Tag Archives: the last great hunt

Review: Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre)

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Venue: Old Fitzroy Theatre (Woolloomooloo NSW), May 15 – Jun 5, 2021
Creative Leads: Adriane Daff and Mikala Westall
Playwrights: Matt Abell-King, Adriane Daff, Nat Jobe, Angela Mahlatjie, Josh Price, Mikala Westall
Cast: Adriane Daff, Nat Jobe, Angela Mahlatjie, Matt Abell-King
Images by David Charles Collins

Theatre review
Hyperdream by Adriane Daff and Mikala Westall, takes us on a sci-fi joyride, in which individuals can visit a facility, where memories are replayed in a sort of virtual reality experience, so that one may be able to relive the past. Characters access best days of their lives, in order that they may escape the disappointments of today. Others reach back to traumatic moments, hoping to bring revisions to their personal histories. More than a mode of entertainment, it uses “total recall” to deliver what looks to be a futuristic psychotherapy, for when being in the here and now, is simply intolerable.

The staging utilises a big projection screen, positioned front and centre, with four performers and an omnipresent video camera, creating scenes in different nooks throughout the space. We find ourselves gradually losing sight of reality, as we watch these people in digital pixels and in the flesh, frantically rollicking in their chaotic green screen fantasia. Buoyed by the adventurous musical stylings of Julian Starr, we all get caught up in an undefinable space, half lucid and half catatonic. It is an effervescent work, derived from an incandescent experimental spirit. Although not always coherent or resonant, the atmosphere being generated is full of wonder, with moments of comedy that truly tickle.

Performer Matt Abell-King is especially funny, able to inspire laughter with a twitch of the eyebrow, and a flamboyant flick of a leg. Angela Mahlatjie too is hilarious, most memorably in a delightful sequence in which she flashes back to a cherished time of romance, for a sarcastic look at women’s relationship with love and marriage. Also thoroughly enjoyable, are Adriane Daff and Nat Jobe, whose bold approaches to Hyperdream‘s humour, offer an opportunity for viewers to revel in a brand of absurd extravagance infrequently seen in Australian theatre.

The way me make sense of today and tomorrow, depends entirely on how we understand the past. If one is given the ability to delve back into old narratives, so that they can be re-examined, and be given renewed interpretations, then returning to the now, could mean a complete revitalisation of being. So much of what is broken today, is a result of memories that have taken us, and continue to take us, down the wrong path. The past cannot be changed, but the ways in which we understand it, should always be evolving, in service of a better tomorrow.

www.redlineproductions.com.au | www.thelastgreathunt.com

Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre, 2021)
Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre, 2021)
Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre, 2021)
Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre, 2021)
Hyperdream (Old Fitz Theatre, 2021)

Review: The Irresistible (Sydney Opera House)

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Venue: Sydney Opera House (Sydney NSW), Sep 11 – 15, 2019
Playwrights: Ariadne Daff, Zoe Pepper, Tim Watts
Director: Zoe Pepper
Cast: Ariadne Daff, Tim Watts
Images by Rémi Chauvin, Dan Grant

Theatre review
April wants to give her sister Bridget a break from motherhood, so little Cassie comes to stay. We soon discover that the child is not only a handful, she is in fact bizarre. The Irresistible too is often a strange exercise, with two actors playing a range of characters, behind translucent screens blurring our vision, and microphones altering their voices as if to say that it matters not, which actor is assuming which role.

The action is episodic, involving disparate narratives that our minds will insist on assembling a coherent picture out of, but the greatest pleasure in The Irresistible is to luxuriate in the extraordinarily imaginative approaches being applied to each theatrical moment. The magic is not in the stories themselves, but in how those stories are used to subvert our expectations, and therefore deal with what we consider to be normal in art and life. Director Zoe Pepper seems to imply that when we encounter the opposite of normal, an interrogation into who we truly are, comes to the fore. It is hard for humans to properly see ourselves, until a catalyst is introduced to turn us weird, and to force a deviation from the ordinary.

Performed by Ariadne Daff and Tim Watts, the simple text becomes springboard for experimentation, with their irrepressible desire to always manufacture something surprising, resulting in an experience that has us utterly mesmerised. The pair is outrageously inventive, both spirited in the kookiest way possible, and impossibly precise in their delivery of a technically demanding work. Sound by Phil Downing and music by Ash Gibson Greig are astonishing in their ambition and scope, daring to surpass other elements to become the most important and effective design aspects of the production. Jonathon Oxlade’s set and Richard Vabre’s lights manipulate our attention so that we cannot look away, keeping our sight intrigued and hopelessly engrossed for the entire duration.

The character Christian finds himself seduced by the performance of adult entertainer Neve, and responds by trying to dominate and consume her. At the theatre, we can never be sure how power dynamics can manifest themselves. Being capitalist, we enter with the subliminal notion that if someone is going to be the boss, the paying audience must surely be in charge. Art however, cannot let itself be subject only to market forces and the taste of the masses. It is responsible for moving discussions forward, to find advancements for our civilisation. For our society to progress, it seems artists are the only ones left willing to take the lead. We need the shock of the new, and The Irresistible is an excellent case in point.

www.sideponyproductions.com.au | www.thelastgreathunt.com

The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House
The Irresistible 2019 Sydney Opera House

Review: Fag/Stag (The Last Great Hunt / Griffin Theatre Company)

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Venue: SBW Stables Theatre (Kings Cross NSW), Jan 10 – 27, 2018
Playwrights: Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Chris Isaacs
Directors: Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Chris Isaacs
Cast: Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Chris Isaacs
Image by Robert Catto

Theatre review
Corgan and Jimmy are best friends who live the easy Australian middle-class existence. Fag/Stag sees them fumble and struggle through episodes of triviality, as young men with few legitimate worries, save for the difficulties of having to negotiate the perils of modern masculinity. Without the burden of work and children, nothing very serious ever happens to them, yet anxiety and pain are constants. Their concerns are often silly, but we nonetheless understand that first-world problems are real, for we recognise those symptoms to be genuine, and identify with what is being presented through the creators’ admirable honesty.

Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs create an amusing hour examining the privileged lives of our young white men, straight and gay. Fag/Stag is a dynamic work, compelling and entertaining, even though its persistent earnestness seems somewhat misplaced. As writers, directors and performers of the piece, Fowler and Isaacs seem never to be critical of Corgan and Jimmy, but it is evident that much of the problems the boys encounter, are a result of their self-absorption. The characters do nothing for society, spending all their days inside their own little inconsequential dramas.

Fowler is more vibrant and animated an actor than his counterpart, tenacious with every nuance, eager for his audience to gain a deep understanding of his Jimmy. Straight guy Corgan is suitably restrained, played sensitively by Isaacs whose portrayal is memorable for its sense of familiar authenticity. The pair is tremendously endearing, and warmly comedic in their depiction of a very close friendship. We like them, and many will allow ourselves to be convinced of the hardships being proclaimed.

White men may be in positions of power, but it is questionable if things are necessarily easier for them. Sexism is detrimental to all genders. In many ways, we can see that Corgan and Jimmy have it easy, but all of that convenience adds up to an aimlessness, that causes meaning to be elusive. We watch them suffer, as a result of having nothing substantial to live for. They turn to each other, for comfort and support, and for affirmation that something of value and import, can ultimately be discovered.

www.thelastgreathunt.com