30 November 2011

Last Tuesday's Poet Laureate is Live on Air

It was bloody hot last night, but the hottest spot in town was The Last Tuesday Society's Occupy Xmas: their fourth Christmas spectacular.

If anyone wants to wipe out Melbourne's indie theatre scene, poison the pear cider and gluten-free ale at a Last Tuesday gig.  As it's here that hosts and founders Richard Higgins and Bron Batten assemble the most ridiculously talented (and the most ridiculous) folk around and make them perform for Melbourne's hipsters*.

Everything at the Xmas gig was new material. Some will fade into legend, like:
  • The Suitcase Royale's "Merry Christmas You Cunts" song
  • Bron's attempt to get snogged
  • Max Gilles as Lord Mayor Doyle
  • The Sisters Grimm's delicate re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk.
While others were glimpses of new shows, like:


Live on Air with Poet Laureate Telia Nevile

Last night, Telia warmed my heart with a death metal ode to the apostrope. Typos can be forgiven but if you ever write it's and think it's possessive, you'll never have sex with a writer.

Live on Air is on for four shows the Butterfly Club from Thursday to Sunday. The Poet Laureate's gorgeous world is subtle, intricate and so damn funny that you'll leave in love with words for ever.


* in the original sense of the word and the more recent sense

29 November 2011

Review: Day One. A Hotel, Evening

Day One. A Hotel, Evening
Red Stitch
20 November 2011
Red Stitch
to 17 December


The only thing that over shadows Joanna Murray-Smith's complex plot and labyrinth structure is her delicious and quotable wit. Back in a small theatre and with Red Stitch's boutique creators, the world premiere of Day One. A Hotel, Evening delivers a world so familiar that it could hurt to watch, if it weren't so damn funny.

There are two 40-something couples (Kate Cole, Dion Mills, Sarah Sutherland and John Adam) who are attempting to "build a postcode" and develop an outer-city suburb that they would never visit. They're wealthy enough to still need to be good looking, bored enough to drift from any middle class notions of fidelity and hurt enough to contemplate revenge. Throw in a promiscuous and pretty 22-year-old actor (Anna Sampson) and her philosophising hit-man husband, and there's a made-in-Melbourne farce that's guaranteed to please – unless it's meant to be a dark comedy.

In farce, we can laugh 'til we cry at hurting characters because we don't love them enough to care (like Basil Fawlty or anyone in The Importance of Being Earnest), but in dark comedy, we see their broken souls and the laughter comes at the cost of feeling their pain (like David Brent or the likes of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf ). All are as witty as a wit in a wit competition with a superior wit, but the freedom of farce allows the pain and confusion to create bigger and heartier laughs without the cost of empathy.

Murray-Smith's clever jokes, satire and mirror recognition bring easy laughs, made easier by the gorgeous performances, but the tone skates and slips without control. Sutherland's aggressive aggressive (it's easier than passive aggressive) Stella delights in her over-the-topness, then Hayward's Ray makes us want a happy ending, and for all the brilliant banter between Mills and Adam (can "fuck plagiarist" please enter our vernacular), I have no idea what they were hoping we would feel or if we were meant to feel anything other than admiration.

I'll remember "Love is not a guinea pig", but I've already forgotten the names of the characters and, I suspect that I'll quickly forget the ending because I didn't know if I was meant to fall off my chair in crying shock about the cost of love, or laughingly wet myself at its inevitability.

Photo by Jodie Hutcinson

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com


28 November 2011

DON'T MISS Dickens

Charles Dickens Performs A Christmas Carol has four nights at the Atheneum next week. It's still one of the best stories ever told.

If you've seen it, you know you have to bring your extended family this year, and if you haven't, this show is the kind of holiday tradition that makes up for the socks and undies from Nanna.

Starting off in community halls in 2003, it was impossible to get tickets for seasons at The Courthouse and Spiegeltent, but the Atheneum has room for everyone.

I first saw it in 2006 and Phil Zachariah's performance was one of my favourites of 2010.


Dickens gave the first public reading of his story in 1853 and over the next 16 years, his readings attracted thousands in Britain, the US and Europe.

Zachariah and director James Adler fell have embraced the tradition and remind is how bloody gorgeous a night of storytelling should be.

After the short Melbourne season, they're is off to Germany for New Year and SM has been told the list of European dates is about to explode.

26 November 2011

Review preview: Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens
The Production Company
24 November 2011
The Playhouse, the Arts Centre
to 4 December


The cult fascination with Big and Little Edie Beale doesn't resonate as it does in the US, but it doesn't leave this pair any less fascinating. The Production Company present the Australian premier of the 2007 Tony-winning musical and with Pamela Rabe and Nancye Hayes cast, expectations were high.

...

Hayes and Rabe are two of the best around and they surpass all expectations as the Edies bicker and fight for attention and try to find love in their bitterness and regret. It's easy to laugh at the quirks of old-lady eccentricity, but their story isn't easy to laugh with, as it's too close for anyone with parent problems or aging issues or a belief that two cats isn't enough. It's the honesty that Rabe and Hayes find that makes their Edies their own and so much more than remembered images from a screen.

With tiny budgets and short rehearsals, The Production Company always create something so much more than expected. Grey Gardens doesn't always grasp the tone and cultural impact of this story, but it's still a great night out and you'll not see better than Hayes and Rabe.

The full review appears on AussieTheatre.com

It's Last Tuesday week!

OMG, OMG, OMG!

Jim is going to be at The Last Tuesday Society's Xmas show! Too excited.




Jim Batten: the undisputed star of the 2011 Melbourne Fringe.

Review: Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country

Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country
Ilbijerri, the Minutes of Evidence Project and La Mama
18 November 2011
La Mama Courthouse Theatre
to 27 November
www.lamama.com.au


Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country lets past voices be heard as Ilbijerri and La Mama continue to tell stories that we need to know and to share.

Telling a story that is so important to many Victorians, and with Liz Jones, Melodie Reynolds, Jack Charles, Greg Fryer, Jim Daly, Peter Finlay, Glenn Shea, Tom Long and Syd Brisbane as the cast, Coranderrk was sold out before it opened – but there's a waiting list and fortune favours those who take a chance.

Until now, I didn't know about Coranderrk. In 1863 near Healesville, the Coranderrk station was established as an 'Aboriginal Reserve'  by the surviving members of displaced Kulin clans. Working with a European lay-preacher, John Green, Coranderrk developed into a self-supporting farm community and welcomed members of other displaced clans. By 1877, the land had become valuable to the surrounding farmers and Board for the Protection of Aborigines dismissed Green as manager.

With conditions deteriorating and the threat of being displaced again, the men and women of Coranderrk began a protest that included letter writing, petitions and deputations to see the Chief Minister in Melbourne. As a result, in 1881 a parliamentary inquiry was established.

Like My Name is Rachel Corrie (from the diary and emails of an American student killed at Gaza) and the recent MIAF Aftermath (from interviews with Iraqi refugees), verbatim theatre explores history and events by using the voices of those who were there. Coranderrk is a verbatim reading of the Minutes of Evidence of the inquiry.

Writers Andrea James and Giordano Nanni started with the 140-page document and present the evidence of 19 (of the 69) witnesses. The story is painful and hopeful, but its heart and power is hearing the lost voices of people like William Barack, Robert Wandon, Ann Fraser Bon and John Green. Sometimes our names are all we leaveThe final reading of the names signed on the original petition is one of the most moving moments of theatre this year.

Less than a re-creation and more than a reading, the characterisations confirm where our sympathies should lie. Given the honesty of the recorded words, there may be more strength is letting the audience make their own decisions. People who do things we find abhorrent believe that they are doing the right thing, and I would like to have seen more of the humanity in the choices if every character.

However, nothing can distract from this story and by letting it be told, Coranderrk and its people are taken out of forgotten history documents and become a living part of all our stories.

Get on the waiting list.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Photo by Steven Rhall

24 November 2011

Review preview: Day One. A Hotel, Evening

Day One. A Hotel, Evening
Red Stitch
20 November 2011
Red Stitch
to 17 December



The only thing that over shadows Joanna Murray-Smith's complex plot and labyrinth structure is her delicious and quotable wit. Back in a small theatre and with Red Stitch's boutique creators, the world premiere of Day One. A Hotel, Evening delivers a world so familiar that it could hurt to watch, if it weren't so damn funny. 

There are two 40-something couples (Kate Cole, Dion Mills, Sarah Sutherland and John Adam) who are attempting to "build a postcode" and develop an outer-city suburb that they would never visit. They're wealthy enough to still need to be good looking, bored enough to drift from any middle class notions of fidelity and hurt enough to contemplate revenge. Throw in a promiscuous and pretty 22-year-old actor (Anna Sampson) and her philosophising hit-man husband, and there's a made-in-Melbourne farce that's guaranteed to please – unless it's meant to be a dark comedy.

The full review is on AussieTheatre.com and will be published here in a few days.

Review: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest
MTC
17 November 2011
Sumner Theatre
to 14 January 2012
www.mtc.com.au


The Importance of Being Earnest is pretty much sold out. As Simon Phillips's  original 1988 production is still talked about, tickets to its revival were swooped upon. And the promise of Geoffrey Rush as Lady Bracknell certainly helped. The good news is that standing room spots are being released. So is it worth some queuing and tired legs?

Yep.

It's gorgeous and fun and the joy of watching our Geoffrey is worth a leg cramp.

To round off his final season of plays about the perils of being wealthy and middle class, where else could Phillips go but back to Oscar Wilde's satire of Victorian sensibilities and the mask of manners. First produced in 1895, its ridiculous story is balanced by its wonderful plot and a love of language and wit that few have come near to matching. In other words, it's one of the funniest things ever written.

From the first sight of Tony Tripp's re-realised design, there's no doubt that this Earnest should please even the most cynical. His black and white pop-up book set has delicious hints of Victorian erotica that contrast with the feathers, lace and velvet of the frocks, umbrellas, hats, handkerchiefs and handbags. It's sparseness leaves space for the text, while the complexity of the costumes establishes the expectation of the characters so that the cast are free to let them be so much more than what's expected.

And none frock up more magnificently than Rush. Treating the text like music, he doesn't miss a beat or a grace note and his restrained and refreshingly straight Lady B lets her power comes from more than her age and position.

And he is among a Wilde-wet-dream cast: Patrick Bramwell (Algernon), Toby Schmitz (Jack), Christie Whelan (Gwendolyn) Emily Barclay (Cecily), Jane Menelaus (Miss Prism), Bob Honery (Lane and Merriman) and Tony Taylor (Chausable). Some are less comfortable with the language and there are moments when giving in to the rhythm of the text will free the laughs, but each surprise and bring something unexpected to the well-known characters.

As Simon Phillips's MTC swan song, Earnest soars above criticism, so keep your tickets safe or try for the rare spots left.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.


22 November 2011

Review: She's a Little Finch

She's a Little Finch
MKA
19 November 2011
MKA Pop-Up Theatre, Abbotsfod
to 26 November
www.mka.org.au


This year's indie darling company MKA have popped up in an about-to-be-gentrified Steiner school in Abbotsfod for their final 2011 season.  Following the success of MKA's  I Know the Writer season*, She's a Little Finch opens their short second season like a wake-up double espresso made by your favourite barista.

Josie's story is told in four chapters from different times, starting when she moves in with her uncle and his maybe-soon-wife, but she wants to see the lemon yellow paint for her bedroom and keep her zebra finch.

Melbourne writer Elise Hearst graduated from Creative Arts at Melbourne Uni, won the Monash University National Playwrights Competition and attended the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writer's Program in London. And her writing is beautifully dark, painfully funny and stays with you long after the play's end.

The best writers keep the truth of their story unwritten and ask unanswered questions.  Her dialogue is fresh and sounds natural because – like real life – no one says what they mean but makes their feelings clear. Hearst's characters's talk about juice, swing dancing, room service and fresh cannolli builds a subtle tension and fear that is allowed to explode and gently reveal itself.

Supporting and understanding the script, director Jacquelin Low and designer Michael Parry create its atmosphere, and the cast (Kerith Manderson-Galvin, Alexandria Steffensen, Lauren Urquhart and Tom Dent) find the honesty and pain in her subtext.

Without MKA, too many writers' works would not have the chance to be seen and to develop. This is the company to see to discover the writers and creators who are going to blow us away in the next decades and prove that the great Australian playwrights are nothing like Williamson or Murray-Smith.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

15 awesome readings of new work. I missed 14 of them, but Declan Greene's Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Porn may be the best and meanest love story ever told.

Video: Emmanuel Jal at the Wheeler Centre

Anyone who was lucky enough to be at the closing concert of MIAF Notes from the hard road and beyond can't forget Emmanuel Jal's wild dancing or the story of of how he was rescued from being a child soldier in Sudan.

He recently spoke at The Wheeler Centre.

 

Review: Little Match Girl

Little Match Girl
Malthouse Theatre and Meow Meow Revolution
16 November 2011
Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse
to 4 December
www.malthousetheatre.com.au


What haven't I already said about absolute wonderfulness of Meow Meow? She's at the Malthouse this month with Little Match Girl and her hoards of international fans are squirming with jealousy that Melbourne (and then Sydney) have such access to this must-be-experienced diva who shreds perceptions of performance art.

Meow has recently graced shows like The Burlesque Hour with her glitter-lipped self, but her last full-length local cabaret was Vamp at The Malthouse in 2008. That show was based on Wilde's Salome, while Little Match Girl starts with Hans Christian Anderson's 1845 story of a little girl who freezes to death rather than return penniless to a violent home. Yet even as Meow reminds us that little has changed in civilised society, she still craves a fairy tale ending and looks for her perfect match as her flames fade and burn.

Like any fine cat, she's aloof, rightfully sure of her exquisite beauty (from the right angle), has remarkably flexile legs and appears contentedly independent until she pounces and demands immediate attention and physical love. But never believe those purrs are for you, as there's always a more enticing lap, and she may have found her flame in just-as-sensational Mitchell Butel, her saviour and handbag.

Working again with the delightful Iain Grandage (musical director and composition), it's bliss to hear Meow with a band and there are super new songs by Grandage and Megan Washington, and a too-delightful Noel Coward number, a "The Book of Love" to bring tears and touches of Richard Wagner, Cole Porter and Laurie Anderson for bonus perfection.

Meow resents attention flowing from her, but Marion Potts (director), Anna Cordingley (design) and Paul Jackson (lighting) create a shiny world worthy of her presence – Jackson's creative lighting is especially stunning – although it's doubtful that Meow will ever let us applaud Melissa Madden Gray.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Photo by Jeff Busby

20 November 2011

Review preview: Coranderrk


Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country
Ilbijerri, the Minutes of Evidence Project and La Mama
18 November 2011
La Mama Courthouse Theatre
to 27 November


Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country lets passed voices be heard as Ilbijerri and La Mama continue to tell stories that we need to know and to share. 

Telling a story that is so important to many Victorians, and with Liz Jones, Melodie Reynolds, Jack Charles, Greg Fryer, Jim Daly, Peter Finlay, Glenn Shea, Tom Long and Syd Brisbane as the cast, Coranderrk was sold out before it opened – but there's a waiting list and fortune favours those who take a chance. 

The full review is on AussieTheatre.com and will be published here in a few days.

18 November 2011

Review preview: The Importance of Being Earnest


The Importance of Being Earnest
MTC
17 November 2011
Sumner
to 14 January 2012
"I am sick to death of cleverness.  Everybody is clever nowadays.  You can’t go anywhere without meeting clever people.  The thing has become an absolute public nuisance.  I wish to goodness we had a few fools left."
Oscar Wilde let his Jack say that in 1895; what would he say about the cleverness dribbling out of the internet.



The Importance of Being Earnest is pretty much sold out. As Simon Phillips's  original 1988 production is still talked about, tickets to its revival were swooped upon. And the promise of Geoffrey Rush as Lady Bracknell certainly helped. The good news is that standing room spots are being released. So is it worth some queuing and tired legs? 

Yep.

It's gorgeous and fun and the joy of watching our Geoffrey is worth a leg cramp.

The full review is on AussieTheatre.com and will be her in a few days.

17 November 2011

Review preview: Little Match Girl

Little Match Girl
Malthouse Theatre and Meow Meow Revolution
16 November 2011
Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse
to 4 December
www.malthousetheatre.com.au


What haven't I already said about absolute wonderfulness of Meow Meow? She's at The Malthouse this month with Little Match Girl and her hoards of international fans are squirming with jealousy that Melbourne (and then Sydney) have such access to this must-be-experienced diva who shreds perceptions of performance art.

Meow has recently graced shows like The Burlesque Hour with her glitter-lipped self, but her last full-length local cabaret was Vamp at The Malthouse in 2008. That show was based on Wilde's Salome, while Little Match Girl starts with Hans Christian Anderson's 1845 story of a little girl who freezes to death rather than return penniless to a violent home. Yet even as Meow reminds us that little has changed in civilised society, she still craves a fairy tale ending and looks for her perfect match as her flames fade and burn.

The full review is on AussieTheatre.com and will be published here in a few days.

What's On: Mad Women Monologues

Baggage Productions are presenting Mad Women Monologues, 23 short plays over three themed nights.


All the works are written by women, including Jane Miller , Kathryn Goldie, Christine Croyden, Christina Costigan, Bridgette Burton, Cerise de Gelder and Hannie Rayson.

Crime Night has finished, but there's still Crossroad on 20 November and Barflies on 22 November.

All the booking info is at www.madwomen.org.au.

Review: Return to Earth

Return to Earth
MTC
9 November 2011
Fairfax, the Arts Theatre
to 17 December


As 2011 gave playwright Lally Katz new productions at Malthouse, Belvoir Street and now the MTC, she may not the darling of our indie set any more. And while it's exciting to see her wonderfully dark and funny writing widely loved and appreciated, Return to Earth was left in orbit.

Katz's first main-stage MTC show isn't as black as some of her previous works. Her displaced seaside town is recognisable, but its darkness is lit by the safety of family and love. There's still sadness and mystery, but without the discomfort that I've come to expect from Katz.

Alice (Eloise Mignon) is welcomed home by her parents (Julie Forsyth and Kym Gyngell) who can see how much she knows people from her answers to Bert's Family Feud but have to remind her how to set the table and that her name used to be Erica. Her widowed brother, ill niece, childless best friend and new mechanic beau are more suspicious of her return.

Katz continues to create worlds as delicate and intricate as a handmade lace doily that's been attacked with a packet of Textas and used to wipe up the remains of a dead pet. For all their not-quite-rightness, her worlds make complete sense in their oddness. But while the cast, especially Forsyth and Gyngell, grasp her tone and rhythm, there's a sense that something is holding it back and keeping its dangers hidden.

This left it feeling less intimate than some of her other works; not tiny-stage intimacy, but the knowledge and connection with the characters that leaves us knowing them better than they know themselves. For all the spot-on performances, the characters felt like they were just being introduced to us and it was over before they had the chance to tell the stories they really wanted to tell.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com