loneliness and love. Stewart’s use of the space to tell these three stories while having eleven performers coming on and off stage is executed smoothly and the transitions between the stories never distract or remove you from the moment. 

The Helendale Nude Footy Calendar is a moving yet entertaining exploration of what people will do – or not willing to do – in order to connect with people, to love someone and to be loved in return; intelligently wrought, and performed with warmth and appeal.

Venue: Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde St, Footscray
Season: until 4 February | Tues – Sat 7pm
Tickets: $24 Full | $19 Conc
Bookings: Midsumma Festival

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

Midsumma Festival 2016: ANIMAL

Unleashing the beasts

By Myron My

Performed as part of this year’s Midsumma Festival, Animal explores what it means to be ‘human’ in relation to sexuality, relationships and society through the duality of man and beast. Created and performed by Mikey J. White, this is a multidisciplinary piece that incorporates theatre, music, burlesque, multimedia and spoken word, and has us questioning how superior we actually are to animals.

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White personifies a variety of animals throughout the show and there is an almost ritualistic process in becoming each animal through the wearing of a near-abstract, skeleton head-piece of the animal being portrayed. This results in a cleverly nuanced performance by White whereupon his physicality and mannerisms begin to be an extension of each animal. The hessian bag that is worn around his waist further highlights this duality that White is keen to explore. On the one hand, the bag is coarse and has a primal feeling to it and on the other, the makeshift trousers are a sign of respectability and civility.

While White’s intent is thus to unravel the complex connections of man and beast, the execution is not always fully successful. Where it does work best is with his more adult adaptation of children’s story book “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt”. The narrative is used to demonstrate how we have become so accustomed to the superficiality of life and only caring about ourselves. Similarly, his effective reading of Andrea Gibson’s poem “A Letter to My Dog, Exploring the Human Condition” also highlights how we need to start caring for one another and stop criticising and hurting each other.

Animal is an attempt to bring into question whether man is as different to the beasts of the world and he likes to believe. The performance raises this concern successfully and evocatively with some of the acts, but on the whole, I felt there needs to be stronger ties between the animals used and the way in which the issues White wants us to consider are presented for this promising work to reach its potential.

Animal was performed at Hares & Hyenas between 19 – 21 January 2017.

Festivals, Theatre, Whats On

Midsumma Festival 2016: I AM MY OWN WIFE

Finely crafted and utterly fascinating

By Myron My

The last song I expected to hear playing over the speakers as I entered the space for I Am My Own Wife was “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer. But the purpose is later made clear as we learn about the extraordinary and intriguing life of German transgender woman Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived both the Nazi and the Communist regime. While that might be a valid reason to admire her, it is not a guarantee that she was also a hero.

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American playwright Doug Wright travelled to Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and after a series of interviews with von Mahlsdorf totalling hundreds of hours,  wrote I Am My Own Wife. Thus, the show –  – is not just about von Mahlsdorf’s life but also Wright’s own role in this tale, and the impact that the experience of trying to get inside the head of this enigmatic person had upon him.

Ben Gerrard is simply captivating for the entire one-performer show and his German and American accents are well-maintained with great pronunciation and intonation. There is a recording of Wright’s voice that is played to the audience and upon hearing Gerrard’s impersonation of it, you would not be blamed for believing it was the same person. You may also find yourself unable to take your eyes off Gerrard as he faultlessly jumps between 35 varied characters, and his constant eye-contact with the audience draws you in, as if he is telling this story only to you.

Similarly building on this intimacy is Hugh Hamilton‘s sleek lighting design, supporting the tension of the narrative with spotlights anticipating Gerrard’s moves and changes. Shaun Rennie‘s sharp direction ensures that these movements are made with purpose and used to construct a stronger connection with the audience. Meanwhile the minimal set design by Caroline Comino allows us to focus also on Gerrard’s words and when set pieces are used, they are used creatively, effectively, and with the same skill of not detracting from the story.

The show leaves some deliberate ambiguity as to how much of a hero Charlotte von Mahlsdorf actually was: the threat of death was very real back then and hard choices had to be made. I Am My Own Wife doesn’t pass judgement or draw any conclusions: instead it lets us wonder about the life a resilient and extraordinary person led, who survived against the odds in a world that was set on destroying her.

Venue: fortyfive downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
 
Season: Until 5 February | Tue- Sat 7.30pm, Sat 28 Jan & Sat 4 Feb 4pm, Sun 5pm
 
Tickets: $45 Full | $35 Conc 
Bookings: Midsumma Festival