Rehearsal images above from A Moment On The Lips, by Mad March Hare Theatre Company.
At The Old Fitzroy Theatre, from Mar 25 – Apr 12, 2014.
More info at www.madmarchtheatreco.com
In Rehearsal: A Moment On The Lips
Tag Archives: sydney independent theatre company
Review: Tidy Town Of The Year (3 Quacks / Sydney Independent Theatre Company)
Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Mar 4 – 22, 2014
Playwrights: Victoria Greiner, Sarah Hodgetts, Andy Leonard
Directors: Deborah Jones, Sean O’Riordan
Actors: Victoria Greiner, Sarah Hodgetts, Andy Leonard
Image by Katy Green Loughrey
Theatre review
It is probably true that a show cannot contain too many amusing ideas. Tidy Town Of The Year has no shortage of amusing lines and concepts, but trying to keep up and absorb them all can be challenging. Its writing and direction lack breathing space, often making the show feel overwhelming. Timing is key in humour. Even with clever and inspired ideas, attention needs to be paid on editing and delivery for communication to happen, especially in comedies.
In spite of these imperfections, performances are actually polished and confident. It is a fast-paced show, with a cast that is full of enthusiasm and buoyancy. We may not always catch the jokes that they attempt to relay, but their energy can be infectious. More variation in tone could be explored to prevent the actors from playing at the one level that they are most comfortable with, but their overall commitment to the work is a delight.
At heart, this is a show with a great deal of eccentricity, but the eccentric is by nature an entity that finds connections challenging. It has the capacity for brilliance and originality, but to convey its genius, a bridge needs to be found. In the theatre, ideas are exchanged and laughs can be shared, but only when the linkage between show and audience is established. This isn’t always easy, but the quest for it is always rewarding.
Review: Everything I Know I Learnt From Madonna (Tunks Productions / Sydney Independent Theatre Company)
Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Feb 18 – 22, 2014
Playwright: Wayne Tunks
Director: Fiona Hallenan-Barker
Actor: Wayne Tunks
Image by Katy Green Loughrey
Theatre review
Madonna, the pop star, means many things to many people. Like many brassy women in the public eye, she is regarded by gay communities as an icon. An outspoken proponent of the gay movement since the early 1990s, it is understandable that her place with LGBT people has endured the years. In this one-man play by Wayne Tunks, he talks about his obsession with Madonna in the introduction, then goes on to share with us his stories of coming out and relationships with various men, liberally quoting lyrics by his hero at every available opportunity. His script is an interesting one. It is almost as if Tunks is unable to verbalise his thoughts and feelings without the aide of Madonna songs, so her words keep appearing in his monologue, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes a little forced, but it is no doubt that his admiration is beyond skin deep, and that her work actually provides a space of solace. It looks a lot like religion.
Tunks is an actor full of vigour. He appears on stage and is determined to seize your attention, and for the entirey of his performance, we pay close attention to his stories. It helps that Tunks’ voice is commanding and versatile. It is naturalistic acting but there is definitely not a hint of mumbling, everything is said loud and clear, which is fortunate as the bareness of the staging and minimal direction of the near two hour work, leave nothing else for Tunks and his audience to hold on to.
The show overflows with earnestness. For a seemingly shallow premise of pop star fandom, it contains no irony and very little frivolity. We are presented love stories with a string of men, Sean, Warren, Guy, Jesus, and (presumably) Brahim. They are not particularly colourful events, in fact, slightly mundane. There isn’t really a set up of context, just a man keen to share with a captive crowd, and we are inspired by his fighting spirit that never gets dampened by failed relationships. He keeps getting back in business as though nothing’s better than more because ultimately, what can you lose?
“You’re never gonna see me standin’ still, I’m never gonna stop ’till I get my fill” (Over And Over, Madonna 1984).
5 Questions with Sarah Hodgetts
What is your favourite swear word?
Malakas (my one fluent word in Greek).
What are you wearing?
Brown sandals and a long floral dress with jelly beans in the pockets.
What is love?
Watching someone vomit and not wanting to find someone else to deal with the mess.
What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
Empire. 4 1/2 stars. It has everything: bendy people, bananas and a strong man balancing a feather.
Is your new show going to be any good?
Define ‘good’… if you mean a slick production then yes, but if you mean a well behaved show then absolutely not.
Sarah Hodgetts stars in Tidy Town Of The Year, from Sydney Independent Theatre Co’s 2014 season.
Show dates: 4 – 22 Mar, 2014
Show venue: The Old Fitzroy Hotel
5 Questions with Wayne Tunks
What is your favourite swear word?
I do love the F word, it is useful for so many things. And as a writer I love to give the C word to women, for me it sounds best when said angrily by a woman.
What are you wearing?
I’m about to head to a Hawaiian themed birthday party so wearing a very dodgy shirt that could burst into flames if I go near an open fire.
What is love?
A great 90’s song by Haddaway and also the theme of my new show. In fact one of the Madonna lyric quotes I use near the front of the show is, “I’m going to tell you about love”.
What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
James And the Giant Peach that I directed at Christmas featuring 24 students aged 8 – 12 years. I give it 5 wines.
Is your new show going to be any good?
Well the Melbourne audiences seemed to enjoy it for Midsumma at La Mama. And most of the show is set in Sydney, it’s going to be great to come home with this show!
Wayne Tunks stars in Everything I Know I Learnt From Madonna, part of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras 2014 season.
Show dates: 18 – 22 Feb, 2014
Show venue: The Old Fitzroy Hotel
Review: Legend! (Decorum / Sydney Independent Theatre Company)
Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Jan 28 – Feb 15, 2014
Playwright: Pat Sheil
Director: Lex Marinos
Actor: John Derum
Image by Katy Green Loughrey
Theatre review
‘Slips’ Cordon is in his home, reminiscing. We don’t know why, or who it is he speaks to, but there is certainly no shortage of tall tales to share. Pat Sheil toys with our “European history” in his script, re-writing events involving our iconic war heroes, legendary sporting personalities, celebrated performers, and various significant political figures of times past. These revisions are amusing, and depending on your level of affinity with the “source material”, possibly even hilarious.
Cordon is played by the effortlessly charming John Derum, who carves out a character that is immediately endearing. This is an actor who revels in spinning yarns, and his enjoyment of the limelight is infectious. We are drawn in and are glad to be his captive audience. Derum is excellent at punchlines. Indeed, the show does at times, feel like a stand up comedy routine, where a comedian simply tells jokes, without much concern for context or character development. We do not learn very much about Cordon, but he does make us laugh.
This is a clever script that could work well in the form of a novella, but Derum’s interpretation adds a dimension of time and place that is strangely (and ironically) authentic, even though we are free to imagine where and when the action before our eyes actually takes place. Legend! is only mildly iconoclastic. In fact there is an air of reverence for these legends that hangs heavily over the production. Rest assured that our sacred cows are left unscathed.
5 Questions with John Derum
What is your favourite swear word?
Feck! – It took the Irish to come up with a swear more powerful in more combinations than the Anglo Saxons could imagine.
What are you wearing?
Out! There comes a time in longish lives that only just precedes the state of being “worn out”. It is the state of wearing out… fast!
What is love?
It is cruelly ironic that in the scorebook of this sporting life, love is what you get when you fail to score.
What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
You mean, all the way through?!!! Penelope was top draw! Always good to see a strong silent woman discombobulate ambitious men! They were all stars.
Is your new show going to be any good?
When an unreliable irascible know-all decides to tell-all and destroy the reputations of a nation’s heroes – be afraid, be very afraid. Some insensitive people will laugh uproariously throughout. More sensitive folk will groan and wince and wish they were watching someone more emotionally nurturing like Ricky Gervais, or Larry David. Legend! is an outrage. A disgrace. ‘Slips’ Cordon must be stopped!
John Derum stars in Legend!, from Sydney Independent Theatre Co’s 2014 season.
Show dates: 28 Jan – 15 Feb, 2014
Show venue: The Old Fitzroy Hotel
Review: Wittenberg (Brevity Theatre / Sydney Independent Theatre Company)
Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), Jan 7 – 25, 2014
Playwright: David Davalos
Director: Richard Hilliar
Actors: David Woodland, Alexander Butt, Nick Curnow, Lana Kershaw
Theatre review
Wittenberg is a play that examines the struggle between theology and philosophy. We are positioned along with Hamlet (in his younger years) in the centre of the action, caught between reason and religion. David Davalos’ text is a dense one. Western literature is referenced relentlessly, creating a post-modern structure based on citations of classical concepts, characters and quotations.
Richard Hilliar’s direction is confident and precise. He places equal emphasis on dramatics and content, ensuring a show that appeals intellectually and is also fabulously entertaining. Hilliar does his best to make sense of the lines, which are frequently academic and cerebral, and while some of us might find it challenging to absorb everything, the direction succeeds in keeping us engaged at all times.
Design elements of the production are simple, elegant and effective. The set in particular, works well with the space and the performers. Lighting is creative but also unintrusive. It is a pleasure to see the Old Fitzroy stage given some three-dimensionality and lightness.
Performances are consistently strong, and all actors seem to be very thoroughly rehearsed. Intentions are clear, and their control over their tricky lines are very accomplished. David Woodland’s performance however, is completely show stealing. His portrayal of John Faustus is charismatic, committed and irresistibly convincing. He has a fearless approach that effervesces unceasingly, and he resonates strongly at every turn. We hear his points of view clearly, and we empathise with his vulnerabilities. His co-actors are not weak by any stretch of the imagination, but the show becomes unintentionally asymmetrical in its intellectual arguments due to the overwhelming persuasiveness of one side.
Ultimately, this is not a play that seeks to change anyone’s core beliefs, but it reminds us of the other, and the values it holds close. Wittenberg is about the plurality of our existences, and the constant negotiations we endure in making sense of our daily lives.
5 Questions with Ashley Bell
What is your favourite swear word?
‘Fuck’ has a multitude of uses, and I’m a big fan of versatility.
What are you wearing?
A knitted green and gold Gorman dress. So blatantly Australiana! However I feel wool was a bad choice on such a muggy Sydney day. Sweat’s sexy, right?!
What is love?
“…Baby don’t hurt me.”
What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
The last show I was meant to see was Summertime In The Garden Of Eden last week by Sisters Grimm/Griffin Theatre, but something came up and I didn’t get to go which was such a shame because I heard it was amazing! Lots of glitzy drag, exotica and American deep south references, with lots of cultural and gender reversals. It sounds like something I’d be right into, design-wise, so I’m thinking of re-booking so I don’t miss out!
Is your new show going to be any good?
Of course! The cast and crew are enthusiastic and passionate, and we’ve got a great script and great talent ready to show Sydney what they’ve got.
Ashley Bell is Costume Designer for Wittenberg.
Show dates: 7 – 25 Jan, 2014
Show venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre
5 Questions with Lana Kershaw
What is your favourite swear word?
*Bleep* face – if well articulated it’s a delightful blend of vulgarity and humour.
What are you wearing?
Some hideously gorgeous 80’s-inspired-patterned-florescent-lycra-bike-pants, and a black shirt (or what I like to call ‘evening attire’).
What is love?
Love is a deep and unrelenting longing, whose momentary satisfactions justify a lifetime of desire.
What was the last show you saw, and how many stars do you give it?
The last show I saw was King Lear at The Old Fitz. It was a lovely production, with some really beautiful and poignant moments. Five stars!
Is your new show going to be any good?
The Brevity team are working to develop a show that audiences will find engaging, entertaining, and enjoyable. It’s a fantastic script, and I’m honoured to be part of the company that is introducing it to Sydney.
Lana Kershaw is appearing in Wittenberg.
Show dates: 7 – 25 Jan, 2013
Show venue: The Old Fitzroy Theatre
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