Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre

REVIEW: Dangerous Lenses for MELBOURNE FRINGE

Neighbourhood watching

By Myron My

We all have them: the nosy neighbours who watch your every move from their living room window. They notice when you come home late one night or spot you putting your rubbish in someone else’s bin. They see who comes and who goes. Ann is that person. In Dangerous Lenses she spies a new tenant moving into her building with a young girl who he later denies was there. This leads Ann to believe the girl is suffering from neglect and abuse by her father, and she sets out to rescue her.

Written by Brooke Robinson, the script has strong elements of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window yet still retains its own sense of originality and a good dose of intrigue. The language used is very descriptive and elicits many visual imaginings from the audience.

Dangerous Lenses

The gradual descent of Ann is paced well and we are given the right amount of information as we need it, both to progress the story and also to start making our own decisions about what is happening or what may happen.

Adding to the tight script was Ekrem Mulayim’s impressive sound design and composition. Many times, it blended in and flowed with the dialogue and action so seamlessly that I didn’t even notice it had started or finished. It amplified the tension on stage wonderfully and helped add that extra layer of sophistication into the production.

Being a one-person play, there is always significant pressure on the actor to ensure you are able to carry the play and meet the demands of the character and Meredith Penman is more than able to do this. She disappears into Ann and her transformation from seemingly nice but prying neighbour to someone whose mental state slowly begins to unravel is subtle and gradual yet takes sudden and unexpected directions. She plays the character’s neuroses well and imbues Ann with the right amount of pathos right up until the climactic end.

Dangerous Lenses is an elegant and gripping piece of theatre and it’s a real shame that its season has ended because it really is one of my top choices for this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Events, Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Dorian for MELBOURNE FRINGE

Things are about to get Wilde…

By Myron My

Flashing lights, thumping music, crazy costumes and a catwalk. You might be thinking you are at a fashion show but instead it is a new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, simply titled Dorian.

Dorian

Director Adam Grima has created a modernized queer reading of the text and, through this queer culture lens, looks at its obsession with remaining youthful, narcissism and vanity.

The show takes place on the catwalk, with the cast strutting and performing along it to give the impression we are constantly on display to others and being judged by our choices. However, this set is painted completely white and left bare, juxtaposing this notion with being truthful and baring all.

Dorian is low on dialogue and high on visual stimulation. The costume design by Emma Howchin is brilliant with her play on sexuality and masculinity strongly evident. There are also some confronting scenes of simulated sex and murder as we see Dorian slide into debauchery and vice. Being in such close proximity to the performers, there is a level of intimacy you are unable to escape and it’s another reason why the end reveal of the ‘painting’ of Dorian is so gripping and horrific to watch.

With there being such little dialogue, when it does happen it needs to have an impact and whist the words are strong I don’t feel the delivery of the lines by the cast is. Francisco Lopez is able to bring some life into his dialogue but more work was needed from the other two leads, Johnathon Duffy and Tommy Doyle.

Dorian is not the Dorian Gray we have come to know, so ensure you leave any preconceptions at the door. This is WAQ Productions’ debut at Melbourne Fringe Festival and despite being a little rough around the edges, this play is a unique and interesting interpretation of a well-known text.

Venue: Lincoln Art Centre, Basement 24, Lincoln St, Brunswick East

Season: Until 05 October | Tues- Sat 8:00pm

Tickets: $24 Full | $18 Conc

Bookings: http://www.melbournefringe.com.au or 9660 9666

Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre

REVIEW: Domestic Warfare at MELBOURNE FRINGE

A striking snapshot of the 70s

By Scarlett Harris

Last night was the penultimate performance of Nice Productions’ Domestic Warfare at Gasworks Arts Park as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Due to illness I was unfortunately unable to attend last week but I’m so glad I got the opportunity to see this production as Domestic Warfare is a poignant and plausibly realistic portrayal of domesticity in 1970s Australia.

Domestic Warfare

The hair, costuming and set design perfectly captured the chintzy orangeness of the era and, considering the amount of physicality and energy required of the actors, the cramped performance space was well-utilised. And, coming in at about 90 minutes, Domestic Warfare got its point across in a refreshingly short but hard-hitting manner.

While the male cast members (with the exception of Stephen Laffan playing the small but affecting role of the abusive father) were mostly lackluster, the female actors were brilliant: Rebecca Fortuna, who also served as playwright, as main character Dee; depressed younger sister Lily, played by Lauren Murtagh; archetypal 70s chicks Merrin (Nicolette Nespeca) and my personal favourite Sherry (Dayna Boase); and finally Linda Zilinskas in the role of long-suffering matriarch Nance, whose part was not large enough in my opinion.

While there were hints of amateur yet gritty student theatre, overall Domestic Warfare as directed by Luci Klendo succeeded in portraying the struggle of the traditional family unit to keep up with the rapidly changing zeitgeist of the play’s setting.

Domestic Warfare was performed 19-28 September at Gasworks for Melbourne Fringe Festival 2013.

Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: It’s Happening in the Space Between My Face and Yours

Throwing surrealism to the wolves

By Myron My

A woman has gone missing and her friends are left to go on with their lives, not knowing what has happened to her. Despite attempts of normalcy and moving on, the wolves are always at their door waiting for the right moment to strike.

My latest venture into this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival was It’s Happening In The Space Between My Face and Yours. Written by Izzy Roberts-Orr, it’s a surreal look at love, sex and death through the eyes of a bunch of twenty-somethings sharing a house together. There is strong direction by Nick Fry, and the cast have done well in creating a sense of unity in their movements on stage.

It's Happening in the Space

The sound and lighting design by James Hogan and Nick Fry respectively are a highlight of the show and create an atmosphere of foreshadowing and something more sinister at play but this is not complemented by the acting or the script. The biggest issue I had with It’s Happening… is that I don’t know what it wants to be. Is it a romantic comedy for hipsters or a supernatural suspense? Either way, the two do not mesh with success here. Whenever surrealism is attempted in theatre, it either works incredibly well or not at all and in this situation, it does fall into the latter. There were also storylines that occurred very awkwardly like the introduction of a new housemate who rents out Jack’s room and the romance between El and Ali (Elle Kulesza and Rebecca Hunt).

I was captivated by Tom Molyneux and Meaghan Lawrie as the two ‘wolves’, almost to the point where I was watching them even when they weren’t actively participating in a scene. However, I was not convinced by the rest of the cast in their roles and their emotional scenes did not feel real to me. More development was required for all the characters, especially Jack (Jennifer Speirs) who needed more of a presence if she is to be the central character and theme in the play.

Melbourne Fringe Festival is about trying new things and doing something different: seeing what works and what doesn’t. Unfortunately the debut performance of It’s Happening In The Space Between My Face and Yours doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Venue: Sketch and Tulip, 364 Victoria St, North Melbourne
Season: Until 02 October | Tues – Sun 9:15pm
Tickets: $19 Full | $15 Conc
Bookings: http://www.melbournefringe.com.au or 9660 9666

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Rosie Rodiadis is UNCLOAKED

Looking under the hood – cabaret-style

By Ross Larkin

Anyone who’s ever worked in a customer service role can attest to the array of fascinating, if at times downright frustrating characters one encounters, and is often obliged to deal with.

As part of the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Rosie Rodiadis is exorcising, observing and celebrating her own range of experiences had as that of a theatre cloakroom attendant, in her self-penned, one-woman cabaret show Uncloaked.

Uncloaked

The confinement and mystique of an old theatre cloakroom, complete with outfits and accessories galore from patrons of every ilk, make for a delightfully indulgent and clever premise where any persona can be explored and brought to life.

Rodiadis showcases her versatility as she frocks up and assumes myriad of characters including an angry Italian diva, a bright seven-year-old girl, a wise old alcoholic and a Yugoslavian whore, amongst many others.

Uncloaked is peppered with relevant and familiar songs, all sung by Rodiadis, several of which she has added her own lyrics and meaning to, and, in turn, provide the more humorous moments of the piece.

Vocally, however, opera is clearly her strength, and thus, the show could benefit from the inclusion of more – a style in which Rodiadis seems most confident.

As she tells the story of her cloakroom-attending days, there is no shying away from bold statements, sexuality and political points of view. Rodiadis tends to succeed particularly when embodying the more brazen, larger-than-life, characters, although ultimately the show is about loneliness and the guises we hide behind, as this isolated performer gradually reveals (and uncloaks) her personal truths.

Uncloaked is playing at the Portland Hotel, 127 Russell St, Melbourne from September 27-29 and October 1 and 4-6 at 8.45pm. Tickets at http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/uncloaked/

Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Blindness at MELBOURNE FRINGE

The end is in sight

By Myron My

Inspired by Jose Saramago‘s novel and created by Justin Nott and Robert Smith, this play tells a story of an epidemic that takes over the world where everyone eventually – but suddenly – turns blind. Initially thought to be a contagious disease, the first people inflicted with the loss of sight are put into a large facility to be quarantined.

Blindness

It is there we witness the crumbling of humanity and civilisation with people turning on each other to survive. It is here where we experience new Melbourne Fringe festival show, Blindness.

Limited to ten people per show (bookings essential), we are blindfolded and, holding hands, are guided to a room. We are then separated and the blindfolds come off. All I can see is white – and nothing else. Just a white bright light all around me. Panic immediately sets in and I take a few deep breaths trying to figure out how they have managed to do this. Did they put some sort of mask over me while the blindfold was on? It is a few minutes later I realise the simplicity and ingenuity of how they have “blinded” me. I am not even sure how many actors are in the piece as we can only hear them. The attention to my internal terror and anxiety is on par with the attention I am giving to the actors.

There is not much of a story here, and perhaps it’s because I am quite familiar with the novel and film that I am able to follow and fill in the blanks. The very loose narrative jumps over quite large gaps, so for someone who is new to Blindness, it could be difficult to understand. While the story is being told, I am free to roam around. I occasionally bump into someone and am sometimes so close to someone that I can hear their breathing but still unable to see them. The interaction with the actors (or maybe some emotional audience members?) adds to the whole experience and another example of the brilliant immersive theatre taking over the Melbourne scene.

Blindness is a work in development and there is great potential to this show but a lot more attention needs to be focused on the unfolding narrative to really make audience members appreciate what they have experienced.

Blindness is showing as part of the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Venue: Second Edition, Rear of Higher Ground, 222 Johnston St, Collingwood

Season: Until 28 September | 7;00pm and 10:00pm

Tickets: Free

Bookings: ESSENTIAL – blindness.fringe@gmail.com

Cabaret, Cabaret Review, Festivals, Whats On

REVIEW: Melissa Langton in A SINGER MUST DIE… AND OTHER BEDTIME STORIES

Winningly witty and deliciously dark

By Bradley Storer

Award-winning cabaret performer Melissa Langton arrives at Chapel off Chapel with her latest offering, A Singer Must Die… And Other Bedtime Stories for Melbourne Fringe Festival. The subject of the evening is the idea of the ‘apocalypse’, both on the global and personal scale. Langton opens the show with the title song, a grim reflection on the artistic process and creative crisis, following with a rip-roaring gospel-inflected tune anticipating the destructive ecstasy of the coming cataclysm, setting up many of the ideas explored throughout the piece.

A Singer Must Die

Langton cleverly weaves tales of personal calamity and turmoil in a wide-ranging series of scenarios, the only set being three platforms which she cleverly moves between to punctuate her narratives. Topics reach from the forgotten little sister of Jesus forever living in her brother’s shadow, deception in online dating, a short-lived romance between carnival freaks to the return of the Devil to Earth. Some of the brighter numbers seem a little simplistic and underwritten in comparison to the darker songs, and at the beginning of the evening there seems to be an overload of more melancholy material which threatens to make it a little repetitive, but by the halfway mark Langton manages to find a balance between the light and shade which works wonderfully.

Langton herself is a charming performer, her wide-ranging vocals wielded to maximum effect and her belt physically shaking the room with its enormous strength! At times Langton seemed a little reserved and tentative, but this can surely be chalked up to opening night jitters – by the end of the evening she had blossomed with hilarious comedic energy in her more upbeat numbers and a simple but touching gravitas in more serious moments.

There are some utter gems amongst these partially spoken, partially sung tales. A hilarious saga of heartbreak and automotive spree-killing, a gently heart-breaking look into the life of a recently widowed woman.  The story of a woman breaking into the home of her ex-lover hums with the simultaneous agony and joy of being hopelessly in love, an extraordinary act of empathy which touched the audience in the deepest recesses of our hearts. The penultimate song, which explores the continuous unity of the human spirit and the possibilities of reincarnation, brilliantly ties together all the threads seen in the show into a multi-faceted reflection of the divide fundamental to the human condition. An evening of both entertainment and enlightenment!

VENUE: Chapel off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel St, Prahran.

DATE: 24 – 29th  September

TIME: 7:30 (6:30 Sunday)

PRICES: Full $28, Concession $25, Group 10+ $20

TICKETS: www.chapeloffchapel.com.au, Ph: (03) 8290 7000, at the door.

Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Spoilt At MELBOURNE FRINGE

An acerbic examination of the over-indulged

By Myron My

Spoilt, as the title indicates, is a satirical look at the kinds of women who are spoilt: spoilt by money, vanity and the luxurious life they lead. Through parodying five such women, creator and performer Liz Skitch certainly succeeds in making her point about how the values that these women hold are heavily misguided.

Spoilt

Skitch is on stage with five wigs and five pairs of shoes placed around the performance space. There is a box next to each wig with a few additional props – a necklace for one, a pair of shorts for another, et cetera. Her transformation into each character is an interesting process to observe, with Skitch remaining completely void of expression and emotion between changes and slowly becoming the embodiment of that character as she gets “dressed”. Her mannerisms, physicality, voice and especially her facial expressions astutely define all these women. Having studied at the school of Philippe Gaulier in London, Skitch is more than capable of giving herself over to these characters but not letting them run rampant.

In terms of characters, Jackie the celebrant and fitness trainer Peta Swift, are absolutely hilarious and had everyone in stitches. Her interactions with the audience as Peta feel very natural and even when an audience member of the evening I attended revealed his unusual deepest desire to us all, Skitch didn’t drop the persona.

Nineteen-year-old Larissa – reminiscent of Chris Lilley’s Ja’mie King – is another highlight as she details her incredible journey of being the Miss Universe runner-up. However, I don’t feel the remaining characters of Sonia and Sue were given enough developed narrative to keep us interested. They have some funny moments but possess nowhere near the caliber of back story and depth that the other three have. If anything they were too similar to the other more established characters of Larissa and Jackie respectively and they suffered for that.

Skitch has created a show that keeps the audience interested, attentive and provides a ruthless and incisive insight into the lives that such people lead. With her brilliant delivery and pace, Spoilt is a well-executed tragicomedy that has something very intelligent to say.

Spoilt is showing as part of the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Venue: La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street Carlton

Season: Until 29 September | Thurs-Sat, 6:30pm, Wed, Sun 8:30pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: http://lamama.com.au or 9347 6142

Events, Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: MKA – Kids Killing Kids for MELBOURNE FRINGE

Violent art exploited and explored

By Myron My

MKA: Kids Killing Kids is about four people – David Finnigan, Georgie McAuley, Jordan Prosser and Sam Burns-Warr – who went to the Philippines and created a play called Battalia Royale. It was an adaptation of the infamous Japanese novel/manga/film Battle Royale, where a group of children are drugged, wake up in a forest armed with an array of weapons, and are told there can be only one survivor, which results in a gruesome kill-or-be-killed fight. The worldwide response the play-makers received for their stage adaptation was something they never imagined, and in MKA they share their story with us.

MKA Kids Killing Kids

Kids Killing Kids starts off in a quite humorous and naïve manner – possibly emulating how these four theatre-makers felt during the initial creative process of Battalia Royale. It feels like you’re listening to a friend return from a holiday, with their jokey insights about random slogans seen on t-shirts and watching six-year-olds crump. Slowly, the tone changes to a more serious and thoughtful discussion on the after-effects of the play and the political situation in the Philippines.

The quartet repeatedly ask us – and themselves – what responsibility do they have as theatre-makers to their cast, the audience and the wider community, especially when their art involves a group of children violently and bloodily killing each other? Can they get away with it because it’s not real? Can such a play have a purpose, or is it just glorified violence? Perhaps there is no definitive answer for these questions and indeed, the creators here don’t pretend to know all the answers and seem just as lost and confused as we do when it comes to any final enlightenment.

The production of Kids Killing Kids is slick: the writing is sharp and the flow of information is smooth and well-thought-out. However, I did have a problem with the emotive but obvious pauses and silences and questioned their dramatic purpose being in conflict with their authenticity. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the four people involved, but such theatrical devices remind me I am watching a deliberate performance rather than sharing this real-life experience with them.

But perhaps this is the point. Is it a documentary? Is it theatre? Either way, MKA: Kids Killing Kids is going to leave any artist with a lot of questions about the complex roles we play in creating theatre and what boundaries we should and should not cross.

MKA: Kids Killing Kids is showing as part of the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Venue: Fringe Hub – The Warehouse, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne

Season: Until 3 October |Tues-Sat 9:00pm, Sun 8:00pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: http://www.melbournefringe.com.au or 9660 9666

Events, Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: A F*#king Mad Tea Party at MELBOURNE FRINGE

They’re all mad, there…

By Myron My

To enter A F*#cking Mad Tea Party at Melbourne Fringe Festival, one must first take a test. Only when the task is complete to the guard’s satisfaction is permission granted to head on upstairs and join the party. Upon having passed, I am greeted by a number of characters including a French0speaking woman and a man in a wooden chest, seemingly stuck there.

A Mad Tea Party

We are free to roam the space – which is amazing – and interact with the other “guests” at the party.  The Wonderland transformation affects the whole performance space (even areas that are not specifically used), inevitably adding to the authenticity of the evening.  It may have taken two days to set everything up but it clearly took a lot longer to get everything together and prepared.

The performers – Cassandra Belfrange, Jack Bennett, Rachelle Harvey, Ryan Lovat, Timothy Christopher Ryan and Samantha Wojcik – are brilliant and each one of them embraces and embodies their character with much gusto and love. They are all so dedicated and committed that it is impossible to pick a favourite or standout.

The music throughout the show has a variety of songs ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Laura Marling and some dreamy musical scores to name a few. Each one adds a unique element to the show depending on the individual act we are seeing. However it is through most of these acts that I feel A F*#cking Mad Tea Party suffers. Interspersed throughout the story are dance routines, circus acts and even a touch of burlesque but these performances needed tightening. There was much potential in each of them, but they all seemed to finish before they peaked. Perhaps in a more traditional performance these pieces would have satisfied, but this is Wonderland and I was hoping for something more adventurous and daring.

That said, immersive theatre seems to be popping up more and more in Melbourne (there are quite a few such shows during the Fringe Festival), but there’s something special about A F*#cking Mad Tea Party that requires viewing. It’s silly and strange and captivating and innocent and dangerous and I suspect you will not be able to find anything even remotely similar to experiencing a unique evening like this.

Venue: Norm. 34 Breese St, Brunswick

Season: 24-28 September | 8:00pm

Tickets: $27 Full | $22 Conc

Bookings: http://amadteaparty.com.au and http://www.melbournefringe.com.au