Fiona McGary/Best of Edinburgh

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2007
Fiona McGary in Giggles and Puddles
The Best of the Edinburgh Fest
Friday 13 April
Portland Hotel
RMIT Capitol Theatre

Five comedians: one night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The most popular jokes this year appear to be AIDS, ADD and Adelaide. Some worked very well, some need to work on originality and others have to work on being funny.

Fiona McGary in Giggles and Puddles was the highlight of the evening. She may be performing in a room the size of an ensuite bathroom, but she makes it feel as welcoming and comfortable as your favourite friend’s lounge room.

Fiona succeeds where so many fail, by letting us see Fiona. She doesn’t hide behind a forced persona or rely on jokes. She tells us some very funny stories about her life and experiences, whilst gently revealing her darker,more vulnerable side.

This show will eventually benefit from some direction and editing, but right now it’s perfect for Fiona and the venue she is in. See her it for stories about ADD, her many jobs and for a lesson in how to take great advantage of that spontaneous, hideous tattoo you got at 15. It made me wish I’d been that stupid as a teenager.

The Best of the Edinburgh Fest is MICF tradition known for exposing new talent. It’s a great gig to score. You get a huge nightly audience (who tend to be boozed up and ready to laugh), you only have to do a short set and the host has already warmed the crowd up for you. The down side is The Capitol is a very hard venue to work. Most of your audience are so far away, there is no chance of developing any intimacy, so you have to rely on very slick material.

Andrew Stanley hosts the evening and the night would not have worked without him. He created rapport in the cavernous space and had us laughing with him every time he appeared. I wish we’d been able to see much more of him. Andrew tells great stories about himself; his dad comparing being a vegetarian to being in the IRA was my favourite. He also opened with some inspired audience interaction. One couple may well be engaged thanks to Andrew. Let’s hope he heads over from Ireland again next year and we see him in his own show.

Asher Treleaven is from Melbourne. His bizarre characters mix circus clowning with stand up. Unfortunately the mix didn’t quite work tonight. His set consisted of two very funny jokes (Mills & Boon and Rock Eisteddfods) that should have been kept as jokes, not extended sketches. I know how good Asher can be, but tonight his character seemed lost between being a traditional clown, a stand up character or simply Ash.

Maeve Higgins is young and Irish and wore a cardigan. No 26 year old can get away with a cardi. Her stage persona is genuine and delightful. You’d love to have a shandy with Maeve. Her discussion about the wisdom of fridge magnets suits her well. Her attempt at rape humour needs research and thought. You really have to understand the implications of a joke to make it work. A punch line of genital warts would have been very funny - but making it AIDS, just came across as ignorant.

Eddie Ifft is from the US. Eddie – listen. We weren’t laughing because we are too PC – we weren’t laughing because the material wasn’t funny. It could be. It could be hilariously offensive and shocking, but you (too) need a much better knowledge of AIDS and ADD to make it relevant, powerful and…. funny. In Eddie’s defence, he recovered well when his material fell flat, but the continual blaming of the audience just worked against him.

The MICF is another one of the fabulous Melbourne festivals. The atmosphere is consistently welcoming, you get to drink in the snottiest of the Melbourne Town Hall rooms and rub shoulders with lots of people you see on the telly. The telly ones always get a good audience, but also take a punt on the lesser known comedians, like Fiona McGary. They may be on telly in a year or two and you will have a great story about seeing them before they were famous.

A final aside about the Adelaide jokes.

Many acts do the Adelaide Fringe before coming to MICF. One year someone must have said that Melbournians like to laugh at Adelaide, so opening your show with an Adelaide joke became very popular. I know Adelaide is easy to laugh at (I’m from there) – but, like the Melbourne V Sydney material, it’s time to let it go and be original.

This review originally appeard on AussieTheatre.com.

Mickey D Shame 101

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2007 
Mickey D Shame 101 
Mary Tobin
13 April 2007 
Victoria Hotel

Shame Michael Shame. Shame, that you so easily put so many other Melbourne Comedy Festival shows to utter shame. If you have forgotten what it is like to laugh until you snort for an hour, get along to Mickey D. 

Mickey D’s Shame 101 is infectiously funny, refreshingly original, skilfully crafted and downright filthy. Adelaide’s own Velocity Boy was always a natural on the stage. He has used his time touring the world to develop into a very skilled performer and hilariously deranged writer.  

Shame celebrates what we are embarrassed about. Snorting laughs, embarrassing parents, farting, masturbating, being caught masturbating by your nanna, scrubbing poo off walls and accidentally biting off a nipple. None of which he finds embarrassing – so why should we!

However, Mickey is very serious about his comedic art. When he needed another 10 minutes of material – he could have just told another story about his Dad heckling passers by – but, not this lad. He went and had a colonic irrigation (yes – that’s a pipe in the bum) … and tells us all about it.

If you’re not convinced by the lure of a colonic story, go to see how well he uses the space and the stage, or enjoy how he includes the audience without ever really embarrassing them.  If you don’t like talking about poo (or won’t admit to it), go to observe how he makes his well written, themed and linked material seem like inspired improvisation, or how he can seamlessly leave and return to his script at any time in an almost Billy Connollyesque style. Mickey blends character with truth and knows how to take what could be very offensive (or very boring) material to the exact moment that it is very funny.

It may be a blessing that his Nanna isn’t here to see it.

Another Postscript about the persistent Adelaide jokes: Yesterday I wrote a review pleading for one original Adelaide joke. My prayers were answered. Thank you Michael. See the show to see what he does.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Green Room Awards 2007

Green Room Awards 2007
1 April 2007

I’ve just come from an afternoon of Green Room Awards. Congratulations to everyone. The ceremony was fun, Julia Zemiro was a much better host that Ellen at the Oscars, Suzanne Johnson and Helen Noonan showed us that opera singers are much wittier and funnier than often thought and everyone paid tribute to the outstanding plethora of artists and companies in this amazing city of Melbourne.

“It really is just an honour to be nominated”...but it’s true. The list of Green Room award nominations show how even the most dedicated of theatre, dance, music, cabaret, opera or musical theatre devotees can barely skim the surface of the arts scene in this town. I see more my fair share of shows, but there were nominated names, companies and shows that I hadn’t seen, some I hadn’t heard of. Debt was the tied winner of Best New Australian Play, but was only seen by 270 people. I think the lesson is – see as much as you can, because you never know when a gem is going to appear.

Dance was an especially strong category this year. Lucy Guerin summed up the feeling among Melbourne’s dancers, by acknowledging the strong sense of community and the involvement of everyone. This was supported by Ros Warby, whose award for Monumental was especially welcomed.

Tim Minchin was my favourite winner of the day. Not only did he win Original Songs, beat a phenomenal group of nominees for Cabaret Artiste, but then scored the award for Outstanding Cabaret Show, beating the Famous Speigeltent and the Melbourne Theatre Company. This continues to prove that the best shows are often created by independent artists and found in non-commercial venues. Tim is “so fucking rock” and so fucking deserved each and every award.

“If you get a job you like – you never have to work a day on your life. Maria Frendo from, the fabulous venue, Dantes reminded everyone of this when she collected her award for her Contribution to Cabaret. When you do what you love, it will always shine through in your work. Every nominee and winner today has proven that they love what they do.

This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Black

Black
Malthouse Theatre
17 March 2007
The Tower Theatre, CUB Malthouse

A post-avant-garde-performance-art-installation is never going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Well, I drink coffee and Anna Tregolan’s Black is as welcome and satisfying as the first strong, aromatic and lovingly-made expresso on a slow Sunday morning.

There is a mixed sense of anticipation and apprehension as we are gradually let into the Tower Theatre. All we know is that the performance runs for three hours, but we can come and go as we please.

Walking down a dark corridor, a small screen with a changing collage is our first clue. Sounds of muffled voices and dropped cutlery begin to filter in as we round the corner and find ourselves above the space we will enter and, perhaps unwittingly, merge with.

Black is the stories of Elizabeth Short, a young Hollywood starlet, whose severed body was found in an empty lot in 1947. Her unsolved murder has created many fictitious, semi-factual and imagined accounts of her demise on screens and in novels, newspapers and gossip mills.

Each performer (Caroline Lee, Moira Finucane, James Wardlaw and Martyn Coutes) represent a facet of the multiple stories. They could be witness, media, detective, victim, friend, family or stranger. All spin web of movement and text that fills the space and draws the audience closer.

The text is designed to be listened to like music, with a four part vocal score of monologue. It’s quite meditative, but separating the parts reveals a poetic and evocative language that was almost unexpected. “The collaging of a body” with “postage stamps of flesh removed”.

The performers are separated by a zigzag wall of perspex. They move through and around the walls, forever changing their position. What makes this work remarkable is that each wall acts as a transparent mirror – we can see through it, and it reflects multiple images around the space.

One performer looks like a conjoined twin from a carnival freak show, whilst simultaneously standing in the audience, looking at another performer, holding her own hand and watching herself. The performers don’t touch or interact but their multiple reflections touch and merge, some morphing like a 90s music video, others walking through each other like ghosts. The effect is stunning, as there are so many versions of the same scene to look at.

As an audience we are allowed to choose if we sit, stand or move. We think we are controlling what we witness and who we see it with. However the reflective walls and changing light take away our control and bring our images into the performance space and the story.

The creation, rehearsal and performance of this complex work is precise and perfect. Design, direction and performance blend to create an experience that is genuinely original, creative, intelligent and brave.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon
Michael Coppel Ventures and
Louise Withers & Associates
28 March 2007
Her Majesty’s Theatre

Miss Saigon is a simply superb and I dare even the most jaded of theatre goers not to love it. It’s about power and grief and situations where you cannot imagine a happy ending, even though your heart and mind search for a way to make it all work out. The outstanding cast are a balance between fresh and experienced performers and the, much anticipated, new staging adds moments that could not have been imagined in the original.
 
Anyone who has read anything of mine knows that I have some issues with commercial theatre – but when it’s done right – it’s done right. There are reasons why Miss Saigon has been consistently running all over the world since 1989.
 
The power of Miss Saigon is in the writing. Spectacle will never compensate for bad writing. The book is structured to reveal every piece of information at exactly the right time, with a balance of emotion that builds, relieves and rebuilds tension to its ultimate breaking point. Its themes and story continue to resonate on so many levels, as it contrasts the personal with a very political understanding of the Vietnam War and its aftermath.
 
Its French origins are evident with references to the French occupation of Vietnam, as well as a bitter satirical stream of anger towards “Uncle Ho” and “Uncle Sam”. It may be one of the most powerful pieces I’ve seen about refugees and the fear and desperation that makes people want to leave their homes.
 
This is balanced with an understanding of the unimaginable chaos, control and freedom experienced by the fighting American soldiers. Chris and John are young men who are happy “getting stoned and waking up with some whore”, but their lives are changed so profoundly by their experiences in Saigon.
 
And, of course, it’s ultimately a love story. Chris, Kim and Ellen: if you hated any of them, it would be an easy story to resolve, but we are always allowed to see their flaws and their strengths. These are characters whose actions you understand; even when you know that they are making choices that are going to cause pain and grief.
 
This production does use many theatrical and dramatic clichés. Sunsets, ghosts, guns, weddings and adorable children are all there. However, there is a difference between the uses of a cliché for effect, compared to the use of an archetypal image because of its universal reach. (I still can’t believe that a walk into the sunset made me cry.)
 
And, yes, it is a toe-tapping, hum-along musical. Music can reach ours souls instantly. Words have to go though the brain first. Maybe this is why music can tell the most epic and tragic of stories so effectively. The music isn’t as memorable as Les Miserables (the other great musical by Boublil and Schonberg), but it serves the story and characters perfectly.
 
Laurie Cadevida (Kim), Leo Tavarro Valdez (The Engineer) and Juan Jackson (John) are all unforgettable. Each has played their role in various international productions of Miss Saigon. Their experience and understanding of their characters is evident. It is such a skill to make a character believable and sympathetic when they are prone to burst into song.
 
The imported cast members are ideally balanced by the Australian cast. The emotion and strength David Harris brings to Chris fare outweighs the one or two notes he missed. He will quickly settle into this role and make Chris his own. Christina Tan (Gi Gi), PJ Rosales (Thuy) and Sophie Katinis (Ellen) all bring a depth to their roles that may soon surpass the experienced cast members. They show us their characters souls through their songs.
 
The supporting cast and chorus are still the ones who make or break a big show. It only takes one chorus member to drop their energy to ruin the show for everyone. This cast make the show. Each person on the stage is as strong and believable and the principals. Having seen many of the understudies in supporting roles, I suspect that audiences lucky enough to them perform the leads will be in for some amazing performances.
 
The new design is ideal for smaller stages, but it never looks like a compromise. It’s no secret that the famous US evacuation helicopter scene is now done using projections. What makes this so amazing is the 3-D technology used. It could have looked so cheap and so bad, but this is phenomenally effective. Projections are also used to boost the emotion of “Bui Doi” and add a new depth of satire to “The American Dream”. The animation used in this number was created by Gerald Scarfe, who designed and directed Pink Floyd's, The Wall.
 
I have spoken to other people who have seen this production from the balconies. Their response wasn’t as enthusiastic as mine. There appear to have been some problems with sound. I really hope that the power of this Miss Saigon isn’t lost as the ticket prices go down for a view from the gods.
 
It is expensive to see this style of show, especially if you are caught up with the additional expense of programs and merchandise. But if you are going to see one expensive show this year, this one is worth is. Just give the extras a miss and use that money to go and see a few smaller, independent productions as well.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer
Melbourne Theatre Company
7 March 2007
Fairfax Studio, The Arts Centre

I think Ross Mueller is one of the best playwrights around. His structure is flawless, he creates characters and situations that we see in ourselves and our lives, and the emotion he creates resonates in the hearts of his audience. I was thrilled to see the Melbourne Theatre Company commission and present his latest work, The Ghost Writer. I just wish I wasn’t disappointed with the result.

The Ghost Writer had all the marks of a Mueller work. It explores the fictionalisation and sensationalising of other people’s tragedy’s and horrors. His familiar themes are all in place – the complexity of grief, pain and forgiveness, inner city living in Melbourne, writers trying to earn a living and the unimaginable death of a child.

Nonetheless, The Ghost Writer didn’t seem like an authentic Mueller. It felt like there was almost too much effort in the writing. The structure was a bit too perfect and contrived.

Act 2 was especially frustrating. Everyone I spoke to during the interval was predicting the ending and hoping that we were wrong. We weren’t wrong and were given the final clues at the opening of Act 2. There were no surprises. Everything had already been neatly revealed or blatantly stated. The mystery, tension and pace developed in Act 1 were gone.

And, at the end of the day, I wasn’t feeling for these characters. Mueller has written some of the most heartfelt and authentic characters I’ve seen. Everyone in The Ghost Writer was well drawn and delightfully flawed, but they were a step away from believable.

Is this because he is writing for the MTC audience? The MTC audience is not the same audience who goes to independent theatre. They may love this work. It is easy to understand, the overt and latent ghost symbolism is obvious, the story is a bit like that well known Jaiden Leskie murder and it has, the ever lovely and wonderful, John Wood (whose performance is memorable and beautiful.)

The Ghost Writer allows many people get to see Mueller’s work. This is a very good thing. The MTC supporting and commissioning local playwrights is bloody marvellous. I just wish this work was as brave, original and focussed as some of his past works. (Construction of the Human Heart remains my favourite piece of recent theatre.) And I hope that he isn’t alienating his original audience by creating work for this new audience.

This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

Harp on the Willow

Harp on the Willow
Presented by Malcolm Cooke and Ensemble Productions
1 March 2007
Comedy Theatre

Mary O’Hara’s story deserves telling and re-telling. Playwright John Misto spent many years searching for her and was thrilled to be able to beat Hollywood and television to the story. If you prefer an episode of Touched By An Angel to a Six Feet Under, then Harp on the Willow will be an ideal night of theatre for you.

Following the death of her husband and years of success and fame as a singer, O’ Hara entered a convent when she was 25. Completely withdrawing from her life, her family and any contact with the world, she was believed dead. Harp on the Willow enters the story 12 years later. She is still a nun and suffering from clinical depression. The only person close to her says that she “lives without joy and despairs of life”.

What could follow is a work about depression, grief and guilt. As a huge crucified Jesus dominates the stage; I also expected that faith, God and belief would be significant themes. All appear in the script, but are about as significant as religion is to The Sound of Music.

Harp on the Willow is written to entertain; not to challenge, question or confront. Jokes appear almost rhythmically – especially nun jokes. According to the audience, there is nothing funnier than a sex/nun joke – except a nun smoking, of course. The jokes break any tension that was developing and continually remind the audience that this is a piece of safe theatre. The delivery and direction ensure that the actors wait for the beat that allows the audience to laugh. This distracts from the drama and reminded me a bit too much of a bad sit com.

The acting style also drifts to the TV soap/sit com style. Marina Prior and Julie Hudspeth both give engaging and enjoyable performances, but neither were convincing as their characters. Prior’s style jumps from “funny nun” to “distraught woman”, but never allows them to be the same person. O’Hara’s depression is only evident by lines in the script, not by her performance.

In contrast Lucy Maunder, as the young O’Hara, and Christopher Stollery, as the man who releases her pain, both present real characters who are able to touch the hearts and minds of the audience. Stollery was skilfully able to balance the drama and the comedy, without distracting from his character. Maunder was working with scenes that could so easily have turned to melodrama, but was able to turn down the drama and subsequently make the young O’Hara’s grief and pain real.

The highlight of the evening is brief an appearance by the real O’Hara. With the help of slides, she briefly talks about her amazing life after the convent. This allows a very happy ending for the audience and makes the past couple of hours on the stage much more real. She has not read or seen the play – and does not intend to. I really wonder what she would think. As she gave Misto the freedom to dramatise, I also wonder why he didn’t explore the obvious themes more thoroughly.

This review origially appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

The Spook

The Spook
Malthouse Theatre
21 February 2007
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse

The Spook is an ideal choice for the Malthouse’s first production of the year. It’s a gold AWGIE winning script by a well known and respected local playwright. The scenario of a 19 year old spying on the Bendigo Communist Party in the 1950s is filled with the potential for gripping drama, contemporary resonance and side-splitting comedy. Unfortunately, the script and the production do not fulfil this promise.

Playwright Melissa Reeves has a detailed knowledge and astute insight into the social world of socialists and other parties to the left of the ALP. The Spook is filled with references and jokes known to anyone who has ever sold a socialist paper or been to a leftie meeting. She deftly draws parallels between the politics of the 1950s and those of today. Yes - there is still no unity among the left, the middle class still rule the parties and we are still shocked when someone votes for the ALP. But what is her message? Who is this play speaking to? Is it a commentary about small left parties or a story about a young man who made a choice that had tragic consequences?

Described as a black comedy, The Spook fails in both its comedy and its drama. Act One is far too long and is spent describing the many characters, rather than showing us who they are and what makes them tick. Act Two is more interesting, but complicated by the introduction of more offstage and onstage characters who do nothing for the plot, except distract from it.

The script’s monologue and dialogue serve as an accurate and interesting history lesson, but don’t serve the characters or move the story forward. Let characters speak as themselves, rather than give them slabs of unnecessary exposition. Show us what these people are feeling. Feelings are what make us act. We don’t need to know every detail of Kim Philby’s espionage activities to know that our young spook is having doubts about his life and his choices. Show us his real confusion and pain. There was a moment in Act Two that nearly made him real. He says that he hates that his friends think he’s a commie and that he’s too scared to fight in Vietnam. But that was it – no further explanation or exploration. I don’t know if these thoughts had anything to do with his actions.

Despite the well researched design, the stage world was not authentic 1950s country Australia. The audience loved the nostalgic references in both the script and the design, but they were just references. Pick a Box, wigs (many wigs), funny accents and pointy breasts fail to make this production ring true.

The language was so removed from the time that it contradicted every character. Fuck, cunt, wog, slut – words that existed and were used – but were not liberally sprinkled into middle class (or working class) conversation 50 years ago.

Tom Healey is an artist’s director. It is clear that every person on the stage loves being there and loves what they are doing. The design elements always integrate perfectly and he lets the playwright’s script speak exactly how it was written.

Nonetheless, I always feel distanced from what is happening on the stage. I have yet to be engaged by a Healy production. I can see the direction process far too clearly. The actors always seem distanced from their characters. I’m feel like I’ watching actors acting, rather than being drawn into a world with characters who I care about.

Reeves script is clever, well constructed and has moments that work perfectly, but it needs the tough love of a strong director (and script editor) to cut and shape it into a work that tells an emotionally rewarding story that resonates in the hearts and minds of the audience. As it stands, it remains a kind of funny commentary about socialist parties, set amongst the funny wigs and accents of 1950s Bendigo.

After The Spook I wondered if I expect too much from our flagship companies. Then I saw Away at La Mama the next night. Tiny theatre, fraction of the Malthouse budget, a well known work and a less than perfect production - but for 65 minutes I was totally in their world. Melbourne’s independent theatre regularly presents fabulous theatre. I don’t understand why our major companies miss the mark so often.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Maintenance eXplosives and Love (CMXL)

Maintenance eXplosives and Love (CMXL)
26 January 2007
Gasworks Arts Park

Just as one festival ends, another begins in Melbourne. Right now it’s fabulous Midsumma, Melbourne’s gay and lesbian festival. Its fringe style theatre program is small, but intriguing. A highlight is Car Maintenance eXplosives and Love (CMXL).

CMXL premiered in Melbourne in 1996 and has since travelled to the Adelaide Fringe, Sydney Mardi Gras and had seasons in Brisbane, Tasmania, London, Edinburgh and regional Britain. The 2006 version is dynamic and fresh and, unfortunately, most of the content is more relevant today than when it was written. Would someone choose to write about homemade explosives today?

Like all good scripts, CMXL is about sex, violence and relationships. What makes this script stand out from the rest is its focus on choice and opportunity. What do you do when your girlfriend and her mates pontificate about changing the world (and your house)? You could use your Box Hill TAFE education in explosives or you could resort to the same violence that was simply part of your life growing up. Or you could do nothing. Action or inaction? Will either resolve the problem?

It is written and performed by Donna Jackson. Donna is best known as the founder of the Women’s Circus in Footscray. Her irresistible performance combines circus, monologue, comedy and dance. With direct interaction, she completely draws the audience into her world. The love story becomes predictable at times, but is textured with enough surprises that it doesn’t matter.

Good choreography makes use of every part of the large stage and she combines circus skills seamlessly into her storytelling. One aerial rope sequences depicts the emotion of first seduction perfectly and beautifully. This is a script that knows when to tell a story and when to show us what the character is feeling.

CMXL is on at Gasworks Arts in Albert Park. Gasworks has quickly established itself as a festival venue. It is celebrating Midsumma by becoming a hub of bent arts activities, with a specific focus on lesbian performance. This is a venue that understands that theatre is more than just seeing a “play”. Head along for exhibitions, fun staff, cheap cocktails and a place to sit, chat, flirt, praise and deconstruct.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Charles Dickens performs A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens performs A Christmas Carol
Eagles Nest Theatre
December 2006
Carlton Courthouse

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through The Courthouse
There was room for no more, not even a mouse.
The people had gathered for a great Christmas tale
Zachariah’s Dickens proved too good to fail.

The Eagle’s Nest Theatre’s production of Charles Dickens performs A Christmas Carol should be on everyone’s holiday list next year.
I admit I was hesitant to see a solo reading of a clichéd tale. However I stand totally corrected and could not have been more wrong. The night was as perfect as Mrs Cratchett’s pudding.

Over 150 years ago Charles Dickens gave solo readings of his own works. Accounts of the time attest that they were theatrical events with Dickens performing every role to perfection. Under the strong direction of James Adler, Phil Zachariah has channelled the spirit of Dickens and created one of the most engaging, powerful and suspenseful nights of theatrical story telling.

The audience were not the usual La Mama/Courthouse crowd. These were people who wanted to see this play and this story. When I arrived, there were already disappointed people being turned away. Those who made it in were more used to the comfort of The Arts Centre and quite disturbed by the crowded and hot Courthouse. However within five minutes of starting, every member of the audience was transfixed.

This was due to the outstanding performance of Zachariah, and the outstanding writing of Dickens. There is a reason this is one of the most re-told tales. The original story is filled with surprises and complexities that are missing from most modern versions. It’s so much more than a parable about the value of people over money. Scrooge is forced to see his on life from an outside perspective. This is, of course, an irresistible yet terrifying prospect. Dickens tells us that own lives and experiences contain the answer to all our questions– if we look in the right places.

Hopefully this crowd may be brave enough to return to the Courthouse to see more independent productions, and hopefully, the venues that this crowd usually visit will grab this unforgettable production for next December and allow it to be seen by many more people.

This review originally appeared on AussieThearte.com.

Short and Sweet 2006 Week 3 Top 10

Short and Sweet 2006 Week 3 Top 10
14 December 2006
The Arts Centre, Fairfax Theatre


Week three of Short and Sweet 2006 continues to surprise and show us of the intelligence, talent, originality and sheer guts of Melbourne’s theatre community.

This week’s top ten was not as strong as week one (sadly I had to miss week two), but the best pieces balanced out the weaker works and it was still a night to remind us how amazing a simple, well written, well directed, well performed play can be.

Many of this week’s plays were about issues of intolerance. These were the weakest works of the night. It is stories about complex people that make us care. These people can and should reflect the issues – but the issue should never be more important than the character and their journey. The most successful plays of the night were the ones about the quest for love. Does our dislike of conservatism ever overcome our desire for love and happiness?

Life as a Springer Show
The “Jerry Springer” host asks the audience to choose what happens to the non-descript latte drinking characters. We are given three options at appropriate places in the script. But this isn’t impro, so there is never the danger inherent in giving your audience some control. It would have worked much better if the characters actually cared about the scenarios given to them by the audience. A man reveals that he accidentally had sex with his mother the day before, but it worried him about as much as having low fat milk instead of no fat milk in his coffee. The outrageous revelations chosen by the audience had no impact on the characters or consequences to the rest of the story. So – we laughed – but we never cared what happened to them.

Terror Nullius
A couple dream that their unborn child has to undergo a test for its “aussie” values (just like anyone else who wants to enter and live in this country may soon have to do). It’s a great satirical joke which would have extended to a hilarious sketch, but it is not an interesting and dramatic ten minute story.

David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh and the Beard of Michael Rogers
Well staged and well performed, but a terribly predictable outcome and a script that got caught up in preaching about issues rather then telling a good story – and it was a good story. This was another work about conservative values in our society and their destructive consequences. Instead of painting such a black and white picture of us/young = right: them/old = wrong, I’d be much more interested in seeing the grey in between.

Billy Windlock
This was the first one person show I’ve seen in the festival. It was another play about intolerance, but this one told us an original and believable story that we cared about. The onstage and offstage characters were completely real and it evoked the sense of small town so well. My only concern is that it became the offstage character’s story, rather than the story of the woman talking to us from the stage. She’s so hurt and so angry that we want to know more about her. Your heart breaks for off stage Billy, but the audience’s empathy and sympathy is for the woman on the stage.

War Poems
Evocative, mysterious and beautifully staged. Two original, well presented characters, but they seemed to get lost in the dialogue and we were never sure whose story was being told. Whose journey was completed because of their meeting?

Uncomfortable Silences
This is what short play writing is all about. Our protagonist faces an obstacle and decision that is going to change his life. He is going to tell his best friend that he loves her and he knows he will lose the best friend he ever had – no matter how she reacts. He shows us their past interactions, but it is always his story, we are never confused by her story. His feelings resonate with everyone watching and we really care what happens to him. Directed, designed and performed to thoroughly engage and entertain us. This is one of my favourites of the festival.

Islands of the Good and Bad
Back to intolerance and racism. Characters created around (stereo) typical attitudes, rather than people who have these attitudes. This young girl had an amazing story to tell us, but we needed to get beyond the “racism is bad” message to empathise and care about her.

You Make Me
Well performed and a script that initially created mystery. We were very curious to know who the woman outside was, but lost interest when we knew she was being made up. As one character wasn’t real, we couldn’t hope for a future between them.

Sleepless Night
This was the second highlight of the night and some of the best writing I’ve seen in a short format. A complex, original and thoroughly engaging story, which never fell into the predictable and created empathy and emotion for everyone watching it. The supporting characters were brilliant, but never let us forget whose story we were watching. I’d vote it the best directed work of the festival so far, and maybe even the best ensemble cast.

Paradise
It wasn’t the best thing ever written, but it certainly made us laugh. Great performances, great jokes and the best curtain call of the festival.

Short and Sweet 2006 Week 1

Short and Sweet 2006 Week One Top 10
29 November 2006
The Arts Centre, Fairfax Theatre

Forget the big shows that are on at the moment, the best night of theatre in Melbourne for the next couple of weeks is at the Short and Sweet 2006 festival at The Arts Centre.
 
From over 800 entries, 60 short plays have been selected, which are presented in three weekly programs. Each week has a top ten running nightly and a Saturday afternoon ten play “wildcard” session. Of the 60 plays, ten are chosen by the audience and a professional judging panel to complete in the final.
 
With so many outstanding writers, directors and actors involved in the program, I can’t begin to name everyone, but must give suitable cheers and accolades to Carla Hartog and Alex Broun from the Arts Centre program team for creating and producing this positive, supportive and exciting program. Short and Sweet proves the abundance of original and well written work that is being created, whilst showcasing so many of Melbourne’s independent and emerging directors and actors. It’s fabulous.

Week One Top Ten

Memoirs
Beautiful, captivating physical theatre that proves you don’t need words to create emotion and capture an audience’s heart. (And choreographically – it does for couches what Fosse did for chairs.)

The 11 O’Clock
Wit and word play worthy of Shaw. A psychiatrist treats a patient who thinks he is a psychiatrist.

Moving Fast
What happens when you come home from getting milk and your unemployed husband has decided to convert to Islam, claim his aboriginal heritage and stage a political coupe? Absurdism is alive and well, but it would have benefited by a clear decision about whose story it is telling – his or hers?

When We Fall
Slow to develop, but worth the wait. “An angel is floating in front of me and waiting to fall.” Poetic without sounding contrived, with direction that allows us to care about each character, whilst slowly revealing their tragic connection.

The Emotional Anatomy of a Relationship Breakdown
Undoubtedly and deservedly the crowd favourite of the night. Standard dumper and dumpee story made complex and compelling by having six actors represent different facets of the two characters. This enabled a unique and complex picture of the each person, which was supported by a simple, yet perfect design, very tight direction and an excellent cast.

Relics
This one just got better as it went along. Three of the most unlikely characters create genuine tension, mystery and surprises.

Charlie
Nice characters, well performed, but was too dependent on its offstage story and needed more of an onstage story to create the empathy needed with each character.

Eight Gen X Women
I’m too young to be a baby boomer and too old to be Gen X, but nothing ever changes about women talking about love, sex, men and babies. This was material that could have so easily been clichéd and boring, but it maintained a sense of humour and relevance and didn’t allow its characters to slip into stereotypes.

Jack Rabbit
Good performances and well written characters, but the writing seemed to concentrate too much on showing the similarities between the disparate group, rather than telling an engaging story about them.

Spring Session
Simply a funny, cleaver and original piece about Canberra, politics, picking up, work and dogs. (directed by Yvonne Virsik.)

Week One Wildcards

Miracleman – 1956
Possibly the most original staging I’ve seen in along time, but it didn’t work a venue with an audience on either side. A very funny and cleaver work about a 1956 comic book hero, but the staging didn’t allow for clear story telling and we never really got to know the characters. Right venue and a bit of a re-work will make this a winner.

Bound for Jerez
I really liked the concept of showing a woman’s changing perceptions from her latter years backwards to her to teens; each presented by a different actor. What didn’t work was telling the audience the end of her story in the first scene. We know that she never achieves her dreams, so are never allowed to hope for her on her backward journey. The writing also seemed to just be about women reacting to men. Of course, most writing is about relationships, but characters become more real when they are given a broader spectrum of experiences.

Black Dog
Well performed, with a surprising and fabulous twist. This piece shows the shame of depression and its external control on the sufferer. Where it did suffer was its concentration on the topic. It was a play about depression, rather than a play about Melanie – who suffered from depression. It needs to be her unique story to create the emotional impact that this work should have.

Is His Hers
Another physical theatre piece, with highly creative and engaging choreography that takes us on an exploration of what lies under the flannelette shirts of the ‘burbs.

North by East of Eden
Actors Studio versus Hitchcock……. What could have happened if James Dean had been cast by Alfred Hitchcock? It’s a great scenario and it a well written work, but the audience’s knowledge of the characters made it difficult to fully enjoy. In the end it wasn’t more than a set up for the final joke – which was funny – but could have been anyone – not specifically Dean and Hitchcock.

Mirrors and Smoke
Two actors face each other in a mirror. They are the same woman twenty years apart. This was another one that I really wanted to work, but it suffered the same problem as Bound for Jerez – we knew the end of her story, so how could we care what happened to her at the beginning? The flashback to her early marriage didn’t reveal anything new or offer any surprises.

Full Spectrum
Another work about women, but - finally - one not just about their relationships with men. Three women of very different incomes and “social standings” experience the loss of work. Written to show their changing expectations and show the unexpected similarity between having your AMEX declined and being forced into a homeless shelter. The direction allowed us to understand and care about each woman, without judging their lives or their choices. The writer also knows that drama comes when your characters face serious challenges and make unexpected choices. (Directed by Christina Cass.)

The Entrepreneur
Non-stop laughs, with broadly drawn characters that could easily appear on Kath and Kim. It would not have worked so well if the characters were not taken to the comedic extreme. The ending should have stopped at the punch line - the explanation of the final ironic joke (what was in the bag) wasn’t needed.

Celebrity is the New Bleak
One of the most original concepts I’ve seen. Magazines personified. It could have gone so wrong, but it went so right. Pure fun, topical, relevant to right now and the best plastic wrap joke ever.

Paradise Can
Acapella, pirates, bananas and disease! Another delightfully enjoyable and totally absurd work by another writer who understands that you have to do bad things to the characters you love in order to make good drama.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Story about Platform Youth Thearte

Story about Platform Youth Thearte

In the quest for aesthetic originality and perfect expression, it is easy to forget what powerful theatre is really about. An afternoon in the Platform Youth Theatre office reminds me that the best theatre tells an authentic story that is challenging, empowering and liberating.

Based in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Platform was formed in 1988. The company’s inclusive creative development and management model has made it a leader in the national youth arts sector.

With a motto of “Act Up: Speak Out”, the company welcomes and acknowledges the diverse ideals, values and creative talents of people aged 16 to 26. There are currently over 70 Platform members.

There is no audition process and the company aims to removes barriers that challenge anyone coping with physical and/or socio-economic disadvantages from taking part. No one is turned away and everyone finds their place.

With a program that includes mentoring, workshops and performances; skills development extends beyond acting. Writing and technical theatre are especially cultivated and over half of the company’s governing board consists of people under 26.

Platform’s original performance works are created though workshops. The young participants lead the creative decision making, under the guidance of professional directors, writers and designers. This collaborative process and ongoing community research ensures relevant content and authentic opinions are expressed.

Platform’s 2007 season started with The Golem of Rucker’s Hill, the final presentation of the Five Colours of Fear project, based on the colours of the USA Terror Code Alert System. Their next major project addresses gender issues.