What Melbourne loved in 2016, part 11

Today's group of wonderful people are reviewer Tim Byrne, playwright Katy Warner and Neddwellyn Jones from La Mama.

And another day in which I regret missing Animal (to be fair, I wasn't in the country). This show has to have another season.

Tim Byrne
arts writer, reviewer

Tim Byrne. Photo by Chris Boyd

TB's favourite moments in Melbourne theatre in 2016: The best assumptions to burst are the ones you hold about yourself. This year I burst an assumption I’ve held all my life: that I’m not really into traditional ballet. Australian Ballet’s first ever production of Nijinsky was undoubtedly superb, an intense and sustained masterpiece, but my most treasured moment in a theatre this year was under the spell of the Houston Ballet as they performed an impeccably danced, utterly rousing, muscular and deeply moving Romeo and Juliet. It was thrilling, and opened me to a form I’d dismissed as fusty and moribund.

What TB is looking forward to in 2017: I’ve been hopelessly slack with tracking upcoming programs, but I am off to Adelaide to see Thomas Ostermeier’s Richard III, which should prove interesting, given his electric Hedda Gabler here a couple of years ago for Melbourne Festival. But mostly I’m hoping to discover a new and unexpected love, something that opens me to forms I’ve never considered. Because that’s really the point of art, isn’t it?

SM: Tim's another reviewer who sees so much more than he's able to write about. I read his reviews even when I haven't seen the show.because they are a great read and they always show me something about the show or artist that I hadn't seen before. But my favourite moment with Tim this year was his talk with Stan Grant (about his book Talking to my Country) on a stupidly hot and still February night in a church hall in Albert Park. The room was fringed with boxes of second-hand stuff for a fete and Tim asked the perfect questions to let Stan tell his story.

Katy Warner
playwright

Katy Warner

KW's favourite moments in Melbourne theatre in 2016: I think I was hidden in a bubble of first drafts and deadlines this year and did not get to see as much as I wanted. I could name a couple of favourite missed moments. Like Animal. I am kicking myself for missing Animal.

This year I was fortunate enough to catch Jack Charles vs. The Crown after missing it the first time around. Uncle Jack makes it all look so effortless. What an incredible human. This was poignant, vital storytelling.

Loved Gonzo for its form, risk and performances. Plus, the discussions it generated in the foyer, and at work the next day.

OUR land people stories from Bangarra Dance Theatre. Jasmin Sheppard's choreography and David Page's music for MACQ was incredibly powerful.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (Melbourne Festival) made me laugh and cry and sing and I just adored it.

Blaque Showgirls created some unforgettable moments, costumes, performances – satire at its best.

What KW is looking forward to in 2017: An Austrian-esque swing to the left across the world.

And pretty much everything in the Malthouse and Theatre Works seasons, the Yirramboi First Nations Arts Festival, the new Australian writing on show at Red Stitch Theatre and, for families at Arts Centre Melbourne, Luke Kerridge's Bambert's Book of Lost Stories (just the trailer makes me teary).

katywarner.com

SM: Katy wrote and directed A Prudent Man at Melbourne Fringe. There's plenty of easy and average satire about elected right-wing politicians around; what made this stand out was how it made the audience begin to not like but listen to, and even care, about a selfish conservative middle-aged straight white man in a suit. This is another show that I really hope gets a return season.

PS: Maxim Boon sent me a message yesterday because he couldn't believe he'd not mentioned A Prudent Man in part 10; it's been added.

Neddwellyn Jones 
La Mama Theatre

Neddwellyn Jones 

NJ's favourite moments in Melbourne theatre in 2016: The moment that stayed with me the most in 2016, was in the minutes following the opening of Animal (influx) at Theatre Works in November.

Following one of the most powerful and affecting productions of the year, we all joined in for three heavy rounds of applause. None of us in the audience, all fairly seasoned theatregoers, seemed to want to stop clapping. When we finally did, we sat there, as a group, united in silence and awe at what had just unfolded. No one dared to speak for at least a minute, and it felt like an eternity before anyone left their seat... and it felt like a reaction that came as close as it could to doing the work justice.

What NJ is looking forward to in 2017: In 2017, I cannot wait to check out the inaugural Asia TOPA Festival in February and March, which will provide an unprecedented opportunity for Melbourne audiences to celebrate the rich and wonderful contemporary arts and culture on offer from our close neighbours in Asia.

La Mama’s 50th Anniversary will also provide undeniable highlights, the stand-out being a month long festival in July with some of Australia’s most talented and celebrated writers, directors, designers and performers returning "home".

And lastly - if someone out there is listening to the word on the street  and were to program Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree for a Melbourne season, I dare say the chances of it being included in this same column in 12 months time would be extremely high!

SM: Another easy one: Every time Nedd changes ticket dates for me or squeezes me into a show on very short notice.

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part 6
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part 9
part 10
2014
2013
2012

Mini review: Coranderrk at Coranderrk

Coranderrk: We Will Show The Country
La Mama
at Coranderrk
21 February 2016
coranderrk.com
minutesofevidence.com.au

The sun setting at Coranderrk at Coranderrk

Coranderrk: We Will Show The Country was developed by La Mama and Ilbijerri and first seen at La Mama in 2010. It's a verbatim-theatre collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations and artists about the 1881 Victorian Parliamentary Coranderrk Inquiry into the management of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve, near Healsville in the Yarra Valley.

The production has toured – I saw it in 2011 – and on Sunday 21 February, it was presented for the first time on country at Coranderrk.

This isn't a show that needs another review – there are plenty.

It was an honour to be there among descendants and families and to hear the voices of the past come to life at the same place they were spoken 135 years ago.

From the Welcome to Country that didn't need a smoking ceremony because everyone who was there had stomped away any bad spirits to looking at photos and realising they were taken at the house I could see from where I was sitting, this production continues to ensure that that Coranderrk's story won't be lost and now belongs to everyone who sees it.

What Melbourne loved in 2013, part 10

Today, it's a Choir Girl reunion with writer and performer Sarah Collins, director Celeste Cody and head choir girl Chrissie Robinson. This year, they went to Adelaide, added new shows at the comedy festival and were invited to the Darwin Arts Festival where Choir Girl was followed by Jack Charles Versus the Crown. Best double feature I can imagine.

Celeste Cody

director

CELESTE: This year I headed to the top end to be part of the Darwin Arts Festival (Choir Girl). Beyond being an incredible experience in itself, we were also lucky enough to share the stage with the amazing Uncle Jack. His show Jack Charles Versus the Crown was one of my favourite ever theatre experiences. 

The show was slick, engaging, enlightening, hilarious and heart-wrenching. Jack, Rachel and the team have created a brilliant show and I am excited to hear how it goes in the UK.

I also had a ball at Psycho Beach Party and The Sovereign Wife. Both shows said a lot in devious ways.

I'm heading to Sydney  to catch Summertime in the Garden of Eden at Griffin. I'm sure that it will deserve a place on my list. I loved it in the shed, so I'm sure I'll love it on the Griffin stage.

SM: Celeste hasn't directed anything new this year, but seeing Choir Girl move from the Melbourne Fringe to the Adelaide Fringe to having to add shows at the comedy festival and be invited to an arts festival was exciting. As was seeing full houses at Short and Sweet Theatre, which Celeste directed.

Sarah Collins
writer, performer

SARAH: I was lucky enough to see Punch Drunk's Sleep No More in NYC. To even start to describe it would be doing it a severe dishonour, as when someone described it to me I was all. "Yeah yeah, ex-nightclub in Chelsea converted into a fake hotel for a site specific re-telling of Macbeth ... been done a million times before ... yawn."

Nearly a year later, I still can't really fathom what I saw and experienced or how it was pulled off.

Having said that I didn't really connect with it or find my world had been turned upside down by it, but I don't think that was the point.

When my husband and I found each other at the end of the night, it was like we'd been to two different plays. "Wasn't the ball in the banquet hall amazing?!" "There was a ball?" and "I loved when the phone started ringing at the hotel reception and that weird lady wouldn't let the doorman answer the phone" "What weird lady? Hang on, there was a hotel reception?!" It was then that I realised how epic and detailed the show was. If I could go back again ten times it still would not be enough – a completely different experience every time.

Locally, I was really impressed with the musical Flower Children: The Mamas and Papas Story (Magnormos). I went on about it to everyone I knew and I still find myself thinking about it, hoping it goes further.

As someone with family members who have written a musical (my relatives Albert Arlen and Nancy Brown wrote the 1960's Australian musical The Sentimental Bloke), part of my family's aural history is how hard it is to get one written – let alone up. I can only imagine the time, money and tears that went into making the show a reality. I thought Peter Fitzpatrick did such a terrific job.  It was inspiring to see someone complete a project of this scale after an already incredible lifetime in the industry.

I also saw the amazing Indonesian pop group White Shoes at the Couples Company at the Darwin Festival. I didn't know who they were at the time though! I was wandering around the gardens and there was this amazing music coming from the small stage near the food tents with a front woman who totally blew me away. It was like watching performers from another time – totally incredible!

The rest of the audience were eating dinner, chatting and sometimes looking at the band.  I couldn't form sentences, I was so mesmerised by their lead singer, she was doing so little but it was so powerful, she was amazing; a total masterclass in performance!

Her presence was more theatrical than some theatre I've seen. I assumed they were a local Darwin band and I thought, "Damn! I really hope the rest of Australia gets to see these guys sometime!". They finished their set and sat down on the grass beside me to eat dinner and I wanted to tell them they were amazing but got shy.

Right after I got back to Melbourne I saw them written up in a magazine and it turned out they were in Darwin because they are touring around the world. Total forehead smacking moment. Anyway, I think everyone should watch this clip to see their amazing lead singer Miss Sari perform! Oh the subtlety!



What Sarah's looking forward to in 2014 at issimomag.com.

SM: My favourite moment was Through Their Eyes, the show that Sarah developed with Barking Spider Visual Theatre for the newly-renovated Hawthorn Arts Centre (town hall). She interviewed long-term Boroondara residents and let them tell their stories in their own voices. Sometimes writing is listening. With Penelope Bartlau's delicately simple puppetry, it was moving and heartfelt and a work that would have meant so much to the people who told their stories.

And the pina colada cake. I will dream about that cake and it's non-organic glitter.

Chrissie Robinson
performer

Photo by Oli Sansom

CHRISSIE: I had the fortune of sharing a very crowded dressing room with Tommy Bradson during 2012, and since then have become pretty enamoured of his work. During MICF this year, I attended Sweet Sixteen, or, The Birthday Party Massacre at Northcote Town Hall, and was, again, blown away by Bradson’s work.

In this vitally grotesque, riotous and still profoundly bittersweet parade of caricatures, Bradson’s part-poetry, part-drag, part-song and thorough hooley-dooley eclipsed any Sweet Sixteen I ever attended.

SM: I've loved Chrissie (and the whole choir) every time I saw Choir Girl, but my moment is this photo.

I discovered that what really makes me smile is a child holding a lizard. Chrissie tells me that the lizard is still alive; we are all waiting for the re-creation photo.

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Part 17

2012 part 1, with links to the rest

Review: Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country

Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country
Ilbijerri, the Minutes of Evidence Project and La Mama
18 November 2011
La Mama Courthouse Theatre
to 27 November
www.lamama.com.au

Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country lets past voices be heard as Ilbijerri and La Mama continue to tell stories that we need to know and to share.

Telling a story that is so important to many Victorians, and with Liz Jones, Melodie Reynolds, Jack Charles, Greg Fryer, Jim Daly, Peter Finlay, Glenn Shea, Tom Long and Syd Brisbane as the cast, Coranderrk was sold out before it opened – but there's a waiting list and fortune favours those who take a chance.

Until now, I didn't know about Coranderrk. In 1863 near Healesville, the Coranderrk station was established as an 'Aboriginal Reserve'  by the surviving members of displaced Kulin clans. Working with a European lay-preacher, John Green, Coranderrk developed into a self-supporting farm community and welcomed members of other displaced clans. By 1877, the land had become valuable to the surrounding farmers and Board for the Protection of Aborigines dismissed Green as manager.

With conditions deteriorating and the threat of being displaced again, the men and women of Coranderrk began a protest that included letter writing, petitions and deputations to see the Chief Minister in Melbourne. As a result, in 1881 a parliamentary inquiry was established.

Like My Name is Rachel Corrie (from the diary and emails of an American student killed at Gaza) and the recent MIAF Aftermath (from interviews with Iraqi refugees), verbatim theatre explores history and events by using the voices of those who were there. Coranderrk is a verbatim reading of the Minutes of Evidence of the inquiry.

Writers Andrea James and Giordano Nanni started with the 140-page document and present the evidence of 19 (of the 69) witnesses. The story is painful and hopeful, but its heart and power is hearing the lost voices of people like William Barack, Robert Wandon, Ann Fraser Bon and John Green. Sometimes our names are all we leaveThe final reading of the names signed on the original petition is one of the most moving moments of theatre this year.

Less than a re-creation and more than a reading, the characterisations confirm where our sympathies should lie. Given the honesty of the recorded words, there may be more strength is letting the audience make their own decisions. People who do things we find abhorrent believe that they are doing the right thing, and I would like to have seen more of the humanity in the choices if every character.

However, nothing can distract from this story and by letting it be told, Coranderrk and its people are taken out of forgotten history documents and become a living part of all our stories.

Get on the waiting list.

This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Photo by Steven Rhall

Review: Jack Charles V The Crown

MIAF 2010

Jack Charles V The Crown

Ilbijerri Theatre Company

Melbourne International Arts Festival

13 October 2010

the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio

to 17 October

www.melbournefestival.com.au

Jack Charles V The Crown opens with a film of Jack injecting himself with heroin. His isn't a story with secrets.  Nor is it about addiction and relief. It's a story about hope and understanding told with heart and cheekiness. It's Jack's story, and now it's ours.

As the film is shown, Jack sits at pottery wheel making a vase. He ran the pottery shop at the Castlemaine Gaol, where he learnt to teach, and he reminds us that clay is land and that Bunjil the eagle made humanity from clay. It's also a story about identity and belonging.

Although he appeared on our screens and stages in the 70s, Jack Charles become best known after the documentary Bastardy was released in cinemas and shown on the ABC. I was at the first Melbourne International Film Festival screening in 2008 and where I was reminded how that medium of storytelling can change lives and attitudes. 

With director Rachael Maza Long and writer John Romeril helping to bring his story into the personal world of the theatre, Jack tells stories not included in Bastardy and the impact of being in the public eye. After the film, people talked to him on the streets and photos and friends appeared from his childhood, including the daughter of workers from the Box Hill Boys Home who was Jack's inseparable friend 56 years ago.

In the boys home, Jack grew up thinking that the Queen was his mum and had no link with his Aboriginal family until, as a teenager, he took a tram to the corner of Gertrude and Brunswick streets, was recognised and sat in a pub talking to people who knew where he was from. This act led to his first incarceration as his foster mother didn't approve and Jack was sent to the young offenders home.

Jack reminds his audience that to feel vulnerable is a terrible thing and, as a stolen person, he apologises to the people he stole from.  Jack was stolen from his mother when he was four months old. As a society we talk about the stolen generation with reverent tones, but it doesn't take long to hear voices saying that that it's time we got over it. Babies were ripped from arms of their mothers. I don't know how that pain can ever heal. Many of those babies are still with us and maybe the tiny way we can help is by listening to their stories and making their stories part of all our lives.

This review appears on AussieTheatre.com.

Photo by Bindi Cole