5 Questions with Charlie Hanson

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charliehansonWhat is your favourite swear word?
I’m very fond of fuck-face, especially as a term of endearment.

What are you wearing?
No shoes. I very much like not wearing shoes. One of my favourite things about living in Australia is that this is an acceptable lifestyle choice.

What is love?
Perseverance, compromise and cups of tea.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Jerusalem at the New Theatre. 4 stars.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Yes, yes it is.

Charlie Hanson is appearing in Triune.
Show dates: 22 Nov – 7 Dec, 2013
Show venue: TAP Gallery

5 Questions with Trevor Ashley

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trevorashleyWhat is your favourite swear word?
Cunt. I think it’s also my favourite word.

What are you wearing?
Currently, my pyjamas. But then it is early morning, being 11.30am. I’m not an early riser.

What is love?
Love is inconvenient. Usually because I find myself falling for the wrong person. He’s always unavailable in some way or another. But then again – so am I!

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I give it 5 stars – it was one of the best musical theatre pieces I’ve ever seen. Funny and witty.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Well I’ve done it before, and it was pretty good last time… It’s a big barrel of laughs and spectacular costumes!

Trevor Ashley is starring in Star Struck.
Show dates: 8 Nov, 2013
Show venue: The Star Event Centre

5 Questions with Peter Hayes

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peterhayesWhat is your favourite swear word?
That would be the F-word I repeated loud and long and clear when I was knocked off my bicycle last Friday.

What are you wearing?
A white shirt and jeans.

What is love?
Much considered in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and seems crucially to depend on many precarious variables.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
The Good The Bad And The Lawyer with a star to each actor for a five star show.

Is your new show going to be any good?
The writing is very good and Bryan Andrews knows what he is doing so what could possibly go wrong?

Peter Hayes is appearing in Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
Show dates: 30 Oct – 9 Nov, 2013
Show venue: TAP Gallery

5 Questions with Kim Knuckey

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kimknuckeyWhat is your favourite swear word?
I like most of them, but bugger works in practically every situation.

What are you wearing?
A t-shirt that says The Kingdom Of Doug, the name of a short film my friend Victoria Thaine made.

What is love?
A smile. A look. A hug.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Nick Curnow in Fully Committed. He played dozens of characters in a one man show and was fantastic!

Is your new show going to be any good?
I’m really looking forward to this. Lynden and I play characters who are as different as chalk and cheese – it’s a surprise they can agree on anything. And there’s a lot of fun in the show.

Kim Knuckey stars in the world premiere of The Maintenance Room.
Show dates: 7 – 30 Nov, 2013
Show venue: King St Theatre

5 Questions with Owen Little

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owen-littleWhat is your favourite swear word?
Fuck. Its powerful, satisfying, and versatile.

What are you wearing?
Well to be honest, its 11:12pm and I’m in my boxers, thats it.

What is love?
Woah, big one… love is afternoon sun through olive trees. Love is a contradiction, it comes in many forms. It’s perilous but also a refuge, its free but it has its cost. It is passion, yearning, sharing, ecstasy, life and death…

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Last show I saw was Super Discount by Back to Back Theatre Company at STC. I give it 4 Stars. The show was a devised by a group of actors with intellectual/physical impairments. It challenged the audience whilst entertaining and raising valuable questions about how art, people and performance is viewed and judged.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Sweet Nothings will come in like a wrecking ball! Its a fantastic play filled with great characters fuelled by sex, young love and consequence. As relevant today as it was 100 years ago. Go see it!

Owen Little is starring in Sweet Nothings.
Show dates: 7 – 23 Nov, 2013
Show venue: ATYP Under The Wharf

An Ordinary Person (Sydney Independent Theatre Company)

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anordinarypersonVenue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Oct 22 – Nov 16, 2013
Playwright: Robert Allan
Director: Julie Baz
Actors: Cherilyn Price, Alexander Butt, Mel Dodge, Jai Higgs, David Jeffrey, Carla Nirella
Image by Katy Green Loughrey

Theatre review
At the heart of An Ordinary Person is an unusual relationship. It is an unconventional marriage not often represented on stage, but it is an entirely believable one. Robert Allan has written an interesting story, and he has crafted characters that are idiosyncratic, curious and memorable. The structure of the plot, however, is a challenging one. The show’s first half is full of intrigue, but not much else. It takes its time introducing the various characters in an air of mystery, but the audience needs a stronger sense of the impending drama for these characters to be compelling. Fortunately, the second half is much more satisfying, with drama bursting at all its seams.

Performing the piece is an ensemble of uniformly strong actors. Cherilyn Price is particularly impressive, playing her character Aggie at two different ages. She switches effectively between the portrayal of a middle-aged woman and her 14 year-old version, without the use of costumes or makeup, relying only on her acting. It is quite an experience to see Price’s method in her subtle but distinct transformations. Carla Nirella plays Fiona, and stands out with the effortless intensity and conviction she brings to the production. Her role is a simple one, but she attacks it with clarity and energy, giving very solid support to the key characters.

The play’s themes are dark and uncommon but Julie Baz’s direction does not exploit them gratuitously. She is careful to depict all characters with compassion, so that we leave the show thinking about our society’s issues in a mirror that reflects the social, rather than the personal. Although fundamentally a singular species, ordinary persons bear infinite differences between each and every separate entity. It is in the meeting of these individuals that extraordinary things happen, good or bad.

www.sitco.net.au

5 Questions with Sylvia Keays

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sylviakeaysWhat is your favourite swear word?
FUCK.

What are you wearing?
Light blue underwear, black bra, a red shirt with big graffiti print “Amour Moi” and black tights. Too much? 😉

What is love?
Untamed.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour Cirque du Soleil – 5 out of 5! Brilliant.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Absolutely! A new Australian play Cristina In The Cupboard by Paul Gilchrist of subtlenuance. An experiment in comic magical realism – with an amazing cast of eight. It’s on.

Sylvia Keays is starring in Cristina In The Cupboard.
Show dates: 6 – 17 Nov, 2013
Show venue: TAP Gallery

Love Field (Bakehouse Theatre Company)

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lovefieldVenue: TAP Gallery (Surry Hills NSW), Oct 22 – Nov 2, 2013
Playwright: Ron Elisha
Director: Michael Dean
Actors: Lizzie Schebesta, Ben Wood
Image by Tessa Tran, Breathing Light Photography

Theatre review
Jackie Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson (the 36th President of USA) feature in this fictional story situated on a jet, immediately after the Kennedy assassination. Ron Elisha’s writing is imaginative and his thoughts are complex. There is a sense of something wild bubbling under his constructed universe, although the surface is deceptively restrained and conventional.

Direction of the production focuses on the creation of a naturalistic environment, and relies heavily on the actors’ lines to convey Elisha’s ideas. This is a tall order, as these concepts are deep and seem to demand more elaborate exploration. On the other hand, what results is an elegant work with a dignified simplicity.

Both actors are gifted with impressive but easy, stage presence. They are naturally fascinating creatures that absorb our attention effortlessly. Ben Wood plays Johnson, with a commanding speaking voice and great conviction. He instils clear character transitions throughout the play, and allows us to perceive several dimensions to his personality in a relatively short time (it runs for approx 75 mins). Lizzie Schebesta’s performance of the newly widowed Jackie Kennedy is beautifully melancholic, but she comes across slightly young for the role, and a little muted in her approach.

Although lacking in extravagant dramatics, Love Field is interesting and engaging. Its attempts at discussing issues of gender and social politics are well-meaning, and because modern times always seem to be in a state of “political turmoil”, the play is a timeless one.

www.bakehousetheatrecompany.com.au

5 Questions with Michelle Pastor

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michellepastorWhat is your favourite swear word?
I don’t swear a lot. My boyfriend looks at me in shock when I do. So you’ll mostly hear me say Oh My Goodness, but in times of extreme frustration it’s F*ing Hell!

What are you wearing?
Right now I’m in my pyjamas. The curse of working from home. If I got dressed? Jeans and a lazy jumper. Im in Melbourne today and it’s stupidly cold.

What is love?
Wanting to spend every second with that person, or thinking about them, or remembering them, or talking about them, accepting every part of them and being so grateful they are in your life, because with them, joy is abundant.

What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
I saw King Kong yesterday. That gorilla is freaking incredible. Kids were in tears with fear. I wanted to give him a hug. It took 13 guys
to work the puppet! How many stars? Sadly the story was a little disjointed, so I’ll give it 4.

Is your new show going to be any good?
Yes. Undoubtedly. Why? Because it’s fun. I have fun performing it and you’ll have fun watching it.

Michelle Pastor is starring in Spoil Your Love Life.
Show dates: 29 Oct – 9 Nov, 2013
Show venue: The Newsagency

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Theatre Royal)

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dirtyrottenscoundrelsVenue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), Aug 14 – Sep 1, 2013
Writer: Jeffrey Lane (based on the 1988 film)
Music and lyrics: David Yazbeck
Director: Roger Hodgman
Choreographer: Dana Jolly
Performers: Tony Sheldon, Matt Hetherington, Amy Lehpamer, John Wood, Anne Wood, Katrina Retallick
Image by Kurt Sneddon

Theatre review
The “Broadway Musical” genre is hugely popular, with productions travelling across continents everyday. They represent the ultimate in live entertainment, and consistently provide incredible inspiration to everyday folk by showcasing unimaginable artistic skill and talent.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is an excellent example of a show that ticks all the boxes. It is an engaging and amusing story, peppered with uproariously funny sequences, and a clever plot driven by beautifully written songs. Design elements are of the finest quality. The stage in Theatre Royal is slightly tight, but the venue looks exceptionally elegant and glamorous on this occasion. Performances are beyond “world class” with an Australian cast that can only be described as brilliant.

Matt Hetherington as Freddy Benson is a perfect fit; one can hardly imagine any other actor more suited for the role. Hetherington is the proverbial “triple threat” incarnate, with a killer singing voice, impressive command of choreography, and seriously hilarious comic abilities. His star shines irresistibly bright in this production.

Amy Lehpamer is an absolute delight as Christine Colgate. Her masterful vocals are quite literally perfect, and coupled with her fervency in the comic content of the show, she is completely impressive and a very wonderful musical theatre actor indeed. Like Hetherington, Lehpamer has star quality in spades, and together, they are a surety that this is one production that will never have an “off night” in its entire season. Also noteworthy is Katrina Retallick who has a smaller role as the pistol wielding Jolene Oakes. She earns some of the biggest laughs of the show, and while appearing only in a couple of scenes, they are thoroughly memorable ones.

This is a musical characterised by its vivacious humour. There is an irreverent sensibility that many would love, but others might find challenging. For those of us who enjoy a dose of naughtiness, and are not averse to a little scoundrelly wit, this is a show that will leave an enduring impression for many years to come.

www.dirtyrottenscoundrels.com.au