Midsumma
Fuck Fabulous
Arts Centre Melbourne in association with Fat Fruit
Fairfax Studio
21 April 20210
to 2 May
artscentremelbourne.com.au
 |
| Fuck Fubulous |
My review is in Witness Performance.
(Apologies for not posting it ages ago.)
Mostly Melbourne theatre reviews
Showing posts with label Bec Matthews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bec Matthews. Show all posts
04 June 2021
Review: Fuck Fabulous
28 April 2016
Review: Peddling
Peddling
MTC Education and Families program
22 April 2016
The Lawler
to 6 May
mtc.com.au
After its Melbourne season, Peddling is touring to regional Victoria in May. Part of the MTC Education and Families program, the script is on the 2016 VCE drama playlist and although aimed at school groups and students, it welcomes a broader audience.
A teenage Boy is living on the London streets and peddling toilet paper and sponges door-to-door under the guise of a young offenders program. It's written – and was originally performed in the UK and USA – by young UK playwright and actor Harry Melling. He's known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films; it shouldn't matter, but the distance between spoilt and loved Duddles and the Boy in Peddling is so vast that it's impossible not to compare
The monologue's exploration of poverty, loss and despair is compelling, more so than the writer's experiment with poetic form. His story is real, but his poetry feels forced.
But director Susie Dee has worked with musician Bec Matthews to make the self-conscious rhythm an asset. Matthews plays a live percussion soundtrack (with Kelly Ryall's sound) that creates tension and an emotional counterbalance when it's most needed. The music makes the text sound almost operatic, but never takes it out of the dismal streets where it's set.
Performing like Matthews is beating the rhythm of the Boy's heart is NIDA graduate Darcy Brown. Using every millimetre of Marg Horwell's cardboard skate ramp design, he brings a passion, honesty and physical intensity that makes the awkwardness of the text feel natural. He opens up beyond the words to let the subtext, and everything he hides from the world, create compassion, empathy, and fear when he's lost all hope.
This is exciting theatre being made for young people. It's gritty and real and shows that theatre is far more than text written by dead or old people.
The review was on AussieTheatre.com.au.
MTC Education and Families program
22 April 2016
The Lawler
to 6 May
mtc.com.au
 |
| Darcy Brown. Peddling. Photo by Jeff Busby |
After its Melbourne season, Peddling is touring to regional Victoria in May. Part of the MTC Education and Families program, the script is on the 2016 VCE drama playlist and although aimed at school groups and students, it welcomes a broader audience.
A teenage Boy is living on the London streets and peddling toilet paper and sponges door-to-door under the guise of a young offenders program. It's written – and was originally performed in the UK and USA – by young UK playwright and actor Harry Melling. He's known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films; it shouldn't matter, but the distance between spoilt and loved Duddles and the Boy in Peddling is so vast that it's impossible not to compare
The monologue's exploration of poverty, loss and despair is compelling, more so than the writer's experiment with poetic form. His story is real, but his poetry feels forced.
But director Susie Dee has worked with musician Bec Matthews to make the self-conscious rhythm an asset. Matthews plays a live percussion soundtrack (with Kelly Ryall's sound) that creates tension and an emotional counterbalance when it's most needed. The music makes the text sound almost operatic, but never takes it out of the dismal streets where it's set.
Performing like Matthews is beating the rhythm of the Boy's heart is NIDA graduate Darcy Brown. Using every millimetre of Marg Horwell's cardboard skate ramp design, he brings a passion, honesty and physical intensity that makes the awkwardness of the text feel natural. He opens up beyond the words to let the subtext, and everything he hides from the world, create compassion, empathy, and fear when he's lost all hope.
This is exciting theatre being made for young people. It's gritty and real and shows that theatre is far more than text written by dead or old people.
The review was on AussieTheatre.com.au.
20 June 2012
Chat: Bec Matthews from Circus Oz
From The Ground Up
Circus Oz
21 June – 28 July
Musician, teacher and mentor Bec Matthews completed a Bachelor of Music at VCA in 1999, and has since trained with the world-renowned Synergy Percussion Ensemble and Amsterdam Percussion Trio; recorded and performed with bands, orchestras and music theatre companies in Melbourne; and performed at festivals including The Melbourne International Arts Festival, Femes Funk Festival New Caledonia, The Falls Festival, Inverlock Jazz Fest, High Vibes, St Kilda Fest, The Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Castlemaine State Festival and the Copenhagen World Out Games.
She’s taught at The Women’s Circus and composed for their shows and in 2007, became percussionist, performer, composer and co-musical director for Yana Alana and Tha Paranas’s, who won a Melbourne Fringe Cabaret Award and a pile of Green Room Awards, including best musical direction and best original songs.
What do you do in From The Ground Up?
Play the drums and dangle from the ceiling.
What was the first circus trick you learnt?
I’m a musician but the first circus skill I learnt was to juggle three balls.
What circus skill do you wish you had?
All of them!
What are you always up for?
A chat.
When did you join Circus Oz?
2010.
What do you love about Circus Oz?
Travelling to different parts of Australia and the world.
Do you remember your first trip to the circus?
Yes, my friend’s family took me to The Moscow Circus.
What’s your favourite post-show snack?
Sometimes it’s chips, sometimes it’s a carrot.
Who do you love seeing in the audience?
Smiling faces.
What’s your advice for people who want to run away to the circus?
Follow your dreams.
Where and what did you study?
Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts.
What was your first circus performance?
With The Women’s Circus in 2005.
How many suitcases do you tour with?
One.
When you’re touring, what can’t you leave home without?
A good book.
Where’s your favourite place to tour to?
Somewhere I haven’t been before.
Popcorn: sweet or savoury?
Savoury, for sure.
If you couldn’t be in the circus, what would you do?
Make furniture.
Are you scared of clowns?
No.
If you could teach Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott a circus trick, what would it be?
A backflip…oh, they already know how to do that.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
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