Performances, Review, Whats On

Arts House Presents TRILOGY

An incredible exploration of modern feminisms

By Myron My

Before Trilogy begins, Nic Green appears on stage to inform us that due to unforeseen circumstances, her co-performer Laura Bradshaw would not be participating this evening. Rather than cancel it, Green has fortunately decided to make some changes to allow the show to work. I say fortunately because Trilogy ends up being a brilliant feminist performance art piece on women reclaiming their bodies and their rights, and it would have been an absolutely shame to miss out on this experience.

Trilogy

The first part of Trilogy examines how women’s bodies are presented in the public eye and how women view their own bodies. Green begins with a humorous cheer-leading routine that eventually turns into a group of about thirty Melbourne women performing a dance with a freer choreography. However, these volunteers are naked and cover all shapes, sizes, ages and race. They dance joyfully and connect with each other, allowing all their body parts to move along to the music uninhibited. These women are proud and will not conform to the expectations that they must be quiet and passive. It is a physical celebration of women and their bodies, of being a woman and of what it means to be a woman.

Part two focuses on the historical context of feminism with use of the documentary Town Bloody Hall, a debate on women’s liberation that took place in 1971 and was moderated by Neil Mailer. The panel of feminists included Germaine Greer and Jill Johnston and excerpts of their speeches are projected onto the screen. Joining Green on stage are Murray Wason, Bron Batten and Candy Bowers, and together they share their own experiences of gender roles and expectations and how these moments shape how society forms. What is revealed is the stark realisation of how much further we’ve got to go for equality and representation, despite how far we have seemingly come.

The third section, which appears to be most affected by Bradshaw’s absence, has Green giving a lecture on women creating their own “herstory”. Using the English hymn Jerusalem by William Blake, which was the official song of the suffragette movement, Green encourages women to reconnect, reclaim and re-frame their gender, which culminates in an empowering and liberating moment.

It is virtually impossible to walk out of Trilogy and not be determined to want to create change in society, regardless of what your sex or gender may be. But Green is specifically encouraging women to unite and explore their feminism, to make a stand, to fight for what they want, what they deserve, and as she declares at one point, “to start your own fucking movement”. Perhaps this is when the next revolution finally begins. 

Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne, 3051

Season: Until 26 June | Thurs – Sat 8.30pm, Sun 2pm 

Tickets: $45 Full | $35 Conc | $30 Student

Bookings: Arts House

Image by Bryony Jackson

Cabaret

Circus Oz Presents TWENTYSIXTEEN

Highly enjoyable new show

By Jessica Cornish

TwentySixteen, the latest Circus Oz creation to hit their Big Top at Birrarung Marr, went back to its roots in this show – but with some unexpected and quirky twists and turns, resulting in one of the company’s best productions in years.

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Under the direction of Anni Davey and musical direction of Ania Reynolds, the small but versatile cast plunged into everything from musical instrument to trapeze in a fast-paced night. Acrobatics featured heavily through out the evening, particularly showcasing the strength of the female performers. The Chinese pole, flying trapeze, hoop-diving and a unicycle adagio were all there, plus a beautifully choreographed and eccentric flying-trapeze acrobatic number featuring a bare-bummed male performer gliding across his hysterical audience members. The music was bright, punchy and helped the acts smoothly transition from one scene to the next.

MC’s Flip Kammerer and Dale Wood-Bridge Brown clowned it up throughout the evening and managed to do a good job holding the audience’s attention. Adult themes were cleverly woven in to the script, entertaining both adults and children simultaneously. My only niggle was that throughout the show it was only the female MC who was consistently falling or being pushed down by her male counterparts. Seemed a little bit odd and uncomfortable to see nowadays, but considering Circus Oz’s general practices, it was possibly to challenge the audience’s gender perceptions – or this is just a bit of slapstick comedy being overly critiqued.

The evening’s performance was not yet perfect: further work still needs to be done particularly on the juggling work, with quite a few dropped balls throughout the night and considering the choreography wasn’t completely in sync. Once again though, as nerves abate and the season progresses, so too shall the quality and ease of the performance. TwentySixteen is satisfyingly interesting, colourful and an entertaining two hours away from the rainy Melbourne streets.

Season: 15 June- 10 July

Prices: From $40.00 – $95.00

Venue: Circus Oz Big Top, Birrarung Marr

Tickets:http://www.circusoz.com/tickets-and-shows/about-the-show/about-the-twentysixteen.html

Image by Rob Blackburn

Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

2016 Graduating Music Theatre Company of Federation University Australia Presents THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Inventive and energetic production of quirky gothic musical

By Amy Planner

That kooky family that we all know and love has been reborn in musical form in this production of The Addams Family, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Presented by this year’s music theatre Arts Academy graduates from Federation University Australia in Ballarat, and based on the original cartoon characters by Charles Addams, this amusingly spooky tale is witty, unique, mysterious, spooky and altogether ooky.

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This gloriously gloomy tale follows the Addams clan as they find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Wednesday decides she wants to marry the very normal, very cheery, yellow wearing boy, Lucas Beineke. When their families meet for the first time, when basic black meets bright and shiny, something is bound to go wrong.

This off-beat musical was decisively dependent on their creative team, whose unique vision of this crazy family and willingness to step outside the box certainly paid off. Director and choreographer David Wynen and musical director Rainer Pollard proved satisfyingly that what you think you know should never be what you expect when it comes to musical theatre.

The cast were diverse, multi-talented and even controversial at times. As is often the case in large-scale productions, some performers were stronger than others and deserve special mention such as Andrew Thomas as the seductively romantic Gomez Addams, Liam Dodds as the hilariously kooky Uncle Fester, Georgia Moore as the solemn but somehow hopelessly in love Wednesday Addams, and of course Paige Easter as the slightly off-centre and forever rhyming Alice Beineke.

The ensemble is also highly engaging: long moments pass where your eyes are glued to the ghostly figures in the background and yet you are still more than thoroughly entertained. These Addams ancestors, decked out in clothing from various eras, dance and sing their way through the entire show, including most notably the Roman Luke Wilson and Equestrian Rider and show dance captain Eliza Grundy.

These sleek era-styled costumes of the ensemble were the work of costume & set designer Adrienne Chisholm, whose work was artistically distinctive in the face of the extremely iconic image that is the Addams Family.

There were a number of technical difficulties throughout the performance I attended, with a few mic fades, some lighting trouble, a couple of projection issues and a 47-minute technical-related intermission. But despite all this, the performers remained calm and in character and should be commended for their professionalism.

If musical theatre and a little nostalgia are what you’re after, this production will delight and stimulate. You really should go and see ‘em, they really are a screa-um – check out The Addams Family. *Click *Click.

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St. Kilda

Season: June 18th-25th 2016 – Wed to Sat 7.30pm, Sun 19th 3pm, Sat 25th 1pm.

Tickets: $50 Full, $40 group 10+, $35 Conc, $10 Fed Uni Students (plus $2.50 booking fee)

Bookings: theatreworks.org.au

Image by Jodie Hutchinson

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival: AMY G’S ENTERSHAMEMENT

Uproariously outrageous

By Joana Simmons

This year’s Melbourne Cabaret Festival features a program with artists from all corners of the cabaret genre and all corners of the globe. New Yorker Amy G’s one-woman slapstick-song-dance-and-skating show Entershamement is a prime example of the host of talent dished up for the tasting. She explores some personal truths about shame, and #noshame, throws stones at her haters and commands the stage to do anything and everything to entertain her audience. She ain’t chicken. Except in the act where she is a chicken.

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Belting out a range of diva staples (“I’ll put a Spell on You”, “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman”, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”) there were moments where her notes floated into the air and tickled our ears like the smoky stage she was standing on. However, there were also many moments where her voice sounded strained for the power-house notes and didn’t do the song or her justice. Her range of skills though, is as vast as her homeland: moments that had me guffawing and gasping for air were fantastic physical comedy on rollerskates, her Spanglish flamenco senorita with a fire in her belly, a glimpse into her dressing room at intermission and the amazing way she can play a kazoo with her hoo-hoo. The latter is one party trick one will never forget, and finishes the show with a rousing applause. These moments aside, the rest didn’t land for me. She touched on the concept of shame and judgment as a performer but it felt skin deep, and this shameful reviewer wants to see the rock bottom of the deepest pools of her real truths.

For a show in a festival program that has multiple events in the same venue in the one night, the production and tech is seamless. The lighting is well-set, well-timed, and adds magic to her marvelous acts. Similarly, the sound – quite simply – is great, standing strong through multiple costume and mic changes. Amy G’s costumes are as delightfully showy and theatrical as the way she got changed into them: my favourite was spinning on skates as she spun into a dress- a tornado of glamour and grace.

If you have never seen cabaret before, but kind of have an idea of what it is, this is a show for you- with a few wonderful surprises and moments you won’t forget. If you have seen cabaret before, enjoy feathers, sequins, songs, skates and jokes– a woman whose talent is varied and stories are true, this is a show for you.

Season: Until June 19

Venue: Chapel Off Chapel

Tickets: http://chapeloffchapel.com.au/melbourne-comedy-theatre-art/melbourne-events/melbourne-cabaret/amy-g-entershamement-16-19-june/

Dance, Performances, Review

Melbourne Ballet Company Presents EMPYREAN

Be transfixed

By Joana Simmons

Melbourne Ballet Company brings us the second chapter of their 2016 trilogy season: Intention and Desire. Empyrean is taken from the Ancient Greek meaning ‘highest form of heaven’, and described in the program as an intellectual light full of love. The show comprises of three separate works created by three distinctly different Australian choreographers – Timothy Harbour, Simon Hoy and Rani Luther – who have created individually fantastic works that bring life to this lofty idea.

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The first piece “Illuminate”, by Rani Luther with music by Philip Glass, explores the idea that heaven is there to be found in all of us on multiple levels. The beginning is breathtaking. Three male and female couples beautifully weave in and out, using choreographic devices, technical lifts and turns to create a world that is mesmerizing to watch. There is a great variety of movement, the partner work was solid and innovative and the dancers’ musicality and timing was en pointe (pun intended). Set on the backdrop of a projection focusing on the woman holding the lamp in Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica (which represents a world reigned over by harmony and light amid suffering and destruction) each dancer had a moment to shine, lead by principals Kirsty Donovan and Alex Bayden Boyce. You know a dance work is good when you feel the audience let out a breath when the sweating athletes stand still at the completion of the 30-minute piece.

“Zealots”, by Timothy Harbour and with music by John Adams, is a dynamic contrast to the previous piece: the dancers in their yellow high neck costumes, black socks and shoes do not touch or manipulate each others’ bodies, yet still are rarely apart. There are moments of strong company unison, because they were separate you could appreciate the tricky choreography, with its quirky hip placement and arm lines. The music is electronic and choppy, and the powerful sharp movements blended it to make it bounce off the stage. I loved how you could see each dancer’s unique contribution to the work, and how the women and men were dancing the same, powerful steps. Samuel Harlett’s incredible, almost rubber-limbed movements show impeccable control. “Zealotry” is defined in the program as “fanatical commitment and belief” and you can definitely see the dancer’s full commitment to this hard-hitting sharp movement. The 15 minutes feels like longer as it is dense with complex dance.

The final work hit the nail on the head. In “Lucidity”, by company director Simon Hoy and music by Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter captivatingly combines complex floor work and sharp technical movement. The projections on the giant backdrop synchronised with the electronic beats and hard-hitting movement making it a full physical sensory experience. The thing that stood out for me was how there was real connection between the dancers, making me feel them, not just watch them and it was – dare I say it – sexy.

Hoy and Alisa Finney have put together a delightfully varied and high quality production. Lighting designed by Craig Boyes and costumes by Santha King add so much to make this show memorable. There’s a lot of sad things happening in the world at the moment; this is why we are lucky to have the theatre, where we can escape and be mesmerized by stories and talent. Make the most of it, and look out for the Melbourne Ballet Company‘s upcoming productions.

Empyrean was performed at the Alex Theatre from June 17-18, 2016.

 

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2016: DEATH SUITS YOU

Blithely black humour prevails

By Myron My

Everyone has moments when they feel underappreciated and ignored at work and frustrated with their overall work/life balance, but none more so than Death. This is someone who meticulously plans how each and every mortal will meet their ultimate demise, and then needs to ensure our own stupidity or actions do not interfere with these plans. Death must watch over us all the time, even when we are sleeping. In this year’s Melbourne Cabaret Festival show Death Suits You, this hardworking individual recalls some of his finer achievements and attempts to have us understand the complexities of his role.

Death Suits You

Sam Hooper as Death is a charming and charismatic performer, even if this version of Death is simply dressed in plain black shorts and a t-shirt. Perhaps this is part of Death’s plan: to appear as “one of us” and subsequently let our guard down and allow ourselves to see things from his perspective, no matter how macabre it might be. Hooper has written some great individual tales to share and despite knowing that it will not be a happy ending, the build-up and visual language he uses has the stories running through our minds as vividly as a movie.

With each narrative, Hooper has an accompanying performance piece, and the beauty of this is that it is not just song, but also dance and spoken word, which leave the audience wondering how he will interpret the next victim’s inner feelings and sadness. Hooper tailors these perfectly and the touching dance routine during his drowning victim’s tale is equally meditative and unsettling. Likewise, Hooper’s careful diction with the spoken word pieces clearly brings out the attitudes and feelings of those who are facing mortality, and are performed with strong conviction.

Despite the necessary gloom and doom theme of the show, such as Death’s retelling of poor 6-year-old Eva’s end, Hooper ensures that the audience is never left despondent. The show is littered with clever and witty laughs, such as Death’s admission that he controls the weather to create a dramatic exit for people, or how his work is a great method of population control.

Robert Tripolino‘s music is the perfect accompaniment to the stories and, in the face of Death, is effortlessly brought to life by the two-piece multi-instrumentalist band of Shanon Whitelock and Caleb Garfinkel, providing strong support to Hooper. The simple lighting throughout the show is also used well in creating the various moods and scenarios that Hooper describes.

Sadly, as with many cabaret shows during the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Death Suits You only has a three-night run which ends on Sunday so best head off and see this show soon, before Death decides to pay you a visit instead.

Venue: Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel St, Prahran 
Season: until 19 June| 8.45pm
Tickets: $37 Full | $33 Conc 
Bookings: Chapel Off Chapel

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2016: MOTHER’S RUIN

Sublimely intoxicating

By Myron My

It’s no accident that a cabaret show about the history of that sordid spirit, gin, would instantly have attracted my interest. After all, who wouldn’t be interested in a cabaret show that deals with sexism, misogyny, colonialism and propaganda? That’s right, the history of gin covers all these issues and with Mother’s Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin, not only are we educated on these but also remain constantly highly entertained.

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Performers and co-creators Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood have joined forces with Sydney-based gin aficionado Elly Baxter from The Ginstress, who has been writing about gin since 2012. This collaboration allows the audience to hear more of the lesser-known facts of this beloved beverage, ensuring we are always interested and intrigued by what is being revealed.

Marsden and Wood have a commanding presence on stage, and being part of feminist cabaret group Lady Sings It Better, they are no strangers to the performance space. They share a strong rapport with each other and their banter is highly engaging and natural. The audience is easily brought on-side and after a cheeky performance of Lionel Bart’s “Oom Pah Pah”, we have no option but to succumb to the sweet elixir of gin – and these ladies.

The variety of songs the two cover, which have been re-written to link to historic moments in gin consumption, are creative, daring and full of flair. Wood’s rendition of “Fever” in reference to the use of the alcohol to help combat malaria is not only vocally sublime but a stroke of comedy genius. Marsden’s performance of Martha Wainwright’s “Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” is possibly the best song I have seen performed in a cabaret.

Joining Marsden and Wood on stage is musical director and skillful pianist and vocalist, Jeremy Brennan, whose cover of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” had the entire venue erupt in a sing-a-long where it was very easy to picture everyone raising their glasses to the air with copious amounts of gin spilling everywhere. It’s not often that an entire audience can forget they are watching a performance and feel like they are just a communal group of people out together having some fun, but that moment was one of those unique theatre experiences.

Mother’s Ruin may be a loving ode to a favourite spirit, but you do not need to be a gin drinker to appreciate its brilliance. With the show closing this weekend at the well-matched Butterfly Club, I highly recommend dropping any other weekend plans you might have and booking tickets for this. Go for the excellent show and stay for the delicious drinks; it will be one of the most enjoyable experiences you can currently have in Melbourne.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: Until 19 June | 8.30pm
Tickets: $36 Full | $30 Conc
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Cabaret, Festivals, Whats On

Melbourne Cabaret Festival: #FIRSTWORLDWHITEGIRLS

Ignorance is cabaret bliss

By Myron My

It’s been two years since Melbourne was graced with the presence of Tiffany and Kendall, two affluent white girls who have some major problems to deal with. Problems like 2-in-1 shampoo, and being invited out but having to decline because their phones are still charging. Inspired by the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems, Judy Hainsworth and Kaitlin Oliver Parker are back with their comedy cabaret #FirstWorldWhiteGirls.

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This trust fund princess and day-drinking trophy wife express the difficulties they regularly encounter through a number of entertaining original songs, each one showing not only their ignorance of the world but also the extremities of their privilege. Frighteningly enough, there are times when the things they say easily remind us of someone we know, or even ourselves. When they announce to the audience that “we are you”, they could in fact be correct, regardless of sex, race or gender.

The musical numbers bring forth some brilliant performances with clever lyrics that deservedly receive many laughs. The highlights of the evening though belong to a song about the most recent trend in cosmetic surgery (to tell you would ruin half the fun) and Tiffany’s “love song” to a suitor begging him to please not ask her out. The heart-rending ballad on FOMO is also a great moment that shows just how important these seemingly trivial problems can be for some people.

It’s between the songs however where some jokes falter and punchlines are either predictable or not as strong as what they could be. At one point, we are told that you can never go too far for the perfect body, but if this maxim applies in terms of their humour, the envelope is severely pushed with Hainsworth and Parker making some ordinarily questionable jokes around World War 2 and the adoption of children of colour. However, as these type of offensively ignorant thoughts and observations are in line with how Tiffany and Kendall live their lives, they actually succeed in pointing out exactly how out of touch with reality these girls are.

Hainsworth and Parker have been performing as Tiffany and Kendall for a number of years now, and often there is a sense of familiarity evident, that comes with getting to know a character you have created over time. Unfortunately on the evening I attended, I could not see this on stage and was personally left wanting a stronger fusion between performer and character. Despite this, there is still a good dose of laughs and enjoyment in #FirstWorldWhiteGirls that reminds us just how lucky we actually are.

Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne 
Season: Until 19 June | 7pm 
Tickets: $32 Full | $28 Conc 
Bookings: The Butterfly Club

Comedy, Impro, Whats On

Impro Melbourne Presents GRAND THEFT IMPRO

It would be a crime to miss it

By Joana Simmons

After a sold-out season at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Impro Melbourne’s encore season of Grand Theft Impro is speeding full throttle to deliver fast paced improvisational goodness. Procuring ten titles from the audience, the five players deliver scenes, songs, and storytelling over the 50-minute show, resulting in hundreds of laughs.

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The cast write the ten audience suggestions on ten cards and hang them at the back of the stage. Titles for the evening I attended included “I love my chicken” “Where’s my kale” “Sauerkraut and chips” “Such is life when you are a stuffed racoon” and “Chaffing.” At the end of each scene, it is put to the audience to vote whether the scene is complete, or a fail. If the result is the latter, the players must redo the scene, until the audience gives it the thumbs up. The quick witted cast – comprised of Rik Brown, Jenny Lovell, Patrick Duffy, Mike Bryant and special guest from Sydney Steve Kimmens and accompanied by Ian White on the keyboard- worked together to present an array of scenes, contexts and characters. The innovation and skill level is very high, with the cast using multiple improvisational tools and snappy callbacks to create captivating and cackle-worthy entertainment.

I was very impressed with how quickly the players were able to flesh out scenes by giving elaborate detail to their scene partner, setting the story early, and raising the stakes to dramatic proportions. It’s these things that give us the audience something substantial to chew on and split our sides over. Some of the scene endings and transitions were naturally a little clunky, as the tech and music are also improvised; that being said, the cast did recover well and redeemed any false starts or endings with a smart one-liner. For a show with such strong structure impro-scene-wise, it is noticeable when the song structure is not as strong. I would have loved to hear a verse-chorus-verse-chorus song with a consistent rhyme scheme; which is notoriously difficult to do – but if anyone can, it’s this dynamic crew.

Warm up your winter with a hot whisky, a pub meal and all the hilarity being dished up at the Court House Hotel every Saturday till August 27th. Tonight’s show finished with a dazzling musical journey titled “Misery and Mermaid Tails”: t’was a fantastic finale that left me feeling warm inside. Every night is different, so catch one or catch them all; you won’t be disappointed.

Show Dates

Saturday nights, 8–9pm May 28th,- August 27th

Venue

The Court House Hotel
86-90 Errol Street
North Melbourne, VIC 3051

Tickets

$15 online, $20 at the door. Show only.
Book online via Ticketmaster

Review, Theatre, Whats On

Gail Louw’s BLONDE POISON

An engrossing and triumphant performance

By Myron My

Seventy-one year-old Stella Goldschlag is nervously anticipating the arrival of a visitor. It is 7am and he is expected in just under four hours. Her anxiety stems from her past as a Nazi collaborator, where in order to save herself from the horrors of Auschwitz, agreed to inform on other Jews in hiding to the Gestapo. Presented by Strange Duck Productions, Blonde Poison is the intriguing yet disturbing true story of Stella and the cost of her survival.

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Belinda Giblin as Stella is an example of when casting is perfection. The accent is flawless, even when Stella’s emotions sometimes get the better of her as she recalls the more horrific moments of her life. The poignant facial expressions and wide eyes made up with the iconic black eyeliner are still printed firmly in my mind. You can’t help but sympathise with this character, but at the same time, she is responsible for the death of thousands of Jews. Giblin’s portrayal of the desperation and defeat enveloping Stella in the final moments of the show are so powerful and conflicting that they leave you wondering if Stella has managed to manipulate yet again. It truly is an amazing performance.

Jennifer Hagan‘s careful direction shows Stella’s gradual unraveling, as it becomes clear that she is slowly losing herself to the horrors of her past: lamps are turned on despite it being morning and picture frames are placed backwards on coffee tables. The script itself, written by Gail Louw, does lose its momentum at times, but Hagan and Giblin work hard at overcoming this with that masterful finale.

The set design by Derrick Cox is well thought-out and subtly links in with Stella’s life and ideas raised in Blonde Poison. The full-length mirror that Stella occasionally looks into and speaks to visually reproduces her inner self-reflection and her external confessional, and the suitcase full of dolls is a constant reminder of not only of Stella’s own child, but also the naivety and innocence Stella had when was doing what she did to stay alive. Jeremy Silver‘s hauntingly captivating score is paired well with Matthew Tunchon‘s adroit lighting design, both which build on the intensity during Stella’s interrogation scenes.

Blonde Poison‘s overarching idea – what would you have done? – is a difficult demand to answer and fortunately, one that we are unlikely to ever face. While it’s easy initially to condemn Stella Goldschlag for these crimes, the growing impact of her protestations of  innocence are difficult to ignore. Blonde Poison is a thought-provoking production that is both relentless and powerful in its execution.

Venue: Southbank Theatre, 140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Season: Until 11 June | Tues – Sat 7.30pm, Sat 1.30pm
Tickets: From $52.90
Bookings: Melbourne Theatre Company