Tag: Theatreworks

Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Little Ones Theatre Presents THE HOUSE OF YES

Dysfunctional comedy all in the family

By Myron My

It took me exactly 37 seconds to realize that I was going to be in pure bliss watching Little Ones Theatre‘s production of The House Of Yes, a bizarre yet hilariously witty play by Wendy Macleod.

The House of Yes_Photo Credit_ Sarah Walker Photography

It’s Thanksgiving in 1983, and Marty (Benjamin Rigby) has returned home with his fiancée Lesly (Anna McCarthy). As we meet the rest of the family – his mentally unstable and Kennedy-obsessed twin sister “Jackie O” (Genevieve Giuffre), younger brother Anthony (Paul Blenheim) and matriarch, Mrs. Pascal (Josh Price, in a superb casting decision) – the domestic Pandora’s box is well and truly opened in this satirical play on class, incest and mental illness.

For the most part, Giuffre succeeds in bringing out the fragility and loneliness in the challenging role of Jackie O but it is the scenes involving McCarthy and Blenheim that allow for a deeper honesty and vulnerability to be present. Unfortunately I was not at all convinced by Rigby’s performance as Marty, who really only shines in his scenes with Giuffre which are filled with an infinite amount of palpable sexual chemistry.

Price as Mrs. Pascal is truly an unusual choice, but at the same time a perfect decision to convey the dysfunctional ties of the family, and personify the desires and morals that otherwise seem to be lacking in the Pascal household.

Director Stephen Nicolazzo has done a great job in crafting the pace and delivery in The House of Yes, and there is never a dull moment on stage. The set and lighting design of the Pascal home further articulates the misguided values and the mindset of a family that is caught up in its own bourgeois reality. Eugyeene Teh’s all-pink set contrasts with the darkness that envelops the family, and the lighting by Katie Sfetkidis successfully builds the tension towards the climatic final scene, even with all the laughs and antics.

Little Ones Theatre have managed to bring their own unique touch to this compelling story of a family whose desires and wishes to lead the lives they want only ends in devastation for themselves and each other. The House of Yes gets a resounding yes from me.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda.

Season: Until 13 December | Tues – Sat 8:00pm

Tickets: $30 Full | $25 Concession

Bookings: 9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au

Performances, Review, Theatre

REVIEW: Verve Studios Presents LOST & FOUND

Seeking a way into the heart of complex characters…

By Myron My

Having recently seen Daniel Keene’s brilliant Dreamers, I was looking forward to seeing more of his work in Verve Studios’ production Lost & Found. Performed by the second year Professional Actor’s Studio graduates and directed by Peta Hanrahan, the play looks at three short stories by Keene all dealing with loss or gain around life: “The Violin”, “Neither Lost nor Found” and “What Remains”.

Lost and Found

By far, the most powerful performances among the three were in “Neither Lost nor Found”, in which an estranged mother and daughter are reunited. The two actors Nicole Morgan and Danelle Wynne were able to connect emotionally with the characters and offer some significant insight into the minds of these people.

However, I felt the direction needed to be stronger throughout all three stories to guide these upcoming performers more, especially in “The Violin” and “What Remains” as the actors are still learning the skills needed to be able to carry such challenging roles, and particularly with Josh Vasilev’s demanding role in the latter. Despite Vasilev’s obvious dedication to the character, the performance overall felt too theatrical and repetitive in directed reactions and responses.

The most successful aspect of Lost & Found was the various ways in which the stories were told from a visual perspective. The use of the projection screen in “The Violin” was highly emotive, with images of Jewish people in concentration camps appearing as the story was told. Similarly, in “What Remains”, the slowly rising full-moon projection as Vasilev’s character spoke into a microphone to an unknown person about what life means to him and the things he will miss such as his wife and child gave a profound sense of foreboding and fear as the speech progressed.

Technically, Lost & Found was brave and rewarding and the stories themselves are incredibly engrossing but it would seem more direction was required for the promising actors to be able to develop and fully explore these characters and their lives.

Lost & Found was performed at Theatreworks on 14-15 November 2014.

Events, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Kate Hunter’s MEMORANDUM

Sinking delicately into the depths of remembrance

By Margaret Wieringa

Smoke drifts across the stage in layers, twisting and turning with the gentlest movement. The air is filled with the sounds of summer, of insects and birds and the past. Slowly, so slowly, a figure in red is revealed off in the distance corner of the stage, obscured by the smoke and several long, semi-opaque banners that hang from the ceiling to the floor. And the remembering begins.

Memorandum_KateHunter__Photoby_LeoDale

You know what it is like, when you recall your childhood. You remember a story, but cannot be sure if the facts are right, or if you are blending two stories, or if any of it actually happened. But you can remember the full names of your primary school classmates and what they were known for. Sometimes it comes in a rush, sometimes in dribs and drabs. Sometimes, bits layer on top of each other like a dream, or a memory of a dream.

Kate Hunter has captured those feelings in this performance of Memorandum. Being in her company in the space at Theatreworks was like being invited into her memory; or a version of someone’s memory. It was a beautiful and surreal experience that was at once mine and not mine.

Kate’s performance is both mesmerising and hypnotising, at times funny and at times heartbreaking, and it is complemented so perfectly by the use of light and set to create a world that is vague and dreamlike and enthralling. Lighting designer and lighting operators Richard Vabre and Suze Smith build with light from traditional theatre sources as well as using projections and offstage lighting to create the vague, magical mood. Having two separate projections of similar images projected on a angle upwards through the three banners gave a layering effect of images, both clear and sharp, and fuzzy and distorted, and with Kate standing in front of them seemed to place her within the memory, within her dream, within her mind.

Then there was the sound, operated by Michael Havir; layers of voice that synch and clash with what Kate herself is saying, adding detail, removing meaning. Revealing, slowly and gently. Even the freezing cold of the theatre was bearable as we were absorbed into the world of memory.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Dates: May 20 – June 1, Tuesday-Saturday 8pm, Sunday 5pm
Price: $25 Full, $20 Concession $20, Groups of 8+ $20
Tickets: www.theatreworks.org.au

Events, Performances, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Mockingbird Theatre Presents THE JUDAS KISS

Bravado and betrayal in the fall of Oscar Wilde

By Ross Larkin

The Judas Kiss

It can be difficult to associate one of the world’s most iconic, hilarious comic writers with tragedy and betrayal, and as such, a play about Oscar Wilde’s life behind his witty penmanship is confronting, and a harsh reminder of how brutally he was treated.

The Judas Kiss, written by David Hare, has been staged by Melbourne’s own Mockingbird Theatre, and directed by company member Jason Cavanagh. The play examines the hours leading up to Wilde’s arrest for partaking in consensual sex with another man, followed by post-prison life in a filthy, run-down apartment in Naples with former lover, Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas. The before-and-after contrast surrounding Wilde’s two-year sentence is stark as the audience are made privy to the life and mind which was drained from him for supposed crimes and the consequences thereafter.

The initial scenes of The Judas Kiss are driven and ‘bolshie’, as Wilde’s comrades argue about whether he should flee to the continent or not, while Wilde, after feigning indifference, finally admits he lacks the will to try. As these quieter moments set in, the script becomes more engaging and the ensemble cast begin to showcase just how rock-solid they are.

The challenging, changeable role of Wilde is played to perfection by Chris Baldock, who simply nails the part, capturing beautifully the witty and charming bravado of the man prior to his arrest, and the pained, tortured soul thereafter. Oliver Coleman as Wilde’s literary executor and long-standing friend Robert Ross is equally impressive, cleverly demonstrating presence and commitment with an understated fury.

Nigel Langley as Bosie and the supporting cast are all worthy of mention in Mockingbird’s version, which director Cavanagh has succeeded in reimagining with simplistic charm and poignancy. The lighting in particular is beautifully designed by Rob Sowinski and made powerful use of.

The Judas Kiss is another fine example of why Mockingbird Theatre continues to fire along with the big guns, and save for the excessive duration of the final scene, this production is one of Melbourne’s not-to-be missed theatrical experiences.

The Judas Kiss is playing now at TheatreWorks, Acland Street, St Kilda until March 22, Tuesday to Friday at 8pm, and Saturday 2pm and 8pm plus Sunday March 16 at 5pm.

Bookings at www.theatreworks.org.au or (03) 9534 3388(03) 9534 3388(03) 9534 3388(03) 9534 3388.

Events, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Nijala Sun’s NO CHILD

Compelling school tale reaches new audiences

By Myron My

I missed Nijala Sun’s No Child when it was first performed during the Melbourne Festival in 2012 so when I heard Theatreworks was bringing it back this year for a limited run I jumped at the chance to see it and am extremely glad and grateful I had the opportunity.

No Child

No Child revolves around a new enthusiastic tenth-grade teacher at a rough Bronx high-school in New York where the children run circles round their educators. Miss Sun has a vision of these students performing Our Country’s Good, a play about British convicts on the first fleet. Ironically, the more we see of life in this school – and the students’ lives in general – disheartening parallels can be drawn between the two environments.

The unique thing about this production is the minimalist approach Sun employs in telling this story. There are only four chairs on stage and minimal props, no costume changes and Sun portrays all the sixteen characters. Her detail and commitment to each and every character’s physicality and personality is impressive and the transformations between them are flawless. Along with the strong story, No Child is therefore full of visual delights and thought-provoking dialogue and issues.

These issues are problems teachers face every day: how to engage children who – on the surface – don’t want to be engaged. Sun looks at this from various points of view and she questions how we can inspire students and have then feel safe enough to take risks, when we have all this testing and accountability to contend with. However, Sun doesn’t get preachy and tell us what we need to be doing, but her work encourages discourse on the matter with all – especially with children.

Adding to the performance is Mark Barton’s lighting, whose work created another layer of emotion into the show. The light changes happened quite subtly but with much effect, especially with the more emotive scenes at the end. Hal Brooks’ direction is strong and gives much support whilst also allowing much freedom for Sun to do what she does.

Despite the fact No Child is a commentary on the New York City public school system, it’s fair to say that anyone involved in the education system here will find relevance in the issues raised. If you haven’t seen this show you need to do everything you can to make sure you do. We all could learn a little something.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 26 May | Tues-Sat 8:00pm, Wed-Thurs 1:00pm and Sun 5:00pm

Tickets: $45 Full | $35 Conc and under 30

Bookings: 9534 3388 or www.theatreworks.org.au

Cabaret, Festivals, Musical Theatre, Review, Whats On

REVIEW: Suitcases, Baggage & Other Synonyms for MICF

Emotional luggage unpacked with wit and musical charm

By Myron My

Debuting at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after a previous Fringe appearance, Suitcases, Baggage & Other Synonyms starts with a bang (literally). This is a musical comedy show about five friends living together who are trying to determine where to go on a holiday.

Suitcases Baggage and Other Synonyms

Along the way to reaching an agreement, they and we are faced with many distractions and songs.

There is snappy and witty dialogue throughout Suitcases, Baggage & Other Synonyms and the show is littered with fun pop-culture references and expressions. The self-referential humour is done well and the laughs are extremely strong during the inane conversations that the housemates have over such important topics as how long should you leave yoghurt out of the fridge for…

There are strong performances present and the characters have been embraced by all the cast (the 2011 Melbourne Short+Sweet Cabaret Gala finalists Hannah Daniel, Sarah Jackson, Casey Dolcetta, Melissa Kahraman and Barnaby Reiter). The acting is excellent with special mentions going to Dolcetta for her ability to subtly command the audience’s attention and Jackson for her hilarious portrayal of an OCD-suffering comedian-in-the-making. The musical composition by Reiter is very impressive and he plays with great dexterity and skill.

During the songs, the five voices sparkle and nicely complement each other, in particular the New York medley song. Unfortunately, there are a few numbers don’t feel as lyrically tight as the rest of the songs or of a calibre with the acting.  My other disappointment with the songs was the constant changing of speaking and singing throughout the song, making it difficult to fully appreciate melodies and musical nuances.

Suitcases, Baggage & Other Synonyms is ultimately a highly enjoyable performance put on by some very creative and talented people.Anyone who has ever lived in a share house will ultimately be able to relate to at least one of these five people either because they remind you of someone you’ve lived with – or of yourself.
 
Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 20 March | 8:00pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc

Bookings: 9534 3388 or www.theatreworks.org.au

Events, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

Review: LOVE ME TENDER by Tom Holloway

An important story works to be told

By Myron My

Directed by Patrick McCarthy, Love Me Tender explores the aftermath of the Black Saturday fires and the effects it has had particularly on one man and his family.

Love Me Tender

I appreciate the adage “show, don’t tell” in theatre, so for me, this performance unfortunately consisted of too much telling. I find prolonged exposition hinders the involvement that an audience member can have with a piece and makes us less likely to care for or invest in the characters.  My other issue with this was that the characters tend to spend a lot of time talking about other people and offering very little about themselves, including remaining unnamed the whole time. The obvious effort to represent universal experiences here isn’t entirely successful.

That said, actors Nick Pelomis and James Tresise had great banter and rapport together. Their scenes are reminiscent of Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot, bordering on the absurd but giving some relief from the more serious mood at hand. Sarah Ogden also provides a strong yet subtle performance as the Mother.

Lisa Mibus has created a great lighting design for this production, and there were moments where the shadows on the background dominated the scene that was being played out, adding an atmospheric sense of macabre and impending doom to the story. The set design by Ashlee Hughes was also impressive; minimal and subtly used throughout, including a lone tree void of any life after a fire has gone through as its centrepiece.

Love Me Tender attempts to cover a variety of topics including bushfires, love, family and the sexualisation of teenage girls but it doesn’t all flow smoothly and you do get confused as to what is happening. The disjointed stories made this narrative difficult to follow.

McCarthy has obviously worked hard with a difficult and ambitious script by a reputable Australian playwright, which should always be commended, but ultimately I felt Love Me Tender prevents the characters or story from developing to their full potential.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 2 March | 8:00pm

Tickets: $25 Full | $20 Conc

Bookings: 9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: The Dead Ones at THEATREWORKS

Remembering those who came before us

By Myron My

The first thing to note about The Dead Ones, now playing at Theatreworks as part of Midsumma Festival, is that this is not like any other performance. There is no acting, there are no characters and there is no ‘script’. The Dead Ones is a presentation, a homage of sorts in which Margie Fischer retells the life of her family, now that she is the last remaining member of it.

Margie-Fischer

Whilst Fischer speaks to us, there is a photo slideshow of her family and the places she describes playing prominently centre stage. Putting faces to the names makes this seem all the more real (even though it already is) and Fischer’s stories seek to strike a more poignant note with the audience.

The thing that disappointed me about The Dead Ones was the level of detachment. Fischer is sharing some deeply moving and personal moments of her life yet I felt little of the emotional connection to what she was saying which I think was pivotal to a piece such as this. I felt in the performance style and language there was a real lack of dramatic rhetoric being utilized.

At times we kept switching from one period of time to another without warning and it seemed as if there were moments where we had already heard particular stories. There was a wealth of tales mentioned about which I – and I’m sure the rest of the audience – would have loved to hear more but it felt like we skimmed the surface of many of these due to the rapid nature of the changes in narrative direction.

Fortunately, these moments don’t detract too much from Fischer’s over-arching and admirable theme of honoring those we have met; those who have lived before us. It was very difficult to not simply go away inside myself and get lost in thinking about the love and loss I have experienced over the years, and the final minutes of The Dead Ones therefore do achieve the show’s goal in being particularly bittersweet and touching.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 3 February | Tues – Sat 7:30pm & 2pm Sat & 5pm Sun

Tickets: $28 Full | $22 Conc

Bookings:  9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

REVIEW: Here Lies Henry for MIDSUMMA 2013

Dark truths and slick lies

By Myron My

Directed by Jason Langley, Here Lies Henry by Daniel MacIvor is the second show to open at Theatreworks during Melbourne’s Midsumma festival. In Here Lies Henry we are treated to a one-man play where we meet the remarkable Henry, and Henry has something to tell us that we don’t already know.

Here Lies Henry

A single spotlight shines down on the stage as Henry (Matthew Hyde) awkwardly enters and breaks the fourth wall: speaking directly to us, interacting with us and at times, flirting with us.

Hyde is brilliant as Henry and has clearly been taken over himself by this character with dual personalities. There is the initial Henry we meet, who is timid, nervous and fidgety and it’s almost a relentless power struggle between him and the angry, loud and erratic Henry.

As we delve inside the mind of this troubled man Hyde creates and retains all the nuances that make Henry who he is. His body language, the fidgeting, his inflections and stutters remain constant and considering all eyes are fixated on him for the whole time, are very impressive. The confidence of being Henry is evident when he even remains in character to acknowledge and welcome some latecomers into the theatre.

Although Blake Garner’s lighting design and James Luscombe’s sound design are at a discreet minimum in this production, they ensure that when they do come into play, they are used at the most advantageous moments to create the most impact.

The great thing about an abstract play such as Here Lies Henry is that we have the freedom to interpret it as we want. Even the title itself could mean here lies Henry baring his soul and self to us or here stands Henry lying to us, as he openly admits he does.

It takes a lot to make one-person shows successful, as having a sole performer in front of you who not only demands your attention but also deserves it is not an easy accomplishment. Hyde does this and then some in a flawless performance. Here Lies Henry is a thoroughly thought-provoking, experimental piece that will leave audiences thinking about it long after they have seen it.

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda

Season: Until 27 January | 7:30pm

Tickets: $30 Full | $22 Conc

Bookings:  9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au

Events, Festivals, Performances, Review, Theatre, Whats On

Review: LITTLE ONES THEATRE PRESENTS Psycho Beach Party

60s spoof cinema becomes Midsumma highlight

By Myron My

Psycho Beach Party is a glorious camp dive into the 60s surf as we follow Chicklet’s (Ash Flanders) journey to becoming a female surfer. Along the way we learn of a psycho who likes to shave women’s hair from top to bottom, witness some “unexpected” love, and meet an overbearing mother with a secret or two of her own.

Filmed as the 2000 queer cult classic of the same name, Little Ones Theatre have brought all the joy and hilarity of Charles Busch’s spoof horror beach flick script back to the stage where it all began.

Psycho Beach Party

The play’s set is adorned with leopard prints as far as the eye can see: umbrella, beach chairs, sand, backdrop and even the majority of the costumes are all decked in various shades and patterns of black and yellow. Despite scene changes, the set never altered and perhaps allowing the audience to cast their eyes on something different would have better distinguished between different locales. The gloriously campy musical numbers – and quirky choreography – were a joy to watch and I did wish there had been a few more of these.

All the performers did extremely well with their characters and they were clearly having fun playing these absurd beach-loving stereotypes. The standouts for me would have to be Flanders, Genevieve Giuffre as Berdine and Zoe Boesen as Marvel Ann. Despite having quite a few different stories with not much narrative direction, the various erratic plots do all get wrapped up quite nicely by the end of the show.

But you are not watching Psycho Beach Party for its storyline or the depth of its characters. It is – dare I say it – like a 60s beach version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Friday the 13th Psycho Beach Party cranks it up to 11 with its over-the-top persona, some sharp (and sexually punning) dialogue and a few fabulous music interludes for good measure.

Playing as part of Midsumma Festival, Psycho Beach Party is as camp as the proverbial row of tents but this is definitely one beach where you’ll want to pitch yours (yes, I went there).

Venue: Theatreworks, 14 Acland St, St Kilda.

Season: Until 19 January | 7:30pm

Tickets: $32 Full | $22 Concession

Bookings:  9534 3388 or http://www.theatreworks.org.au