Circus Trick Tease

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
Circus Trick Tease
October 2008
Lithuanian Club

Circus Trick Tease bring circus to theatre and theatre to circus in their fresh, original and joyously naughty Fringe debut.

The Trick Tease trio are Miss Tinkle (Malia Walsh), the fickle and neurotic superstar; Mr Plonk (Shannon McGurgan), the self-proclaimed sensitive new age strong man, with 70s porn star tendencies; and Ghazanfar (Farhad Ahadi), who is from overseas.

Their performance is a terrific combination of character clowning and super-slick circus trick. This alone is worth the price of a ticket, but the ongoing story of their raunchy offstage relationships takes this show to an irresistible level.

Their humour balances slapstick with a wet-fish slap of irony, and is almost as seamless as their jaw-dropping acrobalance. They compete for attention, compete with each other and play with the fact that acrobats really do have to see each other from extremely intimate and revealing angles. Highlights include Ghazanfar’s quaint balloon animal and juggling performance, accompanied by the shadows of Tinkle and Plonk’s backstage antics, and the final ménage-a-tois inspired swing number. 

It was a joy to discover such a highly polished and hilarious act. I can’t wait to see their next show.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Sammy J in The Forest of Dreams

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008

Sammy J and the Forest of Dreams
October 2008
Fringe Hub

Is it wrong to have a crush on a squirrel? Terry’s a lovely squirrel. He’s fuzzy, soft, has a great sense of humour, is easily manipulated, and appears in Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams.

If you have heard that Sammy J In The Forest Of Dreams is the must-see show of the Fringe - trust what you’ve heard.

Its ephemeral images delicately explore the role of fairy tales and childhood dreams in our contemporary existence...NOT! It’s an arse-raping, puppet-snogging, king-fisting hoot, that’ll have you snorting with laughter.

Local comedian Sammy J and puppeteer Heath McIvor made this show from the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All jokes aside, it demonstrates a solid knowledge of genre, incorporates original, authentic characters and is tied together with a well-told, complex and interesting story.

And it is funny. Very, very, very funny. Just don’t let the puppets fool you into thinking it’s a kid’s show. The opening “Fuck You Disney” song sets the tone – and it’s all down hill from there.

The Fringe season is sold out. So, sucked in if you missed out!

GOOD NEWS
The season is now extended. October 16 to November 9 at the Lithuanian Club.

PS: If you want to see a terrific interview with Terry the Squirrel,  John Richards had a chat with him for The Outland Institute.
 
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Book of Longing

MIAF 2008

Book of Longing
Melbourne International Arts Festival
15 October 2008
State Theatre, the Arts Centre

“I follow the chorus from chaos to art.” (Leonard Cohen). Every time I think Philip Glass is becoming his own cliché, I see something new and fall in love all over again. Book of Longing is an impeccable night of theatre and one of my festival highlights.

I love Glass best when he’s working with voices and words. (Perhaps because I can kind of sing along at home). This concert quickly reminded me of his 1986 album ‘Songs from Liquid Days’, where he composed to lyrics from Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, David Byrne and Laurie Anderson. And a look on my copy reveals that the music director of Book of Longing, Michael Riesman, also worked on this album.

Book of Longing is composed to the poetry of Leonard Cohen. By letting us listen to the words against a familiar soundscape, the almost predictable sound of Glass gives a remarkable clarity and perspective to Cohen’s poetry. Glass even says the work “starts with words and almost every musical decision is made in view of the words”.

What takes this event beyond a concert experience is Susan Marshall’s stage direction. With a natural costume design, which looks like everyone chose their own outfit, a simple lighting design and Glass’s song cycle structure, the evening flows effortlessly. The four singers move on and off the stage, among the musicians (including Glass) and simply sing the words. By not acting them out, the power of the words themselves becomes stronger and their impact greater.

A scaffold mosaic backdrop of Cohen’s artwork brings a very visual dimension to the night. Mostly self-portraits, nudes, guitars and birds, Cohen’s art work seems quite naïve and simplistic compared to his words, but they show his thought process and Christine Jones’s design brings a wholeness to the stage.

Finally, I’ll leave Cohen to describe Book of Longing. He said, “With no apprehension whatsoever I presented Philip with a book of poems and he presented me with this really stunning evening of theatre. There’s something quirky, something eccentric about Book of Longing. It seems to have an intimacy of thought and experience, and I feel that it embodies a new kind of sensibility.”

Really, there’s nothing more I can add. I loved it and can see it inspiring more people to follow their own chorus “from chaos to art”.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

An Oak Tree

MIAF 2008

An Oak Tree
Melbourne International Arts Festival
12 October 2008
Fairfax Studio, the Arts Centre

If you are an actor who has been asked to perform in An Oak Tree and are googling for some clues about it, go away now and please don’t read anything about it. Just say ‘yes please’ and do the show, because it will be an unforgettable experience for you and everyone who sees it.

I could become addicted to An Oak Tree, and I’ve only seen it once. Process and story blend in a heart-wrenching tale of grief, guilt and suggestion that simultaneously draws us in and pushes us away – reminding us that we are merely watching a story whose outcome is known and controlled, but whose emotion is still being created before us.

An Oak Tree is a two hander, with the author (Tim Crouch) playing a stage hypnotist who was involved in a fatal car accident. The second role is always played by a guest actor, who has neither read nor seen the script and only meets Crouch an hour before the show. This performer is instructed by Crouch directly, through an earpiece and from pieces of written script.  The likes of F Murray Abraham, Laurie Anderson, Frances McDormand, Mike Myers and Tim McInnery are among the 200-plus actors who have performed with Crouch. Melbourne saw Jane Turner, Geoffrey Rush, Julia Zemiro and Kym Gyngell. I saw the wonderful Julia.

Zemiro is by far one of the best improvisers around and it was fascinating to watch her let go of her expectations and not improvise. For all its unknowns, Crouch never lets the second performer feel out of control. They have a lot of freedom in how they perform and react, but they have no control over the story or the structure of this remarkable work. Zemiro was amazing. It was beautiful to watch her initial fearful excitement disappear, as she put herself in Crouch’s hands and created a darkly funny and surprisingly emotional performance.

Crouch’s complex story (and the story within the story) allows for a myriad of responses and I can’t imagine that any two performers would be able to interpret and perform it in even similar ways. Just seeing one performance was an astonishing experience; so performing this with so many different actors must be almost mind-blowing for Crouch.

I saw Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard the day before An Oak Tree. Although very different shows they both directly address the duality of performance and performer. Whereby I only saw obvious questions in the first piece, Crouch’s quietly screamed to me everything I have ever dreamt of understanding about the process of writing and story and how to create authentic emotional realism on a stage. It’s simply fucking brilliant.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Two Faced Bastard

MIAF 2008

Two Faced Bastard

Chunky Move and Melbourne International Arts Festival

11 October 2008
Arts House

What can you say when a performer declares that they don’t like reviews that describe the experience of a show and that there’s no room for flippancy in reviews, because the artists are too highly invested in the work?  “Umm…you are really good looking and I liked the beer I had at the bar…” Surely, if there is room for flippancy on the stage, there is room for flippancy in a review?

Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard is about duality. It’s directed and choreographed by Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzank, and explores the on and off stage aspects of theatre and the “Jekyll and Hyde” nature of performance – seriously and flippantly.

The stage is split down the middle with the equally split audience on either side. Each side only see half of the show, whilst glimpsing and hearing the other. Stage and backstage become one, as the exit to one is the entrance to the other. (Sorry to ruin the experience – but even the program guide gave that away.)

Audiences appear as equally split in their opinions about its success. I really liked the mystery of what was going on beyond the curtain, but in the Q&A after the show, nearly half of the remaining audience indicated that they thought they missed out on something.

Two Faced Bastard was created though workshops and a series of development performances. The process is still very clear on the stage, especially as and performers (actors and dancers) discuss their opinions and fears.

The questions are fascinating and this festival is the ideal place to ask them. However, I felt that the concepts weren’t explored beyond an almost obvious level. I don’t think it’s a revelation that performers are scared of stuffing up on a stage or that artists continually ask if they are creating to please themselves or an audience.  I would have liked to see the creators express a firmer opinion, rather than just offer the questions. I'd love to know your answers.

Being on the non-dance side of the room, I didn’t see much of the dance, until the final scene when the curtain is withdrawn. These final moments were stunning, and expressed the concept of the show more simply, succinctly and easily than what went before.

The process seemed like a lot of fun, but the final product still seems to be finding itself. After the performance, Obarzank said, “It’s searching for itself and I’m quite happy about that.” Perhaps that is the answer I’m looking for.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Eric

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008

Eric

Vicious Fish Theatre

10 October 2008

Dancing Dog Cafe

Eric is one of those Fringe shows that was over before people began to hear about it.

With  content as diverse as reality TV pitches (Are you sexier than a fifth grader?), a speed dater who brings his own semen sample, and a Bond villain despairing that his minons dipped his echidnas in poison, Eric is sure to tickle most funny bones – while finding some unexpected new ticklish spots.

Eric is an experiment in form that started when Scott Gooding wanted to do a character comedy, but couldn’t come up with a solid idea for one character. Fortunately, he forged ahead by asking his favourite playwrights to contribute scenes, and the one person sketch show emerged.

Fortunately, he also called upon the directing talent of Scott Brennan. Best known for his work on television sketch shows, Brennan combines the tightness of TV sketch with the freedom, spontaneity and intimacy of theatre. With some clever structuring and measured pacing, he reins in Gooding’s excessive tendencies and knows when to let him loose.

Gooding’s comfortable physicality and genuine likability makes for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and his performance demonstrates a mightily impressive comic range. All of his characters are unique, authentic and recognisable, and at times it was easy to forget that there was only one person performing. His uncanny channelling of a blow up doll is almost haunting and no one who sees Eric will ever be able to book a brothel appointment without picturing him in a blonde wig.

With ten different playwrights (including Adam J A Cass, Robert Reid and Ben McKenzie), the comedy includes physical, joke, character, commentary, word play and a sobering dash of absurdist black. The Scotts successfully maintain and balance the different voices, without ever letting the differing styles and forms distract from the overall experience.

The Dancing Dog Café in Footscray is a terrific space for a show, but it meant that Eric missed the spontaneous ticket purchases at the Fringe hub or a better known venue. Hopefully Eric will return, because he deserves to be widely seen and welcome some adoring minions of his own.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

The Navigator

MIAF 2008

The Navigator
Melbourne International Arts Festival and Brisbane Arts Festival
9 October 2008
Playhouse, the Arts Centre

It wouldn’t be the opening night of the Melbourne International Arts Festival without walkouts and disgruntled mumblings.  Liza Lim’s new opera The Navigator is already eliciting extreme reactions.

At Thursday afternoon’s In Conversation, Kristy Edmunds and Robyn Archer discussed the unique role that Australian festivals play in enabling the creation of new work, supporting authentic voices and giving artists the freedom to create without the pressure of a known outcome. The Navigator is a product of the direct support of MIAF and the Brisbane Festival. Whether you choose to embrace or reject this outcome, it would never have existed without festival support.

Composer Liza Lim’s international demand far surpasses her local reputation. Archer describes her as Australia’s most important composer. I didn’t know about her, but I so want to hear more.

Lim’s composition is filled with unexpected contradictions and extremes. Like a child learning how to communicate, she plays with the myriad of sounds a human voice can make. Combining coloratura soprano (Talse Trevigne), baroque alto (Deborah Kayser), counter tenor (Andrew Watts), baritone (Omar Ebrahim) and bass baritone (Philip Larson) is already an unusual choice, but each also contradicts their own voice with squeals, grunts, barks and clicks.  Don’t expect to be humming the tunes on the way home.

Patricia Sykes libretto embraces the extremity of the music and lets her language and words joyously produce new sounds and images of their own.  Poetry like, “Embracing skeletons freeze and chime like beautiful relics”, force you to question the non-skeletal images and the non-chiming sounds.

Director Barrie Kosky has never been afraid to experience, explore and show us the new or the extreme. His controlled direction is terribly over-indulgent, but exquisite. There is no defining line between composition, direction, design and performance. All combine to create sumptuous, luscious and often absurd images that are designed to produce emotional and visceral responses.

Perhaps this is why people left. Maybe their responses were so extreme that they couldn’t bear the emotion any longer. Or maybe they just didn’t like it. 

I do wonder about the resistance to laugh and enjoy Kosky’s images. Is it the residual notion that opera is serious high art that is only meant to be admired? I enjoyed the absurdity of his images. Surely, the extra-sparklie gold lamé curtain, the fat bloke covered with butterflies, and the Fool/clown masturbating his over-sized penis, are meant to be a little bit funny!

The Navigator is not – and is not meant to be – for all tastes. It’s challenging, confronting and disorienting. I’m still not sure what it was about (and not completely sure if I liked it), but I was never bored, always fascinated and continually questioning and wondering about what I was experiencing.  I wish I could feel like that in every show, and am so glad that they had the support to create such a work.

This review appeared on AussieThearte.com

Kitten

MIAF 2008

Kitten
Malthouse Theatre and Melbourne International Arts Festival
8 October 2008
Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse

Kitten is about the transformative nature of grief and explores one woman’s journey through its drowning, floating and cleansing effects.

Directed and written by Jenny Kemp (who directed the astonishing Woman Bomb) and designed by Malthouse’s wonderful Anna Tregloan, I was looking forward to something spectacular - but I found it distancing, frustrating and ultimately boring.

 Kitten’s husband has died and her obsessive search for him leads to her breakdown. This work depends on the audience’s empathy with and sympathy for its protagonist and their understanding of her emotional narrative. Having three Kittens, who were far too similar, left the character strangely underdeveloped. Instead of creating a fuller picture of Kitten, it felt like a competition for which Kitten the audience liked best.

The opening act was slow, quite and intense. The emotional intensity started high and didn’t change, so the characters had nowhere to go that wasn’t down. In a scene that should have bonded the audience with Kitten, we were physically separated by a curtain and never allowed the emotional space to get near her.

Act two was filled with over-obvious dialogue, like Manfred saying, “I think you’re out of control” (I suspect I wasn’t the only person muttering “derr” under my breath) but missed vital clues to her behaviour. I have no idea if Kitten liked, loved or loathed Jonah, her dead husband, and couldn’t even figure out her conscious, or unconscious, feelings for the onstage Manny.

Act three brought the bi-polar bear. This scene was hilarious, gorgeous and spectacular, but nothing prepared the audience for such an extreme and unexpected change of mood, tone and style. Despite all its prettiness, wit and absurdity, this act felt so awkward.

I could see the academic, intellectual and emotional intent behind Kitten, but I think the intent got very lost in the translation.

 

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Set List

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008

Set List
Shaolin Punk
4 October 2008
Trades Hall

Set List is one of three improvised musical shows at this Fringe (that I know of). It has a fresh and enthusiastic, Micky and Judy, “let’s put on a show” feel about it, but needs to go back to the barn for a some more development

Set List is described as a band that “revels in the nuances, characters and stories behind one genre of music – with every note and lyric made up from audience suggestions”. This show was jazz – of the cheap motel, lounge act variety.

The Set List crew are all undeniably talented and extremely likable performers.  Highlights such as “You make me feel so nauseous”, the ballad about Sean the Anthropologist and the vocal musings about the devil’s condiment, prove the potential for a terrific show, but this performance felt so unprepared.

The ongoing success of shows like the wonderful Spontaneous Broadway is based on intense rehearsal, perfect characters and an obsessive knowledge of (and love for) the genre they are parodying. The Set List characters were very unclear (apart from Ben McKenzie’s band leader) and their stories could have applied to any band that happened to be perpetually touring the world (and not aging) for the last 40 years.

It is uncomfortable to watch performers break character and joke with each other. Even more so to watch them compete against each other, try to upstage (you know who you are) and – it really looked and felt like – bicker with each other. The onstage characters weren’t defined or developed enough to behave like that; it was clear what was character and what was performer.  

Finally – I may just be being obsessive and picky, but if you are promoting your show as a completely improvised set list – DON’T tape the typed and organised set list in clear view of the audience. It kind of destroys the mystery.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever).

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever).
Tapped Into Productions
September 27 2008
Festival Hub, Lithuanian Club

I don’t care how many ordinary shows I see during this Fringe, because the extraordinary Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever) makes up for them all.

Every once in a while you come across a script that makes your heart sing. This is one of those. Sarah Collins has created characters that you can’t help but love, in a world so vivid with detail that it’s hard to believe you didn’t see the Jump Rope for Heart display yourself.

Kevin-John’s conception was part-miracle and home-schooling may not have been the best decision his mother made. Following the incidents with putty and the letter D, Kevin-John is sent to the remedial class at the local school. Not being in the ‘normal’ school also has its challenges, but he meets Wren and is forced to discover his own greatness.

The love Collins has for her characters and her home town shines though the script. It would be so easy to laugh at the likes of Carousel Pony, Maryann and Crazy Nanny, but this writer shows all of their faults, flaws and mistakes without cynicism, so we always laugh with them – and we laugh a lot.

Her writing structure is exquisite. Each character’s journey is complete and all are encircled by the surprising action of Kevin-John’s mother, Julie. Collins tells the story from unexpected and changing points of view, reveals information at exactly the right time, and completes the world with irresistible details like fluffy knickies, Woolies flowers (which cost the price people pay for care when no one else is giving it), and the smell of disinfectant and vegemite.

What is also extraordinary about this work is that it’s a monologue, performed by the writer.

What is even more extraordinary is that it is the first script Sarah Collins has written.

It seems that nearly every time I’m astounded by a new script, Yvonne Virsik is directing it. In the hands of someone less capable, the beauty of Toowoomba could so easily have been misplaced. Virsik brings out the emotional essence a script. She finds empathy and the hidden understanding of the characters, but always lets the audience discover it for themselves.

Collins isn’t an experienced actor, but Virsik ably guides her performance; balancing the humour with poignancy, contrasting the light with the dark, and knowing when to let the script speak for itself and when to let the characters shine.

As if I can’t find enough good about this show, let me also add that the use of props and design is as good as the rest of it. The plastic tiaras, the Noddy egg cup and skipping rope are nostalgic and far more evocative and mysterious than their ordinariness suggests.

I think it’s clear that I liked Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever). If you want to see a beautiful, authentic story told perfectly – see this show. Or just go because every member of the audience gets a handmade macaroni bracelet. I’m still wearing mine.

This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

The List Operators

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
The List Operators
Festival Hub

Eleven reasons to see The List Operators

1. Finally, a show that explains and discusses linguistic theory and the relationship between the signifier and the signified.

2. Really crappy t-shirts that may, or may not, be referencing Flight of the Conchords.

3. A chance to win a prize.

4. If you have never seen the film The Bodyguard, the plot is summarised – so you will never have to see it.

5. You may discover if Matt and/or Richard would shag you.

6. The opportunity to cathartically and publically apologise to someone you once wronged.

7. Juicy fruit puns.

8. Jesus on a ping-pong bat. Oh, Yeah!

9. Learning and applying the phrase ‘swimsuit area’.

10. You can get a present that could help you with Number 3 if you arrive 75 minutes early and also see Nothing Extraordinary Ever Happens in Toowoomba. (Ever.) in the same venue. This show is nothing like The List Operators, but the writing, performance and direction are totally grouse – and you get that helpful present.

11. The List Operators is refreshingly original, surprising and bloody funny. With immaculate comic timing, Matt Kelly and Richard Higgins deftly balance character and personality, as they try to camouflage their intelligence with some really bad props.

Five reasons not to see The List Operators

1. You may discover that Matt and/or Richard would shag you.

2. If you have seen the film ‘The Bodyguard’, you could publically humiliate yourself by quickly recognising the plot.

3. You are recovering from recent abdominal surgery and your doctor has advised you not to laugh in case you burst your stitches.

4. It’s so good, it might sell out.

5. If you find yourself sitting near the front, on the left side of the room,  you will see Matt’s arse crack.

Vamp

Vamp
Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Opera House
6 September 2008
CUB Malthouse, Merlyn Theatre

What a time for cabaret in this town! The ever-wonderful Burlesque Hour is still running, The Tiger Lillies were scary and wonderful, and now Meow Meow returns to her hometown in Vamp.

David Bowie describes Meow Meow as one of “certain artists you just never miss.” I’m kinda chuffed that have a conversation starter for the time I meet Dave, as I also believe that Meow should never be missed.

Meow has pounced, hissed, purred and sold out in the Spiegeltent; she’s performed at more international festivals than I can list; she’s better known in Shanghai, New York and various European capitals than her hometown; and collaborated with the likes of the Dresden Dolls and John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch).

Vamp was commissioned by Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Opera House, so Meow could work with local wonders including Iain Grandage (composition), Michael Kantor (direction), Anna Tregloan (design), Shaun Parker (choreography) and Paul Jackson (lighting). While Vamp is every moment Meow’s show, the depth and completeness of the piece come from the collaboration.

Vamp was inspired by by Wilde’s Salome. Meow describes it as the “dual empowerment and disempowerment of the body and its sensual or ridiculous dance”. She understands the ridiculousness, but continues to participate and craves the attention. She lets us see that the wild and sexy goddess is really just a bored and lonely woman in a skin coloured body suit and some stick on pasties, but she continues to be amazed at her own stage beauty. This vamp knows how absurd she is, but wants to believe the image. She alternatively criticises her audience, but forces some to hold her close (literally) and help create the facade. To the audience participation men – what was so difficult about the “shape of a swastika” request?

Meow herself is a parody of a parody that takes us so uncomfortably close to the truth that laughter is the only possible release. Perhaps we will all get our ’15 Minutes of Femme’ one day - but do we want it?

The memorable, the incredible and the best stage characters have an independent life, far removed from their creators, while their creators are so much more than their one character. As Dame Edna is to Barry Humphries, Meow Meow is to Melissa Madden Gray.

Gray could grace any musical theatre, opera or dance stage in the world, while earning a fine living from singing on morning chat shows and posing for women’s magazine lifestyle features. We (David Bowie and me) are so grateful that she has chosen a path that is far more dangerous and extraordinary. She creates on the edge, takes risks and chooses creative and original over safe and predictable.

Gray’s outstanding technique, skill, passion and determination clearly support Meow, but Meow is far too self-centred to let Gray share her limelight. Gray doesn’t even get a mention in the program, and Meow herself drinks fizzy wine at the after show party.

Early in the show, Meow tells the audience “You may not be moved, but you will be touched.” This performance touches you and stays with you. Meow is tantalising, seductive and very bendy, but arouses our latent intelligence. Vamp is the real deal. Don’t regret missing it.
 
This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

MelBorn08: Playspotting

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008
Melborn 08: Playspotting
Melbourne Writers' Theatre
27 September 2008
Carlton Courthouse

The Melbourne Writers’ Theatre is a wonderful organisation dedicated to developing, promoting and showcasing Australian script writing. Following the success of the 2007 MelBorn short play festival, I was looking forward to MelBorn08: Playspotting.

Playspotting is 12 short plays, selected from 138 entries, featuring 11 directors and 15 actors. With such a large group of creatives, the quality and standard are always going to vary, and this years’ crop ranged from outstanding to woeful.

Jane Miller’s A Cup of Sugar was my highlight of the evening. Every time I see something she writes, I’m engaged and moved. Miller reveals extraordinary stories in ordinary lives, creates authentic, empathetic characters, and forces them to make unthinkable decisions and choices.  In this work, her characters have no choice but to tell heartbreaking lies that we can see staying with them for ever.

What made this work stand above the rest is that I cared about her characters and their stories. In so many other Playspotting plays, the characters were simply a means for the author to tell us a joke, preach an opinion or show off their knowledge. This resulted in too many clichéd, one-dimensional or simply forgettable characters – including an over-representation of poor, downtrodden, misunderstood artist protagonists.

There were some amazing, original and insightful ideas in all the scripts. The writing talent is obvious, but some were trying so hard to be original that that forgot to tell a story or just weren’t ready to be performed. Many felt like early drafts, and I have to wonder if the MWT work shopping and feedback processes are vigorous (or honest) enough.

At three hours, MelBorn08: Playspotting is a long haul, twelve stories are a lot to think about and – despite appreciating the work of every artist involved – I was disappointed in the result.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.