Tag Archives: comedy

Review: The Measure Of A Man (New Theatre)

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gavinroachVenue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Sep 13 – 17, 2016
Playwright: Gavin Roach
Director: Lauren Hopley
Cast: Gavin Roach
Image by Jarrod Rose

Theatre review
The monologue begins with Gavin Roach talking about penis size, a discussion indicative of the inadequacies that men can feel. The Measure Of A Man is not entirely about genitals, but it is about sex, and the effects on one’s emotional well-being when sexual dysfunctions appear. Roach’s writing endeavours to be absolutely revealing, and its vulnerability can be disarming, but for a context of physical and mental health, his disclosures have a tendency to dwell on symptoms rather than a deeper exploration into the causes of his worries. We find out in great detail, many of the issues the unnamed character faces with regard to sexual activity, but there is little insight into the reasons that might let us identify more closely with his circumstances.

Roach is a charming performer, able to present both humour and pathos with excellent conviction. His strong presence has a vivacious energy that provides an essential liveliness to the one-man-show format, but the play’s strong tendency for melancholy misses many an opportunity for scenes of comedy and mirth. Sex is a serious matter, but it is also very funny, and joking about it does not diminish its resonance. We connect more with Roach when he is self-effacing and camp. When performing his distinct style of flirty and transparent frivolity, we sense an ironic but truer depiction of his inner-self than when he shifts into high drama. Perhaps the stakes are too low to match.

Frank descriptions of unreliable body parts and lustful misadventures in The Measure Of A Man represent a progressive sex positive attitude that many will find refreshing and liberating. Queer artists have often faced the problem of having to play to mainstream heteronormative audiences, and in the process, become compromised and misleadingly puritanical in their expressions. As societies become more embracing of diversity and honesty in how we talk about sex, sexuality and gender, queer work can begin to be less pandering. Good taste will always exist, but artists must find a way to let their truths protrude, even if just a few meagre inches.

www.newtheatre.org.au

Review: Young Pretender (New Theatre)

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newtheatreVenue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Sep 13 – 17, 2016
Playwright: E. V. Crowe
Director: Mark G Nagle
Cast: Ryan Bown, Shaun McEachern, Madelaine Osborn
Image by Caitlin Hodder

Theatre review
Bonnie Prince Charlie plays a significant part in the Scottish psyche. His failed Jacobite rising of 1745 is a representation of the problematic relationship many perceive to exist between Scotland and the United Kingdom. E. V. Crowe’s Young Pretender is a re-imagined account of the young man at his most memorable. It is a play that relies on an audience’s assumed knowledge, if not a shared passion for the legendary figure. A regular Australian crowd is at best indifferent about the show’s protagonist, and many of us would be forgiven to be completely ignorant about his legacy and indeed, eighteenth century Scottish history.

Without sufficient initiation into its context, the production can prove disorienting. No great effort is made to adapt the work for its dislocated audience, and we struggle to find relevance in any of its drama. The cast is attractive and energetic, but characters being portrayed remain distant, even though good focus is displayed on stage. It is noteworthy however, that Caitlin Hodder’s costumes are cleverly designed, flattering, and the sole visual element that aims to provide the production with a sense of style.

We all love a rebel. We spend must of our lives adhering to rules and regulations, only to find discontentment as compensation. In our stories, we look to those who dare to resist the constraints and encumbrances of society, to walk their own paths so that we may follow in their footsteps, if only in our fantasies. Making art in today’s state of advanced capitalism, is often an act of great defiance. Only a select few are rewarded appropriately, while the rest spend their time creating with little hope of considerable support or approval. We cannot base all our decisions on reward and accolades; some wars are to be be fought even when defeat is anticipated, for the meaning of life lies somewhere beyond the sovereignty of money and power. True artists will do what they have to do regardless of the oppressive nature of our environment, and only pretenders will ever be hampered by the will of others.

www.newtheatre.org.au

Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Sydney Theatre Company)

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stcVenue: Sydney Opera House (Sydney NSW), Sep 12 – Oct 22, 2016
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Director: Kip Williams
Cast: Paula Arundell, Matthew Backer, Rob Collins, Honey Debelle, Emma Harvie, Jay James-Moody, Brandon McClelland, Josh McConville, Robert Menzies, Susan Prior, Rose Riley, Rahel Romahn, Bruce Spence
Images by Brett Boardman

Theatre review
Characters get up to a lot of mischief in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but what can be construed as humorous, can also be seen as menacing. The play features deception, sabotage, humiliation and misogyny, subversively, and surreptitiously, framed within a category of conventional comedy, leaving the depths of its darkness unacknowledged. One of Western theatre’s most well-known pieces, it is often regarded as light and frothy, fun for the whole family, with themes of romance and fantasy taken to their greatest extremes for hours of harmless entertainment.

Centuries on, it can be argued that much of Shakespeare’s comedy is no longer funny. Some insist that everything Shakespeare had penned can stand the test of time, but others will hold a more objective attitude. Kip Williams looks at the text with modern eyes, judging it with today’s values, and in exposing all that is archaic in the piece, creates something imaginative, powerful and irreverently spectacular. Turning A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a twisted nightmare, it is suddenly mesmerising. Williams’ concept might seem basic, but his detailed execution of a macabre and provocative utopia/dystopia is as sensitive as it is scandalous. Consistently fascinating, and frankly eye-opening, this is some of the most astonishing and iconoclastic theatre, full of spirit; adventurous, brave and ostentatious.

Actor Paula Arundell is unforgettable as Titania, queen of the fairies, via Donatella Versace. Regal, austere and decadent, her creation is strikingly sensual, full of danger and drama, compelling and beguiling in every moment. Arundell attacks her role with a fierce solemnity, resolutely playing against the comedy that we have become used to, in order that a fresh theatricality may be delivered; poetic, surreal, and irrevocably powerful. Also deadly serious are all the production’s design aspects. Chris Williams’ music and Nate Edmondson’s sound design hold us firmly in their dictatorial insistence for dramatic tension, and Alice Babidge’s costumes dare us to look away from the grotesque glamour reminiscent of Leigh Bowery and Cindy Sherman’s brutal legacies.

On stage is a morbid world, resplendently manufactured to satisfy our need for an art that is carnal, wild and audacious. It must be noted however, that the show closes with an abruptness that betrays its fundamental and delicious sophistication. The final transition from a scene of brilliant black humour to its concluding gravitas occurs with surprising carelessness, leaving us disoriented and prematurely awoken from what had been a deeply luscious reverie. Nevertheless, what is achieved here is an instance of magic rarely witnessed, and unlikely to be seen very soon again. Wonderful for its uniqueness, and its gutsy approach to the most time-honoured of classics, this is excellent theatre that reminds us how good it is to be alive, at a time when the ephemeral art form can thrive so brilliantly, and we are here to catch it.

www.sydneytheatre.com.au

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2016 Sydney Theatre Company

Review: Metamorphoses (Montague Basement)

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montaguebasementVenue: Erskineville Town Hall (Erskineville NSW), Sep 13 – 17, 2016
Creators: Imogen Gardam, Lulu Howes, Saro Lusty-Cavallari (based on the poem by Ovid)
Dramaturg: Pierce Wilcox
Cast: Lulu Howes, Saro Lusty-Cavallari
Image by Zaina Ahmed

Theatre review
Turning Ovid’s two thousand year-old poem into a work for the theatre in Sydney today, is an exercise in adaptation full of possibilities. Every choice is a reflection of the interpreters’ relationship with the world, and with the art form itself. The very decision to take on a project of this nature, is indicative of a desire to experiment with the social aspects of both; theatre, and that immortal classic being interrogated. Imogen Gardam, Lulu Howes and Saro Lusty-Cavallari explore what a work represents when it refuses to be forgotten, and what it means in contemporary society when individuals meet at the theatre to relive it.

Each scene that corresponds to Ovid’s fifteen books, is given its own distinct identity and stylistic genre. Even though there is a conscious effort in manufacturing something quite erratic as inspired by the original, the use of only two actors with infrequent alterations to their appearance limits our ability to perceive the staging with as much variety as is evidently attempted. Our minds give in to a habitual need to create a sense of consistency with the faces we see before us, and the big range of characters is often conflated into a simplification of understanding involving one man and one woman. Perhaps the performers bring along a passion to their performance that has a tendency to appear homogeneous. It can also be said that although energetic in their approach, an ambiguity to their engagement with the work delivers an experience that can be elusive and frustrating. We wish for greater finesse either in the poetic nature of what is being created, or in the meanings that it is able to evoke.

There is abstract beauty to be found in this version of Metamorphoses, as well as political ideas that hold importance and relevance, but neither is willing to become concrete enough for us to grasp with a greater sense of enthralment. If a work aims to alienate, it should keep our feelings at bay but our minds captivated. Art is not always about earning likes, but it should secure attention, especially when it actively rejects the conventional and banal. Little of what we do can endure millennia, but the promise of a resonant instant is all it takes to keep us striving.

www.montaguebasement.com

Review: Tammy & Kite (Montague Basement)

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montagueVenue: Erskineville Town Hall (Erskineville NSW), Sep 13 – 17, 2016
Creators: Hannah Cox, Caitlin West
Cast: Hannah Cox, Caitlin West
Image by Zaina Ahmed

Theatre review
We are at home with two very funny sisters. Kite is in year three, and although Tammy is seven years older, the siblings are extremely close, spending almost all of their stage time making each other, and their audience, laugh with joyful glee. We watch the playful pair weather thick and thin, and when things get rough, Tammy & Kite shows us that life can be cruel even for the very young. Hannah Cox and Caitlin West’s play is remarkably sensitive in its portrayal of childhood and innocence, with an impressive authenticity that lets any person, of any age or background, relate to its characters and all its situations. Their feelings are real, and we cannot help but share in them, happy or sad.

Our protagonists find it difficult to express their emotions through words, but the play accurately depicts their inner world through imaginative means. The show’s creators assemble precise and powerful manipulations of atmosphere to communicate through signs and symbols, helped by excellent work from lighting designer Saro Lusty-Cavallari and sound designers Josephine Gibson and Alexis Weaver. The audience’s instincts are called upon to find an understanding of the sisters’ story beyond what is being said to one another. In Tammy & Kite, important information is conveyed through everything that happens in the room, not just the words that manage to find their way out of the girls’ mouths.

Some things you can never be prepared for, no matter how old you may be, but to witness children deal with deep losses is truly heartbreaking. It must be noted that the production makes it a point not to wallow in the story’s dark sides, but the delicate glimpses of sorrow it does provide, are very moving indeed. We discover a love in Tammy & Kite that is wonderfully pure, uplifting and life-affirming. The special moments of togetherness enacted by Cox and West, are a reminder of the most important kind, but also the very simplest; to cherish and to hold, everything else can wait.

www.montaguebasement.com

Review: This Modern Coil (Upper Crass Theatre Company)

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moderncoilVenue: Erskineville Town Hall (Erskineville NSW), Sep 9 – 10, 2016
Playwright: James Hartley
Director: James Hartley
Cast: Atlas Adams, Tom Green

Theatre review
Two soldiers are trapped on a minefield, forced to confront death and each other’s beliefs about death. Intelligent, humorous and charming, James Hartley’s This Modern Coil explores our relationship with mortality, through a process that is inevitably philosophical, for an existentialist work that is simultaneously universal and challenging.

The writing operates at several levels of intellect, with some moments proving to be more accessible than others, but even at its most demanding, performers Atlas Adams and Tom Green are able to provide a sense of authenticity that keeps us engaged in their cerebral drama. Both men are gregarious and charismatic, effortlessly funny in a show that is almost always entertaining. Their impressive chemistry secures not only our attention, but also our empathy. They are very likeable characters that never fail to let us see ourselves reflected in all their anxieties and fantasies.

Hartley’s own direction of the work is accomplished, with effective manufacturing of tension through much of the piece, although the show is quite clearly more gripping in its first half. Set and costume design by Ara Steel is creatively and proficiently rendered, but the dim lighting does take away from some of the actors’ more subtle efforts.

There is a depth to This Modern Coil that is very admirably courageous, and balanced with a confident sense of comedy and storytelling, we are lured into a meaningful exchange about the biggest and hardest questions of life, only without the usual feelings of intimidation and alienation. No two people are the same but it is the certainty of death that reveals our individual, fervent pursuits of disparity to be futile. We may wish to be special, but at the humble juncture before turning to dust, there is no denying the simple essence of humanity that binds us all.

www.facebook.com/uppercrass

Review: Atlantis (Subtlenuance Theatre)

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subtlenuanceVenue: Kings Cross Theatre Kings Cross NSW), Sep 6 – 10, 2016
Playwright: Paul Gilchrist
Director: Kit Bennett
Cast: Sylvia Keays, Antony Talia, Madeleine Withington

Theatre review
A meaningful existence can only ever be understood from a position of subjective experience. In Paul Gilchrist’s Atlantis, things may contain inherent value, but it is up to us to bring interpretation to them, and we have a choice in how we read the world and how we immerse ourselves in the inevitable living of it. We all rely on tall tales to get us through each day and night, calling them mythologies, religion, science or mathematics, for it is intrinsically human to want to make sense of things. Our consciousness must be shaped, but what form it may take is subject to the mind’s plasticity, and in Atlanits, Gilchrist demonstrates a kind of self-determining fate that results from the stories we create for ourselves.

Of course, the play’s events can only happen in a place like Australia where a vast majority of us are rich and free. It is Gilchrist’s point, to make the best of our privilege. We are in a position to dream big, and to disregard cultural restrictions and social fears, so that we can have better lives, and do good for the world, in ways that are perhaps original and trailblazing. If we followed every rule, our evolution will never take momentous leaps forward. Anomalous advancements require people who dare be radical; whether Mahatma Gandhi or Elizabeth I, it is always the maverick who establishes a legacy.

Atlanits is a soulful work, full of spirit, but with its feet planted firmly on the ground. Its words take hold of our imagination, and argue convincingly for perspectives that are only optimistic and inspiring. Actor Antony Talia does a splendid job of helping us navigate between reality and idealism, with his remarkably engaging presence and an impressive commitment to authenticity. There is excellent humour written into early sections of the play, but they are unfortunately lost in the production’s overly square focus on the deeper lessons, that could probably be left until later in the piece.

The work is staged with poignancy in mind, but more adventurous exploration of physicality would drive its message more effectively. Attention is placed on Gilchrist’s beautiful words, but our other senses need to be manipulated more for a richer theatre, as we commune to share space and ideas. It might be an exaggeration to say that “if you build it, they will come,” but magic must start somewhere, and it never comes from fear.

www.subtlenuance.com

Review: The Giant Worm Show (Melita Rowston’s Shit Tourism)

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melitaVenue: The Old 505 Theatre (Newtown NSW), Sep 6 – 10, 2016
Playwright: Melita Rowston
Director: Melita Rowston
Cast: Benito Di Fonzo, Melita Rowston

Theatre review
Melita Rowston remembers a giant pink worm she had once seen in a parade, and goes on a wild goose chase to recover memories from her childhood. In the process, nostalgic tales of a small country town are brought to light, along with quirky personalities who steal our hearts, through strange anecdotes that are as surprising as they are moving. Rowston’s production is a charming one, unabashedly sweet but also revelatory in its portrayal of country people, their challenges, and their passions.

Presented in the form of a parody of a faux children’s tv programme from Saturday nights of a bygone era, Rowston is joined on stage by 2 puppets, confidently operated by Benito Di Fonzo. It is a basic and completely unpretentious setup, but its humour is effective, with a palpable quality of sincerity that is key to The Giant Worm Show‘s poignancy. There is an unmistakable melancholy that comes with Rowston’s regard for a time and place she had left behind, inconspicuous but powerfully resonant for city folk with tendencies of romanticising rural life.

When the going gets rough, we hark back to days of innocence, longing for the peaceful and secure existence of infants; wrapped up in cotton wool, merry and oblivious to all troubles of the world. Life is never perfect, but we often access the past through a kind of psychological filter that only allows the best to return. The pleasure of nostalgia is delusive, but also necessary. We need to know the sensation of peace and optimism in order to forge ahead, in search of an ideal future, informed by imagined pasts.

www.melitarowston.com

Review: Barefoot In The Park (Ensemble Theatre)

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ensembleVenue: Ensemble Theatre (Kirribilli NSW), Aug 25 – Oct 8, 2016
Playwright: Neil Simon
Director: Mark Kilmurry
Cast: Mia Lethbridge, Daniel Mitchell, Jamie Oxenbould, Georgie Parker, Jake Speer
Image by Clare Hawley

Theatre review
It is the 1960s. Corie and Paul are moving into their tiny New York apartment, about to begin life together as newlyweds. After 6 days of honeymoon bliss cooped up in a hotel room, they emerge to meet us just as the reality of mundanity begins to sink in. Divorce was a topic much more controversial at that time, and the threat of a marriage breakup in Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park has lost considerable effect in terms of the dramatic tension it is able to create, but as a frothy comedy, its structure and dialogue retain a classic charm that many will find irresistible.

Mia Lethbridge leads a cast of actors, memorable for their bubbly playfulness and congenial warmth. As Corie, Lethbridge’s perky portrayal of naivety is consistently delightful and surprisingly persuasive, with an energetic presence that holds the show together, along with all its relentless frivolities. Director Mark Kilmurry does an excellent job of the comedy, establishing a brilliant sense of timing for the production’s entirety that ensures top entertainment value, but the development of character conflicts require greater nuance for Simon’s plot to be more believable.

When two people get together and form an intense bond, the pleasures that materialise are almost always coupled with challenges, big and small. In Barefoot In The Park, we want the lovebirds to find a way to sort out their differences. We invest in their romance, because loneliness is an abominable monster that must be vanquished at all cost. Times change, but the fear of being alone is perennial. Without each other, Corie and Paul must find meaning only within themselves but in Neil Simon’s quaint fantasy, they only have to indulge in a mutual infatuation, so that their days may be filled with joy, to have and to hold, till death do they part.

www.ensemble.com.au

Review: Alex & Eve – The Complete Story (Bulldog Theatre Company)

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bulldogVenue: Factory Theatre (Marrickville NSW), Aug 25 – 28, 2016
Playwright: Alex Lykos
Director: Alex Lykos
Cast: Chris Argirousis, Anne Marie Cavaco, Sylvia Dritsakis, Michael Kazonis, Janette La Kiss, Alex Lykos, Paul Miskimmon, Jadah Quinn, Kate Ryerson, Sal Sharah

Theatre review
There are many among us who are conservative and traditional, but in multicultural places like Australia, their tendency to be inflexible with visions of how we live together can be problematic. Salwa is Lebanese Muslim, and George is Greek Orthodox, both insular and intolerant of other cultures, refusing to accept the validity of other ways of life, until their offspring force them into a confrontation of wills through the classic contrivance of a mixed marriage. Alex Lykos’ Alex & Eve: The Complete Story combines three episodic plays to tell the couple’s story from their first meeting to the birth of their first child. Its duration is inevitably long, but the script is a tight concoction of high jinks and social commentary that although entirely predictable, is endlessly amusing with its host of vibrant, irresistible archetypes.

The production is a visually basic one that would benefit greatly from more ambitious efforts in set and costume design, but Lykos’ own direction of the work is effectively comedic and fast-paced. There is no attempt at a naturalistic mode of presentation, which can make for an excessively farcical show, but its slapstick is unquestionably charming and proves very appealing to its target audience. Janette La Kiss as Salwa and Michael Kazonis as George are both strikingly present, with flamboyant approaches to performance that captivate and entertain. Both are able to find nuance with their roles, thereby delivering more than stereotypical interpretations of minority elders.

Not being dominant cultures in Australia, the Greek and Lebanese characters have a greater freedom to portray the nature of prejudice in our communities. Some of what they say is objectionable, but their statements are tempered with good humour, and those who speak indiscreetly are exposed for their ignorance. Not one person can be excluded from the world’s politics, but how individuals participate in it, is infinitely variable. Alex & Eve does not talk about terrorism or immigration, but its feuding families are involved in a war that serves to remind us of how we must value peace, no matter how big or small a perspective we may have of the world.

www.bulldogtheatre.com