Short and Sweet 08 Week 2 Indepedendent Theatre Ensembles

Short and Sweet 2008 Week 2 Indepedendent Theatre Ensembles
10 December 2008
The Arts Centre, Fairfax Theatre

After a week of stewed tea and too much supermarket White Christmas, Short and Sweet Week Two is like a fresh espresso and a homemade chocolate ganache tart.
 
There’s a rumour floating around that the Independent Theatre section of Short and Sweet is going to be removed. NO! This week’s selection sent the program flying back up to inspiring, dizzying heights.
 
This selection of short plays was not about writers proving their vocab, but about using theatre to tell us wonderful tales. They filled the whole space with movement, dance, music, sound and design to tell their dramatic, intriguing and unique stories. Words are one of the greatest things ever invented, but theatre is not just about words.
 
After the Tower
The Town Bikes are always super-fab, and it would seem that they’ve found the ideal director in Maude Davey. From their arse-talking entry to the collapsing of the Rapunzel’s long hair, the Brothers Grimm would be thrilled to see such a delightfully-dark telling of this story.
 
Grimm
The brothers G may well be dancing an after-life jig, because Company 13 were also inspired by a fairy tale - the one about Snow White and her mum. With pig noses, an accordion and song, this was a most original telling and interpretation.
 
Bodybag
The afterlife is always a very popular Short and Sweet theme. Itch Productions explored the celebrity death, with Marilyn Monroe visiting a nearly-famous actor who is “dying to be an icon”. Does he choose a posthumous Oscar or a sad career?
 
Last Drinks
Telia Neville (interior theatre) continues her fascinating exploration of the everyday. Without words or sound, five characters repeat what looks like a meeting at a bar. As the audience find their own meaning in the repetition, words and sound are added to give us a better picture - but all we hear are their thoughts. Telling it from a different perspective makes the most mundane situation an irresistible tale.
 
Morbid Porn
Sexy and just a little bit morbid, Skite Vikingr tell a story of love, lust, desire and rejection that fluidly links performer and puppet.
 
6 Hours Later
Hilarious, engaging, beautiful - watching Born in a Taxi is as wonderful as watching a litter of excited kittens explore a new room.
 
Tinsel Town
Split Second’s murder, mystery and horror story started funny and got funnier. From the Shelley’s chatting after dinner to Dracula floating on skates - and all with live sound FX. Why use a digital file when you can have a bloke breaking plates and blowing bubbles in a glass.
 
Tea for Two
Dislocate’s story is black, funny and brilliant. From stillness to did-they-really-just-do-that acrobatics, this is the kind of theatre you can’t look away from.
 
Finding Your Place
The Hounds kept us laughing (so that’s how a dishwasher moves), but the telling wasn’t clear. Now I’ve read the program, I see that it’s about Alzheimer’s – which I didn’t get when I watching it. I thought it was about writers who love the safety of their own fiction.
 
Match
Penelope Bartlau’s Barking Spider Visual Theatre wonderfully and literally construct a malleable universe. The two characters try to sort out their own relationship, while creating a small and messy parallel world from lumps of clay. This is great stuff.

This review originally appeard on AussieTheatre.com.

Zoetrope

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2008

Zoetrope
interior thearte
26 September 2008
Festival Club, Arts House

Forget the rides at the Melbourne show, and jump on the Zoetrope at the Fringe Club.

Zoetrope is an experience, not just a performance. Creator Telia Nevile is determined to make audiences a much more integral and interactive part of the theatrical experience, because “the give and take of energy and emotion is what gives theatre its incredible buzz.”

Closed into a white picket fence enclose, her audience have to chat, communicate and move – just to fit everyone in.

Nevile and dancer Emily Amisano jump into the ride and the trip begins. Inspired by the smallest moments in daily life, they present identifiable glimpses of love, banality, boredom, passion and crudity – each tripping and effortlessly blending into each other.

As the performance happens outside of the enclosure, the assembled group juggle positions and taller folk happily squat and move, so that everyone can see the Zoetrope whimsy. The reactions of the assembled audience, and curious onlookers, are as much a part of the show as are the performers. “It’s exciting to make a show that pushes you as a maker and a performer, and it’s wonderful to watch how the audience reacts to it each night,” says Neville.

Now, it is possible to watch Zoetrope for free in the Fringe Club - but it’s like watching a roller coaster – you have no idea what it feels like unless you give it a go.

It’s only $5 for a spin (as much as beer) - and you’ll come away with a pretty cool better buzz, without any risk of hangover.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Penny Machinations

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2006
Penny Machinations
interior theatre
30 September 2006
Fringe Festival Club, Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall

Grab your spare coins and head to the Fringe club for Penny Machinations. At $2, it’s cheaper than a beer. But, be warned, one show is not enough and you might find yourself scouring your pockets for enough change to get another hit.

Penny Machinations deservedly won the “Outstanding Special Event” award at the 2005 Melbourne Fringe. Back with new shows, the North Melbourne Town Hall stage has been transformed into an inviting pastel sideshow alley, with an array of mysterious private-viewing tents.

What I love about this Fringe is that so many companies are making theatre an active experience. It’s not just sitting in a dark room and watching. The Penny Machinations experience is about facing the unknown and the intimacy of voyeurism. The maximum audience is three. You cannot be passive and you have to make some choices.

Developed by Telia Nevile and Matt Kelly, Penny Machinations is a unique and clever concept that takes the sideshow alley to a much more interesting level. There are no freaks (well, not too many) and no short, boring narratives. Shows are impressions of experiences - kind of an intimate surrealism.

Friday and Saturday nights have different programs and no show is ever the same. If you don’t like your first choice, it's only $2 for another one. The spruikers can guide you– let them know if you’re in mood for drama, comedy, dance or simply the shortest queue. You may be in one of the sideshow tents, find yourself wandering the Town Hall or even get a ride in the Barina of Mystery (chose the Director’s Commentary version).

The arcade is open from 8pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s is a perfect way to use your in between show time, or better still – take along $20 and spend a couple of hours experiencing all of the unknown and unique delights of Penny Machinations.


This review originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.