Guest Review: Foxholes of the Mind

Foxholes of the Mind

Larrikin Ensemble

La Mama Courthouse Theatre

10 November 2010 


Review by Karla Dondio


Foxholes in the Mind is a heart-wrenching account of the loss suffered by men and women who return home from war and the families they return home to. 

The setting is present day where Frank (Peter Finlay), a Vietnam War veteran, is struggling to keep his marriage to the long-suffering Trish (Joanne Davis) together. What’s clear from the outset is that Frank’s drinking and outbursts have marred family life leading to everyone being estranged from him. Frank starts a therapy group for veterans and nurses suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and, as the characters unravel, we see to the tragic extent to which war scars those that serve.

While watching this play, it struck me that what men and women lose at war is an innocence and morality that propels most of us forward everyday and makes us feel okay about ourselves. Imagine waking up every morning knowing you had killed another human being and witnessed your mates dying. As this candid piece demonstrates, it’s an unbearable weight that manifests in mental disorders, abusive relationships and, for some, suicide.

Bernard Clancy has written a bold and confident narrative featuring strong characters and a moving story of loss and redemption. The script is eloquent and Clancy is courageous enough to avoid political correctness without losing his key message: why do we send men and women off to war when we know the aftermath destroys not just the lives of those that served but families and communities? The script is probably 5–10 minutes too long with some of the conversations with Frank and Trish at the end sounding repetitive; nonetheless, for the most part, this piece has you on the edge of your seat.

Peter Finlay is fearless in this role as Frank. He plays Frank with both a toughness and fragility that exudes a sense that Frank is a bomb about to detonate. His performance is pitch perfect. He is supported by an able cast featuring Joanne Davis, Adrian Mulraney and Mauren Hartley who all give rounded performances and brings heart to this beautiful and tragic piece.

Rememberance Day on 11 November usually passes me by without stopping for a minute’s silence, but after seeing this play it was hard not stop this week to remember that innocent lives are lost in war, on both sides, both those that do not return and those that do. Lest we forget. Unfortunately, we have and governments still send men and women off to war.

Guest Reviewer: Ella Danse

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2010

Ella Danse
Beebop Arts

2 October 2010
241
9 October

www.melbournefringe.com.au

Review by Karla Dondio

Last night was the second time I’ve cried during a performance at the 2010 Fringe Festival.

Perhaps I’m a tad sensitive and it’s time to increase my Vitamin B intake, but the truth is

I’ve just been privy to some really outstanding performances this Fringe.

As a wordsmith, I forget sometimes that you don’t need words tell a story. Thank you

Etoile Marley, performer and choreographer of Elle Danse, for reminding me how potent

and exacting the medium of dance is in conveying human emotions which is the

bones of great story telling.

To describe this dance/cabaret show would simply do it an injustice. What I will say is this:

So you think you can dance? You wish. Etoile Marley can dance. Sure she’s technically

precise, with the type of dexterity that puts most of us to shame, but there’s so much

more to dance than that. The kind of dancers who inspire demonstrate expertise while

exposing the qualities of the human condition with both subtlety and flare.

Last night I journeyed through despair, longing, eroticism, absurdism, joy and triumph.

And if you want to know how erotic is done sans the degradation and sexploitation that’s

everywhere these days, then don’t miss show.

Oh and did I mention Marley can sing beautifully as well as speak French? Well she

can and these attributes only add another dimension to this, already, superb show. The only

criticism I have is the show is simply not long enough. More please!

I take my hat off to all the performers of the Fringe Festival like Marley who have not only

honed their craft but also allow the audience to access the exquisite essence of story telling

through their vulnerabilities and triumphs. You make us laugh and make us cry, but

most of all you remind us what it is to be human. Etoile Marley you’re a star!

Last night was the second time I’ve cried during a performance at the 2010 Fringe Festival.

Perhaps I’m a tad sensitive and it’s time to increase my Vitamin B intake, but the truth is

I’ve just been privy to some really outstanding performances this Fringe.

As a wordsmith, I forget sometimes that you don’t need words tell a story. Thank you

Etoile Marley, performer and choreographer of Elle Danse, for reminding me how potent

and exacting the medium of dance is in conveying human emotions which is the

bones of great story telling.

To describe this dance/cabaret show would simply do it an injustice. What I will say is this:

So you think you can dance? You wish. Etoile Marley can dance. Sure she’s technically

precise, with the type of dexterity that puts most of us to shame, but there’s so much

more to dance than that. The kind of dancers who inspire demonstrate expertise while

exposing the qualities of the human condition with both subtlety and flare.

Last night I journeyed through despair, longing, eroticism, absurdism, joy and triumph.

And if you want to know how erotic is done sans the degradation and sexploitation that’s

everywhere these days, then don’t miss show.

Oh and did I mention Marley can sing beautifully as well as speak French? Well she

can and these attributes only add another dimension to this, already, superb show. The only

criticism I have is the show is simply not long enough. More please!

I take my hat off to all the performers of the Fringe Festival like Marley who have not only

honed their craft but also allow the audience to access the exquisite essence of story telling

through their vulnerabilities and triumphs. You make us laugh and make us cry, but

most of all you remind us what it is to be human. Etoile Marley you’re a star!Last night was the second time I’ve cried during a performance at the 2010 Fringe Festival.

Perhaps I’m a tad sensitive and it’s time to increase my Vitamin B intake, but the truth is

I’ve just been privy to some really outstanding performances this Fringe.

As a wordsmith, I forget sometimes that you don’t need words tell a story. Thank you

Etoile Marley, performer and choreographer of Elle Danse, for reminding me how potent

and exacting the medium of dance is in conveying human emotions which is the

bones of great story telling.

To describe this dance/cabaret show would simply do it an injustice. What I will say is this:

So you think you can dance? You wish. Etoile Marley can dance. Sure she’s technically

precise, with the type of dexterity that puts most of us to shame, but there’s so much

more to dance than that. The kind of dancers who inspire demonstrate expertise while

exposing the qualities of the human condition with both subtlety and flare.

Last night I journeyed through despair, longing, eroticism, absurdism, joy and triumph.

And if you want to know how erotic is done sans the degradation and sexploitation that’s

everywhere these days, then don’t miss show.

Oh and did I mention Marley can sing beautifully as well as speak French? Well she

can and these attributes only add another dimension to this, already, superb show. The only

criticism I have is the show is simply not long enough. More please!

I take my hat off to all the performers of the Fringe Festival like Marley who have not only

honed their craft but also allow the audience to access the exquisite essence of story telling

through their vulnerabilities and triumphs. You make us laugh and make us cry, but

most of all you remind us what it is to be human. Etoile Marley you’re a star!

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Guest Reviewer: The Spaces Between

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2010

The Spaces Between
The Jane Austen Argument

22 September 2010
The Butterfly Club
to 25 September

www.melbournefringe.com.au

Review By Karla Dondio

What exists in the spaces without love?

An unshakeable self-love.

For someone who recently had their heart broken, I felt like this show was written and performed just for me. The Spaces Between is a poignant and droll lamentation of what love doesn’t deliver measured by the void left behind as well as a celebration of the spaces in between where we find ourselves.

This could easily have been a show pontificating on spatial relativism as a metaphor for love and loss. But this was never going to be the case in the consummate hands of the Jane Austen Argument aka Jen Kingwell and Tom Dickens. As if their name doesn’t suggest an able handling of the context from the outset.

The Spaces Between is a stunning piece of cabaret/theatre. It’s clever, candid and heartfelt punctuated by many fine comedic moments. If only every writer/performer understood that you have to risk telling the bare bones of truth to really move an audience. This show does not shy away from humiliating moments nor does it dip its toes into the sentimental. It was never trying to be clever for the sake of being clever. It’s simply well written and proficiently performed, which demonstrates a depth of character you don’t often see in cabaret.

Both performers have bucket-loads of talent. Dickens has a voice that wavers between simulating the feeling of a lover’s hand running down your spine and, all too suddenly, the feeling when this is lost. I’m not ashamed to say this performer brought a few tears to my eyes.

Kingwell is no slacker either; she’s an accomplished pianist/songwriter and, when singing in her range, has a beautiful voice in her own right. This duo work so well together, at times they’re almost mirror images of each other in a light and shade kind of way. Albeit the banter between the two seemed slightly staged at times, all is forgiven because it’s their first show of the fringe season.

If there’s one show you have to see this fringe season it’s this one. The Spaces Between is the most exquisite cabaret you’ll ever see, and by far the cheapest therapy session you’ll ever have to pay for.