Review: The Other Place

The Other Place
Melbourne Theatre Company
31 January 2013
Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 2 March 2013
mtc.com.au

The Other Place opens the MTC's 2013 season and is sure to be a subscriber favourite. Twitter told me there were people in tears at last night's opening and I'm believing Twitter, even if there were hard-arse non-criers in my row.

As it's the MTC, it's about middle class, middle age professionals (this time, doctors instead of academics) and this Broadway hit, by US writer Sharr White, is so dependent on the mystery of its plot and characters that it's hard to write about it without spoilers. But it's about MCMA profs in crisis and includes children, illness and estrangement; you know what to expect.

Catherine McClements is 50ish Juliana, a medical researcher at the peak of her career. She's on stage all night and by holding back and letting Juliana be difficult to initially like while easy to trust, her heartfelt performance builds to create the empathy and shared pain that deserves the audience's tears. She's supported by Heidi Arena, David Roberts and David Whiteley who each rightly let Juliana decide how they support her.

In the opening scenes, the mystery sits like a slinky at the top of a staircase. It's irresistible not to push and interesting enough to watch and see what's revealed at each step, but once it's started to tumble, its trajectory is known from that first nudge and there's no hope of unexpected deviation or twist. It's not that the script doesn't hold onto its secrets, but the direction (Nadia Tass) and design (Shaun Gurton with David Parker's film) play the clues obviously and use sentiment to highlight what, I suspect, most people figured out far too early in the night. It's like they don't trust the audience enough to let them be surprised or shocked.

The Other Place is ideal for an MTC season, but is it $98 show? Even a concession ticket is $77 or under 30s can spend $33. If $100 is a lot of money for you (it sure is for me), I suggest you start this weekend's theatre at Theatre Works for The Dead Ones or the Northcote Town Hall for Caravan Burlesque and you'll still have enough change for dinner and/or another show, or even have a good blub at War Horse, but wait and see if The Other Place turns up on a discount ticket site. If it does, see it.

Photo by David Parker

This was on AussieTheatre.com

Review: The Dead Ones

There have been lines to get tickets, so best to book if you don't want to miss out. Two shows left.

The Dead Ones
Theatre Works, Vitalstatistix, Margie Fischer
29 January 2013
Theatre Works
to 3 February
theatreworks.org.au

Margie Fischer shares a brilliant response to cope with unwelcome charity phone calls: "They're all dead". But in her case, it's true. When her mother died, Margie was the last member of her immediate family and faced the responsibility of clearing her family home, of 50-plus years, of its memories and its stuff.

And her mum, Marianne, didn't throw things away.

It took Margie months to finish and she dealt with it by writing. Writing about her grandparents, parents and brother; about what their things had meant to them; about how she decided to keep or get rid of objects without losing their significance; about losing the haven of home (despite having her own family and house); and about the burden of being the holder of her family's stories.

This writing became her personal and deeply affecting theatre show, The Dead Ones, which premiered at Adelaide's Feast in 2011 (the queer culture festival co-founded by Margie) and is welcomed to Midsumma.

With slides and a lectern, Margie reads her story.  The telling is gently shaped by director Catherine Fitzgerald and given a simple and moving coda by designer Kathryn Sproul, but the heart-grabbing power of this show is that it's a true story told with love and honesty. And a story that so many of us have faced or will face.

I'm an eldest daughter. My mother attaches meaning to objects, likes being judged by her stuff, will buy anything if it's a bargain and recently got upset at me because I said it was time to throw out the microwave oven from 1978 because she didn't need it as a spare.

I also know I've inherited these tendencies. I have a box for the Salvos in my hallway; it's been there for over six months. Things that haven't made it to the box include cheap crap I bought when I had no money and it meant so much just to have something, gifts that I never liked and bargains that I couldn't resist. I still bring stuff home on hard rubbish days. I understand why Marianne Fischer hated even the idea of a clutter-free existence.

She was a Jew who got out of Austria with her new husband, Alois, in 1938 with a small suitcase. They spent ten years in Shanghai until war again forced them from their new home and they arrived in Sydney in 1949 as "reffos". Here they had two children and built a successful business and their dream suburban home. Their son died in 1978. Hoarders have a bad name, but there's security in stuff and we all have our crutches that others don’t understand.

Margie understood, but what do you do with sympathy cards from 1978 and your parents' love letters? How does it feel knowing that the books and records that meant so much to your father (and would have cost him so much) are now worth so little, if anything? Do you put something your dead brother made out with the hard rubbish?

Margie and her family have incredible and touching stories, but she tells them with a distance that leaves space for the audience to think of their own stories, and this is where the tears and laughs flow from. And there are plenty of both.

In an interview, I asked Margie who she wanted to see in the audience. She said the entire Jewish and theatre-going lesbian populations of Melbourne. If only it could run so long! And I encourage all the straight goys and anyone who has a family to come along.

The Dead Ones is immaculate story telling. There's room for an edit and some changing, but there's plenty of time for that when it hopefully becomes a book and when it travels to more festivals. But don't wait for that and get to Theatre Works before it finishes on the weekend.

I dread losing my mother and the thought of her house makes me shudder, but, as a friend said to me as we shared stories after the show, "You might die first".  I felt bad for hoping.

This was on AussieTheatre.com

Chat: Margie Fischer, Theatre Works

The Dead Ones

Theatre Works

29 January – 3 February

Theatre Works final show for Midsumma is Margie Fischer’s most recent work, The Dead Ones, and it opens tonight.

Margie is a writer and performer who founded Feast, Adelaide’s Queer Festival, and  describes describes herself as a very funny Jewish lesbian. This show’s about what happened when everyone in her family died and she was left to clear out their house.

It was first produced by Adelaide’s wonderful Vitalstatistix, who have been creating and supporting feminist and gender aware theatre and art since 1984, when they formed as Australia’s only full-time women’s theatre company, and continue to produce new Australian performance and live art that’s provocative, distinctive and informed.

Describe you show in three words.
A must see.

Why shouldn’t anyone miss your show?
Because the subject matter and experiences explored in this show haven’t been seen before

Will anyone hate it?
Yes, anyone who thought they were coming to see naked burlesque, circus or stand up comedy. But then they won’t have read the publicity.

What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
All the other shows at Theatre Works!
Bent Burlesque, Finucaine and Smith’s Caravan Burlesque, Between The Cracks, Gaybies, Monologues of a Deaf Woman.

Midsumma is 25 this year. What do you remember most about being 25?
Being under confident in all I did.

Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
It celebrates my family’s extraordinary stories though my Jewish lesbian heart and mind.

As The Dead Ones is about clearing your family house, what is something you’d like to leave behind?
My tendency to be anxious, I used to call it neurotic until my psychiatrist said it was anxiety.

What is something we should make sure that we never leave behind?
A sense of humour, the ability to embrace difference and fight against injustice.

Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
Well, I have long been part of the Feast Festival so I already have loved being part of this brilliant queer Festival.

I would love my show to be part of the Sydney Festival.  I grew up in Sydney so being part of this big mainstream shebang would be excellent. The Opera House is my preferred venue.

What was the first festival you were a part of?
The Surry Hills Community Festival in Sydney in the 70s, the first one which I was part of initiating.

What else are you looking forward to doing on your trip to Melbourne?
Going to Acland Street, going to Hares and Hyenas, having a sea bath, meeting lots of Jews, lesbians and other queer people who come to my show, working with my fabulous director Catherine Fitzgerald, perfoming at Theatre Works.

If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
The entire Jewish population of Melbourne – that’s a lot of people!! The entire theatre going lesbian population of Melbourne, and everyone else who goes to theatre in Melbourne.

If you mean one person, then whoever would pick up my show for the Sydney Festival.

What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Keep going.

What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
The best thing is the review I got for The Dead Ones in The Australian which said: “Fischer’s signature, right back to the early days of her theatre company Vitalstatistix, has always been sharp and zany – perceptive, full of feeling, but finding a lightness to express the darkness, stealing a wry smile from adversity.”

What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Blood orange.

What was the last film you loved?
Oedipus Wrecks by Woody Allen. It is a short film I saw last night on DVD and it made me laugh a lot.

What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Find somewhere that has air conditioning

What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Yiddish comedy CDs. Why because I realised what I spoke at home was Yiddish, that it was funny, and I was funny in the way Yiddish comedy is funny.

What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I am working on The Dead Ones with the director I always wanted to work with: Catherine Fitzgerald. I would also love to work again with Rosalba Clemente, who directed my show The Gay Divorcee.

What do love most about your show?
The beautiful projected images that go with the text throughout the show.

This was on AussieTheatre.com

Chat: Genevieve Giuffre, Theatre Works

MIDSUMMA 2013

Psycho Beach Party

11–19 January

Theatre Works

review

Melbourne’s Midsumma festival has been celebrating queer culture for 25 years and officially runs from 13 January to 3 February. Theatre Works started with Psycho Beach Party.

When people in the town are attacked in strange sado-masochistic ways, it is up to the surf-bums and a B-Grade Horror star to find the culprit and save a Gidget-esque nerd with a dream to surf from her potentially lethal sexual awakening.

Directed by sex.blood.violence.gore’s Stephen Nicolazzo, its recent Bondi season blew Sydney away and the short Melbourne season is selling so well that you shouldn’t wait. Anne-Marie Peard chats with Genevieve Giuffre (sex.blood.violence.gore, Summertime in the Garden of Eden) about awesome stuff like leopard print, taking risks and gelati.

Describe your show in three words?
Sex on drugs OR Oceanic leopard cult.

Who shouldn’t miss your show
Lovers of the words above.

Will anyone hate it?
Not even the jealous people will be able to hate on it.

What other Midsumma show(s) will you NOT miss?
Here lies Henry – they bump in after us, and what’s this I see…Vieux Carre Tennessee, yes I will!

Midsumma is 25 this year. What’s your toast?
Happy Birthday Midsumma, bless your heart! Year of the Dragon.

Midsumma is also about celebrating queer culture. What does your show celebrate?
Individualism in the form of leopard print and sexual expression. Jungle fever. Oh and insanity.

What films did you have to watch to prepare for Psycho Beach Party?
I watched a lot of Friday night lights proceeding this show, it definitely ignited my already blazing sense of team spirit. No really! I revisited some Gidget and took a sneak peak at Beach Blanket Bingo, I just couldn’t go past that title.

Would you swim at St Kilda beach?
Before and after every show I will swim in god’s pool.

Apart from the Midsumma, what festival would you love to be a part of?
CMA Nashville.

What was the first festival you were a part of?
Book week at school.

How would you convince a north-sider to cross the river to St Kilda?
I’d say it’s okay, you can bring your flask just hop on the 112 or 96 and come get sexy

If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Well my truest answer would be Dan Wylie, but he already came to opening night of the Sydney season! Dreams really do come true!

What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Take the big risks. It’s more fun.

What’s the worst and/or best thing a reviewer has said about you or your show?
A reviewer referred to my character, Berdine, as having a cleft palate. I don’t actually have one so that’s pretty cool I think. It’s subjective. It’s all subjective.

What’s your favourite gelati flavour?
Peppermint mixed with a scoop of rainbow.

What was the last film you loved?
The last film I loved was in fact the first film I loved, Cry Baby. ‘Hey Mr Jailer’, so much joy!

What’s the best thing to do when it’s over 40° and you don’t have air conditioning?
Get the gang together, dine in at McDonald’s Acland Street and book a group ticket for Psycho Beach Party at Theatre Works.

What work changed how you make theatre? Why?
Star Wars exists. All things imagined are real in the theatre. Fantasy has its place.

What director/actor/writer/creator would you just die to work with?
I would want to make country music with Ryan Adams, a film with David Lynch and take pictures with Terry Richardson.

What do love most about your show?
The cast. The PBP cult are the most fun people in Straya right now!

Originally on AussieTheatre.com

Review: Here Lies Henry

MIDSUMMA 2013
Here Lies Henry
TurnAround Productions, Theatre Works
22 January 2013
Theatre Works
to 27 January
theatreworks.org.au

Actor Matthew Hyde said that some of the best acting advice he's had is: “Grab it by the balls darling and act the shit out of it” – and he sure does so in Here Lies Henry, the second show in the Theatre Works Midsumma season.

Here Lies Henry by Canadian writer Daniel MacIvor was first produced in 1995 and first seen in Australia at the 2012 Sydney Fringe, the same production that's here for Midsumma.

It's a solo work about a guy maybe called Henry. He wonders what happened to Nigel Kennedy, likes Lady Ga Ga and he lies, possibly because he fears that the truth will leave him naked or because he knows how great pathological liars are at parties.

He really wants to tell us something we don't know, but that's not easy, especially when he's caught up in his past and his own truth – and we know he tells porkies, so never know when to believe him.

This isn't a linear plot that's easy to follow. It's not hard to follow either and is best enjoyed by jumping on and going with the ride that twists and tumbles and leaves us not knowing which way is up.

And Matthew Hyde's a delight who leaves everyone understanding why pathological liars usually have an abundance of friends: they are fun to be around and you never know what they are going to do next, even if don't trust them to tell the time. There's room for more light and shade in his charismatic performance; his grab it by the balls approach gets attention but makes it easy to focus on the performer rather than the character and his story.

You don't have to believe someone to enjoy their tales, but reviewers never lie, so don't be scared to get to Here Lies Henry before it ends on Sunday. It's intense and mad and will leave you wondering.

A chat with Matthew on AT

This was on AussieTheatre.

Review: Vieux Carré

MIDSUMMA 2013
Vieux Carré 
ITCH Productions
20 January 2013
fortyfivedownstairs
to 3 February
midsumma.org.au

Vieux Carré is one of Tennesse Williams lesser-known plays. It opened on Broadway on 30 April 1977, closed on 15 May and didn't add to the playwright's collection of Pulitzer Prizes for Drama (two) or New York Drama Critic's Circle prizes for Best American Play (four).  ITCH's Midsumma production is already selling out houses and running longer than its premiere production, but it's showing why it wasn't a hit.

Set in the New Orleans French Quarter (Vieux Carré) in the late 30s, it's an autobiographical work about a young gay writer who moves into a not-so-classy boarding house filled with Williams's familiar broken characters who are mentally or physically ill, fragile, bullied or bullies, and desperately lonely.

The striking design, Alexandra Hiller (set) and John Dutton (lights), fills the spacious fortyfivedownstairs and readily evokes the steamy hot decay of the New Orleans from a Williams play. And, as director Alice Bishop recently went to the city in search of Tennesse's ghost, it is perhaps as close as we can get to the French Quarter. (But anyone stuck on the side seats should at least get a couple of free drinks because their view is so obstructed.)

The writer at the centre of the play acts as narrator and writes about his interactions with his boarding house neighbours and landlady.  By themselves, most of the multiple stories could stand by alone, but told together they don't create a greater a whole, and it feels more like an exploration of character rather than a complex story. Which is all great, especially as the each performer brings something unique and watchable, but for all its beauty, atmosphere and good performances, there's a mix of styles on the stage, which highlights the loose structure of the script by separating the stories and characters.

Vieux Carré isn't one of Tennesse Williams's well-known plays because it doesn't compare to his great ones. It takes a lot to overcome a not-there script. ITCH have a lot of terrific people, so I'd really like to see this company and cast tackle one of his great ones, because this one isn't showing how good they can be.

This was on AussieTheatre.com

Photo by Justin Kane

Review: Ovo

Ovo
Cirque Du Soleil
17 January 2013
The Grand Chapiteau at Docklands
to 24 March
cirquedusoleil.com

The last time Cirque Du Soleil was in town,  Saltimbanco was performed in a so-wrong sports arena, so it's wonderful to have Ovo back in the relative intimacy of the purpose-built tent town of the Grand Chapiteau – even if it is in the weird concrete emptiness of Docklands.

In 2013, 15 million people will see one of the 20 different Cirque Du Soleil shows performing around the world. To date, over 100 million people have seen one of their shows. That's not bad for a company that started in Quebec in 1984 with a group of 20 street performers who wanted to create imaginative, emotion-provoking circus with live music and no animals that could travel the world.

Ovo shrinks us down to see a community of insects who want to protect, eat or cherish an egg, whatever it holds.  With incredible costumes (Liz Vandal) and make up (Julie Begin) that start with the intricate beauty of a bug, turn up the colour and pattern to human-size and make it even more gorgeous, it may convince non-bug lovers and even arachnophobes that critters with six or more legs are cool and not to be squished.

With a troupe of the bendiest, fittest, strongest, fearless performers from around the world, the tricks and routines are they-did-NOT-just-do-that jaw-dropping and, like the design, always taken to a level that's rarely surpassed.

My favourites were the dragonfly's hand balance (Volodymyr Hrynchenko), the firefly's amazing diablo (Tony Frebourg) and the spider on a slackwire (Ailato Julaiti). And each act ends with enough OMG moments to satisfy the most jaded. Act one ends with a team of 11 flying scarabs (Artem Burnukin, Alexander Grol, Nina Kartseva, Roman Khayrullin, Konstantin Kolbin, Maxim Komlev, Aleksandr Mischenko, Evgeny Mitin, Andrey Shapin, Valeri Tomanov, Sarfabek Zardakov) – which a good chunk of the audience get to watch from below the net – and act two with a tramp-o wall of 11 gravity-defying crickets (Michel Boillet, Lee Brearley, Kasper Falkesgaard, Shaun Gregory, Laura Houson, Yahia Icheboudene, Roman Karpovich, Sébastien Laifa, Karl L’ecuyer, Ludovic Martin, Gary Smith).

Any Cirque Du Soleil show is as spectacular and slick as a performance can be. But is there anything duller than perfection?

Its no-possibility-of-mistakes or hint of individuality leaves it feeling souless. The performers are magnificent, but it feels like they could do the show in their sleep. Cirque has become a brand that doesn't deviate and, like ordering at any Evil Ms around the world, you know exactly what you're going to get. I saw Saltimbanco the first time Cirque came to Australia in the 90s and was blown away by a show that oozed so much love, originality and wow. But it feels like the bigger they get, the harder it is to connect to those millions of people who want to experience something incredible.

Now, I have to rant about merchandise. I know that merchandise makes money and companies need money to pay staff and artists and bring shows to the other side of the world, but to have so much lovely stuff at small-person eye level has got to make anyone taking children bonkers. The tickets to see this show are by no means cheap, but throw in snacks, a $30 program and a $39 toy frog (which was so damn cute that if they were $20, I would have bought some for presents and kept one for myself), I have no idea how families can enjoy Ovo. If your choice is a month's rent/mortgage payment or take the family to the circus, it's no wonder that the answer is a DVD and popcorn made in the microwave. I'm not saying don't sell the stuff, but can it be slightly less tempting so that buying is a choice rather than something driven by guilt or nagging?

This was on AussieTheatre.com

Photos by Benoit Fontaine

Review: Oh Suivant

Oh Suivant

Arts Centre Melbourne, Explosive Media

15 January 2013

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne

to 27 January

artscentremelbourne.com.au

If you're looking for a terrific show for fussy audiences, Oh Suivant at the Arts Centre won hearts and kept everyone's attention – even the grown ups!

This two-person circus from Belgium melds trick, live music and theatre in a work that's created for little ones, but enchants everyone and refuses to treat children as anything but the most intelligent and discerning audience.

Juggler and balancer extraordinaire Dirk Van Boxelaere and musician Fien Van Herwegan delight with a gentle and gorgeous work that feels like it's from a 1940s circus tent from a world where entertainment was made by live people instead of electronics. There's room for more story in the character and trick, but the characters are so lovely and the tricks so slick that it wasn't a problem.

But it is a show to be enjoyed with children. There were as many small as big people in today's 11 am audience and everyone was having fun (and if only it were ok to ask "Why is the man on the table?" and other questions during non-kid shows). I was with a 7-month-old who bounced and giggled for an hour and a nearly-three-year-old who couldn't tell me what her favourite bit was because she loved it all.

Suivant is a perfect introduction to theatre and promises to create a love of theatre in little hearts and may even re-ignite that love in some of the older ones.

This was on AussieTheatre.com

When cunt isn't cool at Midsumma

Why is cunt still the ultimate insult?

I saw two Midsumma plays at La Mama on Friday night: both used "cunt" as their ultimate insult word.

I say and write cunt. I've used it as an insult (about women) and a compliment. One of the best phrases I've heard was someone telling me they were in the middle of a "cunting grant application". I've said cunt in frustration, I've used it sexually (a pussy is a cat and Fanny is a woman called Frances). I've used it to shock and to fit in, but mostly because it's the best word to use at the time.

I don't think cunt's a taboo word because I don't think cunts are disgusting.

Cunts are cool.

I love mine.

What I try to never do is use cunt to insult a man (I call them cocks), but too often I hear cunt used to insult men because it's the worst thing they can possibly be. You may be a poof, but I can insult you more by calling you a cunt, a woman.

Fag Boy and the Married Man and Cock are both plays about intolerance and cunt is only used three times over both, but that was enough to make me raise my eyebrows and scowl.

I don't think either writer was even aware of their hypocrisy.  Fag Boy screams about the pain of word choice and one of the stronger moments in Cock is a man saying how anal sex doesn't make you a girl and that being a girl is not the worst thing you can be.  (Although it might be a winner to say "woman", especially as it follows a list of men compared to a list of boys.)

Despite all our reclaiming and See-you-next-Tuesday-ing, cunt is so ingrained as the worst word that it's used too often without realising what it means to call someone a cunt.

So what are some better words that are really vile?

Hangover spew, burst hemaroid, rotting roadkill, month old lumpy milk, Alan Jones, Tony Abbott, Kyle Sanderlands, the NRA, Westboro Baptists, the Australian Christian Lobby?

No, they're not bad enough. We need a word that there's no coming back from because of the hate and fear and grossness it represents.

So, the next time you go to use cunt as an insult, please substitute "myki".


(If you don't live in Melbourne,  Google myki and be prepared for some impressive complaints.)

PS. I tried to find a pic of the Girlesque show that has a back drop of C-U-N-T in giant gold letters, but  I couldn't find a search phrase that helped.

Midsumma quickies

Fag Boy and the Married Guy
La Mama, Tunks Productions

18 January 2013

La Mama

to 27 January

midsumma.org.au

The oddest thing about Fag Boy and the Married Guy is that the plot is detailed in its program guide description (and the title does away with the need for the first few minutes of the show), so there are no surprises and no tension if you've read it. Maybe don't read the program guide if you want to see it.

Cock

La Mama, An Untitled Theatre Company

18 January 2013

La Mama

to 27 January

midsumma.org.au

Meanwhile, also at La Mama, Cock isn't what its title suggests.

Written and devised with his cast (Hikaru Freeman, Daniel Kilby, Josh Dore, Richard Manzart, Grant Morrisey), Kevin McGreal's work is an experiment in form that uses the unique talents of his cast to look at questions about gay male culture from different perspectives. And, of course, it's not just about cock.

Using dance, song and monologue, some pieces work better than others and as a whole the work needs some shaping, but it's made from the hearts, frustrations and loves of its makers, which is why I haven't written any cock jokes. 

Turns out I do like sundried tomatoes

Geraldine Hickey

17 January – 9 February

midsumma.org.au

I saw Geraldine's show in the comedy festival last year. It was terrific then and I expect it's even better now.

Here's my review.

Review: Songs For Nobodies

Songs For Nobodies
Duet, A Melbourne Theatre Company Production
4 January 2012
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 13 January, then touring
songsfornobodies.com

Somehow I'd missed Bernadette Robinson in Songs for Nobodies. If you also missed it, or know that you have to see it again, it's back in Melbourne at the Arts Centre and it is as great as everyone said it was.

I admit that I'm always dubious about a showcase work – and it's not like Melbourne has a shortage of  Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday or Maria Callas impersonators – so I went along mostly out of curiosity. Sure, curiosity sometimes kills, but it also uncovers choice treats and pillowy warm spots to rest and dream.

First seen in 2009, Songs for Nobodies was created to show off Robinson's astonishing singing. And rightly so; hers is a voice that grabs your heart at first note and doesn't let ago until there's silence. Director Simon Phillips saw this and, knowing that it had to be more than a cabaret, brought playwright Joanna Murray-Smith on board to find the story for this remarkable voice.

The soul of this new work comes from Murray-Smith's decision to not write about the divas whose songs Robinson sings, but to create stories about five nobodies whose lives were changed after encountering one of the great singers. From a 36-year-old ladies room attendant fixing Judy's hem after her concert at Carnegie Hall to a young journalist interviewing Billie and an English librarian telling how her father saw Edith perform in a prison camp, each story is complete and perfect and, for everyone who has seen this show, now inseparable from the well-known songs that accompany them.

Robinson's performance as ten different women is as magnificent as her singing and what makes this show so unforgettable is her seamless merge between characters without any hint of herself in between. For a work all about the performer, the performer is nowhere to be seen and she lets the five nobodies and five broken somebodies soak in the audience love.

This sadly leaves us with  no idea who Bernadette is or how she sounds when she's singing as herself. I'd have loved to see a sixth story or even an encore song, but I wonder if that revelation would take away from all that went before?

Songs For Nobodies is for Judy, Patsy, Edith, Billie and Maria fans and for anyone who hasn't heard them.  Robinson grasps what was unique and incredible about each singer and makes each song sound like it had never been sung before. It's on in Melbourne until Sunday 13 January, then it's off to Sydney and Adelaide.

This appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Chat: Splendid Chaps live podcats

Splendid Chaps: A year of Doctor Who

Ben McKenzie and John Richards  like Doctor Who, so they've decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the telly show by being Splendid Chaps and hosting a year-long performance and podcast project.

Starting this Sunday, 13 January, they're recording a live podcast each month until November. Each month is dedicated to a specific doctor, has a new theme and is at a different venue. This month is about the First Doctor, William Hartnell, explores authority and is at Trades Hall (The Annex, Bella Union). You can book here.

Each visit, hosts Ben (Dungeon Crawl, Pop Up Playground) and John (Boxcutters podcast, Outland – really ABC, why hasn't this been repeated and where is Series 2?) and companion Petra Elliott will be joined by special guests. First up are Lee Zachariah (The Bazura Project, Hell Is For Hyphenates podcast), Nerida Haycock (3RRR), Alexandra Tynan (Sandra Reid) who designed the original Cybermen, and musical guest Geraldine Quinn with an updated version of her "Doctor Who's Assistant".

More info and episode zero of the podcast is at splendidchaps.com.

(Before anyone, including me, has a hissy: "We realise chaps is a gendered term, but with a podcast titled Splendid Chaps, we don’t imagine we’d get away with calling ourselves anything else." And the Brigadier said it.)

Meanwhile, Ben answers some questions.

Who’s your doctor?
If I had to pick a top three, it’d be Troughton, Davison and Smith. But I really do like them all.

What episode do you watch any time you get a chance?

Not an episode, but a story: The Caves of Androzani. Still my favourite, though some have come close in recent years. The first episode of The Talons of Weng-Chiang is pretty great too. A Christmas Carol is probably my favourite from new Who.

Can you remember the first episode you saw?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t watching Doctor Who, so no! Probably middle period Tom Baker, that seems to be what was on the ABC around the time I would have started. The first book was Terror of the Autons. Frightening cover! The first video I obsessed over was The Five Doctors. I know it off by heart.

How many Doctor Who toys do you own?

I have a few Dapol action figures and a TARDIS from back in the day, and a couple of sonic screwdrivers and pocket watches; not that many toys! It’s the books I collected. I have hundreds of them!

If the TARDIS landed in your living room, where/when would you ask to go?

Dinosaurs. And space. And aliens. The future, to learn how we answer the questions and solve the problems of today (spoilers!). Oh, just everywhere, I reckon. But mostly dinosaurs.

Photo by Robert Young

Kissing and crying in Doctor Who. Discuss.

I don’t think there should be a taboo against the Doctor doing either, but when you make him a romantic lead, you lose the unique position the show used to occupy in not having one. It made him much more anyone’s hero; a character any of us could be. Now he likes pretty young girls just like every TV hero. Hardly ground breaking stuff there! I thought it was sweet the way Paul McGann did it; Ecclestone’s made no sense to me; nearly everything since seems a bit gratuitous.

Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures?

The Sarah Jane Adventures. It's everything her appearance in new Who should have been and more. I loved it. Though special mention to Torchwood: Children of Earth for being quite brilliant, in sharp contrast to the other series of Torchwood.

What other TV shows are you obsessed by?

Doctor Who was my gateway into UK television, and I still love Press Gang, Monkey, Sapphire and Steel, The Prisoner, Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, and Blackadder, of course. The Goodies   was hugely influential on me, it was far superior to Flying Circus in my book – I wish they’d release the whole series, not just bits and pieces. Hmmm…not much new on that list! I do love Lexx, but that’s a bit of a guilty pleasure. It’s delightfully weird. I am very keen on Game of Thrones, though I question it in some respects. The modern Sherlock is good, I’m a Holmes fan too from way back, so I’m also interested in Elementary. I was a huge Red Dwarf fan back in the day and I was incredibly (if pleasantly) surprised to find that the latest series is actually pretty good! The only show that has engendered anything like Doctor Who level devotion from me, though, is Community. Love every second.

Russell or Steven?

Steven, but only when he’s got his eye on the ball (and not working on twenty different things at once). I’m really interested to find out who’ll be next and what they’ll do, since we’ve seen several years of both these guys now.

Cyberman or Dalek?

I think they’re both equally interesting – when writers choose to make something of them. They’ve not been terribly exciting in recent history, with the notable exception of Rob Shearman’s Dalek.

Why should SM readers come to the live recording of Splendid Chaps?

Doctor Who is a show with a vibrant and wonderful fan community, and we’d love to share that with an audience. Plus, the live show will be around 90 minutes (with a break), but the podcast will be under an hour – so you’ll get bits you won’t hear on the podcast!

Melbourne please follow Belvoir's example

Yesterday, Belvoir theatre in Sydney allocated a number of free tickets for Newstart families for their production of Peter Pan.

Peter Pan rehearsal. Photo by Brett Boardman.

"At Belvoir we think theatre is a necessity, but we know that for a lot of families it is a luxury, especially for single parent families. With over 80,000 single parents moved from a parenting payment to Newstart on 1 January things are that little bit harder.

We’d like to share the joy of theatre with some of these families."

More info here.

I'd love to see some Melbourne companies and organisations follow this example.

If you have unsold seats, why not give them to people who can't afford the luxury of a theatre ticket? Not just the families who have been forced onto Newstart, but anyone who is in a position where they are reliant on Centrelink.

Know that these tickets would be appreciated and loved, even if they are in the top balcony (War Horse, I'm talking especially to YOU).

Dan Clarke's Midsumma musts

It's heading to 41°C in Melbourne today, so what better time to talk about the Midsumma festival.

Or even better, let's ask Daniel Clarke – winner of the SM  Everything he does rocks award for 2012 – what he's up to for Midsumma.

Theatreworks is presenting three shows and Dan's directing Gaybies. If you can only do four shows this Midsumma, consider your program chosen.

Psycho Beach Party
Little Ones Theatre, Theatre Works
11–19 Jan
book here

When people in the town are attacked in strange sado-masochistic ways, it is up to the surf-bums and a B-Grade Horror star to find the culprit and save a Gidget-esque nerd with a dream to surf from her potentially lethal sexual awakening.

Sydney couldn't get enough of this show, it's directed by Stephen Nicolazzo (sex.violence.blood.gore)  and they wiped out a species of leopardish to create the design. Miss it and you'll regret it.

Or here's Stephen and Ash chatting about it.

Here Lies Henry
TurnAround Productions, Theatre Works
22 – 27 Jan
book here

Another show that Sydney loved, Here Lies Henry challenges the conventional relationship between actor and audience and is described as provocative and uncompromising,  as elusive as it is enlightening and as profound as it is laugh-out-loud funny.

The Dead Ones 
Vitalstatistix, Margie Fischer, Theatre Works
29 Jan – Feb 3
book here

The Dead Ones is Margie Fisher's most recent work.  Margie is a writer and performer who founded Feast, Adelaide's Queer Festival, and is described as a very funny Jewish lesbian (welcome to St Kilda, Margie).  This show's about what happened when everyone in her family died and she was left to clear out their house.

It was first produced by Adelaide's wonderful Vitalstatistix, who have been creating and supporting feminist and gender aware theatre and art since 1984, when they formed as Australia's only full-time women's theatre company, and continue to produce new Australian performance and live art that's provocative, distinctive and informed.

Gaybies

Midsumma

15–19 January

book here

To celebrate Midsumma's 25th birthday, Dean Bryant developed a piece of verbatim theatre about gaybies: children from gay, lesbian, surrogate and all sorts of fabulous families.

With a super cast including Todd McKenney, Kate Kendall, Virginia Gay, Trevor Ashley, Christie Whelan and Alex Rathgeber, there are only six performances at the MTC's Sumner Theatre.

War Horse review preview

War Horse

National Theatre of Great Britain and Global Creatures in association with Arts Centre Melbourne

31 December 2012

State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne

to 3 March, then touring Sydney, Brisbane, New Zealand

artscentremelbourne.com.au

warhorseonstage.com

Joey the horse is clearly three people in a horse suit and his story is emotionally manipulative, a bit schmaltzy and narratively safe, but I wasn't the only person crying for that horse on New Year's Eve. If the passionate standing ovation from opening night is a hint of the love for this show, gallop to get your tickets for War Horse.

I read horse books as a pre-teen. I loved a ponymance tale of a lass and her beast with a tail. As I got older, I liked the ones where there pony was dumped for a sullen boy and cried my eyes out in K M Peyton's Flambards series. 

If I'd read War Horse at the time, there would have been more tears. British author Michael Morpurgo is best known for his stories for children and he's written over 120 books. His War Horse (1982) has always been popular, but the stage production by the National Theatre of Great Britain (2007–)  and Steven Speilberg's film (2011) have assured that it's now sold over a million copies.

.....

War Horse is stunning. The story isn't as tight as some may want, but it's a story written so everyone can enjoy it, and enjoy its heartbreak without being traumatised and still want to re-visit it by reading the book and calling the next pet in your home Joey.

MORE at AussieTheatre.com

There's also a series of War Horse creative workshops at the Arts Centre including Writing for the Stage and Creating Puppets. Details here.

And here's writer  Michael Morpurgo's top writing tips, from The Guardian on 8/12/12.

1. Live an interesting life. Meet people. Read a lot and widely, learn from the great writers.
2. Write just a little every day.
3. Settle on an idea that you care about, that you're really passionate about, then research around it and dream it out in your mind. I don't plan out the plot, rather let it emerge as I write.
4. When I write I try as far as possible to forget I'm writing it at all. I tell it down onto the page, as if I'm telling it to one person only, my best friend
5. Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it!