MIAF 2008 reviews
That Night Follows Day
Romeo and Juliet
Appetite
Book of Longing
An Oak Tree
El Automovil Gris
Two Faced Bastard
Kitten
The Navigator
MIAF 2007 reviews
European House
Half Life
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
The Tell Tale Heart
Sizwe Banzi is Dead
MIAF 2006 reviews
Peepshow
Now That Communism Is Dead My Life Feels Empty
I La Galigo
Voyage
Of All The People In All The World: Pacific Rim
insen
Tragedia Endogonidia BR.#04 Brussels
Ethel's Greatest Hits
Ngapartji Ngapartji
blessing the boats
Blind Date
Mostly Melbourne theatre reviews
Showing posts with label MIAF 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MIAF 2007. Show all posts
07 October 2009
24 October 2007
European House
MIAF 2007
European House: Hamlet’s Prologue Without Words
24 October 2007
Playhouse, the Arts Centre
At first it’s a bit like watching a Big Brother on stage. Don’t get me wrong, I quite like the voyeuristic nature of reality television. However this work is nothing like exploitative telly. It gently unfolds into a complex, mesmerising and thoroughly original piece of theatre. Teatre Lliure’s European House: Hamlet’s Prologue Without Words must be one of the highlights of the last week of this amazing Melbourne International Arts Festival.
Teatre Lliure was formed in Spain in 1976 by a group of independent theatre professionals and has become one of their countries leading companies. European House is exactly that; a prologue to Hamlet, performed without words, set in a European house.
If you read the program (which the festival are giving out this week - I liked downloading mine before I went out, but understand why people were missing them), you know who appears from Shakespeare’s great work. If you know Hamlet well, don’t read the character names, because it’s much more fun to recognize each as they appear. If you don’t know Hamlet, knowing their names means little.
Two maids are working in a large, modern house when a young man and his mother arrive home after a funeral. We do know his name is Hamlet. Soon an older male relative appears. He acts like an uncle. Then Hamlet’s best friend joins them. Then a neighbour and his two children ring the bell. This young man and woman are also friends of Hamlet. Then two more of Hamlet’s mates join the grieving household. The last two are the only ones who are not immediately recognisable, but only because Guildenstern has undergone a sex change. Throughout their interactions, an older man wanders unseen and takes notes. He just might be the ghost of Hamlet’s recently deceased father. How he choses to finally reveal himself to Horatio is one of the funniest and most original moments I’ve seen in any interpretation or working of this play.
We see seven rooms. We watch the characters as they move through the house. There are no words. None are needed. Their relationships are clear. Knowing the story and the tragedy that is about to unfold heightens the enjoyment and admiration of the work, but it isn’t necessary to know everything you need to know about them. All amateur - and professional - Shakespeare performers should see this production, just to understand how to portray complex status and relationships without relying on dialogue.
European House gently and seamlessly develops its complexity. It’s as perfectly structured and paced as, well - a Shakespearean tragedy. At first we watch the very mundane act of making coffee in one room. By the end we are looking in all seven rooms as each of the characters experience their own inner grief and turmoil. It’s like a wordless version of the soliloquy. We are clearly seeing what is going on in their heads when they are alone. It’s intimate and voyeuristic. Hamlet takes a shower and makes a large soap question mark on the glass. Guildenstern has a wee. Their acts are private and hidden from each other, but can see the seeds being sown for future problems.
Director Alex Regula says, “In order to maintain this sense of realism the actors and therefore the characters were unaware of what was happening in the other rooms during the entire development process.” This process created some outstanding moments, such as Hamlet and Ophelia gently holding hands in his bedroom, whist in the bedroom below Claudius has stripped Gertrude and has his face buried deep between her legs.
Watching European House is like peering through your neighbour’s window. There is something so fascinating about watching people go about their own life unnoticed. To achieve such natural performances is an astounding feat by the cast. There is no sense of audience or performance. And they all give totally recognisable, but unique interpretations of Shakespeare’s famous characters. Gertrude is especially complex and intriguing and Guildenstern is highly original and pivotal to the theatricality of the piece.
For a work so reliant upon realism, it is directed with an astonishing sense of theatricality. The house draws you into every hidden corner. The design is a cutaway of the whole house, but there is a glass wall installed, not just a fourth wall removed. The glass is important theatrically and dramatically. The sound inside is amplified so we are drawn closer into each room. We hear the turning of pages, the coughing and clinking of plates. When each room is lit, we can see every detail. When not lit, they are in complete black.
After the prologue, I would have been more than happy to watch the rest of the play unfold, but it is unnecessary, as we have already seen everything we need to know. And they didn’t utter a word.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
European House: Hamlet’s Prologue Without Words
24 October 2007
Playhouse, the Arts Centre
Teatre Lliure was formed in Spain in 1976 by a group of independent theatre professionals and has become one of their countries leading companies. European House is exactly that; a prologue to Hamlet, performed without words, set in a European house.
If you read the program (which the festival are giving out this week - I liked downloading mine before I went out, but understand why people were missing them), you know who appears from Shakespeare’s great work. If you know Hamlet well, don’t read the character names, because it’s much more fun to recognize each as they appear. If you don’t know Hamlet, knowing their names means little.
Two maids are working in a large, modern house when a young man and his mother arrive home after a funeral. We do know his name is Hamlet. Soon an older male relative appears. He acts like an uncle. Then Hamlet’s best friend joins them. Then a neighbour and his two children ring the bell. This young man and woman are also friends of Hamlet. Then two more of Hamlet’s mates join the grieving household. The last two are the only ones who are not immediately recognisable, but only because Guildenstern has undergone a sex change. Throughout their interactions, an older man wanders unseen and takes notes. He just might be the ghost of Hamlet’s recently deceased father. How he choses to finally reveal himself to Horatio is one of the funniest and most original moments I’ve seen in any interpretation or working of this play.
We see seven rooms. We watch the characters as they move through the house. There are no words. None are needed. Their relationships are clear. Knowing the story and the tragedy that is about to unfold heightens the enjoyment and admiration of the work, but it isn’t necessary to know everything you need to know about them. All amateur - and professional - Shakespeare performers should see this production, just to understand how to portray complex status and relationships without relying on dialogue.
European House gently and seamlessly develops its complexity. It’s as perfectly structured and paced as, well - a Shakespearean tragedy. At first we watch the very mundane act of making coffee in one room. By the end we are looking in all seven rooms as each of the characters experience their own inner grief and turmoil. It’s like a wordless version of the soliloquy. We are clearly seeing what is going on in their heads when they are alone. It’s intimate and voyeuristic. Hamlet takes a shower and makes a large soap question mark on the glass. Guildenstern has a wee. Their acts are private and hidden from each other, but can see the seeds being sown for future problems.
Director Alex Regula says, “In order to maintain this sense of realism the actors and therefore the characters were unaware of what was happening in the other rooms during the entire development process.” This process created some outstanding moments, such as Hamlet and Ophelia gently holding hands in his bedroom, whist in the bedroom below Claudius has stripped Gertrude and has his face buried deep between her legs.
Watching European House is like peering through your neighbour’s window. There is something so fascinating about watching people go about their own life unnoticed. To achieve such natural performances is an astounding feat by the cast. There is no sense of audience or performance. And they all give totally recognisable, but unique interpretations of Shakespeare’s famous characters. Gertrude is especially complex and intriguing and Guildenstern is highly original and pivotal to the theatricality of the piece.
For a work so reliant upon realism, it is directed with an astonishing sense of theatricality. The house draws you into every hidden corner. The design is a cutaway of the whole house, but there is a glass wall installed, not just a fourth wall removed. The glass is important theatrically and dramatically. The sound inside is amplified so we are drawn closer into each room. We hear the turning of pages, the coughing and clinking of plates. When each room is lit, we can see every detail. When not lit, they are in complete black.
After the prologue, I would have been more than happy to watch the rest of the play unfold, but it is unnecessary, as we have already seen everything we need to know. And they didn’t utter a word.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
17 October 2007
Sizwe Banzi is Dead
MIAF 2007
Sizwe Banzi is Dead
Township Theatre, South Africa
Arts Projects Australia and CICT17 October 2007
Review by Christina Cass
Sizwe Banzi is Dead is a richly crafted morality play by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona of the Township Theatre in South Africa. The second in a series of three Statement Plays is sparsely directed by the legendary Peter Brook and performed completely in French with English surtitles. There are times when I go to an Italian opera and become distracted by the supertitles being flashed above the stage or on the back of the seat in front of me – taking both body and mind away from the action on stage. Now that’s not so bad with opera (as ‘action’ is not often used in conjunction with the performance medium) since it’s primarily an aural and atmospheric experience. So taking your eyes off the stage doesn’t mean you’re lost.
However, in dramatic or comedic theatre, surtitles can be a problem. You might miss too much of the unfolding visual story on stage, but not so with Sizwe Banzi is Dead. Habib Dembélé has us riveted from the very beginning. He deftly creates a story about his former factory life at Ford Motors in South Africa with just two rolling racks (the ones you use to transport garments on) and a giant collapsible garbage bag. He spins them around to create entrances and exits and transforms his body and voice to portray multiple characters. Not being fluent in French was hardly a liability for me because this engaging actor embodied each and every one of his characters, so if you missed a few translations, you still understood the story.
Dembélé’s nearly 30-minute monologue sets up the entrance for our protagonist, Sizwe Banzi, played with equal deftness by Pitcho Womba Konga. We are better prepared to understand big city conditions of King William’s Town that Banzi is faced with as a young father far away from home. He cries, “What’s wrong with me? I’m a man. I’ve got eyes to see. I’ve got ears to listen when people talk. I’ve got a head to think good things. What’s wrong with me?”
Ultimately, Banzi’s plight to legitimise his right to work in addition to running from the authorities brings us to a crisis when he is faced with the possibility of stealing a dead man’s papers in order to feed a family who will think he has disappeared. Banzi is forced to confront the deeper meaning of this action and the knowledge that the shift is irreversible. He is told, “You must understand one thing. We own nothing except ourselves. This world and its laws, allows us nothing, except ourselves. There is nothing we can leave behind when we die, except the memory of ourselves.”
With a focus on identity, humanity, truth and survival, Banzi is Dead blurs the lines of repression and makes this journey universally accessible. An absolute must see.
This review originally appeard on AussieTheatre.com.
Sizwe Banzi is Dead
Township Theatre, South Africa
Arts Projects Australia and CICT17 October 2007
Review by Christina Cass
Sizwe Banzi is Dead is a richly crafted morality play by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona of the Township Theatre in South Africa. The second in a series of three Statement Plays is sparsely directed by the legendary Peter Brook and performed completely in French with English surtitles. There are times when I go to an Italian opera and become distracted by the supertitles being flashed above the stage or on the back of the seat in front of me – taking both body and mind away from the action on stage. Now that’s not so bad with opera (as ‘action’ is not often used in conjunction with the performance medium) since it’s primarily an aural and atmospheric experience. So taking your eyes off the stage doesn’t mean you’re lost.
However, in dramatic or comedic theatre, surtitles can be a problem. You might miss too much of the unfolding visual story on stage, but not so with Sizwe Banzi is Dead. Habib Dembélé has us riveted from the very beginning. He deftly creates a story about his former factory life at Ford Motors in South Africa with just two rolling racks (the ones you use to transport garments on) and a giant collapsible garbage bag. He spins them around to create entrances and exits and transforms his body and voice to portray multiple characters. Not being fluent in French was hardly a liability for me because this engaging actor embodied each and every one of his characters, so if you missed a few translations, you still understood the story.
Dembélé’s nearly 30-minute monologue sets up the entrance for our protagonist, Sizwe Banzi, played with equal deftness by Pitcho Womba Konga. We are better prepared to understand big city conditions of King William’s Town that Banzi is faced with as a young father far away from home. He cries, “What’s wrong with me? I’m a man. I’ve got eyes to see. I’ve got ears to listen when people talk. I’ve got a head to think good things. What’s wrong with me?”
Ultimately, Banzi’s plight to legitimise his right to work in addition to running from the authorities brings us to a crisis when he is faced with the possibility of stealing a dead man’s papers in order to feed a family who will think he has disappeared. Banzi is forced to confront the deeper meaning of this action and the knowledge that the shift is irreversible. He is told, “You must understand one thing. We own nothing except ourselves. This world and its laws, allows us nothing, except ourselves. There is nothing we can leave behind when we die, except the memory of ourselves.”
With a focus on identity, humanity, truth and survival, Banzi is Dead blurs the lines of repression and makes this journey universally accessible. An absolute must see.
This review originally appeard on AussieTheatre.com.
14 October 2007
Half Life
MIAF 2007
Half Life
14 October 2007
Playhouse, the Arts Centre
John Mighton’s script actively explores multiple issues of aging, memory and loss of memory. Donald understands computers and how artificial intelligence will one day overcome human intelligence, but he cannot understand that his demented mother is in love with Patrick. The structure and intelligence of this work is so tight that it sometimes overwhelms the emotional beauty of it. Mighton puts his own opinions and philosophy’s into his characters, but there are moments when this stops them being their authentic selves. At times their dialogue sounded just a bit too “written” and forced.
Director Daniel Brooks says “John writes on many different levels. There’s usually a potent theatrical metaphor in every scene, but he doesn’t always think about how you get from one to another.” The director knows that he is dealing with a dense and occasionally overwritten script, but he brings its inherent beauty and profound intelligence to the stage. Even an obvious metaphor of a spilt drink and Donald saying he “made a terrible mess” flows seamlessly and beautifully.
The direction brings the unconscious level of the script to life. The mood of Half Life is always twilight. Darkness and light combine to form something else. There’s none of the fluorescent lights and musak (or grim silence) associated with hospitals or nursing homes. There’s a soundscape of gentle, yet sombre music filling the silences. The costumes are shades of earthy browns and greens. The stage is always dark, with just the immediate environment of the characters lit. We see just what we need to, but always know there is much hidden from our sight.
The cast support the mood and direction superbly. We care and feel for them, but they never let one character dominate or steal the audience’s sympathy.
Brooks says that Necessary Angel “reject the convenient, the conventional and are committed to giving every play we create the necessary time to develop.” Half Life is a shining example of an artistic process that understands and values the art of theatre.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
Half Life
14 October 2007
Playhouse, the Arts Centre
Half Life has deservedly won many Canadian theatre awards since its Ottawa premiere in June 2005. Necessary Angel Theatre Company’s production is a moving, gentle and thought provoking piece of theatre.
Necessary Angel’s web site declares that no question is too simple or too large for the company to tackle. Patrick and Clara meet in a nursing home. Both think they may have once known each other . They fall in love. Their story is interwoven with that of their 40-something children who are facing their own aging and the loss of their parents.
John Mighton’s script actively explores multiple issues of aging, memory and loss of memory. Donald understands computers and how artificial intelligence will one day overcome human intelligence, but he cannot understand that his demented mother is in love with Patrick. The structure and intelligence of this work is so tight that it sometimes overwhelms the emotional beauty of it. Mighton puts his own opinions and philosophy’s into his characters, but there are moments when this stops them being their authentic selves. At times their dialogue sounded just a bit too “written” and forced.
Director Daniel Brooks says “John writes on many different levels. There’s usually a potent theatrical metaphor in every scene, but he doesn’t always think about how you get from one to another.” The director knows that he is dealing with a dense and occasionally overwritten script, but he brings its inherent beauty and profound intelligence to the stage. Even an obvious metaphor of a spilt drink and Donald saying he “made a terrible mess” flows seamlessly and beautifully.
The direction brings the unconscious level of the script to life. The mood of Half Life is always twilight. Darkness and light combine to form something else. There’s none of the fluorescent lights and musak (or grim silence) associated with hospitals or nursing homes. There’s a soundscape of gentle, yet sombre music filling the silences. The costumes are shades of earthy browns and greens. The stage is always dark, with just the immediate environment of the characters lit. We see just what we need to, but always know there is much hidden from our sight.
The cast support the mood and direction superbly. We care and feel for them, but they never let one character dominate or steal the audience’s sympathy.
Brooks says that Necessary Angel “reject the convenient, the conventional and are committed to giving every play we create the necessary time to develop.” Half Life is a shining example of an artistic process that understands and values the art of theatre.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
13 October 2007
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
MIAF 2007
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Melbourne International Arts Festival
13 October 2007
State Theatre, The Arts Centre
The problem of having high expectations is that they may not be met. The Temptation of St Anthony didn’t meet my expectations. It totally surpassed them. Musically, visually and emotionally it is exquisite. It gently grabs your soul and doesn’t let it go.
Robert Wilson (I La Galigo MIAF 2006, Einstein On The Beach MIAF 1992) is an undisputed master of western avant guard theatre. Last year we saw him his signature touch on traditional Indonesian dance. This year Melbourne sees his version of a musical. Wilson said he wanted a musical for this story because “it is universal and speaks an emotional universal truth”. The masters know the emotional power of musical theatre.
The Temptation of St Anthony ignores, subverts and breaks most conventions associated with musical theatre, but I can say that is simply the best and most powerful musical that I’ve ever seen.
Ironically Wilson doesn’t start with music when he directs. “I start with silence, then add the movement and at the end, the text or music”. He does, however, know how to find the most perfect musical collaborators. (Philip Glass composed Einstein On The Beach; Tom Waits composed The Black Rider.)
Bernice Johnson Reagon wrote the music for Saint Anthony. Halleluiah! Reagon was the founder and artistic director of the divine a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. This score is based in the history of African-American music and culture and includes spirituals, blues, shouts, gospel, hymns, jazz, doo wop, hip hop and rock. The African-American cast of singers and dancers were selected for their mix of western training, church singing and folk orientation. She wanted a mix of old and young voices and they had to be able to move. Every member of this cast is sensational, even though Wilson takes away so many of their standard methods of communication.
Imagine the sound, the emotion and the movement of gospel singing. Now take away the individual personalities and take away any direct connection they have with each other and with the audience. The performers are performing for us, but never to us. They never look at the audience. It really is like they can’t see us. They also very rarely look at or touch each other, but are always working like an intricately connected machine.
Daniel Dodd Ellis plays St Anthony. He has a voice commands attention, whilst melting your heart. He is always on the stage, but he rarely sings. It’s not St Anthony’s story, but the story of his temptation and his journey. We don’t see character, but we do feel his emotion.
This may sound slightly disturbing. It is - and that is also why it’s so astonishingly effective. You don’t watch a Wilson show, you experience and feel it. It’s difficult to use words to describe the impact of a communicator who has so little use for words.
Wilson communicates with movement and colour. He developed this visual language by working with people who had severe difficulty communicating in our text based world. Wilson overcame a learning disability as a child and later worked extensively with disabled and brain injured children. Possibly his most important and powerful works have never been seen by the public. In the 60s he used theatre games in hospitals and schools to enable and encourage communication with patients and children deemed unable to communicate. In one hospital show his cast of patients were only able to make small movements with their hands or mouth. So he connected them all with photo sensitive string and showed how humans can visually communicate no matter how impossible it may seem. Wilson’s public frame and regard were established with his separate collaborations with the young artists Raymond Andrews (Deafman Glance) and Christopher Knowles (A Letter for Queen Victoria). Andrews is deaf and Knowles is autistic.
Some people don’t use words or eye contact or text to communicate. Wilson uses this style of language and that is why his theatre communicates so strongly with us, even if we don’t consciously understand how.
Everything on a Wilson stage is precise and controlled. There is no room for a spontaneous gesture, interpretation or even thought. This control becomes even more evident when the cast were released. During the curtain call, they bow and finally sing and dance as themselves. Suddenly the stage is filled with 16 unique personalities. The contrast is astounding and the emotional release of seeing them free is as powerful as seeing them contained.
Review of Absolute Wilson that originally appeared in The Pundit.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Melbourne International Arts Festival
13 October 2007
State Theatre, The Arts Centre
The problem of having high expectations is that they may not be met. The Temptation of St Anthony didn’t meet my expectations. It totally surpassed them. Musically, visually and emotionally it is exquisite. It gently grabs your soul and doesn’t let it go.
Robert Wilson (I La Galigo MIAF 2006, Einstein On The Beach MIAF 1992) is an undisputed master of western avant guard theatre. Last year we saw him his signature touch on traditional Indonesian dance. This year Melbourne sees his version of a musical. Wilson said he wanted a musical for this story because “it is universal and speaks an emotional universal truth”. The masters know the emotional power of musical theatre.
The Temptation of St Anthony ignores, subverts and breaks most conventions associated with musical theatre, but I can say that is simply the best and most powerful musical that I’ve ever seen.
Ironically Wilson doesn’t start with music when he directs. “I start with silence, then add the movement and at the end, the text or music”. He does, however, know how to find the most perfect musical collaborators. (Philip Glass composed Einstein On The Beach; Tom Waits composed The Black Rider.)
Bernice Johnson Reagon wrote the music for Saint Anthony. Halleluiah! Reagon was the founder and artistic director of the divine a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. This score is based in the history of African-American music and culture and includes spirituals, blues, shouts, gospel, hymns, jazz, doo wop, hip hop and rock. The African-American cast of singers and dancers were selected for their mix of western training, church singing and folk orientation. She wanted a mix of old and young voices and they had to be able to move. Every member of this cast is sensational, even though Wilson takes away so many of their standard methods of communication.
Imagine the sound, the emotion and the movement of gospel singing. Now take away the individual personalities and take away any direct connection they have with each other and with the audience. The performers are performing for us, but never to us. They never look at the audience. It really is like they can’t see us. They also very rarely look at or touch each other, but are always working like an intricately connected machine.
Daniel Dodd Ellis plays St Anthony. He has a voice commands attention, whilst melting your heart. He is always on the stage, but he rarely sings. It’s not St Anthony’s story, but the story of his temptation and his journey. We don’t see character, but we do feel his emotion.
This may sound slightly disturbing. It is - and that is also why it’s so astonishingly effective. You don’t watch a Wilson show, you experience and feel it. It’s difficult to use words to describe the impact of a communicator who has so little use for words.
Wilson communicates with movement and colour. He developed this visual language by working with people who had severe difficulty communicating in our text based world. Wilson overcame a learning disability as a child and later worked extensively with disabled and brain injured children. Possibly his most important and powerful works have never been seen by the public. In the 60s he used theatre games in hospitals and schools to enable and encourage communication with patients and children deemed unable to communicate. In one hospital show his cast of patients were only able to make small movements with their hands or mouth. So he connected them all with photo sensitive string and showed how humans can visually communicate no matter how impossible it may seem. Wilson’s public frame and regard were established with his separate collaborations with the young artists Raymond Andrews (Deafman Glance) and Christopher Knowles (A Letter for Queen Victoria). Andrews is deaf and Knowles is autistic.
Some people don’t use words or eye contact or text to communicate. Wilson uses this style of language and that is why his theatre communicates so strongly with us, even if we don’t consciously understand how.
Everything on a Wilson stage is precise and controlled. There is no room for a spontaneous gesture, interpretation or even thought. This control becomes even more evident when the cast were released. During the curtain call, they bow and finally sing and dance as themselves. Suddenly the stage is filled with 16 unique personalities. The contrast is astounding and the emotional release of seeing them free is as powerful as seeing them contained.
Review of Absolute Wilson that originally appeared in The Pundit.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
12 October 2007
The Tell-Tale Heart
MIAF 2007
The Tell-Tale Heart
Melbourne International Arts Festival/Malthouse Theatre
12 October 2007
CUB Malthouse Workshop
Barrie Kosky is back in Melbourne directing his English language adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart. It was originally performed in German in Vienna in 2004. It’s a story that was created to be read on paper, but put in the hands of Kosky, becomes a monologue that could be told in no other way but on a stage.
Kosky continues to prove that he completely understands the art of theatre and theatrics. It opens in darkness and silence. Then we see light and a man on an endless staircase than may reach from Heaven to Hell. Then his voice breaks the silence. This is theatre at its addictive best.
Martin Niedermair is the story teller. His performance is as close to perfect as it can be. It is sharp, precise and controlled. Yet he creates tension and danger and never lets the audience feel too safe. It’s like watching his soul or his psyche. This is what we might be like without our consciousness controlling our thoughts and actions.
Kosky has created a work about the darkness and light of our minds and our souls. The design’s use of dark and light is astonishing. Whereby Robert Wilson (The Temptation of St Anthony) is using lighting to create colour and emotion, Kosky uses it just for light and dark. To have light in our lives, we must acknowledge the darkness that dwells within us and lets us hide.
This work is reliant upon the power, threat and tension of pure black and pure silence. The Malthouse workshop is not designed for either, so minor things became more distracting that they should have. Someone looked at their well lit mobile phone in the black, a motor bike drove past during the silence and a passing moth did what all moths do and headed to the light. This is obviously a very difficult venue to completely black out and silence. However the impact of the endless staircase is lost when you can see where it meets the wall and how the steps are constructed. The light and dark of the narrator’s story and mind is lessened when we can see the physical lights that create it.
As it’s also so dependant on the contrast between silence and sound, I wonder why Kosky chose to accompany the work himself. Certainly he is capable of putting the right fingers on the right notes at the right time, but he isn’t a pianist and certainly not an accompanist. The art of accompanying is to amplify and support the performer, whilst being almost unnoticed. Kosky’s playing isn’t good enough to go unnoticed. A singer and performer as sublime as Niedermair needed an equally brilliant musician, not a competent piano player. And please tune the piano every day. Pianos don’t like big, cold warehouse spaces and let you know through their sound.
If you are lucky enough to be seeing this work, I recommend getting there early to make sure you get your choice of the general admission seats. Don’t be tempted to go to the front and head at least half way up. This will give you the best view of the stage and shield you from most distractions.
Yesterday I wrote that director Robert Wilson takes the beautiful and makes it exquisite. His works prove that beautiful isn’t good enough. On the Wilson stage there isn’t room for a moment that isn’t as perfect as it can possibly be. The Tell-Tale Heart is astounding and magnificent and I loved every second of it, but there were small distractions and imperfections that are keeping it that step away from exquisite.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
The Tell-Tale Heart
Melbourne International Arts Festival/Malthouse Theatre
12 October 2007
CUB Malthouse Workshop
The Tell-Tale Heart is sold out. If you have tickets, guard them well and be very glad that you got them while you could.
Kosky continues to prove that he completely understands the art of theatre and theatrics. It opens in darkness and silence. Then we see light and a man on an endless staircase than may reach from Heaven to Hell. Then his voice breaks the silence. This is theatre at its addictive best.
Martin Niedermair is the story teller. His performance is as close to perfect as it can be. It is sharp, precise and controlled. Yet he creates tension and danger and never lets the audience feel too safe. It’s like watching his soul or his psyche. This is what we might be like without our consciousness controlling our thoughts and actions.
Kosky has created a work about the darkness and light of our minds and our souls. The design’s use of dark and light is astonishing. Whereby Robert Wilson (The Temptation of St Anthony) is using lighting to create colour and emotion, Kosky uses it just for light and dark. To have light in our lives, we must acknowledge the darkness that dwells within us and lets us hide.
This work is reliant upon the power, threat and tension of pure black and pure silence. The Malthouse workshop is not designed for either, so minor things became more distracting that they should have. Someone looked at their well lit mobile phone in the black, a motor bike drove past during the silence and a passing moth did what all moths do and headed to the light. This is obviously a very difficult venue to completely black out and silence. However the impact of the endless staircase is lost when you can see where it meets the wall and how the steps are constructed. The light and dark of the narrator’s story and mind is lessened when we can see the physical lights that create it.
As it’s also so dependant on the contrast between silence and sound, I wonder why Kosky chose to accompany the work himself. Certainly he is capable of putting the right fingers on the right notes at the right time, but he isn’t a pianist and certainly not an accompanist. The art of accompanying is to amplify and support the performer, whilst being almost unnoticed. Kosky’s playing isn’t good enough to go unnoticed. A singer and performer as sublime as Niedermair needed an equally brilliant musician, not a competent piano player. And please tune the piano every day. Pianos don’t like big, cold warehouse spaces and let you know through their sound.
If you are lucky enough to be seeing this work, I recommend getting there early to make sure you get your choice of the general admission seats. Don’t be tempted to go to the front and head at least half way up. This will give you the best view of the stage and shield you from most distractions.
Yesterday I wrote that director Robert Wilson takes the beautiful and makes it exquisite. His works prove that beautiful isn’t good enough. On the Wilson stage there isn’t room for a moment that isn’t as perfect as it can possibly be. The Tell-Tale Heart is astounding and magnificent and I loved every second of it, but there were small distractions and imperfections that are keeping it that step away from exquisite.
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
11 October 2007
2007 Melbourne International Festival Opens
2007 Melbourne International Festival Opens
No more sleeps. Tonight is the opening of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. For the next 17 days we will be treated to an arts program that has silenced even the harshest critics. Much is already sold out, but there are still opportunities to buy tickets and an extensive free program.
Opening Night kicks off with a free family sing-a-long at 6pm in Federation Square with Grammy Award winning Dan Zanes and Friends.
The highlight of the festival’s first week also opens tonight. Last year we were treated to Robert Wilson’s mesmerising I La Galigo, in 1992 we had Einstein On The Beach. This year he returns with The Temptation of St Anthony. Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours watching Wilson perfect a couple of minutes of this show during the dress rehearsal.
St Anthony is as astonishingly beautiful as the international reviews have said. Wilson creates art that somehow bypasses conscious thought and goes straight to your heart and soul. The gentle and almost haunting opening moments had me wiping away a tear, without even realising what I was feeling. The cast enter from the auditorium with bamboo bird puppets. Its so Lion King! I also cried in the opening scene of The Lion King, but this show is something so, so much more than a commercial musical.
This is music theatre of a calibre and standard we rarely see.
It is possibly Wilson’s most accessible piece. It’s sung in English, is under two hours and has a discernable story line. Starting from the figure of Saint Anthony in Flaubert's novel, this production asks questions about sin, goodness and the temptations of the flesh.
Wilson collaborated with Bernice Johnson Reagon to create Saint Anthony. Reagon is probably best known to our audiences as the founder and artistic director of the divine a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. The score is based deeply in the history of African-American music and culture ranging from spirituals, blues, shouts, gospel, hymns, jazz and doo wop to hip hop and rock. It features an all African-American cast of singers and dancers and is accompanied by a live band led by music director Toshi Reagon. Toshi is Bernice’s daughter and also appearing with her own band BIGLovely at the Speigeltent. Toshi Reagon simply has a voice you can’t tear yourself away from.
Then there is the colour. The Festival’s Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds intrigued us last year by saying that Wilson invents colour before our eyes. I can promise you that you will never see lighting and colour as phenomenal as this again. Wilson and lighting designer AJ Weissbard paint the stage with an intricacy comparable to an impressionist master. The colours of I La Galigo were primary and striking. St Anthony’s are subtle and complex and rich. I cannot even begin to describe the multitudes of blue. I just know that I wanted to wrap myself in them. Colour and light are Wilson’s expression of feeling and emotion. He makes words irrelevant.
Wilson is a perfectionist. His precision leaves no room for vagueness or spontaneous artistic interpretation. In the rehearsal a few minutes of the show were perfected over two hours. The first run already had me mesmerized. Then Wilson fixed some spacing, spent minutes directing a performer to make one tiny step and insisted on the exact speed of the removal of a piece of set. These moments would be unnoticed by most, but that is what makes this director’s work so addictive. He takes an already beautiful moment and makes it exquisite.
The Temptation of St Anthony runs from tonight until Sunday at the State Theatre. There are still some tickets available, but be quick or you may miss this spectacular and astonishing work. Go to www.melbournefestival.com.au for details.
This story originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
No more sleeps. Tonight is the opening of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. For the next 17 days we will be treated to an arts program that has silenced even the harshest critics. Much is already sold out, but there are still opportunities to buy tickets and an extensive free program.
Opening Night kicks off with a free family sing-a-long at 6pm in Federation Square with Grammy Award winning Dan Zanes and Friends.
The highlight of the festival’s first week also opens tonight. Last year we were treated to Robert Wilson’s mesmerising I La Galigo, in 1992 we had Einstein On The Beach. This year he returns with The Temptation of St Anthony. Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours watching Wilson perfect a couple of minutes of this show during the dress rehearsal.
St Anthony is as astonishingly beautiful as the international reviews have said. Wilson creates art that somehow bypasses conscious thought and goes straight to your heart and soul. The gentle and almost haunting opening moments had me wiping away a tear, without even realising what I was feeling. The cast enter from the auditorium with bamboo bird puppets. Its so Lion King! I also cried in the opening scene of The Lion King, but this show is something so, so much more than a commercial musical.
This is music theatre of a calibre and standard we rarely see.
It is possibly Wilson’s most accessible piece. It’s sung in English, is under two hours and has a discernable story line. Starting from the figure of Saint Anthony in Flaubert's novel, this production asks questions about sin, goodness and the temptations of the flesh.
Wilson collaborated with Bernice Johnson Reagon to create Saint Anthony. Reagon is probably best known to our audiences as the founder and artistic director of the divine a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. The score is based deeply in the history of African-American music and culture ranging from spirituals, blues, shouts, gospel, hymns, jazz and doo wop to hip hop and rock. It features an all African-American cast of singers and dancers and is accompanied by a live band led by music director Toshi Reagon. Toshi is Bernice’s daughter and also appearing with her own band BIGLovely at the Speigeltent. Toshi Reagon simply has a voice you can’t tear yourself away from.
Then there is the colour. The Festival’s Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds intrigued us last year by saying that Wilson invents colour before our eyes. I can promise you that you will never see lighting and colour as phenomenal as this again. Wilson and lighting designer AJ Weissbard paint the stage with an intricacy comparable to an impressionist master. The colours of I La Galigo were primary and striking. St Anthony’s are subtle and complex and rich. I cannot even begin to describe the multitudes of blue. I just know that I wanted to wrap myself in them. Colour and light are Wilson’s expression of feeling and emotion. He makes words irrelevant.
Wilson is a perfectionist. His precision leaves no room for vagueness or spontaneous artistic interpretation. In the rehearsal a few minutes of the show were perfected over two hours. The first run already had me mesmerized. Then Wilson fixed some spacing, spent minutes directing a performer to make one tiny step and insisted on the exact speed of the removal of a piece of set. These moments would be unnoticed by most, but that is what makes this director’s work so addictive. He takes an already beautiful moment and makes it exquisite.
The Temptation of St Anthony runs from tonight until Sunday at the State Theatre. There are still some tickets available, but be quick or you may miss this spectacular and astonishing work. Go to www.melbournefestival.com.au for details.
This story originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
27 September 2007
MIAF preview 2007
MIAF Preview 2007
The Free Program
John Cage
If I could have my perfect arts festival...Robert Wilson and Peter Brook would direct a show each. Laurie Anderson and Merce Cunningham would drop by. We’d hear lots of John Cage, there’d be a reworking of Shakespeare, contemporary Butoh, some outrageous cabaret, a fabulous festival club and lots of local artists. So, I’m excited about the 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival program.
The Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) runs 11–27 October. It's Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds third outstanding program. The 2005 and 2006 programs drew a degree of media (and other) criticism for being too far from the mainstream.
Melbourne’s arts audiences certainly don’t seem to mind. Surely those full houses and cheering audiences must count for something?
Edmunds says, “This year’s program presents artists who have, by definition, changed the possibilities of their art form for all time, and whose individual legacies continue to expand, astound and inspire.” The likes of Cunningham, Brooks, Wilson and Anderson don’t need me to promote them.
Edmunds artistic choice and aesthetic certainly isn’t mainstream. But just because you’re a Phantom of The Opera fan doesn’t mean you won’t love a show like Robert Wilson’s The Temptation of St Anthony. The Los Angeles Times said "Wilson drenches the stage in brilliant colour and beguiling movement. It is breathtaking to watch these singers possess the stage. Each is amazing.” If you like sing along music, spectacular costumes, incredible sets and a world class cast; why not give it a go. And you won’t get the B cast or have to pay for a program.
If you’re still not convinced that this festival is for you and you’d rather save for Priscilla, there are 20 free events in the program. You don’t have to spend a cent.
MIAF has a tradition of free events. The twist this year is that many are presented by the main program artists.
Opening Night kicks off with a family sing-a-long in Federation Square with Dan Zanes and Friends. Zanes was a hit at the 2006 festival and recently won himself a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children. The night promises no minimalist or post modern compositions, just good old sing-your-guts-out fun.
On the other had, if you are partial to a touch of minimalism, get ready of an all nighter on Friday October 26. Starting at 6.48pm is John Cage’s Musicircus. It finishes at 5.20am. Based on a John Cage event first performed in 1967, it’s a large scale simultaneous performance event involving musicians, dancers, visual artists, poets and a pony. Audiences are invited to move around the BMW Edge anytime from dusk to dawn to explore the multiple performances. You never know who’ll be performing when, so have a nap during the day and be prepared for a coffee or two at 3am.
If you’re unfamiliar with Cage, there’s plenty of opportunity to get to know his work before committing to Musicircus. Often described as avant guard, Cage remains one of the most innovative musicians and artists of the last 60 years. One of his best known compositions is 4’33’ (Four Minutes, 33 Seconds). It’s a three movement work where all the notes are silent. To hear it played live is one of the most genuinely incredible musical experiences.
Cage’s way of looking at music, art and life will be on neon display in Federation Square throughout the festival. Cage Quotes is running daily on the ticker panels that usually promote upcoming events. The quote at the bottom of my emails is from Cage. "The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” I refer to it a lot when reviewing.
Cage was also the Music Director to Merce Cunningham Dance Company until his death in 1992. This festival will be remembered for bringing Merce Cunningham to Melbourne. Regarded as a pillar of modernism and simply known as the greatest living choreographer, Cunningham has led his own company since 1953. Always prizing invention over convention, Cunningham has consistently created new languages for dance.
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is performing two programs at the State Theatre, but the highlight promises to be The Melbourne Event in Federation Square on Sunday 21 October. The piece will be created by Cunningham specifically for Melbourne and the Square. It will never be repeated and it’s free.
If by now you’re beginning to like this style of art, head to National Gallery of Victoria for the exhibitions from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Johns is known as one of the founding fathers of pop, minimalism and conceptual art, while Rauschenberg is one of the leading figures in modern art. Both designed for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Then go to the Gertrude Contemporary Art space for Playground, an exhibition by Daniel Arsham, who has worked with Cunningham more recently.
Other Free Events in Federation Square events include:
Or, if you’re still a bit unsure about the work you see and have some questions, head to The Speigeltent every lunchtime to join Edmunds in discussion with festival artists.
Here's director Kristy Edmunds talking about the program.
This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
The Free Program
If I could have my perfect arts festival...Robert Wilson and Peter Brook would direct a show each. Laurie Anderson and Merce Cunningham would drop by. We’d hear lots of John Cage, there’d be a reworking of Shakespeare, contemporary Butoh, some outrageous cabaret, a fabulous festival club and lots of local artists. So, I’m excited about the 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival program.
The Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) runs 11–27 October. It's Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds third outstanding program. The 2005 and 2006 programs drew a degree of media (and other) criticism for being too far from the mainstream.
Melbourne’s arts audiences certainly don’t seem to mind. Surely those full houses and cheering audiences must count for something?
Edmunds says, “This year’s program presents artists who have, by definition, changed the possibilities of their art form for all time, and whose individual legacies continue to expand, astound and inspire.” The likes of Cunningham, Brooks, Wilson and Anderson don’t need me to promote them.
Edmunds artistic choice and aesthetic certainly isn’t mainstream. But just because you’re a Phantom of The Opera fan doesn’t mean you won’t love a show like Robert Wilson’s The Temptation of St Anthony. The Los Angeles Times said "Wilson drenches the stage in brilliant colour and beguiling movement. It is breathtaking to watch these singers possess the stage. Each is amazing.” If you like sing along music, spectacular costumes, incredible sets and a world class cast; why not give it a go. And you won’t get the B cast or have to pay for a program.
If you’re still not convinced that this festival is for you and you’d rather save for Priscilla, there are 20 free events in the program. You don’t have to spend a cent.
MIAF has a tradition of free events. The twist this year is that many are presented by the main program artists.
Opening Night kicks off with a family sing-a-long in Federation Square with Dan Zanes and Friends. Zanes was a hit at the 2006 festival and recently won himself a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children. The night promises no minimalist or post modern compositions, just good old sing-your-guts-out fun.
On the other had, if you are partial to a touch of minimalism, get ready of an all nighter on Friday October 26. Starting at 6.48pm is John Cage’s Musicircus. It finishes at 5.20am. Based on a John Cage event first performed in 1967, it’s a large scale simultaneous performance event involving musicians, dancers, visual artists, poets and a pony. Audiences are invited to move around the BMW Edge anytime from dusk to dawn to explore the multiple performances. You never know who’ll be performing when, so have a nap during the day and be prepared for a coffee or two at 3am.
If you’re unfamiliar with Cage, there’s plenty of opportunity to get to know his work before committing to Musicircus. Often described as avant guard, Cage remains one of the most innovative musicians and artists of the last 60 years. One of his best known compositions is 4’33’ (Four Minutes, 33 Seconds). It’s a three movement work where all the notes are silent. To hear it played live is one of the most genuinely incredible musical experiences.
Cage’s way of looking at music, art and life will be on neon display in Federation Square throughout the festival. Cage Quotes is running daily on the ticker panels that usually promote upcoming events. The quote at the bottom of my emails is from Cage. "The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” I refer to it a lot when reviewing.
Cage was also the Music Director to Merce Cunningham Dance Company until his death in 1992. This festival will be remembered for bringing Merce Cunningham to Melbourne. Regarded as a pillar of modernism and simply known as the greatest living choreographer, Cunningham has led his own company since 1953. Always prizing invention over convention, Cunningham has consistently created new languages for dance.
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is performing two programs at the State Theatre, but the highlight promises to be The Melbourne Event in Federation Square on Sunday 21 October. The piece will be created by Cunningham specifically for Melbourne and the Square. It will never be repeated and it’s free.
If by now you’re beginning to like this style of art, head to National Gallery of Victoria for the exhibitions from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Johns is known as one of the founding fathers of pop, minimalism and conceptual art, while Rauschenberg is one of the leading figures in modern art. Both designed for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Then go to the Gertrude Contemporary Art space for Playground, an exhibition by Daniel Arsham, who has worked with Cunningham more recently.
Other Free Events in Federation Square events include:
- Jon Rose’s Sphere of Influence on 23 October. Combining digital technology, live performance and a giant white ball rolling around the square at sunset.
- Orbotics [network] which fuses the ancient art of origami with robot technology. You’re invited to bring your bluetooth and wifi connected laptop, PDA or mobile phone to network and interact with the oribots.
- Hidden Inside Mountains at ACMI. With an original score by Laurie Anderson, this film was commissioned in EXPO 2005 in Aichi Japan.
Or, if you’re still a bit unsure about the work you see and have some questions, head to The Speigeltent every lunchtime to join Edmunds in discussion with festival artists.
"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all."
John CageThere is so much to see in the festival that is free. So why not try it for a couple of minutes or more. You may find it’s not what you expected. You may find an expression of beauty and wonder that you have not seen before. You may also discover why so many of us love these festival programs that don’t cater for the mainstream.
Here's director Kristy Edmunds talking about the program.
This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.
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