Cake

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2007
CakeMalthouse Theatre and Vitalstatistix
27 September 2007
Tower Theatre, CUB Malthouse

There are two types of people in this world. Those who will devour a cake the moment they have it in their hands and those who will keep the cake and look at the cake and save the cake. Cake satisfies those who want instant gratification and those who like to savour the details.

Cake was developed through Vitalstatistix’s commission program. Vitals are based in Adelaide and are Australia’s only full time women’s theatre company. Having two years to perfect the recipe has created an original powerful, atmospheric and engaging production. The ingredients of dancer, performer, designer and musician can all be tasted, but none dominate the result.

The final Cake is scrumptious. When you think it’s just going to be filled with cheap cream and cake jokes, you find new layers of dark ganache, light and crisp meringue, bitter-sweet marzipan, intoxicating brandy soaked apricots and finally the sobering piece of cardboard reality at the bottom.

Nostalgic, yet complex, it’s about desire, emptiness and distraction and our need to fill our lives and our selves with something that’s going to satisfy.

The text is poetic and heightened, but anything else would seem wrong in their world. It’s balanced with songs and music and cake puns that are as cheap, but irresistible as a chocolate doughnut. Of course a torte would retort!

Astrid Pill’s performance is fluid and free, but always intricately controlled. She captures the audience and never lets them go. Zoe Barry supports musically and offers a continual and changing reflection of Astrid. Barry’s composition is the raspberry coulis and king island cream to Astrid’s mud cake.

And there are cake puns, cake metaphors, cake references and real cakes. Some of the audience even get given cake. Some ate them instantly, but most held them for the whole show. You can (and should) eat the cake.

If you don’t get a snack, just enjoy the vicarious journey from lamingtons to strawberry and walnut strudel. Even those hideous South Australian frog cakes get a mention. If you’ve never had one, they are real and green and really as nasty as they sound.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

MIAF preview 2007

MIAF Preview 2007
The Free Program

                                                                             John Cage

If I could have my perfect arts festival...Robert Wilson and Peter Brook would direct a show each. Laurie Anderson and Merce Cunningham would drop by. We’d hear lots of John Cage, there’d be a reworking of Shakespeare, contemporary Butoh, some outrageous cabaret, a fabulous festival club and lots of local artists. So, I’m excited about the 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival program.

The Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) runs 11–27 October. It's Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds third outstanding program. The 2005 and 2006 programs drew a degree of media (and other) criticism for being too far from the mainstream.

Melbourne’s arts audiences certainly don’t seem to mind. Surely those full houses and cheering audiences must count for something?

Edmunds says, “This year’s program presents artists who have, by definition, changed the possibilities of their art form for all time, and whose individual legacies continue to expand, astound and inspire.” The likes of Cunningham, Brooks, Wilson and Anderson don’t need me to promote them.

Edmunds artistic choice and aesthetic certainly isn’t mainstream. But just because you’re a Phantom of The Opera fan doesn’t mean you won’t love a show like Robert Wilson’s The Temptation of St Anthony. The Los Angeles Times said "Wilson drenches the stage in brilliant colour and beguiling movement. It is breathtaking to watch these singers possess the stage. Each is amazing.” If you like sing along music, spectacular costumes, incredible sets and a world class cast; why not give it a go. And you won’t get the B cast or have to pay for a program.

If you’re still not convinced that this festival is for you and you’d rather save for Priscilla, there are 20 free events in the program. You don’t have to spend a cent.

MIAF has a tradition of free events. The twist this year is that many are presented by the main program artists.

Opening Night kicks off with a family sing-a-long in Federation Square with Dan Zanes and Friends. Zanes was a hit at the 2006 festival and recently won himself a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children. The night promises no minimalist or post modern compositions, just good old sing-your-guts-out fun.

On the other had, if you are partial to a touch of minimalism, get ready of an all nighter on Friday October 26. Starting at 6.48pm is John Cage’s Musicircus. It finishes at 5.20am. Based on a John Cage event first performed in 1967, it’s a large scale simultaneous performance event involving musicians, dancers, visual artists, poets and a pony. Audiences are invited to move around the BMW Edge anytime from dusk to dawn to explore the multiple performances. You never know who’ll be performing when, so have a nap during the day and be prepared for a coffee or two at 3am.

If you’re unfamiliar with Cage, there’s plenty of opportunity to get to know his work before committing to Musicircus. Often described as avant guard, Cage remains one of the most innovative musicians and artists of the last 60 years. One of his best known compositions is 4’33’ (Four Minutes, 33 Seconds). It’s a three movement work where all the notes are silent. To hear it played live is one of the most genuinely incredible musical experiences.

Cage’s way of looking at music, art and life will be on neon display in Federation Square throughout the festival. Cage Quotes is running daily on the ticker panels that usually promote upcoming events. The quote at the bottom of my emails is from Cage. "The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.” I refer to it a lot when reviewing.

Cage was also the Music Director to Merce Cunningham Dance Company until his death in 1992. This festival will be remembered for bringing Merce Cunningham to Melbourne. Regarded as a pillar of modernism and simply known as the greatest living choreographer, Cunningham has led his own company since 1953. Always prizing invention over convention, Cunningham has consistently created new languages for dance.

The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is performing two programs at the State Theatre, but the highlight promises to be The Melbourne Event in Federation Square on Sunday 21 October. The piece will be created by Cunningham specifically for Melbourne and the Square. It will never be repeated and it’s free.

If by now you’re beginning to like this style of art, head to National Gallery of Victoria for the exhibitions from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Johns is known as one of the founding fathers of pop, minimalism and conceptual art, while Rauschenberg is one of the leading figures in modern art. Both designed for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Then go to the Gertrude Contemporary Art space for Playground, an exhibition by Daniel Arsham, who has worked with Cunningham more recently.

Other Free Events in Federation Square events include:

•  Jon Rose’s Sphere of Influence on 23 October. Combining digital technology, live performance and a giant white ball rolling around the square at sunset.
• Orbotics [network] which fuses the ancient art of origami with robot technology. You’re invited to bring your bluetooth and wifi connected laptop, PDA or mobile phone to network and interact with the oribots.
• Hidden Inside Mountains at ACMI. With an original score by Laurie Anderson, this film was commissioned in EXPO 2005 in Aichi Japan.

Or, if you’re still a bit unsure about the work you see and have some questions, head to The Speigeltent every lunchtime to join Edmunds in discussion with festival artists.

"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all."

John Cage

There is so much to see in the festival that is free. So why not try it for a couple of minutes or more. You may find it’s not what you expected. You may find an expression of beauty and wonder that you have not seen before. You may also discover why so many of us love these festival programs that don’t cater for the mainstream.

Here's director Kristy Edmunds talking about the program.

This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

MelBorn

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2007
MelBorn
Melbourne Writers Theatre
26 September 2007
Carlton Courthouse

The Melbourne Writers Theatre celebrates its 25th year in true Fringe style with MelBorn. It’s is a collection of 10 terrific stories, written by 10 great writers, told by 10 skilled directors and 10 hot actors. This is what good independent theatre is all about and may be the best value ticket of the Fringe season.

MWT was formed by playwright Jack Hibbard in 1982 and, obviously, focuses on developing great writing for the theatre. Scripts at MWT are developed with panel discussions, readings and workshopping by professional directors and actors. A MWT production will always showcase some of the best written and developed scripts from this town.

The success of Short and Sweet in Melbourne has fanned our interest in short scripts. MelBorn is unique because every work was written by a Melbourne playwright. 150 plays were submitted for selection. The final 10 demonstrate very different styles of writing and different explorations of the short form.

My only concern is that sometimes the focus was on the writing, rather than telling the story. Ironically very good, well crafted writing can actually distract, rather than support a work. At times I found myself listening to the writing, rather than engaging with the characters and their journey. Do we write plays to tell a story or to show how well we can use language?

The New York influence of Artistic Director Christina Cass is evident throughout the production. Cass has ensured that the 10 plays work as a sustained piece, rather than individual moments. This is supported with the highly creative and inventive design by Magdalena Romaniuk.

At two hours, MelBorn is long for a Fringe show, but don’t worry - it’s never dull and even if one story doesn’t interest you, a new one will start very soon.

The Ten Plays

The Elevator
Do we our real personas cease to exist at work? What happens to our work selves out of the office? An exploration of communication and power among women in the corporate world. The dialogue was a bit clumsy at times, but the characters and story keep our attention.

Protocol
Any book about writing will tell you a sure fire way to create a story is to change the status of your characters. This technique works especially well in the short form. Protocol is unexpected and creates the tension needed to capture and sustain the audience’s interest. Sure it’s about a car space, but the writer draws parallels to a much bigger picture, as “you’d be surprised how touchy people get over territory.” This story may work better ending without the obvious resolution though. Very powerful performance by Matt Maloney that at times overpowered Simon Kearney.

Itchy
This is a piece written for the language. A simple story is created to use every clichéd piece of work place jargon. This is clever, witty and playful writing. The story and characters are not that relevant. Itchy is successfully directed for its humour and will tighten up as the performers react to the audience’s enjoyment of the piece, rather than trying to show the audience the funny bits.

Can’t Wait For Love
This is a very well written portrait of an original character, told beautifully though Phil Robert’s performance. He’s engaging and interesting, but it’s illustrative. There is no story, no action and no drama. After a while he’s just telling us things we already know about him, so there’s no real journey for the character or the audience. He belongs in a larger story.

10,000 Cigarettes
A love poem to the cigarette. I think this piece would work very well on paper. As a free form poem, I love its use of language, its humour and its references to brands and famous smoking moments in film. It’s written for 30 and 40 somethings who used to smoke and, in our non-smoking world, many of the jokes were completely missed by younger audience members. I don’t know why it’s a short play. The only action in the script is some coughing. Sorry for the spoiler, but it ends with the hint that those smokes may kill you. That’s no revelation, so why not keep it as the love poem? 10,000 Cigarettes is enjoyable because its very well directed and performed to create life and movement.

Transactions
This was my stand out winner of the night. Scott McAteer has created authentic characters who we care about, a situation that surprises and plot that is always one step ahead of our expectations. Tightly directed by Harry Paternoster and honestly performed by Simon Kearney and Bobbi-Lea Dionysius.

Waiting For Derek
What happens when you husband doesn’t know you, or your best friend, and they both proceed to tell you about their affair? A very clever piece about dementia with a bonus twist that makes the ending more satisfactory than expected. Relies a bit too heavily on exposition and may benefit from more action in the present.

A Drop Would; Be Nothing
There’s an ongoing joke in television that children are only put in stories to get cancer or die in accidents. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a dead child, but sometimes they are just plot devices. There’s some very good writing and exploration about hate and anger in this piece. It questions why people stay in situations when common and every other sense says to leave. It’s sustained by very strong performances, but did it need a dead child cliché to create the situation?

Greener Pastures
Sometimes the telling of a joke can and should take ten minutes. For 9 and a half minutes this is a one joke piece, but the final 30 seconds are the real joke. Greener Pastures is just the telling of a joke, but it’s done very well.

The Painter
This is the second piece of the night that told a complex, authentic and sustained story. What happens when you have a dead rat rather than a Nobel Prize? The main joke of the play is in the title and for too obvious, but it doesn’t detract from the characters or their situation. Original, authentic writing that knows who it’s talking too and never lets the writing become more important than the story.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Dickens’ Women

Dickens’ Women
Andrew McKinnon
September 20 2007
Playhouse, The Arts Centre

Miriam Margoyles has inspired me to re-read Dickens. Her solo show Dickens’ Women offers a very complex and honest portrait of the author’s life though his personal and literary relationships with women.

Dickens’ Women is the story of Charles Dickens’ life told through the characters in his books. Margoyles presents a series of dramatic readings interwoven with a factual narrative about his life and her personal response to the man and his work. As most of the characters are based on real people, they offer a very revealing picture of a man, who Margoyles admits that she loves and she hates.

Dickens’ women tend to be either idealised 17 year old virgins or grotesques beyond sexuality. She admits he was “such a chauvinist” and if he hadn’t made them laugh so much in researching, she may not be on that stage today. Ultimately she loves his work and loves the characters, but isn’t so keen on the man.

You cannot help but love Margoyles. Her performance is warm and engaging. She is totally at home on the stage and crosses between her 23 chosen characters and herself talking to the audience with ease and grace. The audience loved her and applauded her every reading like she was a diva.

This is where I have concerns about this kind of show. The characters and the performance suffered from a lack of context and appeared almost too “acted”. It was like watching a concert or a series of auditions (of which she would have got every part). I found myself admiring the performance, rather than enjoying the story. Too many laughs came from funny faces or funny voices, rather than the text or the actual character.

Some characters worked better than others. The ones, such as Miss Havisham, who were presented from the replica of Dickens own reading desk were the most successful. Dickens does translate very well to stage (I still remember The Sydney Theatre Company’s amazing Nicholas Nickleby from 1984), but his stories were created to be read – to your self or to others – and this is how they work best.

If you are curious to see this show, love your Dickens or love Miriam Margoyles, you will not be disappointed with Dickens' Women.

PS. It’s just been announced that Dickens will be appearing at the Speigeltent in Melbourne on December 15 and 16. If you want to see how the man himself read his work, don’t miss Phil Zachariah’s in Eagles Nest Theatre’s outstanding production of Charles Dickens Performs A Christmas Carol.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Melbourne Fringe 2007

Melbourne Fringe 2007

Melbourne in September sees many passionate folk crowding together to watch something they love. September 29 is the AFL final. It’s also the opening weekend of the Melbourne Fringe festival.

Last year about 200 000 people attended Melbourne Fringe events. That’s about two full capacity MCGs or four near capacity Telstra Domes. Melbourne loves its arts as much as its sport.

This year’s Fringe runs from 26 September to 14 October. With 263 events the program includes theatre, cabaret, circus, comedy, digital art, dance, music, puppetry and visual art, and is Victoria’s largest annual showcase of independent arts.

Creative Producer Kath Melbourne (yes it’s her real name) is guiding her second festival. She says the 2007 program is “bulging at the seams with the kind of unique artistic collaborations and unforgettable events that make Melbourne Fringe synonymous with all things inventive, surprising and diverse”.

What does all of that mean? Isn’t the Fringe just some arty-farty party for naked fire twirlers?

OK, sometimes it is, but there’s a lot more that you might want to discover.

What is a Fringe Festival?

Fringes are unofficially attached to a major arts festival and tend to feature the more unusual art forms. In Melbourne the Fringe starts two weeks before the Melbourne International Arts Festival and the two programs overlap for a few days.

How Do They Select the Program?

They don’t. Anyone can be in the Fringe festival.

Major arts festival programs, like the Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney festivals are selected by an artistic director and the artists are paid. Fringes are open access, meaning there is no selection criteria. Professionals and first timers are treated the same. If you have something that you want to show to an audience, you can be in the Fringe.

You do have to pay a registration fee ($230-270 in Melbourne), which gets you a spot in the guide and advice from the Fringe staff about necessities like public liability insurance and risk management. All that’s left is for you to plan, rehearse, prepare, promote, create or perform your art and hope that people will want see it. The only payment Fringe artists receive is from ticket sales.

For audiences, this style of open program ensures that you never know what is going to turn up each year.

Is it all obscure?

The joy of an open program is that it encourages exploration and risk. This element of risk is what makes a Fringe program either intimidating or exciting.

The umbrella marketing of the festival gives artists a degree of freedom to experiment. This is the festival where you get to see what artists are really passionate about, the show they really want to do or the experiments they really want to try.

A festival program like this gives us punters the chance to easily find these shows and give them a go.

How to decide what to see?

Read the guide

Look out for a cobalt blue magazine in cafes or go to www.melbournefringe.com.au.

The guide can be daunting and full of false promises. Each act is given a mere 50 words to convince you to part with your money and their review quote of “amazing” might have been written by the director’s gran. There is at least one show in this year’s guide that is “award winning”, but fails to mention what awards. Perhaps the writer came second in the 25 metre breaststroke in grade six.

Read the blurbs thoroughly or simply flick though and chose the best or worst picture or title you find. Why not judge a show by its cover? You might strike gold. (Or fools gold. My vote for the worst pitch is Great Golden Showers, accompanied by a picture of an unattractive bloke and a big bowl of yellow liquid.

Read reviews

Not all reviewers agree and not all shows are reviewed, but they will give you a starting point.

Head to a hub

The official Fringe Hub is around the North Melbourne Town Hall in Queensberry St. There are plenty of shows and venues, so just turn up and buy a ticket to whatever is about to start.
You can also try the Northcote Town Hall or Gasworks in St Kilda.

Trust the audiences

A sign of a good show is ticket sales. If you’re buying from the Fringe Box Office (in Federation Square or on the phone), ask what is popular.

Have a drink

Head to the Fringe Club at North Melbourne Town Hall. There will be plenty of punters willing to tell you what’s good.

Be a tightarse

There are many free events, including performances at the Fringe Club six nights a week, 30 visual arts exhibitions and interactive installations in Federation Square.
There are also two for one deals for most shows on 28 September and 6 October.

It’s always going to be a risk going to a Fringe show. It may be spectacular or it may fail spectacularly. That is what it’s all about. And know that your ticket has given an artist some well earned beer money.

Pick of the Program
Based purely on the blue guide, these are my picks.

Death By Chocolate. An “interactive murder mystery installation”, with chocolate tastings at Koko Black in Lygon Street. No idea who this company is, but the KB chocolate is good. A look at their website says that the answer to the mystery isn’t available until the end of the run, because “It would do no good for someone who knows The Answer to turn up to a show and reveal all in the first 10 minutes. We don't want to spoil your experience, so we keep this confidential until a suitable time.” Let’s hope the experience is more important than the resolution.

AARDVARK – The Shitt Family Puppet Show. They promise Shitt jokes and a Shitt time.
Cake. Malthouse Theatre are presenting this very successful production from Adelaide’s Vitalstatistix company. It won real awards at the Adelaide Fringe.

Grit and Gold. Dorothy Porter and Carrie Tiffany talking about their writing. Fringe is for all artists, not just performers

I Love You, Bro. I’m curious to see how a show about chat rooms is translated to the stage, and director Yvonne Virsik recently impressed in An Air Balloon Across Antarctica.

MelBorn. 10-10-10 . A series of 10, 10 minute plays, directed by 10 local directors. The Melbourne Writers Theatre love writers and know how to put good writing on a stage.

OK, I’m 40 Something. Fringe isn’t just for 20 somethings. Yes it is possible to be of “that age” and still run with the crowd.

Pick Ups. Writer Alex Broun is the artistic director of the extremely successful Short And Sweet festival in Melbourne. A show about the “comedy and loneliness of contemporary dating” will surely offer something to anyone who has ever been on a date.

Forever. A 24 hour theatrical event. Local designers and performers will transform an empty space over 24 hours. Described as a one-off experiment in collaboration, improvisation and endurance.

Gilgamesh. Uncle Semolina (and friends) have established themselves as one of the most exciting independent companies in Melbourne. Gilgamesh was last seen at the 2005 Melbourne Festival and there are giving us three performances before heading on an international tour.

Senseless. Conceived online by over 20 writers, film makers, visual artists and designers, but a solo performance.

Spacemunki. Another show that has earned a reputation as an “I wish I’d seen it”. I really enjoyed it a couple of years ago. Here’s another chance for those who missed it.

Testosterone. Described as a swipe at women, a demontage of the mythical male, bursts of male bravado and a bloody mess.

Tadpole. The Fringe is also for the zerosomethings. The Northcote Town Hall has a venue dedicated to puppetry. Tadpole is for kids, but there is Tyrannosauras Sex: A Puppet Rock Opera for those who are fond of a puppet penis.

Bucket of Love. Dark, funny, physically spectacular and always engaging - The Candy Butchers continually show how circus has grown up. This is Derek Ives solo show.

A Record of an OBE. Following the success of Yong Tong (the show about The Goons), let’s see what Shaolin Punk do with The Goodies

Jail Bait. Rod Quantock leads you through the Melbourne Gaol and local comedians tell us about the crime they would love to commit. Worth it just for Rod’s tour.

Was It A Cat I Saw. It’s a nerdy show about words (yes it’s a palindrome). Melbourne Fringe is an anagram of “one fine grumber”. Having my own nerdy word tendancies, how can I resist.

Black Bag. Cabaret with Benn Bennett and Wes Snelling. I’ve seen Wes’ drag chatacter, looking forward to see what he does sans frock.

Yana Alana And Tha Paranas in “Bite Me”. Her performance at the Fringe launch made me laugh - a lot - out loud. “Angry, feminist, spoken word, interpretive dance, burlesque”. This is Fringe and this show is knows that it can be very funny.

This story originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Criminology

Criminology
Malthouse Theatre and Arena Theatre
8 August 2007
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse

As Criminology is inspired by the true events of Joe Cinque’s murder in 1997 (detailed in the program if you don’t know), the audience know that, after the dinner party, Una will drug her boyfriend with rohypnol and inject him with heroin until he is dead. How this Malthouse/Arena co-production get us to the final murder is the making or breaking of this work. The resulting path is a mixture of terrains that makes the journey awkward, but enjoyable.

The script was co-written by Lally Katz (The Eisteddfod) and Tom Wright (Babes in the Wood). Both playwrights have very different styles and voices, which can both be heard in the script. Sometimes they are fighting to dominate and at others they reached a compromise that was adequate, but– like most compromises – wasn’t strong or especially pleasing. When Lally’s dialogue won the fight, it brought a stilted absurdity to the characters, which forced us to listen and question the situation; whereby the more natural dialogue and situations, ironically, made the story seem less real and therefore able to be dismissed.

Una and the boyfriend are stalked and guided by their own inner demons; made real as anonymous, masked ragers or 1987cultual icons. This worked as a concept, but wasn’t working very well on the stage. It took me to the final scene to figure out what the masked characters actually were. As their role was confusing, they distracted from, instead of supporting, the accompanying action. Una’s conversations with Diana (it was the car crash year) are a perfect representation of eating disorder/beauty fixation and obsession with being loved/admired and always right. The other icons (Michael Hutchence, Mother Theresa and Tommy Lee Jones from Men in Black) were funny, but didn’t appear to support the story or its journey. The presentation of them as backwards facing puppets seemed to have little purpose, beyond a site gag.

Given the themes and issues surrounding Una are not restricted to 1997 and the story isn’t dependent on the on the facts of the case, I wonder if the placement in a specific era was necessary. Certainly it gave us a divine opening scene discussing the film Titanic against a swirling cosmos and allowed a purging scene with Princess Di after a shot of ipecac. The specific dates make us look at the era (which was only 10 years ago) for the answers, instead of really exploring the motivations and psyche of the characters.

Placing it in Canberra was entirely necessary though. This script captured the 20 something, wealthy, bored, ANU student, inner city Canberra lifestyle to perfection. I lived in Canberra for a time (I should point out that I was well out of that age demographic and not a student). I would have picked the city as Canberra, even if it wasn’t named. I admit that I was the soul person in the audience who laughed out loud at the joke about it being a sadder death than when “that girl got hit by shards of hospital”. For others who have escaped life in our capital, take some comfort in one of the final lines of the show: “You’re so fucking beautiful, but you never belonged in Canberra”.

Bojana Novakovic as Una is the most memorable performance of the cast. She has a naturalness that makes it look like her characterisation is effortless and she created an understanding of Una that explained the inevitability of her final actions. We are never meant to like her or support her, but Bojana let us see her real pain and compulsion. Her scenes with Hazen Shammas (who never talks as the doomed boyfriend) were especially compelling.

Criminology aims to shock and tries as hard as it can. The sex and drugs aren’t nearly as shocking as they make them out to be. I’d like to see more focus on shocking us through the thoughts of the characters, rather than their swinging and heroin use.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Discussion of Helen Garner's Joe Cinque's Consolation, Garner's true crime book about the case.

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera
Really Useful Group
28 July 2007
Princess Theatre

The Phantom of the Opera has returned to the Princess Theatre in Melbourne. It is as lavish and spectacular as it was in the 1990s and Anthony Warlow’s return as the Phantom is phabulous, but the production is already feeling like a franchised McPhantom.
 
The Phantom of the Opera has been phenomenally successful since it opened in London in 1986. The official web site estimates that more than 80 million people have seen it in hundreds of cities in more than 20 countries. It has created some of the most magical moments in contemporary musical theatre and some of the most copied and ultimately clichéd moments. We are still seeing the same production (direction, choreography, design) that has thrilled for over 20 years. Which is where the problem may lie. It wasn’t lazy performances or a bad cast, but this production felt tired and almost lacklustre.

The design is still stunning, the costumes amazing and the overture chandelier moment is one of the greatest musical theatre openings (perhaps only surpassed by The Lion King). Yet this Phantom is already beginning to feel like its own cliché. The dry ice, great make up and magic disappearances are so expected now that they have very little impact.

The book and score are full of mystery, deaths, disappearances and constant threat, but there was very little tension on the stage. We were never really scared for Christine and her fate. The climax of the show is the unmasking of the Phantom (I think this well enough known that it’s not a spoiler), but was so expected that it was almost an anti-climax.

The 1986 production and direction aren’t translating to 2007. This Phantom needs new energy to re-connect with its audience and re-create the atmosphere and tension that have made it such a success.

What does make this production shine is the phantastic Warlow. His Phantom is complex and haunting and human. He was struggling vocally with a lurgy on opening night, but few would have noticed if the director hadn’t announced it before opening. The show is totally his, vocally and emotionally.

This shouldn’t be the case. Every one on that stage should (and could) be as good as Warlow. I may not have been so disappointed if it wasn’t for the most recent Miss Saigon, where every member of the cast has the same energy, commitment and range as the principals. Just because it’s a franchised production, doesn’t mean it can’t be amazing and engaging.

Ana Marina’s sings Christine beautifully and brings an interesting vocal interpretation to one of the hardest music theatre roles to sing. However, Christine has two men thoroughly obsessed with her, two women secretly protecting her and an entire opera company fearing for their lives because she is in their midst. This Christine is sweet and innocent and lovely, but not yet achieving the performance than makes us believe that men would kill for her. Her stage connection with Raoul (John Bowles) and to the Phantom is also lacking. This is a show about huge emotions. We have to believe those kisses.

I have loved Phantom since I bought the double album with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. Even through my computer speakers this recording has more tension and life than the current Australian production.

Our latest Phantom is an expensive ticket. If this is a concern, listen to the original recording and rent the DVD of the film (which is actually pretty good).

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

The Eisteddfod

The Eisteddfod
Malthouse Theatre
20 July 2007
The Tower, CUB MAlthouse

The Eisteddfod is another one of those amazing works that emerged from Melbourne’s independent theatre world and was given a new audience through the Malthouse’s Tower Theatre program. (I’m almost getting bored of saying how good The Tower Theatre program is.)

Stuck Pigs Squealing describe themselves as a collective of artists “dedicated to the creation of dynamic, imaginative and disturbing theatre events.” The Eisteddfod fits the criteria like a dominatrix’s leather glove and continues to prove what original and incredible theatre can be produced when the creative team are not tied to the researched wants of a demographically sorted audience.

Brother and sister Abalone and Gerture are introduced to us by the voice of Lally Katz. She is the traditional voice of god/narrator, the mother/protector and the playwright. It’s nice to really hear a playwright’s voice.
Abalone and Gerture have always liked to play make believe and since their parents tragic death in a pruning accident, agoraphobia has kept them living in the same room. Luckily Abalone has his acting Eisteddfod to rehearse for and Gerture can escape to her classroom, when Abalone isn’t pretending to be her totally unpleasant boyfriend Ian.

Lally Katz’s writing is astounding. She knows how this strange custom, where people go into dark rooms and watch other people pretend to be other people, works. She takes the absurd, makes it stranger, but makes it real. The Eisteddfod runs from parody (the meeting of the Macbeths improvisation) to uncomfortable reality (Ian asking Gerture “do you fuck me” after he has been sexually and physically humiliated). I had no idea where each scene was going to take us and was continually surprised and , strangely, satisfied.

Chris Kohn’s direction lets the audience grow into and with the nature of the work, without every letting us become complacent or too comfortable.

The design team of Adam Gardnir (set and costume), Jethro Woodward (sound) and Richard Vabre (lighting) were equally astounding. It is refreshing to see all the design elements work so intricatly and perfectly with the script and direction.

Gardnir’s design is designed for every odd need and practicality of the work. It’s intricate and delicate; filled with teddies and sewing boxes and secrets. The unexpected detail and whimsy are intriuiging and beautiful. I just loved the tiny giraffe, jaguar and tree on the record player.

Finally a work does rest on the shoulders of the people pretending to be other people. Luke Mullins and Katherine Tonkin never let Abolone and Gerture be as absurd or unreal as their situation. We believed, understood and cared for these characters. They never let us laugh AT them. The strength of their performances and the humanity they brought to the brother and sister is what makes The Eisteddfod resonate and connect with the audience.

This is theatre that questions the nature of theatre and forces its audience to engage their brains. Even if you don’t fully understand every moment, just go with the experience and see how you feel afterwards.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Air Balloon Across Antarctica

Air Balloon Across Antarctica
Three to a Room
15 July 2007
Trades Hall, Old Council Chambers

Melbourne was only given a short fundraising season of Three To A Room’s Air Balloon Across Antarctica before it heads off to the Edinburgh Fringe. Let’s hope fair winds blow it safely back, so more people can see this astonishingly beautiful, highly original, funny and gut-wrenching production.

Caitlin is travelling in an air balloon across Antarctica. Her companion is Ham, an obese hamster, who longs to be a lemming (because lemmings are James Dean, while hamsters are Tom Hanks) and she is visited by great explorers of the past.

There’s so much about Darrah Martin’s script that shouldn’t work. His metaphors flow like water off a melting ice cap, he throws in adjectives like an over-sized and desperate for attention thesaurus and he tells instead of shows.

It is, nonetheless, one of the most beautifully written scripts I’ve encountered. Martin’s dialogue is dense, but he makes his words dance, without ever making them feel unnatural or forced. The incidental comments and dialogue may not always move the story forward, but they give the script a different level of life and make it shine. The band who were “all headbands and no irony” and Caitlin who “sprinkles discourse into a conversation like a condiment” make you want to listen to every word in case you miss a gem. Or perhaps it was all just a very elaborate ploy to find a use for the phrase “nudist balloonist”.

Language aside, Air Balloon tells a perfectly structured and surprising story. What could have been a totally acceptable and enjoyable love story is told in an original way from an unexpected point of view. What starts as a witty and enjoyable jaunt abut the “pinch-me-I’m-fainting ache and ecstasy of falling in love”, turns into a dangerous journey into “the sour dour knife twists and turns of sliding out of love” and the event that started the slide.

Part of me wants to see a professional company grab this script, polish up the rough edges and show it to a huge audience, but I don’t want to see it lose the simplicity and beauty of this production.

Yvonne Virsik’s direction deftly balances the humour with the sadness. By making the complex seem simple, she lets us see the intricacy of the complexity. With a script that can be excessive and plot that could be melodramatic, she paces the action perfectly, without letting the audience become too comfortable. The setting and characters are as absurd as rhinoceros in the street, but they are always emotionally real and we never doubt that Amelia Earhart or Ham the hamster don’t belong in this world.
The cast are, on the whole, not very experienced, but bring a level of understanding and maturity that far outweighs many a professional actor I’ve seen on our major stages recently.

Claire Glenn skilfully and gradually reveals the complexity of Caitlin’s truth and her search for something beginning with safe. Caitlin is filled with joy and anger and determination and frustration and sadness. She wants to appear open, but only so that no one can see the places in her that hurt. Glenn is thoroughly engaging as Caitlin, but never lets us become so captivated that we don’t see her flaws.

Paul David-Goddard as James was the surprise performance of the evening. James is the supporter of Caitlin, whose love and obsession let her be the explorer. James is controlled, safe and strong, as is David-Goddard’s performance. He isn’t the one expected to bring the audience to tears (myself included). His final moments gently nail the emotional impact of this work.

And then there’s Ham the hamster. He is part narrator and holder of the truth about the drip, drip burning bush. Ham is a ham and could have very easily been played for laughs, but Sophie Lampel brought a poignancy and believability to him. She deserves pat on the tummy and an extra big bowl of Special K for her performance.

Sayraphim Lothian’s continues to show how to make design support a script. Her balloon basket is woven from old brown clothes; the many, many layers that give us our appearance and status in the world.

Three To A Room received no funding for this project. Raffles, quiz/film nights and chocolates sales got Air Balloon off the ground. Producers a Claire Glenn, Charlotte Strantzen and Ellen Gales prove that determination and the desire to create exceptionally good theatre can create exceptionally good theatre.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty
Malthouse Theatre
12 July 2007
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse

 
Devised by Michael Kantor, Paul Jackson, Mayann Lynch and Anna Tregloan, Sleeping Beauty is proving that new direction, new blood and collaboration at Malthouse can create the kind of original and enlightening theatre we want and expect from this company.
 
Sleeping Beauty is told as a song cycle, using contemporary and popular music (primarily from the youth of Malthouse supporters). Part musical theatre, part concert, part fairy tale; it asks what Sleeping Beauty would dream about and takes us on her journey from childhood to sexual innocence, to adulthood and the ultimate maturity of disappointment.
 
A song cycle needs singers. The casting and combination of voices and genres was curious. Renee Geyer is jazz, Grant Smith is opera, Ian Stenlake is pure musical theatre and Alison Bell is an actor who can pull off a song. The juxtaposition of the voices was so odd that it worked brilliantly, to an extent.
 
Renee is the diva and star. Her delicious and sumptuous jazz (come R&B), makes you want to drink absinthe and chain smoke in tiny dark room until dawn, as her husky tones makes you fall in and out of love with your companion all night. She opened the night with “She” and captured every heart in the house. What she later did with Eminem was near perfect.
 
Grant has deservedly been on many an opera stage and never ceased to shine. Ian continued to prove himself one of our finest musical theatre performers. His Bowie renditions were nearly as hot as Bowie himself (sorry Ian, no one is hotter than Bowie).
 
The moment I walked away with was Renee, Grant, Ian’s performance of Elvis Costello’s “I Want You”. It took this love song into a dark, intense and confronting realm that explored how mother, father, brother, older woman, older man and lover can desire, want, love or hate the beauty of young woman.
 
While the vocal combination worked, what didn’t work as well was that each of the four were performing in their genre, not as an ensemble. Ian and Grant’s performances could have filled a 2000 seat venue. This created unevenness on the stage that might need some tighter direction. Ian at times simply overwhelmed Alison, who was performing to the room she was in.
 
Alison Bell is a very good actor, but she was the odd voice out. Vocally she wasn’t nearly as powerful as her the other three, which hindered the performance, as it became a comparison. The role needed a singer who was comfortable telling a story though song, rather than acting out the song. (Perhaps someone along the lines of an Australian Idol contestant - a singer who may have actually lived out the bizarre fairy tale dream and nightmare in a public medium.)
 
Direction, design and concept all worked perfectly to create this highly original work, even if a few self indulgent decisions were made. Often the story would have moved much better if songs had been shorter, giving us just the appropriate lyric grab or emotional rift, rather than the whole number. This would have deprived us of some wonderful performances, but would have served the story much better.
 
Sleeping Beauty is a work that will grow and change as it runs. It speaks to its audience and is totally enjoyable. As it becomes tighter, it will begin to work better as a whole, rather than a collection of wonderful moments and performances.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Ali McGregor’s Midnight Lullubies

Ali McGregor’s Midnight Lullubies
Malthouse Theatre
11 July 2007
Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse

I first saw Ali McGregor in The Opera Burlesque. She was sensual, seductive, tantalising, funny and downright divine. I saw glimpses of that Ali in Midnight Lullabies, but otherwise I’m having trouble believing it was the same performer.

Ali has the kind of voice that is like having your lover lick your ear (if indeed you like that). A well trained voice can do amazing things to songs we think we know. German Lieder, Cohen, Waits, Gershwin and Newman all get Ali’s divine touch.

The concept behind Midnight Lullabies is the perfect for Ali. She sings us the songs that go through her head at four am. She is accompanied by Ben Hendry on an assortment of percussion and “funny” instruments and tells us about what these songs mean to her.

But it’s not working. This show is screaming out for a director and a writer. Ali needs to either be herself on the stage or develop the horny, nutty, obsessive soprano character that sometimes made an appearance. She slipped into a stage character during the some songs, but there was nothing consistent driving the show forward. The best cabaret acts (including the wonderful Opera Burlesque) are based on narrative and character.

There were many moments in Midnight Lullabies that were heading in the right direction, but never got going. Being awake at four am trawling eBay for a $3.97, seven-note concertina. This alone could form the base of a highly original and delightfully kooky character and story. Let this woman lose.

Or she needs to be herself. I would have loved to hear her real stories. If you did sing "Creep" at a weird party for Elton John, for goodness sake tell us the story – otherwise it’s just pretentious name dropping. You can tell the most glorious stories in song, so please also tell us stories though you.

This show should seduce every single member of the audience. Ali can do this. I was so surprised that she didn’t. Sing into out faces and our hearts. The eyes shut, looking at the ceiling stuff just doesn’t work if you’re not connecting with the audience. And the zither, unless it can be made sexy, it only works as a joke.

WHEN I wrote this years ago, I included a ridiculous paragraph about what Ali was wearing. I regret that.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

A Porthole into the Minds of the Vanquished

A Porthole into the Minds of the Vanquished
Malthouse Theatre
5 July 2007
Beckett Theatre, CUB MAlthouse

“If that daily pack of Neurofen is not quite masking your existence”, then get ye to A Porthole into the Minds of the Vanquished. This is the type of cabaret that must be developed, performed, encouraged and seen. It steals from the best, whilst remaining remarkably original and proves that there are always news levels of odd that can be exposed on a stage.

Tamlyn Hendeson and Warick Allsopp are also the type of performers who prove that some really can act, dance, sing, write and be funny. Director Ansuya Nathan has taken what, I suspect, was a rough concept and moulded it into a seamless and tight production.The elements are all verging on perfect, but the synergy isn’t creating a magnificent whole.

The writing is sometimes a bit too smart for its own good and not quite intelligent enough to be brilliant. Lines like, “Dance like thousands of people are craning their necks to see you fail”, rightly create guffaws from the floor, but a lot of the humour felt like an in-joke between the performers, not something they were sharing with the gathered mass. Stronger direction may be needed to convince them to lose the material that they think is hilarious, but is falling flat with the audience.

The quest for surrealism (or is it absurdism?) didn’t shine as brightly as it could have. A sketch like Henry Giffin was only memorable for its great sing-a-longability, not for its content. “Don’t let it be someone you know trapped in a mobile phone.” It’s funny, but it doesn’t fit with the context of the other material and left the audience wondering, rather than laughing. There is intention and meaning in the absurd (and the surreal). Porthole needs a bit more consistency and some anchors to make it a much more rounded and ultimately satisfying work.

I think this will happen as it gets seen more and more. The appeal of Henderson and Allsop alone will continue to move this show from success to success. It actually reminded me of seeing The Doug Anthony Allstars in the 80s (before their commercial success). The content and style are very different, but the originality, the genuine intelligence behind the work and the personalities of the performers shine through the best and the worst of the sketches. I think Porthole will turn into one of those shows that we can boast that we saw before they became famous.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

The Burlesque Hour

The Burlesque Hour
fortyfivedownstairs
21 June 2007

I was told off this week for having a 'feminist rant' about The Burlesque Hour. Let me share.

The Burlesque Hour takes a genre that has (at times) and is (at times) used to demean, objectify, humiliate and embarrass women. This show subverts this genre – then rips it to shreds, cut the shreds into smaller pieces, grinds them into the ground with a Doc Martin and a Manolo Blahnik and re-creates something that is positive, empowering, celebratory, powerful and just fabulous.

If this kind of questioning of gender roles, sexuality and sexual politics is ranting, then I’m very happy to rant.

The Burlesque Hour has been around since 2004. This was my third viewing and it gets better every time. There are some old favourites missing, but the new material is just as addictive. Jackie Smith and Moira Finucane continue to create extraordinarily original, daring, shockingly hilarious, sassy, sexy and mind-blowingly intelligent theatre.

Each piece is superbly conceived and executed. Azaria Universe’s bearded sheman proves the inter-changeability of gender roles; Yumi Umiumare reminds us that the cute little hello kitty girl could be a demonic little hell cat, and the fixed pout of painted doll could mean she’s broken; and Moira Finucane finds the grotesque within the coquette.

The strip in this show isn’t just about tits and titillation and the final revelation is not a brazilian wax. These women reveal power, humour, strength, moodiness, frustration, joy, loneliness and pain. This strip isn’t about the body. Bodies are simply bodies in this show.

Seeing this strip isn’t about anonymity or hiding or voyeurism. The Burlesque Hour is as much about the performer as the audience and makes the gathered crowd interact and join in the fun and celebration.

For the ultimate subversion, Angus Cereni (a bloke) guest stars. Angus strips to a song written for a teenage girl in a most un-teenage girl manner. This is mighty fine irony. I do, however, wonder why it wasn’t a complete strip. It felt slightly strange to have the one male in the show not completely reveal.

It’s hard to pick favourite moments, but two always stick with me. Moira’s butohesque “I Want You” is as true and powerful expression of repression and longing and guilt as I’ve ever witnessed. And then there’s Azaria’s “Total Eclipse of The Heart”. She takes drag, strip and 80s pop and hurls herself, and the absurdity, frustration, sadness and hilarity of it all into our faces. It’s brilliant.

Finally, as Moira’s Argentina Gina Catalina says, “Big minds have great sex.” So please, enlarge your minds and your thinking and get to The Burlesque Hour.

This review originally appeard on AussieTheatre.com.