Tag: Revolt

Cabaret, Festivals, Performances, Review

REVIEW: Fringe Festival’s MONSTER

Welcome to the darkness

By Myron My

Monster

With its low lighting and large spacious rooms where you can only just see to the other end of it if you squint and focus, Revolt is the perfect venue for Monster, a horror-cabaret that looks at perceptions that the transgender community constantly battle.

Created by Daniel Gough and Danielle Starkey, we are welcomed into the dark and into the home of Madam (also performed by Gough) as she regales us with stories of her life. What starts as light-hearted enough slowly but then suddenly becomes dark and intense as Madam gives us an insight into life as a transgender person.

The lighting and set design support this darkening mood, building on the intimacy of a topic like transgender and also creating a claustrophobic mood in Madam’s attic apartment. The three “rooms” on set, the lounge, bathroom and bedroom, are where people are traditionally most honest with themselves and cannot escape their truth and it is quite fitting that the bathroom is where the most emotive and haunting moments take place in Monster.

Gough tackles the complexities of a transgender person with impressive results. You almost forget that Gough is reciting lines and performing on stage as Madam, especially with his consistency on playing out her mannerisms and nervous habits. He builds a strong emotional connection with the audience and the boldness and courage present in the final moments feel like a combination of loathing and loving self-acceptance for Madam.

Monster is a brilliantly horrific piece of theatre that looks at transgender people and the conflicts and issues they face but doesn’t accuse or threaten: instead, it leaves you questioning and looking to your own moral compass for answers on who the actual “monster” is.

Monster was performed at Revolt as part of the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: The CuttingRoom Floor’s ALL THE SINGLE LAD(IE)S

Two intertwined tales of gender-bending

By Myron My

There are two stories that take place in All The Single Lad(ie)s, The Cutting Rooms Floor’s production for 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival. One is drag show hosted by Tammy Packs (Braiden Dunn), who gives us some valuable life lessons and the other is set in a clothing store run by O (Verity Softly). The narrative of O looks at an incident at her store when a young man, V (Jack Walker), attempts to rob her at gun point. Things escalate from there and between every ‘chapter’ of this story, Tammy returns to the stage to dish out some advice whilst singing a few choice Beyoncé tracks that link back to the story.

All the Single Lad(ie)s

The expectations and power of gender are explored in a way which does not make judgments or accusations but instead, leaves you to your own devices to provoke thoughts and discussion. Looking at such themes, it is not surprising that Beyoncé’s music is used, herself as an artist being a highly successful, powerful and influential woman.

The writing by Zoe Hollyoak is strong during the Tammy scenes, but I felt the story of O and V needed some refining. I failed to be convinced at how events transpired, and the narrative flow did not feel organic. Moreover, I would have appreciated knowing the motivations of the characters in order to be able to make sense of their choices. However, there was some good acting by the two actors, especially during the more confronting and sexually charged scenes.

Meanwhile, Dunn seems completely at ease as the host(ess) with the most-ess, Tammy, especially with some of the audience interaction that occurs. His version of “If I Were A Boy” is quite touching and shows a softer side to the show and his character.

Scott Corbett’s direction makes great use of the stage, especially during the confronting final moments of the show which pack a powerful punch.

In both worlds in All The Single Lad(ie)s gender lines are reversed, blurred and smashed to a climatic ending. There are admirable and committed performances throughout, but I feel these performers could all have excelled with a slightly less-forced storyline.

Venue: Revolt, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington

Season: Until 4 October | 8:00pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc

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

Festivals, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Fringe Festival’s GET LUCKY

Hard to swallow

By Myron My

In Get Lucky presented by the Grey Matter Collective and directed by Brendan Glanville, our protagonist Brien cannot keep an erection. As such, his girlfriend breaks up with him, leading Brien on a journey of self-discovery… except there isn’t much discovering to be done. In fact, I have to say there isn’t much here at all. The story is pretty hard to accept, and there no real depth to be found despite the play’s obvious efforts to look at sexuality and explore the idea of what it is to be a man.

Get Lucky

In terms of acting, Matt Peacock is the strongest by far as the awkward and unsure Brien. The rest of the cast work well with the material given, but I feel they have very little to do other than play out the stereotypes they have been given.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much consistency in either the writing or the development of the characters. At one point, the female character played by Tara Jade is angry with Brien for lying to her about his knowledge of a pretty serious incident at a nightclub, yet a few minutes later she states that she will go out with him because he is the first man to be ‘honest’ with her!

The sexuality aspect in Get Lucky also comes across quite flippantly and without any conviction. Brien has a bit of a wrestle with a fellow gym member and suddenly has an erection and assumes he’s gay. This leads him to having a less-than-memorable experience with a man, and just like that he is straight again. What’s even worse is the way that a female character’s sexual assault at a nightclub is handled. I can see what the writers were trying to accomplish by showing these narratives, but it was misguided and unsuccessful, and made me feel extremely frustrated as an audience member.

Get Lucky really sounded promising on paper, but unfortunately there is more than just performance anxiety preventing this show from taking off.

Venue: Revolt, 12 Elizabeth St, Kensington

Season: Until 4 October | 7:00pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $19 Conc

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