Monthly Archives: September 2013

Keira Daley Vs The 90s (Seymour Centre)

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keiradaley3Venue: Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Sep 18 – 21, 2013
Writer: Keira Daley
Musical Director: Mark Chamberlain
Performer: Keira Daley

Theatre review
Keira Daley’s last show was entitled Lady Nerd and that has become the moniker which she proudly uses for all her cabaret acts. The connotation of a socially awkward person is amplified on Daley’s stage, and it becomes a starting point for comedy as well as fertile ground for idiosyncratic material.

Daley is a performer bursting with enthusiasm. The passion she brings to the stage proves that theatre is where her heart is, even if she portrays herself as someone who is probably more suited to the accounting or technology industries. In Keira Daley Vs The 90s, she performs a mixture of original songs and hits from the 1990s, from luminaries like Des’ree, Soundgarden, Frente, Jamiroquai, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In between each song, she reminisces about her days in school and teenage life, ensuring an abundance of goose bumps and cringing laughter especially if the audience is between the ages of 30 and 50.

The show ends with a moving original composition, and the slightly sentimental tone works well amongst all the giddy hilarity. In fact, one comes away from the show hoping that the artist’s softer feelings had been allowed to present themselves throughout the show. Daley’s back up band is delightful and contribute a wonderful effervescent energy, even though one does wonder if they had even been conceived when the Friends television show first appeared.

www.facebook.com/ladynerdcabaret
www.seymourcentre.com

5 Questions with Marco Fusco

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marcofusco
What is your favourite swear word?
It’s more a phrase: shit mother fucker fuck shit!!

What are you wearing?
Jeans, Black t-shirt Cardigan and my favourite creepers!!

What is love?
A many splendid thing!!! It lifts us up where we belong.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Hot Shoe Shuffle I would give it 5 starts out of 5!! Loved it.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Come see it and you be the judge.

 

Marco Fusco plays Richard “Dick” Scrotumsberry the 3rd in The Sexual Awakening Of Virgina Poppycock, part of Sydney Fringe 2013.
Show dates: 25 – 28 Sep, 2013
Show venue: Seymour Centre
Image by 3 Fates Media.

Jane Austen Is Dead (Brave Theatre)

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janeaustenVenue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Sep 16 – 23, 2013
Playwright: Mel Dodge
Director: Patrick Davies
Actor: Mel Dodge

Theatre review
Romantic love for the modern woman is a tricky thing. While Jane Austen’s books are still adored, the meaning of marriage has changed drastically over the last two centuries and we now negotiate relationships afresh without religious or traditional constraints. This opens up a liberated new world, but it also presents a kind of quagmire where some of us are left baffled and defeated.

Mel Dodge’s work expresses this experience perfectly. It is a thorough exploration into the world of a single woman in her 30s who is looking for love, but who in the process, also questions her own motivations and decisions. The script is an honest one. It gets to many ugly truths that audiences will identify with, but wraps it up in humour and wit so that the predicaments portrayed are never allowed to painfully wallow or to turn into misery.

Dodge’s performance of her own script is stellar. She has crafted a protagonist Sophie, who is endearing from the very start, and we develop a warm affiliation that keeps us engaged through every second of the show. The plot freely jumps across time and space, with Dodge playing a whole raft of characters, all believable, familiar and funny, making this one-woman show hugely entertaining and impressive.

Patrick Davies’ direction fleshes out all the cleverness and all that is amusing in the script. The transitions between characters, and the different levels of engagement with the audience are skilfully constructed so that our attention is kept tightly under control and no moment is wasted.

A single flaw would be the play’s abrupt ending. Sophie comes to a conclusion that is at once meaningful and interesting, but it all winds up too swiftly. Although perhaps, it could just be the audience enjoying her company too much and are unwilling to say goodbye.

www.facebook.com/BRAVETheatre

5 Questions with Jonathan Dunk

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jonathandunkWhat is your favourite swear word?
‘Fucking hell’, for gravitas.

What are you wearing?
Vaguely skinny jeans and an un-ironed shirt. The shirt is blue.

What is love?
Quiet.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Miss Julie, four stars, I think. Good handle on the Australian class system.

Is your new show going to be any good?
It has a clumsy kind of pathos. Read Suzy’s review here.

 

Jonathan Dunk is directing and acting in Skazka: Told By Night, part of Sydney Fringe 2013.
Show dates: 18 – 28 Sep, 2013
Show venue: New Theatre

The Catastrophists (The Basement Productions)

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catastrophists1Venue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Sep 17 – 21, 2013
Playwright: Jordan King-Lacroix
Director: Jordan King-Lacroix
Choreographer: Naomi Hibberd
Actors: Jordan King-Lacroix, Eleanor Ryan, Edward Ransom
Dancers: Naomi Hibberd, Ken Ishii

Theatre review
The Catastrophists is about very dramatic characters in three separate stories with slightly different styles of comedy. The three stories are linked with modern dance sequences, but are not obviously connected in any other way.

Eleanor Ryan’s playful performance as Desiree stands out as the most memorable. Her Bronx/Brooklyn accent tickles many funny bones, and the campiness of her character is a perfect fit for the high octane style of the show. Her other character Rachel is equally entertaining but less compelling, due to the complexity of the story that introduces a few too many surprising plot twists. Edward Ransom plays Jack, an awkwardly endearing I.T. professional. There is a lot of quirkiness in his portrayal, which gives his character a complexity and believability that could easily have been overly simple and undimensioned.

Naomi Hibberd’s choreography is charming and has many beautiful touches, but it struggles to find its place amongst the big comedic performances. Bryce Halliday’s music on the other hand, adds to the comedy, and his presence is incorporated well into the production’s staging. One can expect Fringe festivals to deliver the weird and the wonderful, and depending on your personal tastes and disposition, this could be just the production that gets you into fits of laughter.

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Past Tense (Awkward Duck Theatre)

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pasttense1Venue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Sep 17 – 21, 2013
Playwright: Kara Eva Schlegl
Director: Kara Eva Schlegl
Actors: Joshua McInnes, Liz Jameson, Hanni Trewin, David Reynolds

Theatre review
There are two interesting throughlines in Past Tense. It is mainly concerned with Terry’s predicament as a young woman stuck in a rut, but it is also about her relationship with the narrator of her life story. The play therefore consists of a real life dimension as well as a metaphysical realm, but they are not kept distinct. The Narrator is allowed to interact with Terry and her friends, and through this anomaly, a lot of colour is added to the simple story. The show also attempts to introduce a sense of Brechtian distanciation with the idea of a materialised Narrator, although it is unclear whether creating that effect serves much purpose in this instance.

The players are encouraged to perform their comedy broadly, and their approach comes across more akin to the work of comedians rather than actors. Their main intention for the audience is one of effect, rather than empathy or affiliation. This means that the production is able to deliver lots of laughs, but we are unable to connect with the story’s central character satisfactorily. The biggest laughs are for David Reynolds who plays Rich. He has a keen sense of timing, and attacks his funny moments with gusto and conviction. He is there to deliver hilarity, and he is single-minded about it. Joshua McInnes as the Narrator is a good fit. The young actor has an innate sense of formality that is perfectly utilised. He portrays a character that is somberly rigid yet agile, and the show relies on his focus to keep the plot on track.

Along with the Narrator, a musician is on stage through the duration. Mark Conroy underscores the action and provides a few delightful incidental songs, which add to the joviality of the proceedings. Past Tense has a story to tell, and that story is used as a vehicle for entertainment and laughter. The show’s reverberations fade quickly after the performers have taken their bows, but it is great fun while it lasts.

www.pasttensefringe.com

5 Questions with Andrew Finegan

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andrewfineganWhat is your favourite swear word?
I’ve always really liked “Berk” – it’s innocuous to the unenlightened, but the rest of us know that’s it’s an abbreviation of “Berkshire Hunt”, which is rhyming slang for… well, you know!

What are you wearing?
I’ve just had my morning coffee up on High Street in Northcote (yes, I’m from Melbourne), so I’m still in my finest op-shop garments so that I can blend in with the hipsters. I still need to work on my beard, though.

What is love?
Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me no more. Some say love – it is a river that drowns the tender reed. All you need is love. Love changes everything. But love, love will tear us apart, again.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
I’ve just returned from working in PNG for about 3 and a half months, and was fortunate enough to attend the National Mask Festival. The highlight was the Bainings Fire Dancers, who wear these huge masks and dance in the fires, kicking up huge plumes of fire and sparks. Often into the audience. It was amazing – and probably impossible to put on in Australia due to public liability issues. Five stars.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Yes! It received favourable reviews when I first performed it in Adelaide this year, and since then I’ve tightened it up, cut some boring bits, and added a K-pop inspired number. I’m also performing it a few times in Melbourne this month before coming to Sydney, so it should be well and truly awesome by then. Plus it has dinosaurs and zombies in it – which pretty much makes everything more awesomer. It’ll be the best cabaret show about the apocalypse in the Sydney Fringe, I guarantee it.

Andrew Finegan is star of Songs From The End Of The World, part of Sydney Fringe 2013.
Show dates: 27 Sep and 3 Oct, 2013
Show venue: The Switchbox

5 Questions with N. Gregory Finger

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nathanfingerWhat is your favourite swear word?
I never use it myself, but I’ve always been fond of my grandmother’s favourite, ‘Jam and Butter it’.

What are you wearing?
As I sit and write now I am wearing trackpants and a jumper… classiest guy in town.

What is love?
A two way street, but usually there’s road work and detours.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Belvoir’s production of Miss Julie, 3.5 out of 5

Is your new show going to be any good?
The show is very good: it’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, it’ll change your life. Read Suzy’s review here.

N. Gregory Finger is writer and director of Narrow As The Line, part of Sydney Fringe 2013.
Show dates: 24 – 29 Sep, 2013
Show venue: King Street Theatre

5 Questions with Matty Grey

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mattygreyWhat is your favourite swear word?
Well, when you perform for kids you have to be a bit careful what you choose for preferred profanities. My favourite at the moment is probably Patootie. It’s not a swear word, but it sounds kind of like it should be.

What are you wearing?
A lion onesie. Anyone got a problem with that?

What is love?
Love is finding the perfect person to watch your back for Creepers while you’re mining ore. If you understand that come to the show. If you don’t, ask a kid and bring them to the show.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Slava’s Snow Show, there aren’t enough stars in the sky to rate it.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Oh our new show is going to be bloody brilliant, absolutely awesome and talked about for years to come. Unfortunately this is an encore run of our old show, which is still good but you did ask about the new one.

Matty Grey is writer and performer of 2 shows in the Sydney Fringe 2013.

Matty Grey’s Grossed Out Game Show
Show dates: 21 – 24 Sep, 2013
Show venue: Seymour Centre

Age-less 2: Game On
Show dates: 26 – 27 Sep, 2013
Show venue: King Street Theatre

Image by Jeremy Belifante

5 Questions with Caitlin West

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caitlinwest2What is your favourite swear word?
Cagadaputamierda. It’s Spanish for crapwhoreshit. My grandma made it up and uses it when she has roadrage.

What are you wearing?
My grandma’s shirt (just flagging it: i have a very cool granny) jeans and no shoes because they broke.

What is love?
Your mum.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
A production of August: osage County at the Cellar Theatre at sydney uni. Five stars. I bawled throughout and left the theatre feeling a little more whole.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Well yes. Read Suzy’s review here.

Caitlin West is performing in Skazka: Told By Night, part of Sydney Fringe 2013.
Show dates: 18 – 28 Sep, 2013
Show venue: New Theatre