What I loved in 2014: The Best of Melbourne Theatre

I saw over 230 shows this year, closer to 250 if I count all the Live Art performances.

These are the ones that I loved the most.

And I still missed too many. (When all the 'best of' lists are put together at the end of the year, remember that great shows might have not been seen.)

Along with writing, there's been judging, mentoring, editing and teaching this year – and I'm mostly looking forward to doing more teaching and mentoring next year because we need more arts writers, thinker, arguers and advocates.

Outstanding Artists 2014

WRITING

Jesse Cox for Wael Zuaiter: Unknown, Creative Nonfiction and Theatre Works at Next Wave.

Jesss Cox in Wael Zuaiter: Unknown. Photo by Sarah Walker

Special mentions

Tim Wothersooon for The Safe House, 3rd Room Theatrical at The Owl and the Pussycat.

Fleur Kilpatrick for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne FringeMelbourne

DESIGN

Dale Ferguson (set) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse

Paul Jackson (lighting) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse

Night on Bald Mountain

Harriet Oxley (costume) for Into the Woods, Victoria Opera

Chloe Greaves (costume) for The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Dirty Pretty Theatre and Theatre Works

PERFORMANCE

Kate Cole for Grounded, Red Stitch

Kate Cole in Grounded

Angus Cerini for Resplendence, MTC NEON

Special mentions

Maria Mercedes for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs

Aliro Zavarce for The Book of Loco, Malthouse

Kate Cole, Brett Cousins and Emily Milledge for Out of the Water, Red Stitch

DIRECTION

Declan Greene for Calpurnia Descending, Sisters Grimm Malthouse

Calpurnia Descending

Special mentions

Danny Delahunty for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne Fringe

Daniel Lammin for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs

Outstanding Productions 2014

CABARET

The Von Muiznieks Family Hoedown for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at The Butterfly Club

The Von Muiznieks Family Hoedown

Special mention

Sunglasses at night: The 80s apocalypse sing along cabaret, Geraldine Quinn for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at Chapel off Chapel


COMMERCIAL SHOW

Once, Melbourne Theatre Company & John Frost, Barbara Broccoli, John N Hart Jr, Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo

MUSICAL

Into the Woods, Victoria Opera

Into the Woods

COMEDY

Dr Professor Neal Portenza Performs his Own Autopsy Live on Stage. One Night Only. (Obviously). Josh Ladgrove at Melbourne International Comedy Festival at Tuxedo Cat

Dr Professor Neal Portenza Performs his Own Autopsy Live on Stage. One Night Only. (Obviously).

More Tape, The Boy With Tape On His Face at Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Special mentions

Single White Slut, Tim Key at Melbourne International Comedy Festival

After Ever After, Rama Nicholas at Melbourne Fringe


OPERA

The Riders, Victorian Opera & Malthouse Theatre

The Riders. Photo by Jeff Busby

CIRCUS

S, Circa for Darebin Arts Speakeasy

Special mentions

The Long Pigs, fortyfivedownstairs

Carrousel Des Moutons, D'irque & Fen, Explosive Media at Melbourne Festival


LIVE ART

A moment in yarn, Sayraphim Lothian at Craft Victoria's Craft Cubed festival

Very special mention

Sayraphim and Rob's wedding at The Village

A wedding. Photo by Sarah Walker

BEST OF THE BEST

The Worst of Scottee, Theatre Works at Midsumma

Sex Idiot, Bryony Kimmings, Theatre Works at Melbourne International Comedy Festival

The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne Fringe

The City They Burned. Photo by Sarah Walker

The Bookbinder, Trick of the Light Theatre at Melbourne Fringe

Have I No Mouth, Brokentalkers at Melbourne Festival

Have I No Moith

MY FAVOURITE SHOW OF 2014

Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Bryony Kimmings, Theatre Works

Bryony and Taylor in Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model

2013

2012

2011 

2010 

2009 

2008 

2007 

FRINGE part 9: Live Art

Dances with Woodwose
Klara Kelvy
A Day Like Every Other
Mattie Young and Georgia Mill
Fringe Hub, North Melbourne Town Hall, The Warren

3 October 2014

to 4 October 2014

With a spare hour on Friday night, it was time to finally experience some Live Art. Next year, I'm doing Live Art on the first weekend.

One adventure lasted for a few short and wonderful minutes and the other finished on Sunday afternoon.

Live Art is about being part of an experience that refuses to draw a line between artist and audience. Often one-on-one, a Live Art experience is hard to share because it can be so personal. No matter how beautiful and meaning it is to the person participating, it means little to anyone else: that's what makes Live Art so lovely.

Dances with Woodwose

In the corner of The Warren bar was a door guarded by two creatures. One fur-clad critter promised to look after my beer and my bag and asked me to take of my shoes, shut my eyes and walk forward.

It was here, in a small secret forest that a blue-furred Woodwose asked me to dance and made me realise that all I wanted to do was to sleep for hours on a blanket under a tree on a sunny day where I protected from the outside world by a huge fence. If we'd danced earlier in the festival, I might have wanted to run the African plains or kiss a blue whale.

A Day Like Every Other 

Something unusual above my eyeline

This full 24-hour-plus-day experience started with a short chat in a tiny room where there were two arm chairs, a pot of tea and an Anzac bicky. The chat was about what I was doing the next day; a day that started included a trip to my local Farmer's Market, a meeting in North Melbourne and the opening night of Once.

No wonder all my subconscious wanted to do was sleep under a tree.

My day like every other started in my bed in next morning with an SMS with instructions to look straight ahead and write a three-line poem about what I saw.

She likes to sit on my belly when I wake up. I like it too.

But there’s always the fear that she’ll stand on a nipple when she jumps up;

nothing hurts like a cat standing on a nipple.

Not-quite-awake text poetry isn't my genre.

More SMS messages arrived throughout the day with tasks that included taking photos, drawings, SMS-sized writing and a map of everywhere I'd walked.

I finished the walking map on Sunday afternoon because I saw the message in the lost hour when the clocks changed and picking up a pen was too hard.

The experience finished when I was sent a password and a link to the A Day Like Any Other Tumblr that included all of my contributions.

It wasn't art to change to world, but it was mine and I loved it.

FRINGE part 7

This is not a love song
28 September 2014
Fringe Hub, Meeting Room
to 4 October 2014
melbournefringe.com.au

There's something very endearing and sweet about This is not a love song.* 

Greg Fleet is a middle-aged man re-living the memories of his first significant love. His younger self is Shane Adamczak and his love is Tegan Mulvany (who also directed the show). The memories are so close that he can reach out and make them better by having a live 1980s-favourites soundtrack from Michael de Grussa (who was in All Out Of Pride) that all four sing along to.

It needs some help with structure and story-telling technique (conflict isn't people having a tiff), but this doesn't distract from the nostalgic and emotional heart that makes this story so lovely.

*Yep, I called Fleety endearing and sweet.

Angry Sexx

28 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Upstairs at Errols

to 4 October 2014

melbournefringe.com.au

Angry Sexx, by Rachel Perks and directed by Bridget Balodis, is created by young women who are rightly angry about the barrage of sexism and objectification they face every day. As someone old enough to relate to the songs in Greg Fleet's show, I left sad and angry that young women still have deal with this crap, but thrilled that they are angry and making people see it from their side of the unbalanced picture.

With texts, chats and IRL conversations, two friends fail to see the hell that the other is going through and unknowingly encapsulate everything that contributes to the other's suffering. One doesn't want sex with her boyfriend and starts running; her friend says she needs a good fuck. The other is fucking strangers; her friend thinks she's a slut who's asking for it.

Anger comes from hurt. We don't get angry until the hurt becomes too much to bear. And when the anger's too much to bear, we act without being able see the consequences. This space between anger and consequences makes for great theatre.

And there are futuristic monkeys in holagram plastic tunics. They're funny and enjoyable monkeys who are looking at relics of women from now, but I don't know how the stories work together.

Tripped
Attic Erratic

28 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Lithuanian Club, The Ballroom

to 4 October 2014

melbournefringe.com.au

Tripped is Attic Erratic's second show for the Fringe. It became impossible to get a ticket to their The City They Burned. 

Nick Musgrove's new play was inspired by Alex Buzo's 1968 play Norm and Ahmed, where a middle-aged white guy attacks a "fucking boong" from Pakistan. It looks with shame at socially accepted attitudes of the 1960s when racial hate wasn't seen with the knowledge and horror that we see it with now.

And how I wish that were true. Every time I read a newspaper or watch the news, I am more ashamed at how Australia is hurtling backwards politically and socially and becoming a place that isn't safe and welcoming. It's heartbreaking to know just how relevant Tripped has become in the last week.

This play takes us into a Middle East war zone – who knew Australia would be back in one so soon! – where Norm's an Australian soldier (Angus Brown) and Ahmed's a "rag head" civilian (Ezel Doruk) who studied in Australia and can joke about Cronulla. But the jokes aren't easy when they are in a mine field and both have a foot on a mine. 

Director Celeste Cody seems to be going for a very dark humour, but the tone is inconsistent and at times easy laughs make it easy to ignore the reflection of ourselves and put the story onto bogan soldier boys and mad priests. This isn't helped by uneven performances; there's a chasm between playing for a laugh and letting a script be funny. 

The conflict and the characters are sometimes a bit obvious, but there's enough bubbling below the surface to make us pay attention and this is going to be a show that's talked about.

Some of these are on AussieThearte.com.

FRINGE part 6

Bucket's List

20 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room

to 4 October

melbournefringe.com.au

With wedding song two-steps, a surly possum, dried apricots & words that sound like bucket, don't even think about missing this. Bucket's List is Sarah Collins fourth major work and the first one that she hasn't written for herself.

She wrote it for comedian Justin Kennedy, who is a writer for The Project, co-wrote and performed the very successful Donna and Damo with her, and proposed to Collins on stage during the 2010 Melbourne Comedy Festival season of D & D.

Bucket loved his work at the bucket factory for 19 years and 364 days and was happy to stay for the next 20 years, but bucket peak has been reached. He finds a new job as a wedding DJ, realises  that he's never had his own wedding dance and, with the help of his neighbours and a sexed-up and cynical possum, he goes looking for love.

It's a sweet and loving story that has its dark and weird moments but doesn't descend into the same unexpected bleakness that Choir Girl did, and, while she lets hero Bucket be the hero he needs to be, the foreshadowed ending isn't a surprise.

Kennedy's adorable performance makes it easy to love Bucket and maybe want him as a sweet and odd friend, but he barely utters a word. The performance is all physical (like Mr Bean, but nothing like the Mr Bean character) while recorded narrator, Felix Nobis, tells the story, with Rhys Auteri providing a live guitar score and doubling as the possum who finds noisy love before Bucket finds his own hope of a girlfriend.

Director by Yvonne Virsik (who directed Collins's first work Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba (Ever)) ensures that there's guts and humanity in the more twee moments, and Jason Lehane (who directed D & D) created a bucket puppet who may be remembered as the woman who made too many people cry this Fringe.

Collins writing continues to stand out as work that could only be hers. Hers is writing that shows that if you trust your voice and don't try to sound like anyone else, you'll find the people who love your work.

PS.  It started as when Sarah met a wedding DJ who used to be a bucket salesperson.

Richard 11
MKA
25 September 2014
Northcote Town Hall, Studio 2
to 28 September
melbournefringe.com.au

Mark Wilson and MKA made their unforgettable mark in last year's Fringe with UnSex Me, Wilson's penetrative riff on the Scottish play. This year, Wilson is joined by Olivia Monticciolo and they drag Richard 11 into the now to give the politics we seem to be accepting a good double dicking.

With Wilson as Richard and Monticciolo as his cousin Henry, they start as children playing and become adults playing at being Kings of Australia. With slabs of Shakespeare's text and plenty of their own, the story is re-cast as the Rudd and Gillard leadership debacle with numbers meaning everything and a de-crowned King who isn't afraid to do everything he can to undermine the woman who disposed him.

Here's theatre that's about now and us and isn't afraid to question and scream about gender and power and how we accept too much that shouldn't be accepted.

It's political, funny, cruel, honest & what-the-fuck-have-we-done brilliant. And Mark wears gold tights.

It's also sold out.

Bonus: Terrific conversation with random audience members on School for Birds.

Who Are You Supposed to Be?
26 September 2014
The Owl and the Pussycat
to 5 October
melbournefringe.com.au

One of the loveliest parts of Who Are You Supposed to Be? was being in an audience who were squeeing with joy as they recognised themselves, their world and every geeky sci-fi reference. And there are many geeky sci-fi references.

I know that because I got most of them. And maybe squee'ed at 5 and 10 and the mourning of the passing of Firefly.

Keith Gow is a Doctor Who fan and wrote a play set at a convention where a con-famous podcaster (Rob Lloyd) meets someone he only knows from Twitter (Jennifer Lusk, who also played this part in the UK) and attacks her for daring to dress as the fifth Doctor.

With enough Doctor Who references to thrill even the most obsessed, it looks beyond the obvious nerd jokes to explore gender issues, sexism and the place of non-cannonical breasts in geek culture.

It is a work for Doctor Who fans and sci-fi obsessives. There's enough for non-fans to enjoy, but it's safe to assume that the people who go to a play about Doctor Who fans are going to get the Blink jokes.

Some of these are on AussieTheatre.com.

FRINGE part 5

Nick: An Accidental Hero
24 September 2014
Fringe Hub, Meeting Room
to 26 September
melbournefringe.com.au

Renee Lyons is another wonderful creator from New Zealand. She tells the story of Nick Chisholm who survived a serious head injury but has locked-in syndrome, where his brain is active but the only thing he can control are his eyes.

Playing all the characters – two unsuspecting-hero mates, Nick's mum, a Korean orderly who got to know Nick in the hospital, and a woman he met online – Lyons shares a bunch of not-perfect people who never give up on Nick and unexpectedly catch you by the heart.

The unseen character is Nick, but she shows twisted and clenched hands and a body that can't move, which contradicts and questions the Nick we've come to know through the eyes of the people who love him.

This is strong, intelligent and beautiful story telling that leads with hope and leaves you knowing these people like you know your own family and friends.


All Out Of Pride

24 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Meeting Room

to 26 September

melbournefringe.com.au

Kill me.

I sang along to Barry Manilow's "Mandy". I sang along because I knew the words. I can barely remember the name of the shows I saw yesterday, but "Mandy, you came and you gave without taking" lodged itself in my brain in the 1980s and refuses to leave.

All Out Of Pride is about shame songs. The songs we are ashamed to sing. Songs that come out at late-night karaoke bars and even the hideously drunk know that there's something deeply wrong about them.

Geraldine Quinn and Michael de Grussa dress in Bee-Gees-video white with visible chest hair. Well Michael has the chest hair, but Geraldine wears culottes. Oh yes, she has a pair of off-white, mid-shin, linen culottes with gold buttons.

I have some pride in not knowing the words to some of the 90s horrors, but then there was an Air Supply and  – fuck you, Quinn and De Grussa – "I'm all out love, I'm so lost without you..."

The shame.


Rod Quantock: Invitation to a Revolution

24 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Lithuanian Club, Main Theatre

to 4 October

melbournefringe.com.au

I went to see Rod Quantock last night because I wanted to be in a room with people who also needed to share rage and tears about how our government is doing everything it can to undermine us, punish anyone who isn't in their gang, and create communities that are led by fear and hate.

I wasn't alone, and it was nice to see the entire Fringe demographic of 40-to-60-somethings in one room. We're ready to join Rod's revoltion. We have our orders and don't be surprised if we follow through, but we need some young blood. I know you're as angry as we are, so get off Twitter and get to Rod's show. 

He still greets everyone at the door (and checks in case there is anyone middle eastern looking and we need to dob on them for attending political theatre) and with his trademark blackboard, he talks about the IPA, Tony A... blugh (he can't say the name) and other lucky pricks. It's very like his comedy festival show from earlier in the year, but this time it's different.

This time it's harder to laugh. Not because Rod's not one of the funniest and smartest human beings ever, but because all those things we joked about earlier in the year have become reality. And it's worse than we imagined.

I still can't get it into my head that Victorian police shot a teenager this week. And I got home to read that Australia is signing an agreement to send refugees to Cambodia. I've been to Cambodia. I love Cambodia, but it's poor as hell, the government are openly corrupt and not dealing with issues like child sex tourism and the spread of AIDS, and it's country that's only just beginning to come to terms with its own living hell of the 1970s and 80s. Australia is rich, safe and huge, but we're going to send refugees – people who have lived a hell that Australians rarely have to face – to a place that can't offer them safety.

It's just not funny anymore.

#HeyASIO,  here's our plan for revolution

Some of these are on AussieTheatre.com.

FRINGE part 4

Motherfucker

La Mama

21 September 2014

La Mama Courthouse

to 28 September

melbournefringe.com.au

This director–writer team is one of my favourites and I'm sure that they are going to continue to be so in the future.

This one didn't work for me. If you're going to tell another Oedipus story, it has to come from a perspective that lets us see something new because we know the story. And if you call a play Motherfucker, there's so much expectation and assumption associated with the title that it really has to be about a real motherfucker rather than a sweet guy who has loving sex with his mum.

Dead Set

La Mama

21 September 2014

La Mama 

to 28 September

melbournefringe.com.au

Sue Giles and Ian Pidd first performed Dead Set 20 years ago, and their rom-com-cabaret about being stuck in boring teaching jobs but wanting to make the great Aussie musical has returned to La Mama.

It's a wonderful and hilarious look back at indie theatre in the 1990s and it made me feel like I was 20ish again and discovering alternative theatre. There are some dated references, but nothing could take away from the joy, fun and gorgeous songs. I'd so see Humping My Swag.

The Moon in Me

22 September 2014

The Tuxedo Cat

to 28 September

melbournefringe.com.au

Analysing astrology by reading the daily Herald Sun sun signs is like grabbing a pack of home brand paracetamol from the supermarket and analysing medicine.

There are some sweet and clever moments in this show and a couple of nice jokes, but it's over-written, under-researched and lacks focus; the links between the personal story and the reflection at how society loves a Sun sign column aren't strong.

I really want this performer to see Jono Wants a Wife.

FRINGE part 3

Some solo shows

Jono Wants a Wife

19  September 2014

Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room

to 4 October

melbournefringe.com.au

I might have found Jono Wants a Wife so funny because I've dated him. Not him, but I recognised his 20 and 30-something hims and may have laughed away a couple of demons.

Jono's 35 and he'll have a list of potential wives by the end of the Fringe. It's a bit like an indie theatre version of The Bachelor and future girlfriends have to know that they'll be in his next show.

He's finally hit that stage of life that he knows what he wants in the relationship realm, so shares the painfully honest truth about how he got to be 35 and living alone in a mouldy dark flat.

That painful and honest truth involves masturbation stories – do you ever recover from being caught by your nanna? – and relationships with women who treated him far better than he treated them. Sure, it's funny now – funny enough to make a show about – but his story works so well because sometimes the only way to get through that kind of hurt is to laugh about it or be laughed at.

This is charming and well-crafted story telling that reminds that gut-aching funny comes from gut-wrenching honesty.

A Four-Eyed Guide to the Galaxy

20 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room

to 4 October 

melbournefringe.com.au

Being weightless with a broken heart and a sausage dog can be wonderful.

Space rocks! Having recently heard astronaut Chris Hadfield (the guy who sang Bowie on the International Space Station) at the Melbourne Writers Festival and having read his book, my space knowledge is the best its been. And Rowena Hutson's into space far more than I am.

Her solo show, A Four-Eyed Guide to the Galaxy, is set in a future that might not be very far away. Here Buzz – who's parents were astronauts – is stuck on earth with only her sausage dog best friend but wants to blast off to the stars to escape the pain that she doesn't want to acknowledge.

It's super-sweet storytelling that's made gorgeous with really bad props and a hope that lights the dark void of space.

The Bookbinder

20 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Son of Loft

to 4 October

melbournefringe.com.au

The Bookbinder won Best of the New Zealand Fringe and it's going to sell out in Melbourne. Being in the intimate Son of Loft room, there's no room for extra seats, so there's no time to wait.

Trick of the Light Theatre are from New Zealand and were founded by Hannah Smith (director) and Ralph McCubbin Howell (performer and writer). 

From a time when books were valuable and stories were precious, it starts when a bookbinder needs an apprentice. Told with puppetry and paper art, it's a deliciously dark story about books, getting lost and how fixing a story can change a life.

From every moment of the performance to the writing and the design full of secrets and wonders, this is exquisite storytelling and the only reason I'm not going again is because I don't want to deprive anyone else the feels of seeing it.

Some of these are on AussieTheatre.com.

FRINGE part 2

A couple of shows from Melbourne's uni students.

You Walk Away, And Never Once Turn Your Head

19  September 2014

Fringe Hub, Raglan Street Gallery

to 4 October

melbournefringe.com.au

Paper Crown Theatre are from MUST (Monash University Student Theatre) and are carrying on the tradition of excellent theatre produced through the university union.

You Walk Away, And Never Once Turn Your Head is written and directed by Joseph Brown. Like most new works, it could start later and there's some self indulgence, especially with discussions about being a writer, but it doesn't distract from the guts and heart of the story.

It's about  20-somethings Felicity (Niamh Hassett, who isn't in the Fringe guide pic) and Jack (Edan Goodall) who live in the same block of flats and are both so lonely that they can't see their own friendship. Hassett and Goodall's honest performances grew stronger and more confident throughout the night and both brought a personal understanding to their characters.

They also deserve a prize and a hug for dealing with and overcoming the worst sound bleed ever. It's not easy to perform a quiet two-person drama with what sounds like a barnyard dance and biker-gang cabaret going on upstairs. It was distracting, but they made it work for them. It became like a punk soundtrack to the show with inappropriate music and unexplained thumping.

The Transfer Station

20 September 2014

Chapel off Chapel, Loft 2

to 21 September

melbournefringe.com.au

The Transfer Station team are from Deakin University and are continuing the tradition of strong and original theatre voices to come from Deakin.

Seeing Monash, Deakin (and VCA) students performing at Fringe underlines how we have to fight to keep creative and performing arts – and all tertiary study – accessible. And fight to remind the powers-that-be and all the dull people who don't get "arts" just how important this type of study is.

The Transfer Station is inspired by a line in an Elizabeth Bishop poem: "The Art of Losing isn't hard to master, some things seem so filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster."

In a thick dark that's lit by portable LED lights, we meet Captain Sadie Croak (Laura Soding) and Fish (Steph Franke), who are travelling through an endless void in a ship made from the discarded junk they find on their journey to the promise of the transfer station. When they get separated and attempt to go on alone, they find more than maps and hope in Cous (Erin Hegarty) and Mole (Hayley Elliott-Ryan).

It's gentle, adorable and intelligent storytelling that's led by characters finding their way and discovering happiness, beauty and purpose in a world that looks like it was rejected.

Their design is created only from found objects that have been thrown away, and its keys, bolts, cans and treasures create the storytelling style, which is supported by a live soundtrack from Tom Bensley on guitar.

And there's kazoo, mouth organ and bottle music! How can anyone not love that.

FRINGE part 1

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2014

Head to Twitter, follow @SometimesMelb and search for #mFringe to get involved in the discussions, get the word on the unmissable shows, tell reviewers how wrong they are, and decide who you want to meet at the Fringe Club. 

But I'm still old-school at heart, so will post some mini reviews (that might be my tweets and a bit).

The City They Burned

Attic Erratic

6 September 2014

Cavern Table Performance Space

to 23 September – but check the Fringe site because this might change

melbournefringe.com.au

Review

Helium

The YouTube Comment Orchestra

The Last Tuesday Society

18 September 2014

Tower Theatre, Coopers Malthouse

to 27 September

melbournefringe.com.au

Big LOLs. Just like the internet only smarter and with more butter.

The Last Tuesday mob on a Thursday was enough to blow my mind. And they get to do it all again. So you can see them twice or freak them out by going every night and sitting in the front row.

Bron Batten and Richard Higgins are the founders of the society. They choose a theme and give it to some of the best alternative cabaret/comedy/performance artists around. I still haven't quite recovered from the "Don's Party" night and I never want another December without a Last Tuesday Xmas party.

Everything at The YouTube Comment Orchestra is based on YouTube comments. It's bloody wonderful and justifies the many hours that we spend on YouTube.

Being a part of Helium, I wondered if we'd see something wildly different but I can't complain because I laughed myself a bit sick.

Media Release

19 September 2014

Fringe Hub, Court House Hotel 2

to 26 September

melbournefringe.com.au

It's hard not to enjoy a show that's made with love and passion. This one has some terrific jokes (I will always laugh at latte foam art) and it's a great idea for a story, but the writing isn't working as a story and it's is more a showcase for the performers. 

I had to miss the last scene because it was running overtime and late. If the guide say 50 mins, don't be upset if people have to leave to get to their next show. 

You Took The Stars

19 September 2014

Fringe Hub, start outside North Melbourne Town Hall

to 26 September

melbournefringe.com.au

This one also ran a bit late, but I was so happy to be in the space and sharing the story. 

The dank and miserable lane way next to the North Melbourne Town Hall is transformed as designer, Yvette Turnbull, and director, Alice Darling, create a welcoming and gorgeous space that makes the world for this play feel so perfect that it's hard to imagine it being anywhere else. 

Cat Commander's writing is equally as gorgeous. With a pegasus called Mona, pink dolphins and the stars inside apples, she lets us fall in love with her Maisie and Paul – and a guitar-playing monkey – as they fall in love and try to find out what that means.

And it all comes together with totally engaging and beautiful performances by John Shearman and Kasia Kaczmarek – and Matt Furlani's guitar-playing monkey.

This only has a short run and there aren't many seats, so it's one to book.

And here's an interview with writer Cat Commander from the super-wonderful School for Birds blog. It's great. Read it for the discussion about re-drafting and re-drafting, about how the actors made it real for themselves, and about why we keep performing American plays.


PS.  You Took the Stars owes You Turn Away, And Never Once Turn Your Head a drink for waiting for me.

Some of these are on AussieTheatre.com.