Melbourne Theatre Company
11 March 2023
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
To 15 April 2023
mtc.com.au
 | |||||||||||||||
| Kate Mulvany in "Bernhardt-Hamlet". Photo by Pia Johnson |
My review is on Australian Arts Review.
Mostly Melbourne theatre reviews
Showing posts with label MTC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTC. Show all posts
17 March 2023
Review: Bernhardt/Hamlet
Bernhardt/Hamlet|
Melbourne Theatre Company
11 March 2023
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
To 15 April 2023
mtc.com.au
Melbourne Theatre Company
11 March 2023
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
To 15 April 2023
mtc.com.au
24 January 2023
Review: Sunday
Sunday
Melbourne Theatre Company
20 January 2023
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
To 18 February 2023
mtc.com.au
Melbourne Theatre Company
20 January 2023
The Sumner, Southbank Theatre
To 18 February 2023
mtc.com.au
 |
| "Sunday". Photo by Pia- ohnson |
My review is on Australian Arts Review.
09 December 2019
What Melbourne Loved in 2019, part 6
Katie, Yvonne and Daniel are today's guests.
Every year, people tell me how they are angry at themselves for doing this in their head and not going any further. Remember that all it has to be in one moment (and everyone has their dodgy grammar edited). All you have to do is fill in this form.
Katie Sfetkidis
Artist, lighting designer
Favourite moments in 2019.
2019 has been amazing , even though I was away for a large chunk of the year, I have still see some amazing work!
Raina Peterson and Govind Pillai's Third Nature. One of the most sensual and erotic shows I have ever seen. Just exquisite.
The Rabble's Unwoman. I love this company and I love this show. Visually striking and super political. I found this show incredibly complex and overwhelming. I have such great admiration for these company of incredible women and hope to be able to see this show again.
Sound art at The Substation. This programming at The Substation has been really wonderful this year, highlights wwereas seeing William Basinksi and Merzbow. I also really enjoyed the quirky cabinet of curiosities that was the Violin Generator.
Those who Rock by Joseph O’Farrell (JOF). What a rush! There was something so amazing about seeing hundreds of guitar players from around Melbourne take over the stage at Hammer Hall. Ultimate highlight was the finale; nothing can beat seeing over 300 guitar amps onstage whilst the audience sang along.
Looking forward to in 2020.
I am looking forward to seeing some exciting collaborations for Asia TOPA including post’s Oedipus Schmoedipus and Adena Jacobs's The Seen and Unseen.
Next Wave festival: I just love the theme for this year's festiva' – A Government of Artists and can’t wait to how the artists responds to it.
Also on my list is: K-Box by Ra Champan, Go to Hell with Paul Capsis and iOTA, Torch the Place by Ben Eltham and La Boite’s adaptation of St Joan of The Stockyards directed by Sanja Simic.
For my own work, I can’t wait to work with my best friend and collaborator Stephen Nicolazzo on Orlando and Loaded. Both these works are ultimate favourite texts of mine and it is such a treat to get to reimagine them for the stage.
SM: Katie has been out of Melbourne for most of the year, including with The Director, which was one of my absolute favourite shows from last year. But she was back for Aphids and Mish Grigor's recent Exit Strategies at Arts House. I loved this show for many reasons, including how Katie's lighting defined the distinct spaces on the stage – that corridor of light –, created mood and let us move in time. What we feel when we watch shows is so often created by elements of the design, and so often it's not noticed because it sneaks into our brains unconsciously.
Yvonne Virsik
Director, producer; Artistic Director MUST (Monash Uni Student Theatre)
Favourite moments in 2019.
Moments, with lots of realisations, in no particular order:
In Slaughterhouse Five, adapted from Vonnegut by Fleur Kilpatrick: when an actor drew a light switch on a blackboard, pressed it and turned all the stage lights off (MUST and Theatre Works).
Realising when watching MTC's Golden Shield that it was a new Australian work of epic scale by a young woman of colour (Anchuli Felicia King), and on The Sumner stage, and one of the best things I felt I had seen all year.
In Gender Euphoria (remounted at MIAF), during Nikki Viveca's monologue: realising that I didn't think I'd ever seen a personal story integrated so beautifully into a cabaret work.
Sharing the pure sheer, generous joy of performance from Jue and Poh in Equation at Signal at Melbourne Fringe.
UnHOWsed (Theatre Works, Tashmadada and Voices of the South Side): realising something on another level about homelessness, particularly during the extended shower sequence.
Those images in Colossus (Stephanie Lake, MIAF /Arts Centre Melbourne remount).
The joyous (seemingly spontaneous) concert in the alley after the final performance of Calamity Jane at Comedy Theatre.
Realising I was experiencing a pure, challenging discomfort in Malthouse's Underground Railroad Game.
Realising just what a brilliant job my table's 'personal banker' was doing, and how reliant we were upon them in the interactive game/performance experience of MUST's Do Not Collect $200 (created by Harley Hefford and team, based on a previous iteration).
Climbers at MUST:written by Elly D'Arcy and co directed by her and Natalie Speechley: seeing one of the most compelling new texts I've read come to life.
When in the Q & A after A_tistic's Helping Hands at La Mama: man said the show had completely transformed his understanding of his son's neurodiversity and how he would endeavour to communicate with him from now on.
The train scene with the distressed mother and child in Anthem (MIAF): incredibly powerful and disconcerting.
Just some (more) of the shows I loved, in no particular order:
The Bloomshed's Paradise Lost at The Butterfly Club: hilarious, gloriously pointy and brilliantly realised.
Wake in Fright at Malthouse: Pure, electric theatre;the power of text, actor and director powerfully collaborating to crystallize their story.
Cock directed by Beng Oh at fortyfivedownstairs: the power of text, actors and director collaborating to crystallize their story.
Love and Shit by Dee and Cornelius at fortyfivedownstairs: as above.
Sweet Phoebe directed by Mark Wilson at Red Stitch: as above.
Oil by Ella Hickson, directed by Ella Caldwell at Red Stitch: as above.
I'm a Phoenix, Bitch by Bryony Kimmings at Arts Centre Melbourne in Melbourne Fringe: devastating story and performance.
Patrick Collins, Mime Consultant: a great, fun, smart, slick show from Patrick and his director, Justin Gardam.
Love + at Melbourne Fringe: a layered, beautifully told story about AI and human interaction
A View from the Bridge at MTC: See MTC, you don't have to have all the bells and whistles, just powerful choices.
Unwoman by The Rabble at The Substation: Those images! And incredible text and performances in act two.
Sublimal Massage by Marcus McKenzie at Melbourne Fringe: a super-sharp provocational unpackign of us and out attitudes to art and pop culture; surreal yet highly accessible.
The Drill by Womens Circus, AD Penelope Bartlau: A stunning, surprising, shared community experience; very special to get the tour of the spaces we didn't see during our particular journey.
Grand Finale by Hofesh Shechter at MIAF: REQUIRES CAPITALS TO INDICATE ITS PURE THEATRICAL POWER!
Looking forward to in 2020.
You've heard enough from me - all of it!
SM: Yvonne's direction of Dishinbition by Christopher Bryant at MUST. Her direction lets the writer's voice be so clear and she finds ways for her actors (who are often relatively inexperienced) to bring the parts of themselves to the characters that complete the characters.
Daniel Clarke
Executive Producer, Programming at Queensland Performing Arts Centre; on leave from his role as Creative Producer, Theatre and Contemporary Performance at Arts Centre Melbourne
Wake in Fright by Declan Greene and Zahra Newman at Malthouse was an extraordinary work; completely thrilling and so exciting. I literally had jaw-dropping moments throughout the whole piece and I left the theatre shaking. Incredible.
I was completely bowled over by Counting and Cracking by Belvoir at Adelaide Festival. I was moved to tears many times, but also to joy that this story was being told and grateful to Belvoir for investing the resources and care to make it. For me, this was one of the most relevant, contemporary Australian plays in years. A hugely ambitious work; a unique, inspiring, cultural collaboration; a great work that matters now. A work that can speak to so many people; a significant contribution to our culture.
Other highlights include Harry Clayton Wright’s Sex Education, Are we not drawn onward to a new era by Ontroerend Goed and Seasick by Alana Mitchel at Edinburgh Fringe; Noni Hazlehurst and Yael Stone in The Beauty Queen of Leenane at STC; Battersea Arts Centre’s Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster; Things I know to be True by Andrew Bovell at Belvoir Street; and Ainsley Melham’s performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman at MTC – what a star!
Oh and how could I not mention Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and Come from Away: both brilliant.
Looking forward to in 2020
Louise Bezzina’s first Brisbane Festival.
Michelle Law’s Miss Peony at Belvoir in Sydney.
Stephen Nicolazzo’s Loaded at Malthouse.
Sisters Grimm’s musical of The Sovereign Wife at Hayes Theatre Company in Sydney..
SM: To say that Dan's had a humongous year is still an understatement. Without him we wouldn't have had Gender Euphoria or Anthem or I'm a Phoenix, Bitch. He finds ways to bring the the best indendepdent artists and theatre to main stages and creates spaces where new work can be developed, never taking "it can't be done" for an answer.
Every year, people tell me how they are angry at themselves for doing this in their head and not going any further. Remember that all it has to be in one moment (and everyone has their dodgy grammar edited). All you have to do is fill in this form.
Katie Sfetkidis
Artist, lighting designer
 |
| Katie Sfetkidis. Photo by Marcel Feillafe |
Favourite moments in 2019.
2019 has been amazing , even though I was away for a large chunk of the year, I have still see some amazing work!
Raina Peterson and Govind Pillai's Third Nature. One of the most sensual and erotic shows I have ever seen. Just exquisite.
The Rabble's Unwoman. I love this company and I love this show. Visually striking and super political. I found this show incredibly complex and overwhelming. I have such great admiration for these company of incredible women and hope to be able to see this show again.
Sound art at The Substation. This programming at The Substation has been really wonderful this year, highlights wwereas seeing William Basinksi and Merzbow. I also really enjoyed the quirky cabinet of curiosities that was the Violin Generator.
Those who Rock by Joseph O’Farrell (JOF). What a rush! There was something so amazing about seeing hundreds of guitar players from around Melbourne take over the stage at Hammer Hall. Ultimate highlight was the finale; nothing can beat seeing over 300 guitar amps onstage whilst the audience sang along.
Looking forward to in 2020.
I am looking forward to seeing some exciting collaborations for Asia TOPA including post’s Oedipus Schmoedipus and Adena Jacobs's The Seen and Unseen.
Next Wave festival: I just love the theme for this year's festiva' – A Government of Artists and can’t wait to how the artists responds to it.
Also on my list is: K-Box by Ra Champan, Go to Hell with Paul Capsis and iOTA, Torch the Place by Ben Eltham and La Boite’s adaptation of St Joan of The Stockyards directed by Sanja Simic.
For my own work, I can’t wait to work with my best friend and collaborator Stephen Nicolazzo on Orlando and Loaded. Both these works are ultimate favourite texts of mine and it is such a treat to get to reimagine them for the stage.
SM: Katie has been out of Melbourne for most of the year, including with The Director, which was one of my absolute favourite shows from last year. But she was back for Aphids and Mish Grigor's recent Exit Strategies at Arts House. I loved this show for many reasons, including how Katie's lighting defined the distinct spaces on the stage – that corridor of light –, created mood and let us move in time. What we feel when we watch shows is so often created by elements of the design, and so often it's not noticed because it sneaks into our brains unconsciously.
Yvonne Virsik
Director, producer; Artistic Director MUST (Monash Uni Student Theatre)
 |
| Yvonne Virsik |
Favourite moments in 2019.
Moments, with lots of realisations, in no particular order:
In Slaughterhouse Five, adapted from Vonnegut by Fleur Kilpatrick: when an actor drew a light switch on a blackboard, pressed it and turned all the stage lights off (MUST and Theatre Works).
Realising when watching MTC's Golden Shield that it was a new Australian work of epic scale by a young woman of colour (Anchuli Felicia King), and on The Sumner stage, and one of the best things I felt I had seen all year.
In Gender Euphoria (remounted at MIAF), during Nikki Viveca's monologue: realising that I didn't think I'd ever seen a personal story integrated so beautifully into a cabaret work.
Sharing the pure sheer, generous joy of performance from Jue and Poh in Equation at Signal at Melbourne Fringe.
UnHOWsed (Theatre Works, Tashmadada and Voices of the South Side): realising something on another level about homelessness, particularly during the extended shower sequence.
Those images in Colossus (Stephanie Lake, MIAF /Arts Centre Melbourne remount).
The joyous (seemingly spontaneous) concert in the alley after the final performance of Calamity Jane at Comedy Theatre.
Realising I was experiencing a pure, challenging discomfort in Malthouse's Underground Railroad Game.
Realising just what a brilliant job my table's 'personal banker' was doing, and how reliant we were upon them in the interactive game/performance experience of MUST's Do Not Collect $200 (created by Harley Hefford and team, based on a previous iteration).
Climbers at MUST:written by Elly D'Arcy and co directed by her and Natalie Speechley: seeing one of the most compelling new texts I've read come to life.
When in the Q & A after A_tistic's Helping Hands at La Mama: man said the show had completely transformed his understanding of his son's neurodiversity and how he would endeavour to communicate with him from now on.
The train scene with the distressed mother and child in Anthem (MIAF): incredibly powerful and disconcerting.
Just some (more) of the shows I loved, in no particular order:
The Bloomshed's Paradise Lost at The Butterfly Club: hilarious, gloriously pointy and brilliantly realised.
Wake in Fright at Malthouse: Pure, electric theatre;the power of text, actor and director powerfully collaborating to crystallize their story.
Cock directed by Beng Oh at fortyfivedownstairs: the power of text, actors and director collaborating to crystallize their story.
Love and Shit by Dee and Cornelius at fortyfivedownstairs: as above.
Sweet Phoebe directed by Mark Wilson at Red Stitch: as above.
Oil by Ella Hickson, directed by Ella Caldwell at Red Stitch: as above.
I'm a Phoenix, Bitch by Bryony Kimmings at Arts Centre Melbourne in Melbourne Fringe: devastating story and performance.
Patrick Collins, Mime Consultant: a great, fun, smart, slick show from Patrick and his director, Justin Gardam.
Love + at Melbourne Fringe: a layered, beautifully told story about AI and human interaction
A View from the Bridge at MTC: See MTC, you don't have to have all the bells and whistles, just powerful choices.
Unwoman by The Rabble at The Substation: Those images! And incredible text and performances in act two.
Sublimal Massage by Marcus McKenzie at Melbourne Fringe: a super-sharp provocational unpackign of us and out attitudes to art and pop culture; surreal yet highly accessible.
The Drill by Womens Circus, AD Penelope Bartlau: A stunning, surprising, shared community experience; very special to get the tour of the spaces we didn't see during our particular journey.
Grand Finale by Hofesh Shechter at MIAF: REQUIRES CAPITALS TO INDICATE ITS PURE THEATRICAL POWER!
Looking forward to in 2020.
You've heard enough from me - all of it!
SM: Yvonne's direction of Dishinbition by Christopher Bryant at MUST. Her direction lets the writer's voice be so clear and she finds ways for her actors (who are often relatively inexperienced) to bring the parts of themselves to the characters that complete the characters.
Daniel Clarke
Executive Producer, Programming at Queensland Performing Arts Centre; on leave from his role as Creative Producer, Theatre and Contemporary Performance at Arts Centre Melbourne
 |
| Daniel Clarke |
I was completely bowled over by Counting and Cracking by Belvoir at Adelaide Festival. I was moved to tears many times, but also to joy that this story was being told and grateful to Belvoir for investing the resources and care to make it. For me, this was one of the most relevant, contemporary Australian plays in years. A hugely ambitious work; a unique, inspiring, cultural collaboration; a great work that matters now. A work that can speak to so many people; a significant contribution to our culture.
Other highlights include Harry Clayton Wright’s Sex Education, Are we not drawn onward to a new era by Ontroerend Goed and Seasick by Alana Mitchel at Edinburgh Fringe; Noni Hazlehurst and Yael Stone in The Beauty Queen of Leenane at STC; Battersea Arts Centre’s Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster; Things I know to be True by Andrew Bovell at Belvoir Street; and Ainsley Melham’s performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman at MTC – what a star!
Oh and how could I not mention Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and Come from Away: both brilliant.
Looking forward to in 2020
Louise Bezzina’s first Brisbane Festival.
Michelle Law’s Miss Peony at Belvoir in Sydney.
Stephen Nicolazzo’s Loaded at Malthouse.
Sisters Grimm’s musical of The Sovereign Wife at Hayes Theatre Company in Sydney..
SM: To say that Dan's had a humongous year is still an understatement. Without him we wouldn't have had Gender Euphoria or Anthem or I'm a Phoenix, Bitch. He finds ways to bring the the best indendepdent artists and theatre to main stages and creates spaces where new work can be developed, never taking "it can't be done" for an answer.
05 December 2019
What Melbourne Loved in 2019, part 5
So today, our federal government dumped the arts ministry.
I'm running out of positive today, then I get this contribution: "A lot of the works that stayed with me explored post-humanism, native peoples self-determination or the post apocalypse; further cementing that theatre is dangerous, vital, conversational and provocative. No wonder funding is drying up, like the creek beds of our planet."
It's easy to give up at the moment, so we need to let artists and theatre makers know that their work makes a difference. Have your say here.
Joshua Ladgrove
Joshua Ladgrove The Wise
Favourite moments in 2019.
Someone in the front row of my show using their iPhone torch to loudly search through their bag for a lolly, and then try to quietly unwrap said lolly while I stopped the show and watched them the whole time unbeknownst to them; it was very funny.
Looking forward to in 2020.
Creating a new show.
SM: I saw his seminar about bilge pumps (its name changes) at MICF and Melbourne Fringe; it's the only show I saw twice this year. And that wasn't enough. Even when I knew what was coming, he still surprised me. Watching this show is fear clashing with the joy of complete trust that he's going to make everything pay off. And he does. If the world were fair, he'd have his own tv show and be so fucking famous by now that he wouldn't give a toss what bloggers think.
There's a final 2019 showing of Joshua Ladgrove's Award Winning Bilge Pump Show TOMORROW (Friday 6 December).
It's a fundraiser. In order to create new shows, artists need money. It's not like there's funding.
It's at Docklands. This is the ideal place for a bilge pump seminar. (It's at the library, which is actually really groovy.)
You can book here. It may be the best seminar yet.
Carla Donnelly
Broadcaster and critic
Favourite moments in 2019.
2019 has been a year of incredible art for me. Music, film and my beloved theatre. There have been so many amazing performances that my memories become nested into moments that had my jaw unhinge with tears of disbelief that life could be so beautiful. A lot of the works that stayed with me explored post-humanism, native peoples self-determination or the post apocalypse; further cementing that theatre is dangerous, vital, conversational and provocative. No wonder funding is drying up, like the creek beds of our planet.
Sarah Ward’s alien/rock/monkey space rock opera The Legend of Queen Kong: opera singing MOTHER FUCKER to a baroque harpsichord psychedelic freak out.
Ursula Yovich’s defiant, heartbreaking and vulnerable rock musical Barbara and the Camp Dogs: too many moments to list that had me in tears.
Mr Burns, a post-electric play was an absolute miracle of production, the amount of moving pieces to get right would have been back breaking. Its message of the way humans make meaning and connect, how memory works, and our utter compulsion to tell ourselves and each other through story completely blew me away. The pop medley was the prestige in an already inconceivably incredible independent theatre production.
Emma Hall’s World Problems. A simple conceit – a woman builds a trampoline on stage, with a monologue projected at/to the audience. Emma tells us the story of how ‘you’ let the world die. The mental gymnastics I went through to avoid complicity took me to at least half way through the show before my heart sank and I started to cry realising that it *was* us. We did let the world die.
The Honouring (during Yirramboi) was a work of such tenderness and pain; I am crying now thinking about it. Jack Sheppard’s physical rendering of Indigenous suicide through text, movement and puppetry was staggering. A work that didn’t get enough attention. Nor the festival really; Yirramboi is extraordinary.
Joel Bray’s Daddy (also at Yirramboi) a was another incredible work featuring dance, text and tableaus presented to the audience by following Bray around the room. Joel Bray is filled with rage and hope and love and desire and this was beautifully rendered. It was electrifying.
The Patricia Cornelius/Susie Dee power combo continued to slay with Love: stories, faces and bodies I never see on Melbourne stages. Working class people. Drug dependent people. The traumatised. The vulgar. The aberrant. All lovingly and respectfully brought into focus. I walk away from their shows thinking why do I never see these kinds of stories? Who has the keys?
Them (La Mama) was one of the most profound plays of the year. Mystical in its realisation the perfection of casting, time, place and script. It is truly gifted to make a drama about war deeply funny in places. It had me laughing and sobbing and believing the best in humanity that plays like this can find a stage.
I flew to Sydney to see Adena Jacob’s Titus Andronicus and it did not disappoint. Jane Montgomery-Griffiths was clearly having the time of her life in this role. My moment of the year was Catherine Davies ‘comic relief’ clown smearing shit all up the back of her legs whilst doing a sexy dance. Just when you think things can’t get worse, that happens to you and you wonder how life can get any better?
My last three are the most creative and original of the year. Yay for Canetoads! at Melbourne Fringe was one of those word-of-mouths gems that I would never have known about. So skillfully wrought with colonialism succinctly expressed through the “white death” of the sugar cane industry. Ordinarily this pun could have been one note or on the nose, but Kendra Keller’s tremendous skill and commitment makes our complicity and embeddedness in this horror felt.
Subliminal Massage at Melbourne Fringe was truly one of the most left field and surreal works I’ve ever experienced. A post (post?) human exploration/celebration/exhibition of the trash bag of western “culture”. Puns, portmanteaus, wellness, white cubes, black screens… This AI hasn’t been updated in a century and his database has festered. Glitched out, hilarious, touching, terrifying… just absolutely fucking mind blowing.
And finally Unwoman by The Rabble. From the fecund idealisation of the function of femininity to Yumi Umiumare's butoh – 50 minutes of screaming and giving birth to rocks in a concrete prison reality. This work truly communicated the female experience. Funny, paternalistic, objectifying, non-agentic, tedious, primal – you name it it was in there. The design was also exceptional.
A deep gratitude to all these artists (and the 60+ other performances I saw this year). The diversity of skill and talent in this country is staggering, and your work, minds, hearts and bodies make my life worth living.
Looking forward to in 2020.
Seeing Daddy again at Midsumma; Fun Home and Slap.Bang.Kiss at MTC; Grey Arias, Do Not Go Gentle and Loaded at Malthouse; Asia TOPA.
SM: Carla is another critic who keeps going even when everything seems bleak. And, those earrings!
I'm running out of positive today, then I get this contribution: "A lot of the works that stayed with me explored post-humanism, native peoples self-determination or the post apocalypse; further cementing that theatre is dangerous, vital, conversational and provocative. No wonder funding is drying up, like the creek beds of our planet."
It's easy to give up at the moment, so we need to let artists and theatre makers know that their work makes a difference. Have your say here.
Joshua Ladgrove
Joshua Ladgrove The Wise
 |
| Joshua Ladgrove and Frobert selfie |
Favourite moments in 2019.
Someone in the front row of my show using their iPhone torch to loudly search through their bag for a lolly, and then try to quietly unwrap said lolly while I stopped the show and watched them the whole time unbeknownst to them; it was very funny.
Looking forward to in 2020.
Creating a new show.
SM: I saw his seminar about bilge pumps (its name changes) at MICF and Melbourne Fringe; it's the only show I saw twice this year. And that wasn't enough. Even when I knew what was coming, he still surprised me. Watching this show is fear clashing with the joy of complete trust that he's going to make everything pay off. And he does. If the world were fair, he'd have his own tv show and be so fucking famous by now that he wouldn't give a toss what bloggers think.
There's a final 2019 showing of Joshua Ladgrove's Award Winning Bilge Pump Show TOMORROW (Friday 6 December).
It's a fundraiser. In order to create new shows, artists need money. It's not like there's funding.
It's at Docklands. This is the ideal place for a bilge pump seminar. (It's at the library, which is actually really groovy.)
You can book here. It may be the best seminar yet.
Carla Donnelly
Broadcaster and critic
 |
| Carla Donnelly selfie |
Favourite moments in 2019.
2019 has been a year of incredible art for me. Music, film and my beloved theatre. There have been so many amazing performances that my memories become nested into moments that had my jaw unhinge with tears of disbelief that life could be so beautiful. A lot of the works that stayed with me explored post-humanism, native peoples self-determination or the post apocalypse; further cementing that theatre is dangerous, vital, conversational and provocative. No wonder funding is drying up, like the creek beds of our planet.
Sarah Ward’s alien/rock/monkey space rock opera The Legend of Queen Kong: opera singing MOTHER FUCKER to a baroque harpsichord psychedelic freak out.
Ursula Yovich’s defiant, heartbreaking and vulnerable rock musical Barbara and the Camp Dogs: too many moments to list that had me in tears.
Mr Burns, a post-electric play was an absolute miracle of production, the amount of moving pieces to get right would have been back breaking. Its message of the way humans make meaning and connect, how memory works, and our utter compulsion to tell ourselves and each other through story completely blew me away. The pop medley was the prestige in an already inconceivably incredible independent theatre production.
Emma Hall’s World Problems. A simple conceit – a woman builds a trampoline on stage, with a monologue projected at/to the audience. Emma tells us the story of how ‘you’ let the world die. The mental gymnastics I went through to avoid complicity took me to at least half way through the show before my heart sank and I started to cry realising that it *was* us. We did let the world die.
The Honouring (during Yirramboi) was a work of such tenderness and pain; I am crying now thinking about it. Jack Sheppard’s physical rendering of Indigenous suicide through text, movement and puppetry was staggering. A work that didn’t get enough attention. Nor the festival really; Yirramboi is extraordinary.
Joel Bray’s Daddy (also at Yirramboi) a was another incredible work featuring dance, text and tableaus presented to the audience by following Bray around the room. Joel Bray is filled with rage and hope and love and desire and this was beautifully rendered. It was electrifying.
The Patricia Cornelius/Susie Dee power combo continued to slay with Love: stories, faces and bodies I never see on Melbourne stages. Working class people. Drug dependent people. The traumatised. The vulgar. The aberrant. All lovingly and respectfully brought into focus. I walk away from their shows thinking why do I never see these kinds of stories? Who has the keys?
Them (La Mama) was one of the most profound plays of the year. Mystical in its realisation the perfection of casting, time, place and script. It is truly gifted to make a drama about war deeply funny in places. It had me laughing and sobbing and believing the best in humanity that plays like this can find a stage.
I flew to Sydney to see Adena Jacob’s Titus Andronicus and it did not disappoint. Jane Montgomery-Griffiths was clearly having the time of her life in this role. My moment of the year was Catherine Davies ‘comic relief’ clown smearing shit all up the back of her legs whilst doing a sexy dance. Just when you think things can’t get worse, that happens to you and you wonder how life can get any better?
My last three are the most creative and original of the year. Yay for Canetoads! at Melbourne Fringe was one of those word-of-mouths gems that I would never have known about. So skillfully wrought with colonialism succinctly expressed through the “white death” of the sugar cane industry. Ordinarily this pun could have been one note or on the nose, but Kendra Keller’s tremendous skill and commitment makes our complicity and embeddedness in this horror felt.
Subliminal Massage at Melbourne Fringe was truly one of the most left field and surreal works I’ve ever experienced. A post (post?) human exploration/celebration/exhibition of the trash bag of western “culture”. Puns, portmanteaus, wellness, white cubes, black screens… This AI hasn’t been updated in a century and his database has festered. Glitched out, hilarious, touching, terrifying… just absolutely fucking mind blowing.
And finally Unwoman by The Rabble. From the fecund idealisation of the function of femininity to Yumi Umiumare's butoh – 50 minutes of screaming and giving birth to rocks in a concrete prison reality. This work truly communicated the female experience. Funny, paternalistic, objectifying, non-agentic, tedious, primal – you name it it was in there. The design was also exceptional.
A deep gratitude to all these artists (and the 60+ other performances I saw this year). The diversity of skill and talent in this country is staggering, and your work, minds, hearts and bodies make my life worth living.
Looking forward to in 2020.
Seeing Daddy again at Midsumma; Fun Home and Slap.Bang.Kiss at MTC; Grey Arias, Do Not Go Gentle and Loaded at Malthouse; Asia TOPA.
SM: Carla is another critic who keeps going even when everything seems bleak. And, those earrings!
24 August 2019
Review: Golden Shield
Golden Shield
Melbourne Theatre Company
16 August 2019
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 14 September
mtc.com.au
Melbourne Theatre Company
16 August 2019
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 14 September
mtc.com.au
 |
| "Golden Shield" photo by Jeff Busby. |
07 May 2019
Review: Cosi
Cosi
Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company
4 May 2019
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 8 June
mtc.com.au
My review is in Time Out.
Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company
4 May 2019
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 8 June
mtc.com.au
 |
| Cosi. Photo by Jeff Busby |
My review is in Time Out.
23 December 2018
What Melbourne Loved in 2018, part 11
Today's the end of the 2018 Loveds and go from the tiniest to the largest stages. Tomorrow I publish my Best Of and my favourite moments are included today. If you missed out, I'll add some more in that nothing week between Xmas and New Year.
Tom Dickins
Co-founder of Crowded
Favourite moments in 2018
The MICF awards ceremony this year. We had a number of the shows we were presenting up for nominations including two shows nominated for the Golden Gibbo, Cam Venn (at The Butterfly Club) and Double Denim (at Belleville). When Cam was announced as the winner, I looked over at he and his partner, both in tears of shock and happiness and promptly burst into tears myself. To make the occasion all the sweeter, moments later, Double Denim were announced as the winners of the Director's Choice award for the festival and, if I had stopped crying by that point, I quickly resumed the waterworks. Every year, the comedy festival is a huge commitment of time, effort, creativity, passion, fatigue and (hopefully) laughter. Seeing excellent comedians excel at their craft and be recognised for it this year was a pure delight.
Looking forward to in 2019
As much as it terrifies me, I'm looking forward to the massive challenge of MICF 2019. This year we are involved in 101 productions across 11 stages (some 1080 performances in total). We may keel over from sheer exhaustion, but I'm very proud of our 2019 program across Crowded In The Vaults (including Pilgrim), Belleville, Campari House, Tasma Terrace and The Butterfly Club.
SM: Look at those numbers for next year – 101 productions across 11 stages (some 1080 performances in total)! As a producer, Tom and Crowded are amazing. I don't get near to seeing even half of what he produces, but I'm thrilled every time I see a new artists or a new show that he's trusting on a stage. Melbourne's indie cabaret scene would be far smaller and far less exciting without him.
Anne-Marie Peard
Writer
Favourite moments in 2018
The first time I saw Mojo Juju sing "Native Tongue" (at RIOT at Arts Centre Melbourne). I went on to see her a couple more times during the year. She's incredible.
Hanging out with Jackson in Lone by The Rabble at Arts House.
Every moment of Calamity Jane. Pure joy.
Making #queercrochet for Hir.
Choosing my MICF shows based on being Melbourne Independent Celebratory and Feminist.
Being chosen for audience participation in Cam Venn's Charles Horse Lays An Egg.
Watching the international response to Hannah Gadsby's Nanette. We called that.
Drinking beer in the pub and taking about funerals with Lara Thoms and Scott Turnball.
The industry joining together to support EJ Norvil and Yael Stone.
We also noticed who wasn't supportive.
Looking forward to in 2019
More support of arts writing at all levels.
More understanding that independent writers are not commercial writers.
Less of the "you're not invited" games.
More welcoming of emerging writers and critics to every show – you can't get good if you don't see work.
More diverse critical voices. (A big yay for Witness for finding diverse voices.)
More understanding that reviewing is more than a poster quote.
More caring more about quality writing rather than about stars and adjectives.
And Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I'm not even going to try and be cool and pretend that I'm not counting down the days.
Tom Dickins
Co-founder of Crowded
 |
| Tom Dickins. Photo by Simone Pulga |
Favourite moments in 2018
The MICF awards ceremony this year. We had a number of the shows we were presenting up for nominations including two shows nominated for the Golden Gibbo, Cam Venn (at The Butterfly Club) and Double Denim (at Belleville). When Cam was announced as the winner, I looked over at he and his partner, both in tears of shock and happiness and promptly burst into tears myself. To make the occasion all the sweeter, moments later, Double Denim were announced as the winners of the Director's Choice award for the festival and, if I had stopped crying by that point, I quickly resumed the waterworks. Every year, the comedy festival is a huge commitment of time, effort, creativity, passion, fatigue and (hopefully) laughter. Seeing excellent comedians excel at their craft and be recognised for it this year was a pure delight.
Looking forward to in 2019
As much as it terrifies me, I'm looking forward to the massive challenge of MICF 2019. This year we are involved in 101 productions across 11 stages (some 1080 performances in total). We may keel over from sheer exhaustion, but I'm very proud of our 2019 program across Crowded In The Vaults (including Pilgrim), Belleville, Campari House, Tasma Terrace and The Butterfly Club.
SM: Look at those numbers for next year – 101 productions across 11 stages (some 1080 performances in total)! As a producer, Tom and Crowded are amazing. I don't get near to seeing even half of what he produces, but I'm thrilled every time I see a new artists or a new show that he's trusting on a stage. Melbourne's indie cabaret scene would be far smaller and far less exciting without him.
Anne-Marie Peard
Writer
 |
| Anne-Marie Peard. I didn't take a sneaky selfie at Lone. |
Favourite moments in 2018
The first time I saw Mojo Juju sing "Native Tongue" (at RIOT at Arts Centre Melbourne). I went on to see her a couple more times during the year. She's incredible.
Hanging out with Jackson in Lone by The Rabble at Arts House.
Every moment of Calamity Jane. Pure joy.
Making #queercrochet for Hir.
Choosing my MICF shows based on being Melbourne Independent Celebratory and Feminist.
Being chosen for audience participation in Cam Venn's Charles Horse Lays An Egg.
Watching the international response to Hannah Gadsby's Nanette. We called that.
Drinking beer in the pub and taking about funerals with Lara Thoms and Scott Turnball.
The industry joining together to support EJ Norvil and Yael Stone.
We also noticed who wasn't supportive.
Looking forward to in 2019
More support of arts writing at all levels.
More understanding that independent writers are not commercial writers.
Less of the "you're not invited" games.
More welcoming of emerging writers and critics to every show – you can't get good if you don't see work.
More diverse critical voices. (A big yay for Witness for finding diverse voices.)
More understanding that reviewing is more than a poster quote.
More caring more about quality writing rather than about stars and adjectives.
And Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I'm not even going to try and be cool and pretend that I'm not counting down the days.
04 November 2018
Review: Astroman
Astroman
Melbourne Theatre Company
2 November 2018
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 8 December
mtc.com.au
I've been singing "Eye of the Tiger" all weekend and am trying to change my earworm to the much cooler "Tainted Love". Astroman is set in 1984. Geelong, in 1984.
Playwright Albert Belz knows Astroman is his love letter to the 1980s and the decade he was a teenager and he wrote this story about a Maori family living in coastal Aotearoa (New Zealand). He moved New Zealand to Geelong in 2011 and, after later moving to Melbourne, relocated the story to the place that welcomed him to Australia. I'm sure he's a Cats supporter for life.
There's also a production of the play currently running at The Court Theatre in New Zealand. In a better arts funded and supported world, they could swap venues and let us all see both productions.
Teenagers Jiembra, Jimmy, (Kamil Ellis) and his twin brother Sonny (Callen Tassone) have just turned 13. The got a Walkman, a Rubik's cube, which Jimmy solves easily, and a BMX bike that no cop would believe "an abo owns". It's mostly a loving reflection of the mid-80s in towns away from the big cities. In this memory world, Sonny can proudly wear the Aboriginal flag on his sleeveless denim jacket and not get beaten up, but no one's forgetting that it wasn't all breakdancing, take away Kentucky Fried Chicken and acid-wash jeans.
But it was all arcade video games. This amazing new technology let anyone kill aliens and pretend you were in Star War, Star Trek or Battlestar Gallactica. They also broke barriers of class, age and gender as everyone played them, be it at the local fish and chip shop or the arcade. If you has a 20-cent-piece in your pocket, you could play.
The brothers have recently moved from Townsville and live at their auntie's house with their mum (Elaine Crombie) and sister (Tahlee Fereday); Jimmy says their dad is away training to be the first Austronaught, Australian astronaught. They spend as much time as they can at the Astrocade playing games. Here, arcade owner Mr Palvis (Tony Nikolakopoulos) takes a liking to the boys, but they have their rival MJ (Nicholas Denton) to contend with.
What follows is as cool as seeing The Karate Kid for the first time. Director Sarah Goodes and Associate Director Tony Briggs (he wrote The Sapphires) know their 1980s culture, as does designer Jonathon Oxlade. There's a "world championship" competition with far more than a high score at stake, montages, dance sequences, an awkwardly placed gun, opposites-are-really-the-same romances, and a convenient solution that doesn't feel earned. Yeah, just like so many 80s movies and sit coms.
And, like those stories, the characters make up for any problems and let the metaphors of "seeing the patterns" and "making the most of your last life" resonate. It's an absolute joy to be part of this family for the night. When they sat down for dinner, I'm sure I wasn't the only person who wanted to be balanced on a plastic stool around the table and be the first to take the lid off the orange casserole dish.
But I have no idea how I know the words to "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew"; I didn't even like it in 1984.
Melbourne Theatre Company
2 November 2018
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 8 December
mtc.com.au
 |
| Callen Tassone & Kamil Ellis. "Astroman", MTC. Photo by Jeff Busby. |
I've been singing "Eye of the Tiger" all weekend and am trying to change my earworm to the much cooler "Tainted Love". Astroman is set in 1984. Geelong, in 1984.
Playwright Albert Belz knows Astroman is his love letter to the 1980s and the decade he was a teenager and he wrote this story about a Maori family living in coastal Aotearoa (New Zealand). He moved New Zealand to Geelong in 2011 and, after later moving to Melbourne, relocated the story to the place that welcomed him to Australia. I'm sure he's a Cats supporter for life.
There's also a production of the play currently running at The Court Theatre in New Zealand. In a better arts funded and supported world, they could swap venues and let us all see both productions.
Teenagers Jiembra, Jimmy, (Kamil Ellis) and his twin brother Sonny (Callen Tassone) have just turned 13. The got a Walkman, a Rubik's cube, which Jimmy solves easily, and a BMX bike that no cop would believe "an abo owns". It's mostly a loving reflection of the mid-80s in towns away from the big cities. In this memory world, Sonny can proudly wear the Aboriginal flag on his sleeveless denim jacket and not get beaten up, but no one's forgetting that it wasn't all breakdancing, take away Kentucky Fried Chicken and acid-wash jeans.
But it was all arcade video games. This amazing new technology let anyone kill aliens and pretend you were in Star War, Star Trek or Battlestar Gallactica. They also broke barriers of class, age and gender as everyone played them, be it at the local fish and chip shop or the arcade. If you has a 20-cent-piece in your pocket, you could play.
The brothers have recently moved from Townsville and live at their auntie's house with their mum (Elaine Crombie) and sister (Tahlee Fereday); Jimmy says their dad is away training to be the first Austronaught, Australian astronaught. They spend as much time as they can at the Astrocade playing games. Here, arcade owner Mr Palvis (Tony Nikolakopoulos) takes a liking to the boys, but they have their rival MJ (Nicholas Denton) to contend with.
What follows is as cool as seeing The Karate Kid for the first time. Director Sarah Goodes and Associate Director Tony Briggs (he wrote The Sapphires) know their 1980s culture, as does designer Jonathon Oxlade. There's a "world championship" competition with far more than a high score at stake, montages, dance sequences, an awkwardly placed gun, opposites-are-really-the-same romances, and a convenient solution that doesn't feel earned. Yeah, just like so many 80s movies and sit coms.
And, like those stories, the characters make up for any problems and let the metaphors of "seeing the patterns" and "making the most of your last life" resonate. It's an absolute joy to be part of this family for the night. When they sat down for dinner, I'm sure I wasn't the only person who wanted to be balanced on a plastic stool around the table and be the first to take the lid off the orange casserole dish.
But I have no idea how I know the words to "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew"; I didn't even like it in 1984.
04 September 2018
Review: Working with Children
Working with Children
Melbourne Theatre Company
Southbank Theatre, The Lawler
1 September 2018
To 29 September
mtc.com.au
My review is in Time Out.
Melbourne Theatre Company
Southbank Theatre, The Lawler
1 September 2018
To 29 September
mtc.com.au
 |
| Nicola Gunn. Working With Children. Photo by Sarah Walker |
28 March 2018
Review: Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
MTC
22 March 2018
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 21April
mtc.com.au
What happens when the intense character-led naturalism of writer-director Mike Leigh meets the stylisation and aesthetic-led inspiration of director Stephen Nicolazzo? How do you queer Leigh?
Leigh's works are developed through intense improvisation and research by the actors and creative team. In some of his films, the actors don't meet each other until they the camera is there. Abigail's Party was developed over ten weeks in 1977; it was meant to be a short and forgotten season at Hamstead Theatre because Leigh had moved onto making films. (Life is Sweet is my favourite.) The short run was extended and the only reason it was subsequently made for BBC television rather than transferring to the West End was because Alison Steadman (who played central-character Beverly) and Leigh were expecting their first baby and there was no way that anyone else as going to step into the role.
Thirty-something Beverly and her husband, Laurence, are having their new younger neighbours Angela and Tony over for after-dinner drinks. Divorced single mum Susan also lives on the street and has been invited because her teenager daughter, Abigail, is having a party. It's nice to have the neighbours around for a G&T with ice and lemon, a cheesey-pineapple nibble, and a bit of Demis Roussos on the record player.
The MTC loves a play about middle-class middle-aged suburbia and it's easy to find the connection to 1977 suburban Essex where Thatcher's conservatism is about to be welcomed and despised. Here, it's more important that your neighbours see that you're doing well, with posh beer and a new car, than actually getting to know you. Does that ever change?
Leigh's work is all about what's hidden and what we don't say to each other, even though it controls every thought and action.
It's so ready for a queer makeover and to be explored from a very different perspective.
So why does this production feel stifled?
The first thing that strikes about Anna Cordingley's design is that it looks like a Eugyeene Teh design – he designed the costumes – with it's monochromatic spaces and curtains. The central living room is magnificently orange with shag pile carpet, impossibly-large sunken steps, an over-sized room divider (which I'd love for my living room) and a magnificent array of 1970s op-shop finds. It's surrounded by three other hints of rooms that are perfect in the opening scene and sit almost begging to be used for the rest of the night. By placing the world in a box – a world best known as a boxed TV version – the fourth wall is dropped so firmly that it's difficult to reach in and feel a part of it.
Teh's costumes are more complex. They are a redesign of the late 70s with a sequinned jumpsuit, tiny mini Cheongsam (cultural appropriation isn't new), a whiter than white suit, hide-everything black pants, facial hair that came back, hot-roller curls, and slept-in-plaits-to-get-this-amazing crimpy frizz. It's not a recreation of the time, but an idea of what it looks like through today's eyes and ideas.
As the 70s-cum-now look is turned up to wow and seen at from the outside, the performances and direction start with style and brings the characters into the aesthetic. This technique has been gloriously effective in Little Ones's works like Psycho Beach Party, Dracula and Dangerous Liaisons, but Abigail feels stuck between styles.
Behind the naturalism wall, the camped-up style seems forced with its drink spilling and slipping off couches. While it's clearly beginning to question and subvert the manners and repression of the time, it's not bringing the audience into the world and letting us see it though new eyes. It's laughing at them, not at us.
So much of what we've come to expect from this company (although it's not a Little Ones Theatre show) feels like it's been held back. It has the aesthetic without the gutsy camp structure to support it. We're at Beverly's when we expected to be at Abigail's where everything is rejected, questioned and recreated.
MTC
22 March 2018
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
to 21April
mtc.com.au
 |
| Katherine Tonkin, Dan Frederiksen, Pip Edwards, Benjamin Rigby, Zoe Boesen Photo by Jeff Busby |
What happens when the intense character-led naturalism of writer-director Mike Leigh meets the stylisation and aesthetic-led inspiration of director Stephen Nicolazzo? How do you queer Leigh?
Leigh's works are developed through intense improvisation and research by the actors and creative team. In some of his films, the actors don't meet each other until they the camera is there. Abigail's Party was developed over ten weeks in 1977; it was meant to be a short and forgotten season at Hamstead Theatre because Leigh had moved onto making films. (Life is Sweet is my favourite.) The short run was extended and the only reason it was subsequently made for BBC television rather than transferring to the West End was because Alison Steadman (who played central-character Beverly) and Leigh were expecting their first baby and there was no way that anyone else as going to step into the role.
Thirty-something Beverly and her husband, Laurence, are having their new younger neighbours Angela and Tony over for after-dinner drinks. Divorced single mum Susan also lives on the street and has been invited because her teenager daughter, Abigail, is having a party. It's nice to have the neighbours around for a G&T with ice and lemon, a cheesey-pineapple nibble, and a bit of Demis Roussos on the record player.
The MTC loves a play about middle-class middle-aged suburbia and it's easy to find the connection to 1977 suburban Essex where Thatcher's conservatism is about to be welcomed and despised. Here, it's more important that your neighbours see that you're doing well, with posh beer and a new car, than actually getting to know you. Does that ever change?
Leigh's work is all about what's hidden and what we don't say to each other, even though it controls every thought and action.
It's so ready for a queer makeover and to be explored from a very different perspective.
So why does this production feel stifled?
The first thing that strikes about Anna Cordingley's design is that it looks like a Eugyeene Teh design – he designed the costumes – with it's monochromatic spaces and curtains. The central living room is magnificently orange with shag pile carpet, impossibly-large sunken steps, an over-sized room divider (which I'd love for my living room) and a magnificent array of 1970s op-shop finds. It's surrounded by three other hints of rooms that are perfect in the opening scene and sit almost begging to be used for the rest of the night. By placing the world in a box – a world best known as a boxed TV version – the fourth wall is dropped so firmly that it's difficult to reach in and feel a part of it.
Teh's costumes are more complex. They are a redesign of the late 70s with a sequinned jumpsuit, tiny mini Cheongsam (cultural appropriation isn't new), a whiter than white suit, hide-everything black pants, facial hair that came back, hot-roller curls, and slept-in-plaits-to-get-this-amazing crimpy frizz. It's not a recreation of the time, but an idea of what it looks like through today's eyes and ideas.
As the 70s-cum-now look is turned up to wow and seen at from the outside, the performances and direction start with style and brings the characters into the aesthetic. This technique has been gloriously effective in Little Ones's works like Psycho Beach Party, Dracula and Dangerous Liaisons, but Abigail feels stuck between styles.
Behind the naturalism wall, the camped-up style seems forced with its drink spilling and slipping off couches. While it's clearly beginning to question and subvert the manners and repression of the time, it's not bringing the audience into the world and letting us see it though new eyes. It's laughing at them, not at us.
So much of what we've come to expect from this company (although it's not a Little Ones Theatre show) feels like it's been held back. It has the aesthetic without the gutsy camp structure to support it. We're at Beverly's when we expected to be at Abigail's where everything is rejected, questioned and recreated.
21 December 2017
What I loved in 2017: the best of Melbourne theatre
I can finally share this. I chose them before the "loveds" and before other final judging of the year and I am always thrilled when I see the same shows on lists and memories.
The Sometimes Melbourne popular winner this year – the absolutely most-loved show of the year – is easily Hannah Gadsby's Nanette.
We're still talking about it. (What Melbourne Loved parts 1–10) I haven't stopped talking about it. But go to Twitter and search for Hannah's name to see just how much this show has meant to people. It shared a truth that needed to be shared, even when it's not the same truth for everyone.
I'm still caught between looking at it as a piece of exquisite writing that takes stand up, turns it on itself and creates something new and vital that's everything that stand-up comedy isn't, and wanting Hannah to never perform it again.
Wild Bore also got a lot of well-deserved love (even if I wasn't cunty enough to be quoted) and those of us who saw Taylor Mac know that we may never recover.
Surprisingly, the shows we're most looking forward to are at the MTC! And it's not because we're becoming dull but because we're going to see Patricia Cornelius's new work The House of Bernarda Alba and Stephen Nicolazzo directing Abigail's Party. And Jean Tong's Hungry Ghosts.
Outstanding Artists 2017
WRITING
Katy Warner for Spencer, Lab Kelpie
Special mentions
Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn for Stories for the Starlit Sky at MICF
Stella Reid, Jane Yonge, Oliver Morse and Thomas Lambert for The Basement Tapes at Melbourne Fringe
DESIGN
Dale Ferguson (set and costume), Paul Jackson (lighting) and J David Franzke (sound) for Away, Malthouse
Special mentions
Christina Logan Bell for The Japanese Princess by Lyric Opera
Dann Barber (set and costume), Rob Sowinski and Bryn Cullen (lighting) for Angels in America, Cameron Lukey and Dirty Pretty Theatre in association with fortyfivedownstairs
PERFORMANCE
Kate Mulvany as Richard III in Richard III, Bell Shakespeare
Special mentions
Melita Jurisic as Genevieve in John, Melbourne Theatre Company
The cast of Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera at Melbourne Festival
The cast of Trainspotting Live at MICF
DIRECTION
Matthew Lutton for Away, Malthouse, and Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera at Melbourne Festival
Special mentions
Sarah Goodes for John, Melbourne Theatre Company
Bridget Balodis for Desert 6.29pm, Red Stitch Actors Theatre
EVERYTHING THEY DO ROCKS
Little Ones Theatre
Stephen Nicolazzo , Eugyeene Teh, Katie Sfetkidis and everyone who works with them
The Happy Prince at La Mama, The Moors for Red Stitch, and Merciless Gods at Northcote Town Hall and Griffin (Sydney). It's been a pretty amazing year for them and the team's first show for 2018 is Abigail's Party at MTC and the company's The Nightingale and the Rose, the second in their Oscar Wilde Trilogy, is at Theatre Works in June. CAN NOT WAIT.
Outstanding Productions 2017
CABARET
Clittery Glittery by Fringe Wives Club (Rowena Hutson, Victoria Falconer-Pritchard and Tessa Waters) at MICF.
Special mention
Betty Grumble: Sex Clown Saves The World at Melbourne Fringe
COMMERCIAL SHOW
John, Melbourne Theatre Company
MUSICAL
The Book of Mormon
Special mention
Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit by Jean Tong at Poppyseed Festival.
If this doesn't get some development and second season, there is something wrong.
24/12 Update: All is good because it has a season at Malthouse in March. Book here.
COMEDY
Nautilus by Trygve Wakenshaw at MICF
Special mentions
OPERA
La Voix Humaine by BK Opera at Melbourne Fringe
LIVE ART
Nanette by Hannah Gadsby at MICF and Arts Centre Melbourne
and
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac, Pomegranate Arts and Nature's Darlings at Melbourne Festival
I'm told that I expect too much of theatre. "People just want to be entertained". As Hannah said in the early version of Nanette, we have animal videos for that.
Maybe art can't change the world, but it can change people. I've seen the impact of both of these works. Both have changed how I see myself, my friends, my community and my world. Both have strengthened and created communities.
Hannah, in jeans and a jacket by herself, and Taylor, in most of the world's bright and shiny and the support of many equally-fabulous cast and crew, are incomparable – but both are their absolute real selves on stage and their work comes from the same place.
Hannah talks about the impact of being shamed by society, community, friends and family, and ultimately yourself. She talks about the insidious power of shame and her work finds the heavy hidden shame that sits in so many of us, even if we didn't know it was there.
She shares how people, especially women, put themselves down when they talk, write, perform, exist. We kick ourselves, so that you don't have to kick and reject us first.
Taylor knows communities and people who know shame, who have hidden their authentic selves out of safety or fear. Judy's work confronts the utter absurdity of this shame and creates a world where shame doesn't exist. People living at the edges of society are placed in its centre – and loved and celebrated. I had never seen a work place women, especially queer women, so in the centre of the world.
I have seen people change from seeing these shows. I saw a lot of anger, but I also saw smiles I have never seen and tears that let go of years of pain. They are the most humane pieces of theatre I have experienced.
And I'm going to keep wanting more of the same.
I don't know if Taylor and Hannah have seen each other's shows, but this HAS TO HAPPEN.
2016
2015
The Sometimes Melbourne popular winner this year – the absolutely most-loved show of the year – is easily Hannah Gadsby's Nanette.
 |
| Hannah Gadsby |
We're still talking about it. (What Melbourne Loved parts 1–10) I haven't stopped talking about it. But go to Twitter and search for Hannah's name to see just how much this show has meant to people. It shared a truth that needed to be shared, even when it's not the same truth for everyone.
Wild Bore also got a lot of well-deserved love (even if I wasn't cunty enough to be quoted) and those of us who saw Taylor Mac know that we may never recover.
Surprisingly, the shows we're most looking forward to are at the MTC! And it's not because we're becoming dull but because we're going to see Patricia Cornelius's new work The House of Bernarda Alba and Stephen Nicolazzo directing Abigail's Party. And Jean Tong's Hungry Ghosts.
Outstanding Artists 2017
WRITING
Katy Warner for Spencer, Lab Kelpie
 |
| Spencer, Lab Kelpie. Lyall Brooks, Jamieson Caldwell, Fiona Harris, Jane Clifton. Photo by Pier Carthew |
Special mentions
Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn for Stories for the Starlit Sky at MICF
Stella Reid, Jane Yonge, Oliver Morse and Thomas Lambert for The Basement Tapes at Melbourne Fringe
DESIGN
Dale Ferguson (set and costume), Paul Jackson (lighting) and J David Franzke (sound) for Away, Malthouse
 |
| Away, Malthouse. Photo by Pia Johnson |
Special mentions
Christina Logan Bell for The Japanese Princess by Lyric Opera
Dann Barber (set and costume), Rob Sowinski and Bryn Cullen (lighting) for Angels in America, Cameron Lukey and Dirty Pretty Theatre in association with fortyfivedownstairs
 |
| Angels in America, fortyfivedownstairs |
PERFORMANCE
Kate Mulvany as Richard III in Richard III, Bell Shakespeare
 |
| Richard III, Bell Shakespeare. Kate Mulvany and Meredith Penman. Photo by Prudence Upton |
Special mentions
Melita Jurisic as Genevieve in John, Melbourne Theatre Company
The cast of Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera at Melbourne Festival
The cast of Trainspotting Live at MICF
DIRECTION
Matthew Lutton for Away, Malthouse, and Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera at Melbourne Festival
 |
| Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera. Photo by Pia Johnson |
Special mentions
Sarah Goodes for John, Melbourne Theatre Company
Bridget Balodis for Desert 6.29pm, Red Stitch Actors Theatre
EVERYTHING THEY DO ROCKS
Little Ones Theatre
Stephen Nicolazzo , Eugyeene Teh, Katie Sfetkidis and everyone who works with them
 |
| Stephen, Eugyeene and Katie. Little Ones Theatre |
The Happy Prince at La Mama, The Moors for Red Stitch, and Merciless Gods at Northcote Town Hall and Griffin (Sydney). It's been a pretty amazing year for them and the team's first show for 2018 is Abigail's Party at MTC and the company's The Nightingale and the Rose, the second in their Oscar Wilde Trilogy, is at Theatre Works in June. CAN NOT WAIT.
 |
| The Happy Prince. Janine Watson and Catherine Davies. Photo by Pia Johnson |
Outstanding Productions 2017
CABARET
Clittery Glittery by Fringe Wives Club (Rowena Hutson, Victoria Falconer-Pritchard and Tessa Waters) at MICF.
 |
| Clittery Glittery. Victoria Falconer-Pritchard, Tessa Waters and Rowena Hutson. |
Special mention
Betty Grumble: Sex Clown Saves The World at Melbourne Fringe
COMMERCIAL SHOW
John, Melbourne Theatre Company
MUSICAL
The Book of Mormon
 |
| The Book of Mormon |
Special mention
Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit by Jean Tong at Poppyseed Festival.
If this doesn't get some development and second season, there is something wrong.
24/12 Update: All is good because it has a season at Malthouse in March. Book here.
 |
| Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit. Margot Tanjutco and Louisa Wall |
COMEDY
Nautilus by Trygve Wakenshaw at MICF
 |
| Trygve Wakenshaw |
Monkey See, Monkey Do by Richard Gadd at MICF
The Travelling Sisters at MICF
OPERA
La Voix Humaine by BK Opera at Melbourne Fringe
LIVE ART
The Maze by Kasey Gambling at Melbourne Fringe
BEST OF THE BEST
Joan by The Rabble
The Book of Mormon
BEST OF THE BEST
Joan by The Rabble
 |
| Joan. The Rabble. Dana Miltins. Photo by David Paterson |
The Book of Mormon
Black Rider, Malthouse and Victorian Opera at Melbourne Festival
Betty Grumble: Love and Anger at the Butterfly Club
MY FAVOURITE SHOWS OF 2017
This year, I saw two shows that I have thought about every day since. Every day.
Betty Grumble: Love and Anger at the Butterfly Club
 |
| Betty Grumble: Love and Anger |
MY FAVOURITE SHOWS OF 2017
This year, I saw two shows that I have thought about every day since. Every day.
I've spent ages trying to separate these two and it's impossible. There wasn't a moment when anything came near to the experience of seeing Nanette, until Taylor Mac started talking about the homophobic shaming of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and finished 23 hours later dressed in a glittery, pink vulva and I couldn't stop crying.
Nanette by Hannah Gadsby at MICF and Arts Centre Melbourne
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| Hannah Gadsby. It's such a great pic that it can be here again. |
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac, Pomegranate Arts and Nature's Darlings at Melbourne Festival
 | |
| Taylor Mac. Photo by Sarah Walker. |
I'm told that I expect too much of theatre. "People just want to be entertained". As Hannah said in the early version of Nanette, we have animal videos for that.
Maybe art can't change the world, but it can change people. I've seen the impact of both of these works. Both have changed how I see myself, my friends, my community and my world. Both have strengthened and created communities.
Hannah, in jeans and a jacket by herself, and Taylor, in most of the world's bright and shiny and the support of many equally-fabulous cast and crew, are incomparable – but both are their absolute real selves on stage and their work comes from the same place.
Hannah talks about the impact of being shamed by society, community, friends and family, and ultimately yourself. She talks about the insidious power of shame and her work finds the heavy hidden shame that sits in so many of us, even if we didn't know it was there.
She shares how people, especially women, put themselves down when they talk, write, perform, exist. We kick ourselves, so that you don't have to kick and reject us first.
Taylor knows communities and people who know shame, who have hidden their authentic selves out of safety or fear. Judy's work confronts the utter absurdity of this shame and creates a world where shame doesn't exist. People living at the edges of society are placed in its centre – and loved and celebrated. I had never seen a work place women, especially queer women, so in the centre of the world.
I have seen people change from seeing these shows. I saw a lot of anger, but I also saw smiles I have never seen and tears that let go of years of pain. They are the most humane pieces of theatre I have experienced.
And I'm going to keep wanting more of the same.
I don't know if Taylor and Hannah have seen each other's shows, but this HAS TO HAPPEN.
2016
2015
2014
2013
2007
More 2017 lists. (I'll add them in as I find them)
Time Out's 2017 Top Ten by Rose Johnstone and Tim Byrne
Keith Gow's Favourite Theatre of 2017
The Music's Melbourne's Best Theatre of 2017 by Maxim Boon
My Melbourne Arts Top 10 Shows of 2017 by Myron My
Arts Hub's The Best of Performing Arts in 2017, including Richard Watts's 10 Outstanding Shows
Music Theatre Year in Review by Simon Parris
The Age's 2017 by Cameron Woodhead
2013
2007
More 2017 lists. (I'll add them in as I find them)
Time Out's 2017 Top Ten by Rose Johnstone and Tim Byrne
Keith Gow's Favourite Theatre of 2017
The Music's Melbourne's Best Theatre of 2017 by Maxim Boon
My Melbourne Arts Top 10 Shows of 2017 by Myron My
Arts Hub's The Best of Performing Arts in 2017, including Richard Watts's 10 Outstanding Shows
Music Theatre Year in Review by Simon Parris
The Age's 2017 by Cameron Woodhead
13 December 2017
What Melbourne Loved in 2017, part 9
This is your last week to get your moments included. Today we hear from Richard Watts, Sharon Davis and Ash Flanders.
Richard Watts
Professional pontificator, ArtsHub/3RRR
Favourite moments in 2017
It’s been a memorable and fascinating year; one in which compassion, connection and community were the dominant themes of the works which resonated with me the most.
Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette remains the single most perfect and important piece of art I saw this year; a work that weaponised comedy by turning the art form against itself, ratchetting up the tension by depriving us of punch lines and in doing so letting us not just see but experience the damage inflicted by homophobia. Heartbreaking, brilliant and important – I don’t know how Hannah keeps performing it, and I hope she has a mental health professional on speed-dial to talk with after each and every show.
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music performed by Taylor Mac and friends was an epic, life-affirming celebration of queerness at a time when my community most needed succour and hope. Taylor gave it to us in spades – and so much more besides. I won’t go on at length about how magic and marvellous this four-part work was – it’s already had a lot of love in What Melbourne Loved this year – but I will thank the Melbourne Festival team once more for allowing us to experience this glittering gem of a show.
The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family at Perth Festival is another highlight; I’ve never seen realism done with such subtly, such truthful finesse, and such impact. Three plays performed back to back; the American family in miniature; a tri-part work about class, politics and feminism that was fresh and electrifying and never once didactic or hectoring; the best stage drama I’ve witnessed in 2017.
Attractor at Asia TOPA was my favourite dance work of the year, alongside several other brilliant contenders. Take a bow, Bunny (another Asia TOPA event); Restless Dance Theatre’s Intimate Space at Adelaide Festival; Nicola Gunn’s Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster and Nick Power’s Between Tiny Cities (both at Dance Massive) – A cross-cultural collaboration, an ecstatic celebration, a skilled blending of creative voices, a triumph.
Honourable mentions: All the Sex I’ve Ever Had at Melbourne Festival, another work in which a palpable sense of community built in the theatre as the work progressed; Kate Mulvany’s mercurial and moving Richard 3 for Bell Shakespeare; Wot? No Fish!! at Adelaide Festival, a deceptively simple work with so much heart, and Richard Gadd’s honest, confessional and experimental comedy at MICF, Money See, Monkey Do. And so much more…
Looking forward to in 2018
It’s probably cheating to say everything, isn’t it? There’s so much I’m hanging out to see next year: Daniel Clarke directing Taylor Mac’s Hir at Red Stitch; Daniel Lammin directing Tommy Murphy’s Strangers in Between at fortyfivedownstairs; Brian Lucas giving voice to Wilde’s De Profundis at Gasworks… and that’s just during Midsumma!
I’m especially excited to see not one but two mainstage works – finally! – by Patricia Cornelius in 2018, though I don’t know if I’ll get to both: her adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba at MTC, directed by Leticia Cáceres and a new, original work, In the Club at State Theatre Company South Australia, directed by Geordie Brookman.
I’m also hanging out for Jada Alberts’s Brothers Wreck at the Malthouse; Albert Belz’s Astroman and Jean Tong’s Hungry Ghosts, both at the MTC; Gravity and Other Myths’s intimate, brilliant circus work A Simple Space and Griffin Theatre’s long-awaited production of Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree, both at Arts Centre Melbourne, and so much more.
Most importantly I’m looking forward to more new voices; more works by new artists; more works from artists from diverse backgrounds telling stories that when we hear them we’ll be like, “Why haven’t we heard this before?!”. Bring on 2018
SM: Watching "Purple Rain" together at Taylor Mac. And the look on Richard's face during the interval of The Book of Mormon.
Sharon Davis
Director
Favourite moments in 2017
Hands down, the stage lift during the storm in Away at The Malthouse. I have never felt that kind of pure excitement and adrenaline in the theatre before. It was just magic and it made me feel like a little kid again. I loved the rest of that show too. It took me by surprise which is remarkable for a piece so familiar. It had the intensity of purpose that you often get with a new work while still feeling like a dignified “classic”. I don’t know what I mean by that except that that is how it made me feel.
Of course Melbourne is rich with so much theatre to feast on but my other highlights include:
Nanette by Hannah Gadsby. Her challenge to the idea that artists must be tortured to be of value lingers with me.
Britney Spears: The Cabaret. I know it’s been kicking around for years but I’m one of those people that hadn’t seen it until this year at Chapel. Holy shit, Christie Whelan-Browne is an absolute knockout. Jaw stayed on the floor. If she does it again, don’t think, just go.
The Happy Prince. I always really get a kick out of Stephen Nicolazzo‘s work but this piece came in like a little bird and carried my heart away with such tenderness and humour that I just had to sit a few moments at the end and gather myself. Just beautiful.
Red Stitch really knocked it out of the park for me with Incognito by Nick Payne. I love plays and I love watching actors deliver complex ideas while revealing meaning through human connection, intention and emotion. It’s such an epic play and I still don’t know how they managed to fit it into that space but it worked and it was like jazz and science had a love child.
And finally, Songs for a Weary Throat. An incredible team of artists made this piece epic and beautiful. There was so much danger in the way the performers moved and played. The space was chaotic and broken and full of, seemingly, actual danger. Yet what stuck me most was the absolute trust and care that shone through with every movement, look,and exchange that took place between the performers. It reminded me that theatre doesn’t have to be a competition of endurance, aggression,or trauma for it to be high impact for the audience.
Looking forward to in 2018
A safe, supportive, and respectful work space for EVERYONE.
I can’t wait to see what Stephen Nicolazzo does with Abigail’s Party for MTC. Also really looking forward to seeing one of my favourite directors, Kirsten Von Bibra, take on Venus in Fur for Lightening Jar Theatre at 45 Downstairs.
SM: Sharon directed Spencer, one of my favourite new works of this year.
Ash Flanders
Sister
Favourite moments in 2017
Number one has to be Declan Greene performing the monologue “Conserve water, drink piss” for me at Blondies earlier this week. It’s a found monologue from an Eagle Leather email. I hope it gets picked up.
But in terms of actual things, like anyone with a die hard love of grooviness, I am now a devout member of the church of Betty Grumble. Getting to witness Love and Anger was like getting a front row seat to a tornado where everyone fought to be pulled in. Emma Maye has the potential to be a worldwide ecosexual terrorist of the highest order if smart gate-keepers can open their eyes, hearts and orifices.
Other standout moments include: Peter Paltos delivering the incredible monologue Dan Giovannoni wrote in Merciless Gods; The Listies deservedly selling out their Edinburgh season; marveling at the plot mechanics of Declan’s Faggots or The Homosexuals; the insanity of Phil Dunning’s House of Pigs; and any time I got to witness Nick Coyle be the icon, legend and lunatic he is.
Personally I am very grateful for the opportunity to tour a work overseas and also make a dream come true by finally having an all-lady band help Dave, Stephen and I take Playing to Win to the heights I dreamed it could get to – big thanks to Daniel Clarke and The Arts Centre. I’m beyond thrilled to see The Rabble getting the respect they deserve. Oh I also got to improvise with living legends Nicola Gunn, Mish Grigor and Marcus McKenzie and I’m hoping someday we share the idiotic fruits of that endeavour.
Looking forward to in 2018
Apart from taking over the world myself (any day now), I’m looking forward to witnessing other people do the same. Ich Nibber Dibber sounds like manna from heaven, Melancholia sounds like the end of the world (finally!), and both Accidental Death of a Anarchist and The House of Bernarda Alba have me convinced that people finally realised Bessie Holland should be in everything. Oh and what’s the other show... oh that’s right, only the GREATEST PLAY EVER WRITTEN – Abigail's Party! I’ve never wanted to be Eryn Jean Norvill more – and should she somehow be unable to play the part I’m already word perfect. Just. In. Case.
SM: I can't get past that Ms F is looking forward to main-stage shows next year. Oh how far we have come! But it has to be reading the reactions to Lilith the Jungle Girl in Edinburgh and Ms L getting to Amsterdam.
What am I doing on Xmas Eve? Seeing Ash in Nothing at Hares and Hyenas. He's the tangerine in my stocking. He's back with Stephen Nicolazzo and Dave Barclay for the fourth time, following Negative Energy, Special Victim, and Playing to Win. Details here. You can also go on Sunday 17.
part 8
part 7
part 6
part 5
part 4
part 3
part 2
part 1
2016
2014
2013
2012
Richard Watts
Professional pontificator, ArtsHub/3RRR
 | ||
| Lee Zachariah's photo for Richard Watts's 50th this year |
Favourite moments in 2017
It’s been a memorable and fascinating year; one in which compassion, connection and community were the dominant themes of the works which resonated with me the most.
Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette remains the single most perfect and important piece of art I saw this year; a work that weaponised comedy by turning the art form against itself, ratchetting up the tension by depriving us of punch lines and in doing so letting us not just see but experience the damage inflicted by homophobia. Heartbreaking, brilliant and important – I don’t know how Hannah keeps performing it, and I hope she has a mental health professional on speed-dial to talk with after each and every show.
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music performed by Taylor Mac and friends was an epic, life-affirming celebration of queerness at a time when my community most needed succour and hope. Taylor gave it to us in spades – and so much more besides. I won’t go on at length about how magic and marvellous this four-part work was – it’s already had a lot of love in What Melbourne Loved this year – but I will thank the Melbourne Festival team once more for allowing us to experience this glittering gem of a show.
The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family at Perth Festival is another highlight; I’ve never seen realism done with such subtly, such truthful finesse, and such impact. Three plays performed back to back; the American family in miniature; a tri-part work about class, politics and feminism that was fresh and electrifying and never once didactic or hectoring; the best stage drama I’ve witnessed in 2017.
Attractor at Asia TOPA was my favourite dance work of the year, alongside several other brilliant contenders. Take a bow, Bunny (another Asia TOPA event); Restless Dance Theatre’s Intimate Space at Adelaide Festival; Nicola Gunn’s Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster and Nick Power’s Between Tiny Cities (both at Dance Massive) – A cross-cultural collaboration, an ecstatic celebration, a skilled blending of creative voices, a triumph.
Honourable mentions: All the Sex I’ve Ever Had at Melbourne Festival, another work in which a palpable sense of community built in the theatre as the work progressed; Kate Mulvany’s mercurial and moving Richard 3 for Bell Shakespeare; Wot? No Fish!! at Adelaide Festival, a deceptively simple work with so much heart, and Richard Gadd’s honest, confessional and experimental comedy at MICF, Money See, Monkey Do. And so much more…
Looking forward to in 2018
It’s probably cheating to say everything, isn’t it? There’s so much I’m hanging out to see next year: Daniel Clarke directing Taylor Mac’s Hir at Red Stitch; Daniel Lammin directing Tommy Murphy’s Strangers in Between at fortyfivedownstairs; Brian Lucas giving voice to Wilde’s De Profundis at Gasworks… and that’s just during Midsumma!
I’m especially excited to see not one but two mainstage works – finally! – by Patricia Cornelius in 2018, though I don’t know if I’ll get to both: her adaptation of Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba at MTC, directed by Leticia Cáceres and a new, original work, In the Club at State Theatre Company South Australia, directed by Geordie Brookman.
I’m also hanging out for Jada Alberts’s Brothers Wreck at the Malthouse; Albert Belz’s Astroman and Jean Tong’s Hungry Ghosts, both at the MTC; Gravity and Other Myths’s intimate, brilliant circus work A Simple Space and Griffin Theatre’s long-awaited production of Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree, both at Arts Centre Melbourne, and so much more.
Most importantly I’m looking forward to more new voices; more works by new artists; more works from artists from diverse backgrounds telling stories that when we hear them we’ll be like, “Why haven’t we heard this before?!”. Bring on 2018
 |
| Richard & Daniel at Taylor Mac. Photo by Sarah Walker |
 |
| Me & Richard during Purple Rain. Photo by Daniel Kilby |
SM: Watching "Purple Rain" together at Taylor Mac. And the look on Richard's face during the interval of The Book of Mormon.
Sharon Davis
Director
 |
| Sharon Davis. Photo by Cricket @ Cricket Studio |
Favourite moments in 2017
Hands down, the stage lift during the storm in Away at The Malthouse. I have never felt that kind of pure excitement and adrenaline in the theatre before. It was just magic and it made me feel like a little kid again. I loved the rest of that show too. It took me by surprise which is remarkable for a piece so familiar. It had the intensity of purpose that you often get with a new work while still feeling like a dignified “classic”. I don’t know what I mean by that except that that is how it made me feel.
Of course Melbourne is rich with so much theatre to feast on but my other highlights include:
Nanette by Hannah Gadsby. Her challenge to the idea that artists must be tortured to be of value lingers with me.
Britney Spears: The Cabaret. I know it’s been kicking around for years but I’m one of those people that hadn’t seen it until this year at Chapel. Holy shit, Christie Whelan-Browne is an absolute knockout. Jaw stayed on the floor. If she does it again, don’t think, just go.
The Happy Prince. I always really get a kick out of Stephen Nicolazzo‘s work but this piece came in like a little bird and carried my heart away with such tenderness and humour that I just had to sit a few moments at the end and gather myself. Just beautiful.
Red Stitch really knocked it out of the park for me with Incognito by Nick Payne. I love plays and I love watching actors deliver complex ideas while revealing meaning through human connection, intention and emotion. It’s such an epic play and I still don’t know how they managed to fit it into that space but it worked and it was like jazz and science had a love child.
And finally, Songs for a Weary Throat. An incredible team of artists made this piece epic and beautiful. There was so much danger in the way the performers moved and played. The space was chaotic and broken and full of, seemingly, actual danger. Yet what stuck me most was the absolute trust and care that shone through with every movement, look,and exchange that took place between the performers. It reminded me that theatre doesn’t have to be a competition of endurance, aggression,or trauma for it to be high impact for the audience.
Looking forward to in 2018
A safe, supportive, and respectful work space for EVERYONE.
I can’t wait to see what Stephen Nicolazzo does with Abigail’s Party for MTC. Also really looking forward to seeing one of my favourite directors, Kirsten Von Bibra, take on Venus in Fur for Lightening Jar Theatre at 45 Downstairs.
SM: Sharon directed Spencer, one of my favourite new works of this year.
Ash Flanders
Sister
 |
| Ash Flanders. I let him choose his own pic. |
Favourite moments in 2017
Number one has to be Declan Greene performing the monologue “Conserve water, drink piss” for me at Blondies earlier this week. It’s a found monologue from an Eagle Leather email. I hope it gets picked up.
But in terms of actual things, like anyone with a die hard love of grooviness, I am now a devout member of the church of Betty Grumble. Getting to witness Love and Anger was like getting a front row seat to a tornado where everyone fought to be pulled in. Emma Maye has the potential to be a worldwide ecosexual terrorist of the highest order if smart gate-keepers can open their eyes, hearts and orifices.
Other standout moments include: Peter Paltos delivering the incredible monologue Dan Giovannoni wrote in Merciless Gods; The Listies deservedly selling out their Edinburgh season; marveling at the plot mechanics of Declan’s Faggots or The Homosexuals; the insanity of Phil Dunning’s House of Pigs; and any time I got to witness Nick Coyle be the icon, legend and lunatic he is.
Personally I am very grateful for the opportunity to tour a work overseas and also make a dream come true by finally having an all-lady band help Dave, Stephen and I take Playing to Win to the heights I dreamed it could get to – big thanks to Daniel Clarke and The Arts Centre. I’m beyond thrilled to see The Rabble getting the respect they deserve. Oh I also got to improvise with living legends Nicola Gunn, Mish Grigor and Marcus McKenzie and I’m hoping someday we share the idiotic fruits of that endeavour.
Looking forward to in 2018
Apart from taking over the world myself (any day now), I’m looking forward to witnessing other people do the same. Ich Nibber Dibber sounds like manna from heaven, Melancholia sounds like the end of the world (finally!), and both Accidental Death of a Anarchist and The House of Bernarda Alba have me convinced that people finally realised Bessie Holland should be in everything. Oh and what’s the other show... oh that’s right, only the GREATEST PLAY EVER WRITTEN – Abigail's Party! I’ve never wanted to be Eryn Jean Norvill more – and should she somehow be unable to play the part I’m already word perfect. Just. In. Case.
SM: I can't get past that Ms F is looking forward to main-stage shows next year. Oh how far we have come! But it has to be reading the reactions to Lilith the Jungle Girl in Edinburgh and Ms L getting to Amsterdam.
What am I doing on Xmas Eve? Seeing Ash in Nothing at Hares and Hyenas. He's the tangerine in my stocking. He's back with Stephen Nicolazzo and Dave Barclay for the fourth time, following Negative Energy, Special Victim, and Playing to Win. Details here. You can also go on Sunday 17.
part 8
part 7
part 6
part 5
part 4
part 3
part 2
part 1
2016
2014
2013
2012
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