Tag Archives: seymour-centre

Double Think (Force Majeure)

Posted in Dance by

Double_Think_5104__bg.jpg 1024×683Venue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Aug 21 – 24, 2013
Choreographer: Byron Perry
Music: Luke Smiles
Dancers: Kirstie McCracken, Lee Serle

Theatre review
In Force Majeure’s Double Think, the space of dance theatre is explored to its fullest extent and possibilities. The company pushes aggressively at the boundaries of dance and music, introducing concepts from all aspects to dismantle and to re-create a form of performance that is about dance, but not the way we know it. The use of inanimate objects and its relationship with light, for example, or the substitution of music for silence and speech, open up ways for the presentation of a kind of show that is not only fresh and unusual, but also seductive, communicative and intellectual. It is the ultimate application of talent and opportunity that one witnesses in this production.

Dancers Kirstie McCracken and Lee Serle are about a foot apart in height, but their symbiotic closeness delivers a sense of divinity and awe that gives their performance a feeling of sublime magic. Their ability to portray one being in two bodies, with unimaginable unison can only be a result of discipline, coloured by blood, sweat and tears. There are breathtaking sections where they display superhuman memory with the most intricate and lengthy choreography, astonishing their audience with the seemingly infinite capacities of their bodies and minds. It is noteworthy also, that both, but especially Serle, have the ability to reach out and connect with a crowd like true entertainers, rather than lofty professional dancers who tend to be more detached in their approach.

Production values are very accomplished, and thoroughly enjoyable. Lighting design is crucial in physical theatre, and Benjamin Cisterne’s work here is a triumph. The final sequence in which the dancers move very quickly in very dim light creating images that the eyes perceive but the brain fails to comprehend, is probably going to be an effect copied by many in the future. Choreographer Byron Perry has his fingerprints all over this creation. Nothing has escaped his attention, and we are beneficiary of his wonderful vision.

www.forcemajeure.com.au

Delectable Shelter (Critical Stages/The Hayloft Project)

Posted in Theatre by

delectableVenue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Aug 13 – 17, 2013
Playwright: Benedict Hardie
Director: Benedict Hardie
Actors: Andrew Broadbent, Brendan Hawke, Jolyon James, Simone Page Jones, Yesse Spence
Image by Pia Johnson

Theatre review
There are certain kinds of comedy that only appear in the theatre. They require an intimate space, and the immediacy of a live audience. Television and cinema do not generally provide the same experience, and in Australia especially, dark humour resides away from mainstream media, which continues to proliferate its benignity in service of financial voracity.

Delectable Shelter brings absurdity, big laughs and excellent entertainment to the stage, with outrageous “adult concepts”, gleeful “shock tactics”, and the most thorough use of irony imaginable. With the possible exception of one moment where two characters are locked in embrace, the play is filled with so much humour and social criticism that no space is left for sentimentality and romance. This prevents the show from appealing to wider audiences, but here is a unique and dynamic production that features wonderfully skilful  work from writer and director Benedict Hardie, who obviously isn’t concerned with catering to the masses. His Molieresque attacks on religion and the bourgeoisie are delivered with considerable wit in the form of imaginative, incisive commentary that cut with depth and precision.

Hardie’s cast is a formidable one. Not only are they required to work with quite extreme comic material, they mark out scene changes by performing four 1980s ballads in the style of classical Bach chorales, complete with hymnal harmonies. Simone Page Jones has an outstanding singing voice and the face of an angel but surprises with her eagerness at tackling the wackiest characters, like the body-builder who attempts to provide therapy to agoraphobics, and a religious leader of the Albatross cult who exhibits the most outstanding features of today’s religious leaders. Yesse Spence is painfully delicious as Biddy, a stereotype of the uptight upper-middle class white woman who will cross her legs at all costs, but needs to be reminded to breathe. Jolyon James impresses with his comic timing and range, creating innumerable colourful characters, all distinct and all hilarious.

This is a truly funny show propelled by some very talented people and an anarchic spirit. It anthropologises aspects of modern Australian life without providing a direct political statement, although it might be construed that laughter (and a reminder to breathe) is the best medicine for the predicament that we are only now starting to realise that we are in.

www.hayloftproject.com
www.criticalstages.com.au
www.seymourcentre.com

The Hansard Monologues (Seymour Centre)

Posted in Theatre by

hansardVenue: York Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Jul 23, 26 & 27
Playwright (Verbatim): Katie Pollock, Paul Daley
Director: Tim Jones
Actors: Camilla Ah Kin, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, David Roberts

Theatre review
This work encapsulates the last three years of the Australian parliament in two hours, utilising its most memorable and powerful speeches to create a series of snapshots, of political and social life in contemporary history. These are important moments that have guided recent public discourse, and as such The Hansard Monologues: A Matter Of Public Importance is a theatrical work that possesses uttermost relevance to all our lives.

Performances in the piece are thoroughly interesting. The players make different choices at different times, moving from plain matter-of-fact reading of transcripts, to mimicry of recognisable voices and gestures (Llewellyn-Jones’ take on Christopher Pyne is a crowd-pleaser), and passionate renditions of moralistic arguments. With these parliamentary speeches transformed into “scripts” for actors, the text surprises with its frequent use of highly-charged, emotive language, and how it translates so readily from a political space to a theatrical one, if in fact they are all that different. The actors must be praised for having not just a good handle on the speech rhythms of each different MP, but also for their understanding of all the material, which delivers coherence and lucidity to what is essentially a montaged creation by very clever playwrights.

Hansard presents issues that affect us, its themes concern us, and its re-enactments familiar to us all. At this crucial point in time as we approach our next federal election and become more aware of our part in the democratic process, watching this production is an incredibly intense experience, with our senses so heightened and our minds so alive. The stakes are not only high, but also irrefutably real. While some of the characters may appear bizarre, this is far from fictional stuff.

www.seymourcentre.com
www.merrigong.com.au
www.casulapowerhouse.com

The Importance Of Being Earnest (Burley Theatre)

Posted in Theatre by

earnestVenue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre (Sydney NSW), Jul 11 – Aug 3, 2013
Playwright: Oscar Wilde
Director: Brandon Martignago
Actors: Michael Whalley, Kurt Phelan, Katie McDonald, Paige Gardiner, Andrew Benson, Tamlyn Henderson, Ana Maria Belo

Theatre review
Mason Browne has design credits for this production, and his work outshines all other components. Every visual aspect is beautiful, witty, thoughtful and sometimes quite sublime. The backdrop, costumes, furniture pieces, and even the colour palette of sweets on a cake stand, are delightful and faultless. He helps situate the play in a comfortable space between late Victorian England and modern day Sydney, which allows the show’s audience to effortlessly identify social and class mechanics which are crucial to the narrative.

Director Brandon Martignago has a flair for high camp, and his approach to comedy is dynamic and effervescent, so it is indeed these elements that he is able to extract best from Wilde’s writing. This production is best at its raucous moments, but falls down when the jokes are subtler and require more nuance. Martignago does interesting work, but needs to be more diligent in his casting. His actors all fit perfectly the physical requirements of this visually stunning show, but only half of them are able to deliver Wilde’s lines with enough complexity and skill.

Michael Whalley, Katie McDonald and Ana Maria Belo are stand outs, delivering hilariously broad comic moments, as well as clear character developments that move the plot along. Whalley is particularly strong and immensely likeable as John Worthing. His Noël Cowardesque voice is charming, and while he is usually playing the “straight” amidst the chaos, it often is his groundedness and well-timed reactions to the other players that help keep the story in the right trajectory.

Burley Theatre is an important figure on the Sydney stage. Its flamboyance and emphasis on beauty and production values are refreshing and well-received, and other groups should take heed.

www.burleytheatre.com.au