Midsumma
Fuck Fabulous
Arts Centre Melbourne in association with Fat Fruit
Fairfax Studio
21 April 20210
to 2 May
artscentremelbourne.com.au
 |
| Fuck Fubulous |
My review is in Witness Performance.
(Apologies for not posting it ages ago.)
Mostly Melbourne theatre reviews
Showing posts with label midsumma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midsumma. Show all posts
04 June 2021
Review: Fuck Fabulous
08 February 2019
MIDSUMMA: Michael and the Mascs
MIDSUMMA
Michael and The Mascs: My Vanity Project
Michael Lindner and The Mascs
6 February 2019
Gasworks Arts Park
to 9 February
midsumma.org.au
It's not a review rather than a bells-on recommendation for a show that finishes on Saturday.
Michael Linder has been working in musicals and cabaret all over the place since the early 90s, but he's never done a gig.
So it's time to grab a four-piece masc band and fix that. It's also time to sing the songs that he grew up listening to – 1950s and 60s women – and to celebrate the 1970s and 80s kid who pretended to be Ann Margret and Sleeping Beauty, and has never stopped loving Cyndi Lauper.
It's awesome to see artists settle into their true voices and know that making the art that feels right for you is always going to reach the hearts of your audiences.
PS. If you're a Grace of My Heart fan, you have to go.
Michael and The Mascs: My Vanity Project
Michael Lindner and The Mascs
6 February 2019
Gasworks Arts Park
to 9 February
midsumma.org.au
 |
| Michael Lindner |
It's not a review rather than a bells-on recommendation for a show that finishes on Saturday.
Michael Linder has been working in musicals and cabaret all over the place since the early 90s, but he's never done a gig.
So it's time to grab a four-piece masc band and fix that. It's also time to sing the songs that he grew up listening to – 1950s and 60s women – and to celebrate the 1970s and 80s kid who pretended to be Ann Margret and Sleeping Beauty, and has never stopped loving Cyndi Lauper.
It's awesome to see artists settle into their true voices and know that making the art that feels right for you is always going to reach the hearts of your audiences.
PS. If you're a Grace of My Heart fan, you have to go.
31 January 2019
MIDSUMMA: The Butch Monologues
MIDSUMMA
The Butch Monologues
Theatre Works and Stage Mom
28 January 2019
Theatre Works
to 3 February
theatreworks.org.au
I'm still getting my heart around The Butch Monologues.
Butches, masculine women, transmen and gender rebels tell the collected stories of others who identify as butch. There are about 50 short stories in each performance. They have been collected since 2013 by director Julie McNamara (Mac) and writer Laura Bridgeman (Doc), and are from the UK, Europe, USA and Caribbean. Some from Australia will be added after their visits to Melbourne and to Sydney.
They are stories we don't see on our stages, on our tvs, in our books. And if we do, they are peeping in from the edges of the story and rarely seen saving the day or are being fought over for love.
Each city it comes to has a new cast and no one tells their own story. Melbourne sees Fiona Jones, Anne Harris (Dan), Quinn Eades, Jax Jacki Brown and Jacques De Vere, along with Mac and Doc. And there's nothing hotter than people being their authentic selves.
I've said the word "butch" more in the last few days than I've ever said it because it used to be such an insult. In the late 1980s, "butch" was so insulting that butch women were called "trucks" in the club I went to every Sunday night – wearing short shirts, brogues and long hair. Butch women were othered within a community that claimed to be inclusive. We were little shits.
Bridgeman – who has set a new standard for well-dressed even by Melbourne standards – was also around in the 1980s and says in her introduction to the script that she was scared it was going to be "a collection of rage".
Many stories do come from rage, anger and shame, but they are full of humour and a lot of love, especially as they witness how gender expression continues to change – and stay the same.
And the more stories that are told, the more they are not stories of otherness. Ashamed to wear the clothes you love in public? Stayed in a relationship for every wrong reason? Been embarrassed at the gym? Kept secrets from your family? Denied yourself love because you're not meant to like that type of person? One of the many frustrations of being on the edges looking in is knowing that your stories are pretty much the same as those about the people dancing in the centre.
The stories in The Butch Monologues are real, but they're not told verbatim. While their natural voices are kept, the writing is structured and styled to be as poetic as it is natural. Bridgeman's writing and McNamara's direction ensure that the heart of each story is heard, sometimes most loudly in the silent subtext. And while each new show includes different stories, they are ordered and chosen to tell a much bigger story about identity and ultimately inclusiveness.
This ongoing process of collecting experiences and five people reading stories on a stage creates community among people who may never have known they were all together. I hope it has a chance to come back to Melbourne and be seen more widely.
And I will never look at the IKEA logo without thinking of fisting again.
The Butch Monologues
Theatre Works and Stage Mom
28 January 2019
Theatre Works
to 3 February
theatreworks.org.au
 |
| Melbourne cast of The Butch Monologues |
I'm still getting my heart around The Butch Monologues.
Butches, masculine women, transmen and gender rebels tell the collected stories of others who identify as butch. There are about 50 short stories in each performance. They have been collected since 2013 by director Julie McNamara (Mac) and writer Laura Bridgeman (Doc), and are from the UK, Europe, USA and Caribbean. Some from Australia will be added after their visits to Melbourne and to Sydney.
They are stories we don't see on our stages, on our tvs, in our books. And if we do, they are peeping in from the edges of the story and rarely seen saving the day or are being fought over for love.
Each city it comes to has a new cast and no one tells their own story. Melbourne sees Fiona Jones, Anne Harris (Dan), Quinn Eades, Jax Jacki Brown and Jacques De Vere, along with Mac and Doc. And there's nothing hotter than people being their authentic selves.
I've said the word "butch" more in the last few days than I've ever said it because it used to be such an insult. In the late 1980s, "butch" was so insulting that butch women were called "trucks" in the club I went to every Sunday night – wearing short shirts, brogues and long hair. Butch women were othered within a community that claimed to be inclusive. We were little shits.
Bridgeman – who has set a new standard for well-dressed even by Melbourne standards – was also around in the 1980s and says in her introduction to the script that she was scared it was going to be "a collection of rage".
Many stories do come from rage, anger and shame, but they are full of humour and a lot of love, especially as they witness how gender expression continues to change – and stay the same.
And the more stories that are told, the more they are not stories of otherness. Ashamed to wear the clothes you love in public? Stayed in a relationship for every wrong reason? Been embarrassed at the gym? Kept secrets from your family? Denied yourself love because you're not meant to like that type of person? One of the many frustrations of being on the edges looking in is knowing that your stories are pretty much the same as those about the people dancing in the centre.
This ongoing process of collecting experiences and five people reading stories on a stage creates community among people who may never have known they were all together. I hope it has a chance to come back to Melbourne and be seen more widely.
And I will never look at the IKEA logo without thinking of fisting again.
26 January 2019
MIDSUMMA: Gender Euphoria - photos
MIDSUMMA
Gender Euphoria
Arts Centre Melbourne
Co-created by Mama Alto and Maude Davey
24 January 2019
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
one night only
artscentremelbourne.com.au
What a magnificent night. There were lots of happy tears and smiles that are only seen when a barrier is smashed.
During the curtain calls, when everyone was dressed in the trans flag colours of white, blue and pink, I had a moment when I realised that even a few years ago, many of these artists would only be seen in queer clubs or not at all; now they are on our main stages.
Gender Euphoria was the largest all trans and gender-diverse cast on a main stage major arts venue in Australia.
Let's break this record soon and hope that it won't be long before gender diverse and non-binary is as relevant as eye colour or shoe size.
Celebrate yourself. Accept love. Reject any boring, scared and ignorant voices. Make dysphoria a useful word for Scrabble.
Be euphoric.
Gender Euphoria
Arts Centre Melbourne
Co-created by Mama Alto and Maude Davey
24 January 2019
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
one night only
artscentremelbourne.com.au
What a magnificent night. There were lots of happy tears and smiles that are only seen when a barrier is smashed.
During the curtain calls, when everyone was dressed in the trans flag colours of white, blue and pink, I had a moment when I realised that even a few years ago, many of these artists would only be seen in queer clubs or not at all; now they are on our main stages.
Gender Euphoria was the largest all trans and gender-diverse cast on a main stage major arts venue in Australia.
Let's break this record soon and hope that it won't be long before gender diverse and non-binary is as relevant as eye colour or shoe size.
Celebrate yourself. Accept love. Reject any boring, scared and ignorant voices. Make dysphoria a useful word for Scrabble.
Be euphoric.
 |
| Amao Leota Lu (she). Photo by Alex Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Bailee Rose (she). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Fury (they) and Quinn Eades (they or he) Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Fury (they). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Harvey Zielinski (he). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Mahla Bird (they) and Mama Alto (she). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Mahla Bird (they) and Quinn Eades (they or he). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Mahla Bird (they). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Le |
 |
| Mama Alto (she). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Mx George Munro (they or she). by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Nevo Zisin (they). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Miss Bailee Rose (she). Photo by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Quinn Eades (they or he). Phot by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea |
 |
| Ned Dixon, backstage |
 |
| Maude Davey, backstage |
01 February 2018
Review: Priscilla
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical
Michael Cassel Group and Nullabor Productions in association with MGM on Stage
30 January 2018
Regent Theatre
priscillathemusical.com.au
As a commercial film-to-juke-box musical. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical remains a high kick above the rest. Based on the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the live show was developed in Australia in 2006 and has been beyond the empty outback to 29 countries and 134 cities, including New York and London. The universal language of dance pop, body waxing and sequins travels well.
For its tenth anniversary Tick (David Harris), Bernadette (Tony Sheldon, who has played the role all over the world and is heading to 2000 performances) and Felicia (Euan Doidge) are back on the bus and have pulled up in Melbourne before heading to Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Tick is Mitzi most nights in a Kings Cross drag club until his secret ex-wife invites him to bring a show to the Alice Springs Casino where she works. He's joined by former Les Girls star and transgender woman Bernadette and young performer Adam/Felicia and the trio drive an old bus, called Priscilla, from Sydney to the centre. Shenanigins follow as deep-bush meets inner-city, sass and sparkle reject hate, and chosen families create warm fuzzies.
Stephan Elliot's 1994 film did so much for bringing queer stories to the screen and popular narratives. It confronted assumptions, celebrated inner-city Sydney's queer community (when it was still called a gay community), increased queer visibility, and helped drag drag out of its not-so-comfortable portrayal of women with a super-fabulous leap of bloody-bonza-Aussie-original-fabulousness with Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner's costume designs.
It also addressed violence, rejection, shame and hate and has an undertone of fear, bitterness and melancholy that makes it so much more than a flag-waving story about everyone being fabulous.
Twenty-three years later, Australia reminded us that we're still striving for fabulous and that queer communities and families are still considered different by a boringly-large chunk of the country – not just the bush bogans on stage – and our government.
This show welcomes updated technology to add to the outrageous colour, sparkle and Brian Thomson's bus design – and Chappel and Gardiner's costumes are still magnificently witty – but how amazing would it be to see the show updated to reflect Australia here and now? What if it confronted the problematic beneath the sparkle?
I don't understand why shows like this are so often stuck in a time and not updated beyond Kylie songs – there's a lot more Kylie in it now.
Priscilla is fun. The cast are amazing and its broad appeal that tones down sex and makes violence safe with a dance number guarantees success. If commercial theatre is about making money, it's the most successful Australian show around.
This same success seems to make it easy to ignore, or joke away, its problems – especially those that laugh at the very communities it claims to be celebrating.
The lesbian jokes would have felt awkward and dated in the 1970s, and there are trans jokes that are even older and more ignorant. Winking to the audience that "Uluru is sacred" only re-enforces the unacceptable references to "Ayers Rock" and celebrating the offensive act of climbing it. And for the love-of-not-being-horrible, why keep the Asian, German and Scottish stereotypes – and the Australian ones? This is a show about love and acceptance that encourages laughing at difference.
Tick, Bernadette and Felicia don't make safe choices to find happiness. They risk violence, hate and rejection. It's sad that their show makes safe choices to risk what? Risk offending people who don't like theatre that makes them think for a moment?
The Midsumma festival is also on in Melbourne. There are shows that celebrate queer artists and queer stories and don't smooth away anything that isn't comfortable to acknowledge. If you're going to see Priscilla, make sure you see at least one Midsumma show as well.
Michael Cassel Group and Nullabor Productions in association with MGM on Stage
30 January 2018
Regent Theatre
priscillathemusical.com.au
 |
| David Harris, Tony Sheldon, Euan Doidge. Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. Photo by Sam Tabone Getty Images |
As a commercial film-to-juke-box musical. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical remains a high kick above the rest. Based on the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the live show was developed in Australia in 2006 and has been beyond the empty outback to 29 countries and 134 cities, including New York and London. The universal language of dance pop, body waxing and sequins travels well.
For its tenth anniversary Tick (David Harris), Bernadette (Tony Sheldon, who has played the role all over the world and is heading to 2000 performances) and Felicia (Euan Doidge) are back on the bus and have pulled up in Melbourne before heading to Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Tick is Mitzi most nights in a Kings Cross drag club until his secret ex-wife invites him to bring a show to the Alice Springs Casino where she works. He's joined by former Les Girls star and transgender woman Bernadette and young performer Adam/Felicia and the trio drive an old bus, called Priscilla, from Sydney to the centre. Shenanigins follow as deep-bush meets inner-city, sass and sparkle reject hate, and chosen families create warm fuzzies.
Stephan Elliot's 1994 film did so much for bringing queer stories to the screen and popular narratives. It confronted assumptions, celebrated inner-city Sydney's queer community (when it was still called a gay community), increased queer visibility, and helped drag drag out of its not-so-comfortable portrayal of women with a super-fabulous leap of bloody-bonza-Aussie-original-fabulousness with Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner's costume designs.
It also addressed violence, rejection, shame and hate and has an undertone of fear, bitterness and melancholy that makes it so much more than a flag-waving story about everyone being fabulous.
Twenty-three years later, Australia reminded us that we're still striving for fabulous and that queer communities and families are still considered different by a boringly-large chunk of the country – not just the bush bogans on stage – and our government.
This show welcomes updated technology to add to the outrageous colour, sparkle and Brian Thomson's bus design – and Chappel and Gardiner's costumes are still magnificently witty – but how amazing would it be to see the show updated to reflect Australia here and now? What if it confronted the problematic beneath the sparkle?
I don't understand why shows like this are so often stuck in a time and not updated beyond Kylie songs – there's a lot more Kylie in it now.
Priscilla is fun. The cast are amazing and its broad appeal that tones down sex and makes violence safe with a dance number guarantees success. If commercial theatre is about making money, it's the most successful Australian show around.
This same success seems to make it easy to ignore, or joke away, its problems – especially those that laugh at the very communities it claims to be celebrating.
The lesbian jokes would have felt awkward and dated in the 1970s, and there are trans jokes that are even older and more ignorant. Winking to the audience that "Uluru is sacred" only re-enforces the unacceptable references to "Ayers Rock" and celebrating the offensive act of climbing it. And for the love-of-not-being-horrible, why keep the Asian, German and Scottish stereotypes – and the Australian ones? This is a show about love and acceptance that encourages laughing at difference.
Tick, Bernadette and Felicia don't make safe choices to find happiness. They risk violence, hate and rejection. It's sad that their show makes safe choices to risk what? Risk offending people who don't like theatre that makes them think for a moment?
The Midsumma festival is also on in Melbourne. There are shows that celebrate queer artists and queer stories and don't smooth away anything that isn't comfortable to acknowledge. If you're going to see Priscilla, make sure you see at least one Midsumma show as well.
16 November 2017
Give: Glitterfist Libertine
Glitterfist:Libertine have a Pozible campaign for their Midsumma show. If we want to see exciting queer and glittery work like this, we've gotta support it. Here's the link.
22 January 2016
Review: Elegy
MIDSUMMA
Elegy
Lab Kelpie and Gasworks Arts Park
21 January 2016
Gasworks Studio Theatre
to 6 February
midsumma.org.au
I'm away for most of Midsumma, but managed to squeeze this one in.
My review is in The Age.
Daniel Kilby is reviewing more of Midsumma on AussieTheatre.com.
Elegy
Lab Kelpie and Gasworks Arts Park
21 January 2016
Gasworks Studio Theatre
to 6 February
midsumma.org.au
 |
| Nick Simpson-Deeks in "Elegy". Photo by Sarah Walker |
I'm away for most of Midsumma, but managed to squeeze this one in.
My review is in The Age.
Daniel Kilby is reviewing more of Midsumma on AussieTheatre.com.
28 January 2015
Review: The Jacobeans
MIDSUMMA
The Jacobeans
Bagabus Inc
23 January 2015
Club Voltaire
to 7 February
midsumma.org.au
Bagabus Inc are Hannah Malarski and Jack Richardson. They brought the delightfully dark Bushpig to the Melbourne Fringe in 2013 and are back for Midsumma with The Jacobeans, an equally dark and satirical exploration of the imbalance of power between men and women.
That makes it sound like it's all "hear me roar"; it's not. It's subtle and honest with a power that gently builds and packs its punch at the end as it circles back to beginning and the whole show is seen with a clearer perspective.
With a series of vignettes, it starts in the Dark Ages with a peasant woman dreaming of a day where she doesn't peel potatoes. It stays in the later-but-just-as-dark-ages with Freud and Jung knowing all about female orgasms; Saint Joan talking to God, who really doesn't care; a suffragette trying to explain her hunger strike to her husband who wants her out of gaol; and Julie Andrews dealing with Mickey Mouse and a three-toed sloth called Jeremy.
It can be frustrating to find the link in these mis-matched stories, especially as each is more short play than sketch, with its own tone, reflection and complete story, but there is clarity.
On a knife edge between satire and despair, or maybe anger, each looks at the love between women and men (platonic, comfortable, sexual, fearful and everything else along the scale) and how this love could be what keeps the power out of balance. But with or without love or not, the power isn't equal and even the strongest women are left knowing that they're not going to win – yet.
A dining chair and fake grass design lets each piece begin with a blank slate while the exceptional lighting, by Zoe Atterbury, declares the mood, creates vivid worlds, and makes the small and awkward space seem so much bigger than it is.
Which leaves Malarski and Richardson, who developed, wrote and perform the piece. They work beautifully together, bringing a complex understanding and empathy to all of their characters and ensuring that every character tells their own unique story. Both also know that the best clowning comes from an uncomfortable truth and that the best way to face and such truths is through laughter and story.
The more I think about this show, the more I like it. It's easy to enjoy the surreal stories and the terrific performances, but there's a deeper understanding that comes when it's seen as a whole, and I look forward to seeing this duo continue to develop new work.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
The Jacobeans
Bagabus Inc
23 January 2015
Club Voltaire
to 7 February
midsumma.org.au
Bagabus Inc are Hannah Malarski and Jack Richardson. They brought the delightfully dark Bushpig to the Melbourne Fringe in 2013 and are back for Midsumma with The Jacobeans, an equally dark and satirical exploration of the imbalance of power between men and women.
That makes it sound like it's all "hear me roar"; it's not. It's subtle and honest with a power that gently builds and packs its punch at the end as it circles back to beginning and the whole show is seen with a clearer perspective.
With a series of vignettes, it starts in the Dark Ages with a peasant woman dreaming of a day where she doesn't peel potatoes. It stays in the later-but-just-as-dark-ages with Freud and Jung knowing all about female orgasms; Saint Joan talking to God, who really doesn't care; a suffragette trying to explain her hunger strike to her husband who wants her out of gaol; and Julie Andrews dealing with Mickey Mouse and a three-toed sloth called Jeremy.
It can be frustrating to find the link in these mis-matched stories, especially as each is more short play than sketch, with its own tone, reflection and complete story, but there is clarity.
On a knife edge between satire and despair, or maybe anger, each looks at the love between women and men (platonic, comfortable, sexual, fearful and everything else along the scale) and how this love could be what keeps the power out of balance. But with or without love or not, the power isn't equal and even the strongest women are left knowing that they're not going to win – yet.
A dining chair and fake grass design lets each piece begin with a blank slate while the exceptional lighting, by Zoe Atterbury, declares the mood, creates vivid worlds, and makes the small and awkward space seem so much bigger than it is.
Which leaves Malarski and Richardson, who developed, wrote and perform the piece. They work beautifully together, bringing a complex understanding and empathy to all of their characters and ensuring that every character tells their own unique story. Both also know that the best clowning comes from an uncomfortable truth and that the best way to face and such truths is through laughter and story.
The more I think about this show, the more I like it. It's easy to enjoy the surreal stories and the terrific performances, but there's a deeper understanding that comes when it's seen as a whole, and I look forward to seeing this duo continue to develop new work.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
22 January 2015
Mini review: Anton and Olaf, a fruity fairytale
MIDSUMMA
Anton and Olaf: a fruity fairytale
La Mama
21 January 2015
La Mama courtyard
to 1 February
midsumma.org.au
Chris Molyneux and Zenta Schuber tell the story about two kings and an empress (Jack Beeby, Russ Pirie and Annabel Warmington) who need to decide who's going to rule the kingdom. The cardboard sets and puppets are gorgeous, and the messages that women are powerful and that being nice is better than being mean are always winners. The performers are terrific, but the story needs to tighten up (including less impro for the adults) and have some real stakes.
The ridiculously wonderful children's writer Mem Fox says this about trouble (stakes) in children's books: "The trouble must be trouble on a grand scale. It must be the kind of trouble that works its way into the depths of children’s souls and makes their hearts sink into bleakness and despair. Momentary despair, of course!" The book she is talking about is Where is the Green Sheep, a picture book of 190 words.
Never compromise on story when writing for children; they'll love you all the more for it.
None of which makes thus fruity show any the less fun. Make your grown-ups take you.
Photos by Dorine Blaise
Anton and Olaf: a fruity fairytale
La Mama
21 January 2015
La Mama courtyard
to 1 February
midsumma.org.au
La Mama's Midsumma show for kids is Anton and Olaf: a fruity fairytale.
There's no squeezing into the dark theatre, as this puppet adventure made from cardboard and fruit uses the outside courtyard – all the way down to the street. There are trees, big umbrellas and lots of coloured parasols for shade; cushions, rugs and chairs to sit on; water spray bottles; and frozen treats at the end.
Chris Molyneux and Zenta Schuber tell the story about two kings and an empress (Jack Beeby, Russ Pirie and Annabel Warmington) who need to decide who's going to rule the kingdom. The cardboard sets and puppets are gorgeous, and the messages that women are powerful and that being nice is better than being mean are always winners. The performers are terrific, but the story needs to tighten up (including less impro for the adults) and have some real stakes.
The ridiculously wonderful children's writer Mem Fox says this about trouble (stakes) in children's books: "The trouble must be trouble on a grand scale. It must be the kind of trouble that works its way into the depths of children’s souls and makes their hearts sink into bleakness and despair. Momentary despair, of course!" The book she is talking about is Where is the Green Sheep, a picture book of 190 words.
Never compromise on story when writing for children; they'll love you all the more for it.
None of which makes thus fruity show any the less fun. Make your grown-ups take you.
Photos by Dorine Blaise
22 December 2014
What I loved in 2014: The Best of Melbourne Theatre
I saw over 230 shows this year, closer to 250 if I count all the Live Art performances.
These are the ones that I loved the most.
And I still missed too many. (When all the 'best of' lists are put together at the end of the year, remember that great shows might have not been seen.)
Along with writing, there's been judging, mentoring, editing and teaching this year – and I'm mostly looking forward to doing more teaching and mentoring next year because we need more arts writers, thinker, arguers and advocates.
Outstanding Artists 2014
WRITING
Jesse Cox for Wael Zuaiter: Unknown, Creative Nonfiction and Theatre Works at Next Wave.
Special mentions
Tim Wothersooon for The Safe House, 3rd Room Theatrical at The Owl and the Pussycat.
Fleur Kilpatrick for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne FringeMelbourne
DESIGN
Dale Ferguson (set) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse
Paul Jackson (lighting) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse
Harriet Oxley (costume) for Into the Woods, Victoria Opera
Chloe Greaves (costume) for The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Dirty Pretty Theatre and Theatre Works
PERFORMANCE
Kate Cole for Grounded, Red Stitch
Angus Cerini for Resplendence, MTC NEON
Special mentions
Maria Mercedes for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs
Aliro Zavarce for The Book of Loco, Malthouse
Kate Cole, Brett Cousins and Emily Milledge for Out of the Water, Red Stitch
DIRECTION
Declan Greene for Calpurnia Descending, Sisters Grimm Malthouse
Special mentions
Danny Delahunty for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne Fringe
Daniel Lammin for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs
Outstanding Productions 2014
CABARET
The Von Muiznieks Family Hoedown for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at The Butterfly Club
Special mention
Sunglasses at night: The 80s apocalypse sing along cabaret, Geraldine Quinn for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at Chapel off Chapel
COMMERCIAL SHOW
Once, Melbourne Theatre Company & John Frost, Barbara Broccoli, John N Hart Jr, Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo
MUSICAL
Into the Woods, Victoria Opera
COMEDY
Dr Professor Neal Portenza Performs his Own Autopsy Live on Stage. One Night Only. (Obviously). Josh Ladgrove at Melbourne International Comedy Festival at Tuxedo Cat
More Tape, The Boy With Tape On His Face at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Special mentions
Single White Slut, Tim Key at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
After Ever After, Rama Nicholas at Melbourne Fringe
OPERA
The Riders, Victorian Opera & Malthouse Theatre
CIRCUS
S, Circa for Darebin Arts Speakeasy
Special mentions
The Long Pigs, fortyfivedownstairs
Carrousel Des Moutons, D'irque & Fen, Explosive Media at Melbourne Festival
LIVE ART
A moment in yarn, Sayraphim Lothian at Craft Victoria's Craft Cubed festival
Very special mention
Sayraphim and Rob's wedding at The Village
BEST OF THE BEST
The Worst of Scottee, Theatre Works at Midsumma
MY FAVOURITE SHOW OF 2014
Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Bryony Kimmings, Theatre Works
These are the ones that I loved the most.
And I still missed too many. (When all the 'best of' lists are put together at the end of the year, remember that great shows might have not been seen.)
Along with writing, there's been judging, mentoring, editing and teaching this year – and I'm mostly looking forward to doing more teaching and mentoring next year because we need more arts writers, thinker, arguers and advocates.
Outstanding Artists 2014
WRITING
Jesse Cox for Wael Zuaiter: Unknown, Creative Nonfiction and Theatre Works at Next Wave.
 |
| Jesss Cox in Wael Zuaiter: Unknown. Photo by Sarah Walker |
Tim Wothersooon for The Safe House, 3rd Room Theatrical at The Owl and the Pussycat.
Fleur Kilpatrick for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne FringeMelbourne
DESIGN
Dale Ferguson (set) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse
Paul Jackson (lighting) for Night on Bald Mountain, Malthouse
 |
| Night on Bald Mountain |
Harriet Oxley (costume) for Into the Woods, Victoria Opera
Chloe Greaves (costume) for The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Dirty Pretty Theatre and Theatre Works
PERFORMANCE
Kate Cole for Grounded, Red Stitch
 |
| Kate Cole in Grounded |
Angus Cerini for Resplendence, MTC NEON
Special mentions
Maria Mercedes for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs
Aliro Zavarce for The Book of Loco, Malthouse
Kate Cole, Brett Cousins and Emily Milledge for Out of the Water, Red Stitch
DIRECTION
Declan Greene for Calpurnia Descending, Sisters Grimm Malthouse
 |
| Calpurnia Descending |
Special mentions
Danny Delahunty for The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne Fringe
Daniel Lammin for Masterclass, fortyfivedownstairs
Outstanding Productions 2014
CABARET
The Von Muiznieks Family Hoedown for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at The Butterfly Club
 |
| The Von Muiznieks Family Hoedown |
Special mention
Sunglasses at night: The 80s apocalypse sing along cabaret, Geraldine Quinn for Melbourne Cabaret Festival at Chapel off Chapel
COMMERCIAL SHOW
Once, Melbourne Theatre Company & John Frost, Barbara Broccoli, John N Hart Jr, Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo
MUSICAL
Into the Woods, Victoria Opera
 |
| Into the Woods |
COMEDY
Dr Professor Neal Portenza Performs his Own Autopsy Live on Stage. One Night Only. (Obviously). Josh Ladgrove at Melbourne International Comedy Festival at Tuxedo Cat
 |
| Dr Professor Neal Portenza Performs his Own Autopsy Live on Stage. One Night Only. (Obviously). |
More Tape, The Boy With Tape On His Face at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Special mentions
Single White Slut, Tim Key at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
After Ever After, Rama Nicholas at Melbourne Fringe
OPERA
The Riders, Victorian Opera & Malthouse Theatre
 |
| The Riders. Photo by Jeff Busby |
CIRCUS
S, Circa for Darebin Arts Speakeasy
Special mentions
The Long Pigs, fortyfivedownstairs
Carrousel Des Moutons, D'irque & Fen, Explosive Media at Melbourne Festival
LIVE ART
A moment in yarn, Sayraphim Lothian at Craft Victoria's Craft Cubed festival
Very special mention
Sayraphim and Rob's wedding at The Village
 |
| A wedding. Photo by Sarah Walker |
BEST OF THE BEST
The Worst of Scottee, Theatre Works at Midsumma
Sex Idiot, Bryony Kimmings, Theatre Works at Melbourne International Comedy Festival
The City They Burned, Attic Erratic at Melbourne Fringe
 |
| The City They Burned. Photo by Sarah Walker |
The Bookbinder, Trick of the Light Theatre at Melbourne Fringe
Have I No Mouth, Brokentalkers at Melbourne Festival
 |
| Have I No Moith |
MY FAVOURITE SHOW OF 2014
Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Bryony Kimmings, Theatre Works
 |
| Bryony and Taylor in Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model |
03 February 2014
MIDSUMMA: The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
MIDSUMMA
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
Dirty Pretty Theatre and Theatre Works
31 January 2014
Theatre Works
to 8 February
theatreworks.org.au
If The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is glimpse at how filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder saw women, well, let's just say he was a dick. But Dirty Pretty Theatre have re-imangined Fassbinder's 1972 cult-favourite film, transporting the translated film script to now and bringing a new level of camp and understanding (and shoe porn) to what's often known as "that German lesbian S&M film".
Petra Van Kant (Luisa Hastings Edge) is a mid-30s successful fashion designer who's recently divorced, again, and is living in an expensive apartment with her assistant Marlene (Joanne Trentini), who silently dotes on Petra and is rewarded with atrocious treatment, the worse the better. When friend Sidonie (Nikki Shields) introduces Petra to 20-something Karin (Anna May Samson), Petra is instantly besotted and offers to create a modelling career for the very beautiful young woman – if she moves into Petra's flat and bed. And when Petra's at her lowest, Gabi, her teenage daughter (Fantine Banulski), and Valerie, her mother (Uschi Felix), come to celebrate Petra's birthday.
It's a ridiculous story about picture-perfect women who act on every whim of emotion, change their empty little minds in seconds, care only for personal satisfaction, and value themselves based on their sexual attractiveness and the power it gives them.
But this production isn't a copy of the film.
Director Gary Abrahams has turned up the camp and the melodrama to off-the-scale levels, but pulled away far enough to find a focus and distance that highlights the extremity while creating a genuine and disconcerting emotional connection to the characters.
There's little to connect to in the script – Fassbinder's women are as dimensional as a ripped out page of a fashion mag – but it's amazing what happens when the insubstantial is put into the hands of very good actors. For all their histrionics and external selfishness, the cast find a truth and honesty in their characters. By bringing them to the stage with so much more than was written – and never playing them as clowns – it's easier to laugh, or despair, at their emptiness because we know there's a world of hurt and frustration behind the behaviour.
But Abrahams has not gone so far as asking us to feel sorry for the rich beautiful white women, just to see them as more than the world they inhabit and to see this story as a reflection of how women and this world are often still seen.
And the stage creation of this world is something indeed. Romanie Harper's design – which creates even more space in Theatre Works by running diagonally – nods to the film and creates a locked-in apartment for Petra, where objects are chosen for their beauty/value rather than if they belong.
But it's Chloe Greeves's costumes that define the world of high fashion, endless money and mirror-fed narcissism. There were times when the frocks made me feel very fat and old, but I gently slapped myself for thinking so and went back to drooling at the unattainable pretty.
From Sidone's off-white, wide legged, bottom-defining pants with an emerald green silk shirt with three-quarter sleeves and peek of breast, to the ribboned-laced back of Karin's floral cocktail dress, to Valerie's over-jewed handbag and body-hiding sweeps of velvet, the detail of this design makes this world real – cheap knock-offs would have made it a joke. As all tower in glorious and very expensive shoes that force them to turn sideways as they step into the sunken living room, it's a world of accepted, welcome and chosen pain and restriction.
And who care's if you get to wear those shoes! Sure, I was wearing mock-Birk slip ons that make walking a breeze, but I felt the toe-bleeding, arch-aching, misshapen-foot joy of every step Petra and her women took.
Photo by Sarah Walker
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
Dirty Pretty Theatre and Theatre Works
31 January 2014
Theatre Works
to 8 February
theatreworks.org.au
If The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is glimpse at how filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder saw women, well, let's just say he was a dick. But Dirty Pretty Theatre have re-imangined Fassbinder's 1972 cult-favourite film, transporting the translated film script to now and bringing a new level of camp and understanding (and shoe porn) to what's often known as "that German lesbian S&M film".
Petra Van Kant (Luisa Hastings Edge) is a mid-30s successful fashion designer who's recently divorced, again, and is living in an expensive apartment with her assistant Marlene (Joanne Trentini), who silently dotes on Petra and is rewarded with atrocious treatment, the worse the better. When friend Sidonie (Nikki Shields) introduces Petra to 20-something Karin (Anna May Samson), Petra is instantly besotted and offers to create a modelling career for the very beautiful young woman – if she moves into Petra's flat and bed. And when Petra's at her lowest, Gabi, her teenage daughter (Fantine Banulski), and Valerie, her mother (Uschi Felix), come to celebrate Petra's birthday.
It's a ridiculous story about picture-perfect women who act on every whim of emotion, change their empty little minds in seconds, care only for personal satisfaction, and value themselves based on their sexual attractiveness and the power it gives them.
But this production isn't a copy of the film.
Director Gary Abrahams has turned up the camp and the melodrama to off-the-scale levels, but pulled away far enough to find a focus and distance that highlights the extremity while creating a genuine and disconcerting emotional connection to the characters.
There's little to connect to in the script – Fassbinder's women are as dimensional as a ripped out page of a fashion mag – but it's amazing what happens when the insubstantial is put into the hands of very good actors. For all their histrionics and external selfishness, the cast find a truth and honesty in their characters. By bringing them to the stage with so much more than was written – and never playing them as clowns – it's easier to laugh, or despair, at their emptiness because we know there's a world of hurt and frustration behind the behaviour.
But Abrahams has not gone so far as asking us to feel sorry for the rich beautiful white women, just to see them as more than the world they inhabit and to see this story as a reflection of how women and this world are often still seen.
And the stage creation of this world is something indeed. Romanie Harper's design – which creates even more space in Theatre Works by running diagonally – nods to the film and creates a locked-in apartment for Petra, where objects are chosen for their beauty/value rather than if they belong.
But it's Chloe Greeves's costumes that define the world of high fashion, endless money and mirror-fed narcissism. There were times when the frocks made me feel very fat and old, but I gently slapped myself for thinking so and went back to drooling at the unattainable pretty.
From Sidone's off-white, wide legged, bottom-defining pants with an emerald green silk shirt with three-quarter sleeves and peek of breast, to the ribboned-laced back of Karin's floral cocktail dress, to Valerie's over-jewed handbag and body-hiding sweeps of velvet, the detail of this design makes this world real – cheap knock-offs would have made it a joke. As all tower in glorious and very expensive shoes that force them to turn sideways as they step into the sunken living room, it's a world of accepted, welcome and chosen pain and restriction.
And who care's if you get to wear those shoes! Sure, I was wearing mock-Birk slip ons that make walking a breeze, but I felt the toe-bleeding, arch-aching, misshapen-foot joy of every step Petra and her women took.
Photo by Sarah Walker
02 February 2014
MIDSUMMA: Standing on Ceremony
MIDSUMMA
Standing on Ceremony: the gay marriage plays
Ellis Productions
24 January 2014
Chapel off Chapel
to 9 February
midsumma.org.au
Standing on Ceremony: the gay marriage plays is an American series of nine short plays about marriage. No one coming along to see it needs convincing about marriage equality, which leaves it as a celebration of love that's as funny, frustrating and heart breaking as any relationship.
With live music from David Ellis, Laura Burzcott and Karl Lewis, the mood is set and changed between each piece, and Justin Stephens's design of moveable white boxes allows for projections that change while ensuring that all are part the bigger story.
With three directors and a cast of eight (including two of the directors), highlights include London Mosquitoes, a eulogy by Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project) performed by Michael Veitch and directed by Wayne Pearn; My Husband by Paul Rudnick where a mother is so excited by New York's new laws that she doesn't care if her son doesn't even have a boyfriend (directed by Russell Fletcher and performed by Luka Jacka and Helen Ellis); and Strange Fruit by Neil LaBute where Spencer McLaren and Brett Whittingham and, director, Pearn overcome LaBute's dash to tragedy (and title appropriation that doesn't sit as well as it should).
Pia Miranda and Olivia Hogan perform the two plays about woman, which, despite being by different writers and performed delightfully, may as well have been about the same couple and brought attention to the lesser representation of queer female voices.
Perhaps it's a call for Australian writers to create the next series of plays that represent and celebrate the diversity of queer relationships and the issues faced and overcome on the road to equality in Australia.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
Standing on Ceremony: the gay marriage plays
Ellis Productions
24 January 2014
Chapel off Chapel
to 9 February
midsumma.org.au
Standing on Ceremony: the gay marriage plays is an American series of nine short plays about marriage. No one coming along to see it needs convincing about marriage equality, which leaves it as a celebration of love that's as funny, frustrating and heart breaking as any relationship.
With live music from David Ellis, Laura Burzcott and Karl Lewis, the mood is set and changed between each piece, and Justin Stephens's design of moveable white boxes allows for projections that change while ensuring that all are part the bigger story.
With three directors and a cast of eight (including two of the directors), highlights include London Mosquitoes, a eulogy by Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project) performed by Michael Veitch and directed by Wayne Pearn; My Husband by Paul Rudnick where a mother is so excited by New York's new laws that she doesn't care if her son doesn't even have a boyfriend (directed by Russell Fletcher and performed by Luka Jacka and Helen Ellis); and Strange Fruit by Neil LaBute where Spencer McLaren and Brett Whittingham and, director, Pearn overcome LaBute's dash to tragedy (and title appropriation that doesn't sit as well as it should).
Pia Miranda and Olivia Hogan perform the two plays about woman, which, despite being by different writers and performed delightfully, may as well have been about the same couple and brought attention to the lesser representation of queer female voices.
Perhaps it's a call for Australian writers to create the next series of plays that represent and celebrate the diversity of queer relationships and the issues faced and overcome on the road to equality in Australia.
This was on AussieTheatre.com
31 January 2014
MIDSUMMA: Two Short Plays
MIDSUMMA
Two Short Plays
Ladymullet Productions
23 January 2014
Melbourne writers Belinda Bannerman and Kathryn Goldie recently formed Ladymullet Productions and for their Midsumma debut, each wrote a short play. Their three-night season of Two Short Plays sold out, but there's talk of a Fringe season, which would be terrific because both deserve to be seen by many more people than could squeeze into the Brunswick Arts Space on those very hot summer nights
The L Wing, by Bannerman, is set in a not-too-distant-future lesbian retirement home where 60-something resident Sal (Kim Givens) meets new resident Andrea (Natasha Broadstock) and recognises her as her long-lost love Andi, even if Andrea doesn't remember Sal – yet.
With heart-felt performances by the cast (also Jane Menz and Hannah Smallman), it's a rom com that pushes all the right buttons of love and hope, but has enough darkness in the comedy to keep it grounded and to ask if honesty is best if deception keeps everyone happy.
Love Triangle, 1919, by Goldie, starts as a simple love story between governess Flora (Stephania Pountney) and stablehand Edward (Hayley Lawson-Smith), but Flora's once-potential boyfriend, Joe (Tom Carmody) returns from the war and threatens to reveal the secret that Joe trusts will tear the lovers apart. It's no secret to the audience that Edward is a woman, but the story's tension and hope lie in not knowing how Flora will react if and when she finds out or how far Edward will go to keep the secret.
Goldie's writing lets all three tell their version of the story, and, by placing the audience throughout the space, Christine Husband's direction lets the jumps in time and space feel natural and intimate as the three move among and speak to the assembled crowd. This is writing that lets its performance space enhance the telling and, by doing so, lets the audience get closer to the hearts of the characters.
Ladymullet Productions say that they want to make great theatre and film, and what's going to get them there is continuing to tell the stories that they want to tell.
Two Short Plays
Ladymullet Productions
23 January 2014
Brunswick Arts Space
to 25 January
midsumma.org.auMelbourne writers Belinda Bannerman and Kathryn Goldie recently formed Ladymullet Productions and for their Midsumma debut, each wrote a short play. Their three-night season of Two Short Plays sold out, but there's talk of a Fringe season, which would be terrific because both deserve to be seen by many more people than could squeeze into the Brunswick Arts Space on those very hot summer nights
The L Wing, by Bannerman, is set in a not-too-distant-future lesbian retirement home where 60-something resident Sal (Kim Givens) meets new resident Andrea (Natasha Broadstock) and recognises her as her long-lost love Andi, even if Andrea doesn't remember Sal – yet.
With heart-felt performances by the cast (also Jane Menz and Hannah Smallman), it's a rom com that pushes all the right buttons of love and hope, but has enough darkness in the comedy to keep it grounded and to ask if honesty is best if deception keeps everyone happy.
Love Triangle, 1919, by Goldie, starts as a simple love story between governess Flora (Stephania Pountney) and stablehand Edward (Hayley Lawson-Smith), but Flora's once-potential boyfriend, Joe (Tom Carmody) returns from the war and threatens to reveal the secret that Joe trusts will tear the lovers apart. It's no secret to the audience that Edward is a woman, but the story's tension and hope lie in not knowing how Flora will react if and when she finds out or how far Edward will go to keep the secret.
Goldie's writing lets all three tell their version of the story, and, by placing the audience throughout the space, Christine Husband's direction lets the jumps in time and space feel natural and intimate as the three move among and speak to the assembled crowd. This is writing that lets its performance space enhance the telling and, by doing so, lets the audience get closer to the hearts of the characters.
Ladymullet Productions say that they want to make great theatre and film, and what's going to get them there is continuing to tell the stories that they want to tell.
27 January 2014
MIDSUMMA: Lay of the Land
MIDSUMMA
Lay of the Land
19 January 2014
Theatre Works
24 and 25 January 2014
theatreworks.org.au
Performance artist Tim Miller is from LA, he lived in New York for a while and spent some recent time at Monash Uni here in Melbourne. He's been performing and writing since the early 80s. His solo performances, published books and workshops explore identity as a gay man and since 1999 his political and creative focus has been on highlighting the inequality and injustices faced by same sex couples in the US.
Lowlights of Tim's story include having his National Endowment for the Arts Solo Performer Fellowship overturned, under political pressure because of the gay themes in his work, and he and his Australian-born partner's 19-year battle facing the US immigration bureaucracy as a same sex couple. Highlights include getting married on the day that same sex marriage became legal in New York City.
Lay of the Land is the part of his story about wanting to get married and he shares moments that defined his views on marriage, from wanting to marry his best friend when he was nine to facing pick up trucks with gun racks at a Pride march and sitting in a Qantas plane wondering if the thousands they spent on an immigration lawyer will get partner, Alistair, through immigration when they land.
It's a work about love that's shaped by anger and frustration. When the love dominates – like wondering why we all still pull in our bellies in bed – it's easy to find the shared experiences, but often the anger dominates the performance and works to alienate rather than welcome its audience.
From re-inacting his conception from the sperm's POV, his actively exaggerated writing tells wonderful nearly-true stories (go to see what happens when protesters are locked up over the weekend), but it's not always easy to be let into his world; a world that also seems to welcome, love and accept him in more ways that it rejects him.
At the end of the piece, he spoke to the audience as Tim, dropping the intense persona of Tim the performer, and it was so easy to like him and want to to know his story. I enjoyed performer Tim's writing and his story needs to be heard way beyond the supportive Midsumma crowd, but it's the not-so-performing Tim who's far more interesting.
It's also this guy who's running Queering the Body workshops this week at Theatre Works that are culminating with a group devised performance on Sunday 26 January at 5 pm. And there's a Q&A after Friday night's performance of Lay of the Land.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
Lay of the Land
19 January 2014
Theatre Works
24 and 25 January 2014
theatreworks.org.au
Performance artist Tim Miller is from LA, he lived in New York for a while and spent some recent time at Monash Uni here in Melbourne. He's been performing and writing since the early 80s. His solo performances, published books and workshops explore identity as a gay man and since 1999 his political and creative focus has been on highlighting the inequality and injustices faced by same sex couples in the US.
Lowlights of Tim's story include having his National Endowment for the Arts Solo Performer Fellowship overturned, under political pressure because of the gay themes in his work, and he and his Australian-born partner's 19-year battle facing the US immigration bureaucracy as a same sex couple. Highlights include getting married on the day that same sex marriage became legal in New York City.
Lay of the Land is the part of his story about wanting to get married and he shares moments that defined his views on marriage, from wanting to marry his best friend when he was nine to facing pick up trucks with gun racks at a Pride march and sitting in a Qantas plane wondering if the thousands they spent on an immigration lawyer will get partner, Alistair, through immigration when they land.
It's a work about love that's shaped by anger and frustration. When the love dominates – like wondering why we all still pull in our bellies in bed – it's easy to find the shared experiences, but often the anger dominates the performance and works to alienate rather than welcome its audience.
From re-inacting his conception from the sperm's POV, his actively exaggerated writing tells wonderful nearly-true stories (go to see what happens when protesters are locked up over the weekend), but it's not always easy to be let into his world; a world that also seems to welcome, love and accept him in more ways that it rejects him.
At the end of the piece, he spoke to the audience as Tim, dropping the intense persona of Tim the performer, and it was so easy to like him and want to to know his story. I enjoyed performer Tim's writing and his story needs to be heard way beyond the supportive Midsumma crowd, but it's the not-so-performing Tim who's far more interesting.
It's also this guy who's running Queering the Body workshops this week at Theatre Works that are culminating with a group devised performance on Sunday 26 January at 5 pm. And there's a Q&A after Friday night's performance of Lay of the Land.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
24 January 2014
MIDSUMMA: The Worst of Scottee
MIDSUMMA
The Worst of Scottee
19 January 2014
Theatre Works
to 25 January 2014
There's only four more chances to see The Worst of Scottee at Theatre Works this week. Please take one of those chances because it's a show that lets you happily laugh along at its self-effacing dark humour as it sneaks up to punch you in the gut.
There's a rare kind of silence in a theatre. The silence where there's no wiggling or searching for mints in pockets, no sneaky phone checks or whispers. It's a silence that has everyone in the audience so involved with the story on the stage that even breathing is too much of a distraction.
In this case, it's created by a fat guy with melting make up who's in a photo booth, singing karaoke style and telling us about some of the times that he was at his worst, like telling his friends that his ex-girlfriend-cum-best-friend had committed suicide when she was alive, well and happy.
Scottee's 28 and from the UK where he's currently an associate artist at Duckie and at the Roundhouse and does a weekly BBC radio show. He's also well known as the creator of Hamburger Queen, a talent show for fat people.
The Worst of Scottee is about growing up poor, gay and fat. It's his first solo show (he prefers directing) and has won him and director Chris Goode rave reviews and the Total Theatre Award in Edinburgh in 2013.
With an internal video showing a close up of his face, the photo booth is more a confessional but, even with video interviews from people affected by his worst moments, Scottee doesn't ask for forgiveness. His telling is theatrical and, even though his stories are about his willingness to tell unforgivable porkies, his onstage honesty is never questioned.
It's intimate and distancing and filled with a hurt that intentionally oozes out of every sentence, even though its never mentioned and written to create loving, if somewhat unsettling, laughs. And it's so easy to laugh along with him because who didn't do things they shouldn't have when they were teenagers.
But as his worst stories get comfortable, he kicks the seat out from under us.
This is a remarkably beautiful and painfully hilarious piece of theatre that left me numb. And for all its theatrical and emotional manipulation, I believe every word of it.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
22 January 2014
MIDSUMMA: The Vaudevillians
MIDSUMMA
The Vaudevillians
presented by Strut & Fret
15 January 2014
The Greyhound Hotel
to 19 January
midsumma.org.au
The Greyhound Hotel is air conditioned, dark and has a huge bar with cold beer. And it's easy to park. As Melbourne is sweltering in the 40s, there's not much more you need to know except that The Vaudevillians is hotter than a plastic car steering wheel and cooler than a pool bar serving endless frozen margaritas.
The Vaudevillians are Kitty Witless (Jinkx Monsoon) and her husband Dr Dan Von Dandy (Major Scales). In the 1920s, they were a hit in speakeasies and burlesque stages, but on a tour to Antarctica they were frozen in an avalanche until global warming thawed them out. (The irony of opening in Australia during an insane heat wave isn't lost on them.) But on thawing, they discovered that their original songs had been stolen by pop artists and have come back to reclaim their music as it is meant to sound like.
From "Girls just want to have fun" (about the Suffragette movement) to "I will survive" (the opening number to A Doll's House 2: Electric Boogaloo), there isn't a hint of a dull moment as they sing, dance and fight while reminiscing about a time when coke was cheap and going poly with Kurt Weill was mandatory.
I have to confess that I haven't seen RuPaul's Drag Race (yet), so S5 winner Jinkx was an absolute surprise. She's heaven – assuming that heaven is delightfully filthy, glam and hilarious. Jinkx channels so many glorious famous women, but is completely her unique self with a vocal range as wide as her splits and comic timing you can set your watch to.
And she's joined by the oh-so-fine dandy Major Scales, who really does make a fez look cool and is the perfect balance to his coked-up Kitty.
As my computer is in a room without air con, my melting brain can't find enough raving words, but I'd go again even if the air con was broken. This is drag that's as smart as it is hilarious and Melbourne will have to put its wig back on the shelf if it isn't the hit of Midsumma.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
The Vaudevillians
presented by Strut & Fret
15 January 2014
The Greyhound Hotel
to 19 January
midsumma.org.au
The Greyhound Hotel is air conditioned, dark and has a huge bar with cold beer. And it's easy to park. As Melbourne is sweltering in the 40s, there's not much more you need to know except that The Vaudevillians is hotter than a plastic car steering wheel and cooler than a pool bar serving endless frozen margaritas.
The Vaudevillians are Kitty Witless (Jinkx Monsoon) and her husband Dr Dan Von Dandy (Major Scales). In the 1920s, they were a hit in speakeasies and burlesque stages, but on a tour to Antarctica they were frozen in an avalanche until global warming thawed them out. (The irony of opening in Australia during an insane heat wave isn't lost on them.) But on thawing, they discovered that their original songs had been stolen by pop artists and have come back to reclaim their music as it is meant to sound like.
From "Girls just want to have fun" (about the Suffragette movement) to "I will survive" (the opening number to A Doll's House 2: Electric Boogaloo), there isn't a hint of a dull moment as they sing, dance and fight while reminiscing about a time when coke was cheap and going poly with Kurt Weill was mandatory.
I have to confess that I haven't seen RuPaul's Drag Race (yet), so S5 winner Jinkx was an absolute surprise. She's heaven – assuming that heaven is delightfully filthy, glam and hilarious. Jinkx channels so many glorious famous women, but is completely her unique self with a vocal range as wide as her splits and comic timing you can set your watch to.
And she's joined by the oh-so-fine dandy Major Scales, who really does make a fez look cool and is the perfect balance to his coked-up Kitty.
As my computer is in a room without air con, my melting brain can't find enough raving words, but I'd go again even if the air con was broken. This is drag that's as smart as it is hilarious and Melbourne will have to put its wig back on the shelf if it isn't the hit of Midsumma.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
16 January 2014
MIDSUMMA: Thank you for being a friend
MIDSUMMA 2014
Thank you for being a friend
Matthew Management and Neil Gooding
9 January 2014
Theatre Works
to 18 January
theatreworks.org.au
Thank you for being a friend is a loving tribute to the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls performed with puppets. If you're already singing the theme song and getting your box set off the DVD shelf, you know you have to see this.
If you haven't seen the show, you probably won't get it and it'll help to see a couple of episodes if you're going on a Midsumma date. If you think it's a boring show about old ladies, know that it was written by the guy who wrote Arrested Development. And if you love Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan, you must find the 70s sitcom Maude (made in a time when women in their 40s were allowed to have grey hair, wear baggy clothes and still have a lot of sex).
But back to the theatre. With a criss-cross cane lounge, a lanai and a cheesecake, the design instantly feels like we're in a TV studio for a live recording and it takes less than a blink to accept the puppets and their character-perfect actors as Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia.
And, even with some updates like mobile phones and Blanche's discovery of 50 Shades of Grey and mobile phones, it feels like a new (if much longer) episode – complete with TV adds from the 1980s that tempted pockets of the audience to sing along. In this episode, one of Blanche's sons is having a child with a surrogate and everyone except Blanche accepts that he's gay, and there's a mix up on date night.
It may not question anything new but grasps everything that made The Golden Girls so popular, from Dorothy's resemblance to a drag queen to Rose's St Olaf stories, Blache's posing and Sophia's bitchy one liners and its willingness to discuss important social issues under the guise of sweet ladies chatting over cheesecake.
And, of course, you can walk up Acland Street for cheesecake and a chat after the show.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
Thank you for being a friend
Matthew Management and Neil Gooding
9 January 2014
Theatre Works
to 18 January
theatreworks.org.au
Thank you for being a friend is a loving tribute to the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls performed with puppets. If you're already singing the theme song and getting your box set off the DVD shelf, you know you have to see this.
If you haven't seen the show, you probably won't get it and it'll help to see a couple of episodes if you're going on a Midsumma date. If you think it's a boring show about old ladies, know that it was written by the guy who wrote Arrested Development. And if you love Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan, you must find the 70s sitcom Maude (made in a time when women in their 40s were allowed to have grey hair, wear baggy clothes and still have a lot of sex).
But back to the theatre. With a criss-cross cane lounge, a lanai and a cheesecake, the design instantly feels like we're in a TV studio for a live recording and it takes less than a blink to accept the puppets and their character-perfect actors as Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia.
And, even with some updates like mobile phones and Blanche's discovery of 50 Shades of Grey and mobile phones, it feels like a new (if much longer) episode – complete with TV adds from the 1980s that tempted pockets of the audience to sing along. In this episode, one of Blanche's sons is having a child with a surrogate and everyone except Blanche accepts that he's gay, and there's a mix up on date night.
It may not question anything new but grasps everything that made The Golden Girls so popular, from Dorothy's resemblance to a drag queen to Rose's St Olaf stories, Blache's posing and Sophia's bitchy one liners and its willingness to discuss important social issues under the guise of sweet ladies chatting over cheesecake.
And, of course, you can walk up Acland Street for cheesecake and a chat after the show.
This was on AussieTheatre.com.
12 December 2013
What Melbourne loved in 2013, part 11
Daniel Clarke, Penelope Bartlau and Matt Kelly: Melbourne really had some wonderful people.
Daniel Clarke
CEO and Creative Producer, Theatre Works
DAN: The audience response to the opening night performance of Psycho Beach Party (Little Ones Theatre, Theatre Works, Midsumma). I remember thinking it felt like we were somewhere between a rock concert and a football game. I think people were screaming and clapping before the first line was spoken. Amazing. A brilliant way to start the year.
Threepenny Opera (Berliner Ensemble, Perth Festival). I didn't have a ticket. No tickets available. Then Stephen Nicolazzo was offered a ticket at the last minute and gave it to me. One of those shows where you go, "Yes it all makes sense. Without a doubt this is why I love theatre".
Story of O (The Rabble, NEON). I remember saying "fuck me" as I walked into the Lawler. I could not believe what I was walking into. The transformation of that space. I felt exhilarated throughout the whole show. Kind of like how I felt when I saw my first La Fura Del Baus show in the 1996 Adelaide Festival. I just want this show to tour – everywhere. I'd be a very proud Australian to have this work touring the international stages.
The casting of The Sovereign Wife (Sisters Grimm, NEON). I'd love us all to look through the same lens as Sisters Grimm. The world I'd like to to live in.
This year I went to Edinburgh as a delegate with the British Council Showcase. I saw over 35 shows in one week. It was intense; my body experienced so many different emotions daily. It was real but un-real at the same time. It was like I was inducing the most extreme feelings every few hours. It was a gift and I saw, took part in, and experienced some of the most inspiring work for me of 2013.
I also became very passionate about showcasing our homegrown work on the international stages, because there is a lot of extraordinary work being made by artists I love that deserves to be seen in an international context.
Edinburgh Fringe favourites: Adrienne Truscott's Asking For It, The Worst of Scottee (Scottee Inc), Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model (Bryony Kimmings), Brand New Ancients (Kate Tempest), Black T Shirt Collection (Inua Ellams) and You Once Said Yes (Look Left Look Right).
I'm pretty hopeful you are gong to be able to see most of the above works for yourselves over the next couple of years in Australia. So please keep an eye out for them.
SM: Over the last three years that Dan has led the Theatre Works team, it's become a welcoming hub of creativity that's presenting and producing theatre the likes of which no one else is presenting. The year started with a Midsumma program that defined the festival (Psycho Beach Party, Here Lies Henry and The Dead Ones) and to even think that M+M or Room of Regret might not have existed at the Melbourne Festival without Theatre Works ...
And he found time to direct Palace of the End, which was one of my favourite opening nights of the year. And Gaybies, where he found the love in each verbatim story told and created a bigger story on the stage that welcomed everyone.
PENELOPE: I have to say, it's when Leah Scholes (Barking Spider's Artistic Associate) persuaded me to see Slava's Snow Show in the middle of this year. I was assuming, it being such a big and well-worn show, that it wasn't really going to be that inspiring; daggy, in fact. But, it was so wonderful.
MATT: "Things i enjoyed this year." By Matt Kelly (aged 34).
Far and away the best theatre I saw this year, and close to the best I've EVER seen was The Sisters Grimm's The Sovereign Wife. I wish I could write articulately about how much I enjoyed it, but I still can't. I'm sure someone else has already done it much better than me and used loads of fancy words.
The rest I'll do as a list (the order doesn't matter, so I've randomly selected numbers).
5. Zoe Combs Marr's Dave at Comedy Festival
12. Last Tuesday Society's Don's Party
4. Isabell Rachael's Edge at Melbourne Fringe
666. The Last Temptation of Randy at Melbourne Fringe
69. Dan Savage at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas
9. Bello the Clown at The Royal Melbourne Show
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,2,3,4,5,6,7. Einstein on the Beach
4. Dr Professor Neil Portenza at Melbourne Fringe.
SM: If Matt tells me that something is funny and that I should see it, I believe him.
My moment for the year was taking a 5-year-old to her first Listies (Matt and Richard Higgins) show, Earworms at the Melbourne Festival. Snot came out of one of us and the other one sat and watched very seriously. I was a bit scared that I'd scarred her for life – or that she'd never fart again in case a mosquito came out – but she was just taking it all in and repeated all the jokes to me on the tram ride home.
And now I'm singing the *%#$!!!! banana song again.
Daniel Clarke
CEO and Creative Producer, Theatre Works
 |
| Photo by Eugyeene Teh |
DAN: The audience response to the opening night performance of Psycho Beach Party (Little Ones Theatre, Theatre Works, Midsumma). I remember thinking it felt like we were somewhere between a rock concert and a football game. I think people were screaming and clapping before the first line was spoken. Amazing. A brilliant way to start the year.
Threepenny Opera (Berliner Ensemble, Perth Festival). I didn't have a ticket. No tickets available. Then Stephen Nicolazzo was offered a ticket at the last minute and gave it to me. One of those shows where you go, "Yes it all makes sense. Without a doubt this is why I love theatre".
Story of O (The Rabble, NEON). I remember saying "fuck me" as I walked into the Lawler. I could not believe what I was walking into. The transformation of that space. I felt exhilarated throughout the whole show. Kind of like how I felt when I saw my first La Fura Del Baus show in the 1996 Adelaide Festival. I just want this show to tour – everywhere. I'd be a very proud Australian to have this work touring the international stages.
The casting of The Sovereign Wife (Sisters Grimm, NEON). I'd love us all to look through the same lens as Sisters Grimm. The world I'd like to to live in.
This year I went to Edinburgh as a delegate with the British Council Showcase. I saw over 35 shows in one week. It was intense; my body experienced so many different emotions daily. It was real but un-real at the same time. It was like I was inducing the most extreme feelings every few hours. It was a gift and I saw, took part in, and experienced some of the most inspiring work for me of 2013.
I also became very passionate about showcasing our homegrown work on the international stages, because there is a lot of extraordinary work being made by artists I love that deserves to be seen in an international context.
Edinburgh Fringe favourites: Adrienne Truscott's Asking For It, The Worst of Scottee (Scottee Inc), Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model (Bryony Kimmings), Brand New Ancients (Kate Tempest), Black T Shirt Collection (Inua Ellams) and You Once Said Yes (Look Left Look Right).
I'm pretty hopeful you are gong to be able to see most of the above works for yourselves over the next couple of years in Australia. So please keep an eye out for them.
And the first preview of M+M (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble, Theatre Works, Melbourne Festival). I think I will remember this night forever. My words won't do it justice. Thank you.
What Dan's looking forward to in 2014 at issimomag.com.
What Dan's looking forward to in 2014 at issimomag.com.
And he found time to direct Palace of the End, which was one of my favourite opening nights of the year. And Gaybies, where he found the love in each verbatim story told and created a bigger story on the stage that welcomed everyone.
Penelope Bartlau
Artistic Director, Barking SpideVisual Vheatre
 |
Photo by Sarah Walker
|
PENELOPE: I have to say, it's when Leah Scholes (Barking Spider's Artistic Associate) persuaded me to see Slava's Snow Show in the middle of this year. I was assuming, it being such a big and well-worn show, that it wasn't really going to be that inspiring; daggy, in fact. But, it was so wonderful.
The audience's engagement and response to this show blew me away. It ignites wonder and playfulness on a grand scale; it was completely inspirational.
That show has clarified what it is Leah and I love about theatre, and has given us an aesthetic vocabulary which is now an underwriting starting-point for our thinking and our creation.
SM: Penelope and Barking Spider tell intimate, delicate and insanely gorgeous stories. They're not made for the masses; they're made for the lucky few who are at the right place at the magic time.
The Lucian Swift Chronicles: A tale of magic in Melbourne was one of them. It was at the Magic Festival and told a story that was such a part of this city, but belongs to everyone. Just beautiful.
See what Penelope's looking forward to in 2014 at issimomag.com.
Matt Kelly
list maker
The Lucian Swift Chronicles: A tale of magic in Melbourne was one of them. It was at the Magic Festival and told a story that was such a part of this city, but belongs to everyone. Just beautiful.
See what Penelope's looking forward to in 2014 at issimomag.com.
Matt Kelly
list maker
 |
| r + M = Listies |
MATT: "Things i enjoyed this year." By Matt Kelly (aged 34).
Far and away the best theatre I saw this year, and close to the best I've EVER seen was The Sisters Grimm's The Sovereign Wife. I wish I could write articulately about how much I enjoyed it, but I still can't. I'm sure someone else has already done it much better than me and used loads of fancy words.
The rest I'll do as a list (the order doesn't matter, so I've randomly selected numbers).
5. Zoe Combs Marr's Dave at Comedy Festival
12. Last Tuesday Society's Don's Party
4. Isabell Rachael's Edge at Melbourne Fringe
666. The Last Temptation of Randy at Melbourne Fringe
69. Dan Savage at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas
9. Bello the Clown at The Royal Melbourne Show
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,2,3,4,5,6,7. Einstein on the Beach
4. Dr Professor Neil Portenza at Melbourne Fringe.
SM: If Matt tells me that something is funny and that I should see it, I believe him.
My moment for the year was taking a 5-year-old to her first Listies (Matt and Richard Higgins) show, Earworms at the Melbourne Festival. Snot came out of one of us and the other one sat and watched very seriously. I was a bit scared that I'd scarred her for life – or that she'd never fart again in case a mosquito came out – but she was just taking it all in and repeated all the jokes to me on the tram ride home.
And now I'm singing the *%#$!!!! banana song again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)