Mini review: May and Alia do Pirates

May and Alia do Pirates (of Penzance)
La Mama
18 June 2014
La Mama Courthouse
to 29 June
lamama.com.au

It's taken me three seasons to finally see May and Alia do Pirates (of Penzance). And now that the La Mama Courthouse is in cabaret setting with tables and drinks, it's a perfect time for G&S fans to take heart and tarantara along.

The premise is simple: the only people who turn up to perform Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance are best friends May Jasper (from Not a very good story) and Alia Vryens. They decide to do the show anyway.

Well, most of it. The bits they can sing anyway (Mabel has to be played by a ladle because they can't reach those high notes). And they have to do the fun songs that involve moustaches, pirate hats and boaters. And the songs that can be played by sock puppets. And, naturally, some of those songs are begging to be sung in a very non-Sullivan way.

Mabel the ladle and sock puppets; what could possibly go wrong?

Nothing really. Apart from Alia busting the best boom box ever seen on a stage.

With Eva Johansen (Caravan of Love) directing, the comedy is tight and the clowning is allowed to reveal some heart.

It's assumed that the audience known their Pirates – which is a pretty safe assumption – but there's room to share more of the story, and maybe make their own stage story run parallel to a ridiculous Gilbert plot or tell us more about why they love G&S. And they don't need to be scared about filling the room with sound; those Courtroom rafters can suck away a lot of voice.

It's a hoot for G&S fans (yes, there's a sing-along bit), but fun enough for those who don't get the paradox joke. (Although, "pair of Docs" was pretty funny.)

Review: Fran I Am

MICF 2011
Fran I Am
Eva Johansen
10 April 2011
Imperial Hotel
to 24 April
www.comedyfestival.com.au

How can you be a beatnik when your dad's an accountant who loves your mum and spends quality time with you? What a bastard! Poor Fran couldn't be a miserable artist because there was too much love in her comfortable middle class life.

Jazz cat, interpretative mimer and poet Fran is one of the most original characters to emerge from this year's comedy festival. With silent androgynous musician Grüg at her side, she grooves, scats and rhymes her way through her struggle to find enough stuff to hate.

Eva Johansen is best known for her work with gorgeous kabaret toupe The Caravan of Love and as the sultry host of Kunst Ist Scheisse.  Fran would be scared of Madame Eva (and probably write a poem about the dark depths of her cleavage), but she lets Eva combine her room-silencing singing voice (even when she has a cold) with the kind of comic writing and physical performance not usually associated with divas.

Fran's love of all black, berets and glasses ensures that she's nearly at one with our own inner-city hipster set, but her soul is still back in Minnesota in 1961 – a time of tiny waists and pointy boobs – where she fell asleep in Alan Ginsberg's beard and woke up in 2011 Melbourne.

The future isn't what she expected. There are no silver jumpsuits and structuralists like Foucault are now called post modernists. It's a bit too much for any boho poet to understand – and even Yoko Ono refused to help out when Fran spied her ordering sushi in Yoyogi.

With a script overflowing with ejaculating malapropisms, poet-name puns and interactive po mo discussions, the humour is at the far end of the fart-joke to witticism scale, but it's never enough to intimidate.  And, as most Melbourne theatre goers spent years doing their arts degrees, it's nice to see someone acknowledging our dinner party knowledge of American 60s poets, post-structuralist philosophers and Shakespeare.

As a first run show, we know that Fran's story will develop and change. The story could do with a touch more shaping and a stronger conclusion, but with rhymes as wonderfully atrocious as a wearing black and Kerouac, images of garden flamingos and ginger poufs, and Shakespeare in interpretive dance and mime (if only the MTC's Dick 3 was that good..), there's nothing stopping Fran from becoming a festival favourite.

But, local shows sometimes have trouble finding their deserved festival audiences. Sure it's great to see TV favourites in the flesh, but it's so worth taking a risk on a local show. The tickets are cheaper, the venues more intimate and one day you'll be able to brag that you saw them when they were still performing in small rooms.

Sp please pop on your beret and let Fran release your inner bohemian. And, for the perfect poetry double, start your evening with Poet Laureate Telia Nevile in For Whom The Bell Tolls.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com

GIVEAWAY: MORE Kunst ist Scheisse

Well, we don't have a federal government and our federal fate may still come down to Julia and Tony having a game of rock, paper, scissors – but the seat of Melbourne is now Green. Lets hope it's the beginning of positive change.

If you're sick of politics, there's always kunst.

The wonderfully sexy, sassy and savvy Kunst ist Scheisse is back at 24 Moons this Wednesday (25 August). It'll be hot, it'll be funny and there may be one or two observations about the state of our political system. And there's a bar with a cocktail menu that proves why we love Melbourne.

This week's line up includes Benn Bennett and Wes Snelling’s absurd and infectious Black Bag (4 Stars, The Age), a preview of multiple award nominee Telia Nevile’s new comedic poetry show, 4.5 star performer Eva Johansen, the inner monologue of irregular performer Kip Brennan, Painfully Audacious’ unique modern burlesque and the Caravan of Love who are “every bit as balmy and intricately arousing as a bubble bath with Bertolt Brecht" (4 ½ stars, Helen Razer, The Age). Check out their Facebook page for more info.

GIVEAWAY
Kunst ist Scheisse has three double pass for Sometimes Melbourne readers for Wednesday 25 August at 8pm. Email your name to kunst@internode.on.net by 5 pm on Tuesday 24 August with "Sometimes I want kunst" as your subject. The winners will be emailed on Tuesday night.

If you don't win, tickets are $10 at the door and 24 Moons is in ACDC Lane (off Flinders Lane).


Due to a technical error (read me stuffing up the email link), the deadline has been extended to lunchtime tomorrow.

If you want to get along to this bloody terrific cabaret email kunst@internode.on.net by 2 pm tomorrow.

Review: Kunst ist Scheisse

Kunst ist Scheisse
Eva Johansen & Jonathon Miller
30 June 2010
24 Moons (in ACDC Lane)

What do we want? More Kunst! When do we want it? Once a fortnight on Wednesdays. Where do we want it?  At an uber-cool bar in a dingy Melbourne lane named after rock legends.

The arty folk know that Kunst ist Scheisse means Art is Shit and should be lining up for this changing mix of the oddest and most gorgeous cabaret artists in town.

For their opening week, host and diva Eva Johansen got her knickers out and welcomed guests who have won so many awards that they'd need a really big shelf if they lived in a share house.

Wes Snelling left Tina del Twiste sulking at home and gave us a welcome taste of Wes unplugged;  The List Operators continue to be one of the most consistently original and strange acts around and offered a bite of the brilliance they are taking to Edinburgh (and Matt Kelly's Michael Jackson is burned into my retinas); Earl Shatford made sparklie shirts sexy again and reminded us how jaw-droppping awesome juggling can be; Jess Devereaux found the best 1980s school social dress ever to combine dance, comedy and fashion; comedian David Quirk shared some embarrassing moments of his past; the Suitcase Royale got some mates on stage to form a super band; and the Caravan of Love girls let a couple of strangers find their hidden treats with chop sticks.

While regular nights like the fabulous The Last Tuesday Society encourage experimentation in front of hipsters downing beers,  Kunst is more about showing some of the best acts around to uber-cool sophistcates who sip cocktails but never stop giggling at the word play of the title.

Kunst ist Sheisse has found its new home at 24 Moons. This place is so cool that I almost felt uncool in my flat MaryJanes and an old PJ top from a Bras and Things sale. Found at the top of a staircase at the darker end of street-art filled ACDC Lane, this place has no choice but to rock, and its cut out cityscape wall design, ivy covered moon lights and comfy seats that encourage intimacy or welcome strangers couldn't be a more perfect setting.

Throw in a cocktail list guaranteed to make us-who-love-Matt-Preston weep at its originality and beauty (the one with Violet Syrup or the one that comes with a chocolate truffle please) and cheap cold cider on tap, it'd be difficult to get a better night of Kunst.

The next line up (Wednesday 14 July) includes whimsical, Fringe-favourite and bloody funny poet Telia Neville (who has a new blog) and the voice guaranteed to break hearts, Simoncee Page-Jones.  With possibility of Eva and Simoncee singing together, get there early to grab the best seats.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com


Photos by Max Milne

GIVEAWAY: Kunst ist Scheisse

We can’t go to a dingy club in 1930s Berlin for a taste of Weimar Kabaret, but Melbourne has some fine dingy alleys and we can speak some German at the long awaited return of Kunst ist Scheisse on Wednesday 30 June and sample comedy, circus, burlesque and ‘arty shit’ from the Melbourne’s finest alternative cabaret artists.

Long before Australia Has Talent, artists would gather in clubs to discuss culture and politics over espressos and absinthe – and perform. With critical eyes and adventurous spirits, these dissident performers took risks, took liberties and took their audience somewhere shockingly new.  And the cabaret tradition still thrives.

Kunst ist Scheisse (Art is Shit) first appeared six years ago in a Brunswick Street bar and the monthly show featured many artists who are now among Melbourne’s favourites (and mine).  After a three-year run, the organisers developed their own shows and regularly appeared at The Last Tuesday Society.

The welcome back Kunst show is at 24 Moons, Melbourne’s newest cocktail bar in ACDC Lane, and will rock all night long with host Eva Johansen (part clown, part ingénue), house band The Suitcase Royale (before they head off to the UK again) and a program that reads like an award ceremony with a line up who have won Golden Gibbo, Green Room, Barry and Melbourne Fringe awards and wowed the toughest critics in Melbourne, the UK and the US.

With most of the performers regularly selling out their individual shows, this is an extraordinary opportunity to see The List Operators, Wes Snelling, The Caravan of Love and David Quirk. And check out record-breaking juggler Earl Shatford and dance artist Jess Devereaux.

Kunst ist Sheisse promises a different line up each fortnight and it’ll pay to arrive early as the venue is intimate.

More information is on their Facebook page. Or be at 24 Moons in ACDC Lane from 8pm on Wednesday.

GIVEAWAY

Kunst ist Scheisse has free double pass for a Sometimes Melbourne reader. If you'd like to come along on Wednesday 30 June, email your name to kunst@internode.on.net by 5 pm on Tuesday 29 June with Sometimes Melbourne as your subject.  The winner's name will be drawn out of a bowler hat and the winner will be emailed on Tuesday night. 

Photo by Telia Neville

Pure Kunst

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2009
Pure Kunst
The Caravan of Love
3 October 2009
Fringe Hub, Lithuanian Club

If you’re unsure of the meaning of ‘bootylicious’, grab your ‘front bottom’ and make a late night visit to the Caravan of Love because Destiny’s Child’s kunst doesn’t compare to the gorgeous Caravan kunst – and this time they're searching for purity

For five years this luscious and hard working ménage a quatre have shimmied and writhed their way around festivals, (making regular stops at The Last Tuesday society), defiling all in their path and leaving all in their wake with very big smiles. They also know that, even though we take our sex lives very seriously, sex is really the strangest and funniest thing that we get up to, so there’s always room for a bit of perfect imperfection.

Nothing is sacred to the Caravan. Little Red Riding Hood, top 40 obsession and fan dancing are all lampooned, and the luckiest audience members even get a juicy bite of the action.

With Madame Eva’s heart-stopping voice, Vruska toe-bleeding avante guarde pointe, Elsie’s now-I-get-why-blokes-are-fond-of-this-art-form pole dancing and Kartie’s too-wrong Barbie obsession, their skill and love of kunst (it’s a German word – look it up if you’re horrified at my poor spelling) is enough to satisfy anyone in a kunst drought.

I did, however, miss a visit to their homeland of Snowmanlandia and would have liked to see more interaction between the characters. It felt like their was an assumption that we already know their stories, but I’d hear them again and Caravan virgins could feel left out, because seduction is always better if we know a bit about the people leaving us moist.

More Fringe 2009 reviews.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Terrific interview with the COL.

Two Little Spiels: A Double Bill

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
Two Little Spiels: A Double Bill
We Could Live Here
A Preamble
Friday October 3 2008

There’s big glitzy shows at the Fringe hub, but don’t forget the little gems that are sparkling away in hidden corners of the city. Two Little Spiels is two shows in early stages of development: We Could Live Here, devised and performed by Bron Battern and Karina Smith, and A Preamble, devised and performed by Eva Johansen.

Both still have rough edges, but the shiny, glittery and diamond-hard cores of these works are clearly visible, and a tiny room above a Smith St cafe is the perfect place to see them.

No matter how much you rehearse, think and re-work a performance, theatre doesn’t live until it has an audience. Work in progress performances let artists discover where the connections are and what ideas should be developed.

Remarkably beautiful images emerge from the movement-based We Could Live Here. Battern and Smith use slowness, stillness and quiet to evoke memory and combine it with a slightly dark sense of humour that adds an almost bitter poignancy to the “tea with diamonds”. However, even though sadness and regret are delightfully contrasted with hope and imagination – I’m not sure if I was meant to walk away feeling hopeful or fearful about being a single, old woman.

Johansen is best known for her work with the wonderful kabaret troupe Caravan of Love. A Preamble is her first solo work, which she promises isn’t just about “women’s issues and post-coitalism”. An original balance of clown and ingénue, she effortlessly switches from slapstick routine to heat-breaking, room-silencing song. The contrast is sometimes contradictory, but the two sides will soon combine into a pretty amazing character, who will prove how it is possible to be sexy AND funny.

With such solid bases and obvious connections with their audiences, the next step for both shows should be external direction. To reach their full potential they need input from someone who doesn’t have the creators' personal attachment.

Be prepared for is quite a long break in between shows, but make sure you see both – and use it as an excuse for a piece of cake or a cocktail.

This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

Kunst Ist Scheisse

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2006
Kunst Ist Scheisse
The Caravan of Love
30 September 2006
Festival Hub, The Lithuanian Club

The Kunst may be Sheisse, but this is Kabaret (with a K) at its best: sexy, funny, inappropriate and political. Be prepared to moan with delight and pop your pop culture popper as you are enticed by the four gorgeous kunst(ists) of The Caravan of Love.

This is the country of Snowmanlandia, where Kunst ist Sheisse (Art is Shit) and a traveling caravan of four “performing misfits” have set down.

In a similar vein to The Burlesque Hour (seen at the Speigeltent) and Girlesque (seen in lesbian clubs), The Caravan of Love tear apart cabaret and burlesque to construct their own fabulous genre. Created as a response to our increasingly conservative society, Kunst ist Sheisse continually explores our expectations of female “normality” and proves that anger, lust and silliness are all vital to our lives.

Alice Palermo, Eva Johansen, Kate Sumner and Carla Rinaudo have been honing their troupe, with monthly performances since 2004. Their approach is original, their costumes are divine, their politics are sharp and all are very accomplished, dancers, singers and performers.

Put Snowmanlandia (the totally perfect Lithuanian Club) on your list of places to visit this week. This is my Fringe highlight to date and deserves many adoring fans.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.