FRINGE review: No Matter Where You Go...

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

RSVP, Jennifer Williams, Cathie Clinton, Yvonne Coughlan

2 October 2011

Clifton Creative Arts Centre, 314 Church St, Richmond

to 9 October

This year, my Melbourne Fringe highlights have been the artists who have shared their stories. Story is a complicated concept. You can spend years reading all the discussion about how to create one or you can realise that everybody has a story and that yours is just as important, interesting and moving as any other.  No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is Jennifer's and Cathie's stories.

Jennifer Williams and Cathie Clinton haven't been in the same room yet. Jennifer moved from Sydney to Ireland last year and Cathie moved from Ireland to Melbourne, and with director Yvonne Coughlan they've created a night of intimate and personal theatre through email and Skype. 

In a large Richmond gallery, Cathie directly shares her stories and we watch Jennifer's on screen, and Yvonne creates balance and an equally intimate atmosphere for each woman. The distance of performing to camera frees Jennifer to talk about the issues that really matter to her and her large screen presence creates genuine closeness.  Meanwhile, Cathie is introduced from the far side of the room, so the same closeness is developed slowly.

For it's delicate theatricality and gorgeous use of space, what makes this experience so intimate is the honesty of the performers.  This solitary nature of the original development process seems to have created the safety to dig deep and find those authentic moments of truth that resonate far beyond a common experience.

Their's nothing extraordinary about Cathie's and Jennifer's experiences of leaving home and travelling, their doubts about being an artist and the drug of audience approval, or their fears of wondering who would want to see two neurotic women talk about their fears – but it's the normality of their stories that makes their telling extraordinarily beautiful.

The next incarnation of this project will include actors in Portland, USA, and Adelaide

The night I saw No Matter Where You Go, There You Are, there were three people in the audience. This was disappointing, but brilliant because it intensified the intimacy and made our tiny group personally invested in making the experience supportive.

There's so much to see this last Fringe weekend, but this is on until Sunday if you can squeeze it in.

This review first appeared on AussieTheatre.com (luckily!)

FRINGE review:Things I Learned in High School

The Things I Learned in High School

Daniel Kilby with Trevor Jones

5 October 2011

Long Play

to 8 October

I was late for Daniel's show (damn you daylight savings), but running down the corridor I heard a lot of laughing and a song about fucking. Apparently, it's what everything is all about.

So I knew I was going to like it.

Daniel made it through catholic high school as the only gay boy (that he knew of), but getting through a music conservatorium education when he was into show tunes and art songs was another challenge altogether, even when he vipped out his Wagner. 

But it took a few more years to kill those damn self-doubt vampires – thank you [title of show] –  and realise that he so has a story to tell, that the best way to tell it is through slightly obscure show tunes and by believing people are going to want to hear it.

Like the best, Daniel has the help of a great pianist and he opens up his heart to tell some tales that he'd rarely shared.  Good stories need truth and it's in those moments of honesty that performers and audiences bond. When storytellers are brave, we see how meaningless our superficial differences are. Who hasn't decided in seconds that the cutie we've said hi to is our happily-ever-after, and we all did things in year 10 that we didn't tell our families ... until our solo cabaret shows.

The Things I Learned in High School is on at Longplay in North Fitzroy until Saturday. Forget the Fringe hub for a night, grab a drink and a meal and share your love of song (and fucking) with Daniel.

This review was on AussieTheatre.com

FRINGE review: Fourplay

Fourplay

Vicious Fish

2 October 2011

fortyfivedownstairs

to 9 October

As the fortyfivedownstairs program continues to bring us companies who know how important it is to tell our stories and are willing to take the kind of risks that create amazing theatre, Scott Gooding's happy ending for Vicious Fish's Belbel Project is a satisfying hour of Fourplay.

A long-term couple wanting change have a remarkably cool new bed.  With crisp purple sheets and geek-perfect proportions, it's ready to break in – but they don't want to fuck with destiny, so he invites a hot young man and she invites a hot young woman...

Now, before anyone gets excited about watching bored middle-class swingers, know that Fourplay's far more interesting and that the only writer resorting to cheap puns is me.

Catalan-Spanish playwright Sergei Belbel wrote his first plays in the 80s and has been Artistic Director of The National Theatre of Catalonia since 2005. Vicious Fish is the champion of his work in Australia, having presented four of his translated works.

Form and structure are as much a part of Belbel's storytelling as character and plot.  Fourplay's time line alternates and scenes repeat from different perspectives with new information. This forces the audience to actively play in the onstage games and to continually re-think what they believe is happening. There's no passive watching with Belbel.

And while I love how this makes us really engage with the text, the brilliance of the Jenga-winning structure can create distance from the stories of the characters (Gooding, Michael Argus, Kaitlyn Clare, Liza Dennis) and distract from the humour that pumps the heart of the work.

With four people wanting to use the bed for more than a nanna nap, there's potential for farce, but Belbel is far darker and tempers their play time with uncomfortable laughs that feel really good once you get used to them and accept just how reactionary tits can be.

I've recently seen a lot of very funny shows where audiences seem afraid to laugh in case it isn't meant to be funny. If you think it's funny, the people creating it probably do as well; so, please have a glass of wine if it helps and enjoy Fourplay.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

FRINGE review: Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening
Monash Uni Student Theatre and Monash University Academy of Performing Arts
1 October 2011
Alexander Theatre, Monash University
to 8 October
www.monash.edu/mapa/

With over 60 Monash Uni students and recent graduates involved in every element of this production, it would be tedious to mention everyone who helps make this Spring Awakening so memorable; so, you'll have to read the program – and the only way to do that is to see this show.

Spring Awakening won Tony Awards in 2007 and is credited with bringing young audiences back to Broadway with its heart-breaking characters and rock-infused score. Its story is from a 1892 German play that was banned for confronting taboos like masturbation, first-sex, homosexuality, incest and violence. We may write openly about these topics now, but for all our contemporary knowledge, the pain and confusion about confronting any of these is still as strong;  so, the music is a juxtaposition of angry, hurting rock straight from the hearts of its young characters.

If the thought of a student-theatre musical leaves you shuddering, banish such fear. Monash Uni Student Theatre (MUST) continues to believe in young artists and creates a structure and atmosphere that lets them create productions that surprise and delight.

The core creative team – Yvonne Virsik, Cassandra Fumi, Tom Pitts, Kristen Adriaan, Jason Lehane (director, assistant director, musical director, choreographer, designer) – start with the skills of their artists to create a production that's led by emotion. What results is a musical that's as striking and moving as any Tony winner, but never tries to be Broadway. 

Spring Awakening is one of my favourite musicals from recent years and MUST's production is – I have to say it – a must. You might see versions with slicker dance and more mature voices, but you won't catch one with more heart.

And, really, the Clayton campus is a 20-minute drive from the city and there's parking at the door. Don't use its distance as an excuse.

Photo by Sarah Walker.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Interview with Yvonne about directing Spring Awakening.

The last FRINGE review previews

Yep, the full versions are on AussieTheatre.com and will be  here soon.

The Things I Learned in High School
Daniel Kilby with Trevor Jones
5 October 2011
Long Play
to 8 October

I was running late for Daniel's show (damn you daylight savings), but running down the corridor I heard a lot of laughing and a song about fucking. Apparently, it's what everything is all about.

So I knew I was going to like it.

Daniel made it through catholic high school as the only gay boy, but getting through a conservatorium education when he was into show tunes and art songs was another challenge altogether. It's taken him a few more years to kill those damn self-doubt vampires – thank you [title of show] –  and realise that he so has a story to tell and that the best way to tell it is through slightly obscure show tunes.

Like the best, Daniel opens up his heart and tells some tales that he probably thought he'd keep quiet. This is the stuff that bonds performers and audiences. In those moments we know that most of our differences are meaningless, because we all did things in year 10 that we didn't tell our families ... until our solo cabaret shows.

The Things I Learned in High School is on at Longplay in North Fitzroy until Saturday. Forget the Fringe hub for a night, grab a drink and a meal and share your love of song (and fucking) with Daniel.







No Matter Where You Go, There You Are
RSVP, Jennifer Williams, Cathie Clinton, Yvonne Coughlan
2 October 2011
Clifton Creative Arts Centre, 314 Church St, Richmond
to 9 October

I just got in from this show and had the kind-of-brilliant and kind-of-disappointing experience of being in an audience of three. But I'm stressing the brilliant, because it's a night of storytelling that I really can't compare to anything else and I'm so glad that I went. (Watching Doctor Who so nearly won...)

So no matter what you're hoping to see this week, please make time for this.

I'll give it some more words tomorrow.

Spring Awakening

Monash Uni Student Theatre and Monash University Academy of Performing Arts

1 October 2011

Alexander Theatre, Monash University

to 8 October

www.monash.edu/mapa/

With over 60 Monash Uni students and recent graduates involved in every element of this production, it would be tedious to mention everyone who helps make this Spring Awakening so memorable; so, you'll have to read the program – and the only way to do that is to see this show.

.....

Spring Awakening is one of my favourite musicals from recent years and MUST's production is – I have to say it – a must. You might see versions with slicker dance and more mature voices, but you won't catch one with more heart.

And, really, the Clayton campus is a 20-minute drive from the city and there's parking at the door. Don't use its distance as an excuse.


the rest


And here's director Yvonne Virsik talking about directing it.

Fourplay

Vicious Fish

2 October 2011

fortyfivedownstairs

to 9 October

As the fortyfivedownstairs program continues to bring us companies and writers who know how important it is to tell our stories and are willing to take the kind of risks that create amazing theatre, Scott Gooding's happy ending for Vicious Fish's Belbel Project is a satisfying hour of Fourplay.

A long-term couple wanting change have a remarkably cool new bed.  With crisp purple sheets and geek-perfect proportions,  it's ready to break in – but they don't want to fuck with destiny, so he invites a hot young man and she invites a hot young woman...

Now, before anyone gets excited about watching bored middle-class swingers, know that Fourplay's far more interesting and the only writer resorting to cheap puns is me.

the rest

It's Last Tuesday Tuesday

Hooray!

Whatever you're doing tonight, know that the most fun will really be had at the Fringe Club as The Last Tuesday Society take over.

It's free and the theme of the night is "first times".

If you haven't popped your First Tuesday cherry, tonight is the night.

FRINGE review: Me Pregnant!

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011

Me Pregnant!

Nick Coyle

24 September 2011

Lithuanian Club, The Loft

to 30 September 2011

Love Emeline, love the monster, love the villagers and love Nick Coyle.

Me Pregnant! is a fucked-up fairy tail of a mediaeval village that followed nerdy Emeline into the forest to take revenge on a monster, but one of the monster's babies survived and really hates Emeline.

Modelling a peasant sack with bright tights, Nick is our tour guide and everyone else in the village, the forest and the dark undersea cave. His story telling is immaculate, if you like your stories snarky, bitter and whimsical. And I don't mean fluffy my-little-pony whimsy, this is whimsy that's mixing speed and acid and never wants to come down.

And I now so want an octopus to give me a makeover and a tiny wind-up Nick Coyle doll to tell me bedtime stories.

"Tell me a story." Shows that let their stories lead have audiences who love them. Me Pregnant!  lets Nick show his terrific writing and prove that he's a performer who deserves to be cast in anything he wants, but the joy of the show is that he tells a brilliant story.

Nick's only on until Friday, so don't wait for the weekend to see him.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Review: Grammar Don't Matter on a First Date

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011

Grammar Don't Matter on a First Date

Mark Butler

24 September 2011

Portland Hotel

to 1 October 2011

Mark Butlers broked up with gfs; cos there gramma iz sheet.

In Grammar Don't Matter on a First Date, he asks his audience if they think he made the best choices.

Turns out that Saturday night's audiences were more pedantic than Mark is and are lucky that many couples there have found a mate who agrees that it's impossible to eat in a restaurant that lists possessive nouns on the menu and that friends with RAS syndrome* have to be removed from their Christmas card list.

The rest of us, who may have used an its/it's argument as a contribution to a break up (yes, I have), were able to feel justified.

For the single grammar slobs, who were dragged along by their friends, Mark offers grammatically-correct dating hints. Singles, if you are on RSVP, this could help: There is a happy couple. They're holding hands and sipping their merlot. From experience, Mark (and his enthusiastically agreeing audience) assures you that your lack of basic spelling and grammar knowledge is stopping the smart hot folk from dating you.

Yes, we (the hot smart folk) judge you by your grammar. And (it IS acceptable to start a sentence with a conjunction) we judge you by your spelling, punctuation and syntax. I'm more accepting than Mark is about LOL, but I have serious En dash and hyphen issues. THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE!

As a writer, an editor and a hot smart person, I think Mark's show should be compulsory. The Style manual and the Macquarie Dictionary Fifth Edition aren't in every family bookshelf (hell, they aren't even in every writer's bookshelf), so we need people like Mark to spread the word(s) by making us laugh.

And grammar slob or snob, Mark has everyone laughing. His audience–performer bond is instant, but he's talking about grammar, sex and puns – what's not to bond over!

So, of course, grammar matters as much as Grandpa does. And to all the glorious pedants at Mark’s show: I'd date youse all.

*RASS: Redundant acronym syndrome syndrome. "I'll grab some cash from the ATM machine."

This review first appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

FRINGE review: 4's KIN

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011

4's KIN

Dil Ruk, Morven Smith, Jay E Manne and Tim Clark (with guest Ben Lawrence)

24 September 2011

Portland Hotel

to 8 October 2011

Most new stand ups don't have a show's worth of material, but they do have a few minutes of terrific stuff, and what better way to get your Fringe legs than to share the stage with friends.

4's KIN give us their best 12 minutes and there's enough laughs and likeability to know that we'll soon be seeing much more of Dil Ruk, Morven Smith, Jay E Manne, Tim Clark and (guest) Ben Lawrence.

Each are developing a stage character and working with observational jokes, and all brought an original twist to the worlds around them and showed us just how twisted their brains really are.

I think being a stand up comic has to be one of the bravest performance choices. Great stand up is about sharing your most personal and embarrassing secrets with strangers and friends. The best (the ones we go back to see as much as possible) are the ones who dig deep, show us their hearts and help us realise that being a bit fucked up is perfectly normal.

This first appeared on AussieTheatre.com

and more FRINGE profiles

There are still more Melbourne Fringe artists profiles on AussieThearte.com this week including:

Anna Lumb, who I first saw hoop twirling at a Last Tuesday Society gig in Fitzroy, and who brings so much more than mere skill to her performances. See I HEART Jack with World Around Us II  for a pretty brilliant Fringe double feature.

Dan Kilby, whose first ever Fringe show opens on Tuesday and who gave my favourite answer on all the profiles: If you had access to the TARDIS, what performance would you see first? Carrie on Broadway, because I am a gay. I'm now adding Carrie to my TARDIS wish list, because I'm a hag.

Spencer Bignall, whom I'm going to see perform for the first time tonight at Spring Awakening.

and wonderfully wrong and simply wonderful  Wau Wau Sisters

Fringe artist profiles part 2

Gremlins stole these profiles off AussieTheatre.com, so here's Miles O'Neil, Miranda Hill, Jennifer Williams and Robert Lloyd

Fringe artist profiles part 1

Web gremlins stole these off AussieTheatre.

So here's Stephen House, Johannes Scherpenhuizen and Sarah Hamilton.

Fringe artist profiles part 3

These disappeared from AT, so here's Anna Lumb, Dan Kilby, Spencer Gignall and the Wau Wau Sisters.

Fringe artist profiles part 5

I found more! Here's Jonno Katz and Mel Dodge.

Fringe artist profiles part 4

Internet gremlins stole their original links, so here's Timothy Clark, Bron Battern, Ash Flanders and Kate McLennan.

FRINGE review: X

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011

X

Terrible Comfort and Barking Spider Visual Theatre

27 September 2011

Lithuanian Club, Son of Loft

to 8 October

When a narrator has a swirly red skirt that I covet and fur the exact purple that I've been trying to dye my hair, I know I'm in safe hands.

Puppet-friendly companies Terrible Comfort and Barking Spider lashed themselves to the same mast to ride out the not-so-perfect storm of developing a new show. X marks the spot and names this gorgeous (I mean terrifying) new romp.

Robert Reid's story is even more fun than his recent MTC show, especially because this one's full of pirate stereotypes that have been forced to walk the plank for being outdated and dull, and been replaced with a rollicking adventure that's simply the best pirate-seazombie-steampunk-robot-monster-ghost story ever.

The design is as lush as a posh opera's and the monsters (created by Sayraphim Lothian) are so gorgeous you'll want to take them home to cuddle.  I mean, Lily and Mike (and their companions Penelope Bartlau and David Rosenblatt) are brave and tough monsters who aren't at all cute and will haunt my nightmares.

And Danny Diesendorf and Hanna Camilleri will probably never want to be cast as anything other than pirates from now on.

X makes the tiny Son of Loft room feel bigger than a galleon, so it HAS to move on to bigger theatres, but don't miss the fun of being so close that the temptation to reach out and pat tummies is almost irresistible.

Take your kids and your friend's kids and your friends.  This is theatre for children that lets children be smart and lets grown ups be kids.

FRINGE review: Sweet Child of Mine

Sweet Child of Mine

Bron, Jim and Linda Batten

and The Last Tuesday Society

28 September 2011

Studio 246, Brunswick

to 1 October 2011

I've seen some great shows this Fringe, but I haven't loved any quite as much as Sweet Child of Mine. My heart is still grinning from this show that's made from love – and there's only a couple chances left to for you to be able to say that you there when Jim told his dad jokes.

Jim and Linda Batten have six children; one, Bron, left their Warrnambool home to study contemporary dance and drama.

Jim and Linda love their daughter Bron. Melbourne's independent-cool-arty-farty hipsters (and arty-farty bloggers) love Bron's hilarious and subversive art. Jim and Linda like beautiful art that makes sense and doesn't have nudity or bad language. So what do they make of a daughter who understands post structuralism, danced a chicken abortion in an empty swimming pool and has spent a lot of time in a blue sleeping bag pretending to be a whale?

They perform this show together, on film and on stage.

Jim Batten is the star of this Melbourne Fringe. As scantily-clad Bron swirls around in symbolic white chiffon smock and practical Bonds underwear, Jim tells us what it's like to be the dad of an artist and, on film, Bron asks Jim and Linda to tell her what they think she does.

Apparently contemporary art isn't clear to everyone and artists are known to have unreliable incomes.

Linda and Jim Batten like art that has some emotional kick to it, that's uplifting, that is understood and makes an impression.

So they're pretty lucky to be in a show that ticks every single box. And it has obscure references, a beaver, bad language and blue paint for the rest of us!

Sweet Child of Mine is for anyone whose parents don't understand what they do (yes Mum, I'm still doing "some writing") and for parents who don't know why their artist offspring don't want a steady job.

But is it art?

Fuck* yes! 

(*Sorry Linda.)

PS. Jim and Linda, I'm a bit older than Bron and still supplement my income with that govt arts payment and am heading towards spinsterhood...


A version of this review appears on AussieThearte.com

MELBOURNE FRINGE HINT 11

The Wau Wau Sisters' Last Supper
GH Hotel and Daniel Clarke
GH Hotel, 1 Brighton Rd St Kilda
to 9 October

The wow wow Wau Wau sisters are back!

If you missed them earlier this year, get on your knees and (while you're down there) thank the theatre gods for their return and don't you dare displease them by not worshipping at Wau Wau temple at the re-vamped GH Hotel (that we will always call the Grey Hound).

I saw The Wau Wau Sisters' Last Supper not long ago.

And am still looking for a pair of Fuck Yeah undies...

FRINGE review: I HEART JACK

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011
I Heart Jack
Anna Lumb 23
September 2011
Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room

to 8 October 2011

I HEART Jack is totally heartable.

Anna Lumb has worked with by DJ Lazer Ferrari and fringe/circus/everything legends Maude and Anni Davey to create a boutique circus of cult, wit, regret and broken hearts.

From en pointe balancing on bottles to making the tiny stage seem like a roller rink, Anna introduces three new characters who are based on cult legends and who share one sad event.

The narrative links could tighten up a bit, but it really doesn't matter because the combination of circus trick, monologue, music and live dance magnifies the emotion of each story and shows us people who try to keep their secrets but can't help but show their hearts.

And you get to watch Anna perform. She fearlessly shows us the hidden hurt of people who rely on their image, she lets us laugh and does the freakiest Hockey Pockey ever.

As other independent arts festivals grow and welcome commercial shows, the Melbourne Fringe still lets brand new work like this find its place and lets us share the kind of art performers really want to create.

This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

FRINGE review: World Around Us II

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2011

Miles O'Neil's World Around Us II

23 September 2011

Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room

to 8 October 2011

World Around Us was one of my favourite of last year's Fringe, and this year's part II is just as gorgeous. Intimate, gentle and so fucking beautiful, it's impossible to watch without crushing on Miles O'Neil.

Everybody seems to have a story – and that's brilliant!

So says Miles, as he shares some unlikely cans of VB. His cream brocade jacket and pink-rose tie defines Melbourne op-shop hipster chic, but there's nothing ironic about his nostalgic collection of stories, found 8mm (and super 8) film and original songs. This year, they're about love.

There's stories like Bob's. He's the Jetstar lost property delivery dude who was once "6 inches away" from asking a girl to marry him and delighted in watching the sun set over a power pole. There's a 1950s film of a nanna watching her grandchildren, who may now be grandparents themselves. There are backyard pools, animals, Neil Diamond (thank you for bringing him back) and blue V Dub that will never leave your heart.

Miles makes these stories of day-to-day life so irresistible and joyful by finding the unexpected beauty and love in each one. Love isn't about grand gestures and contrived events; it's really quite simple and sometimes it takes a taxi driver or a family watching performing seals to remind us just how beautiful our lives and our loves are.

Miles O'Neil's World Around Us II is on late each night at the Fringe hub. It's too beautiful to miss.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

I missed this a couple years back...