Review - Hard Rubbish

Hard Rubbish

Original Concept by Men of Steel

Created by Hamish Fletcher, Jared Lewis, Phillip McInnes, Ian Pidd, Tamara Rewse, Sam Routledge and Malia Walsh

Directed by Ian Pidd

Cast:  Hamish Fletcher, Phillip McInnes Tamara Rewse and Malia Walsh

Lighting and Sound Design Jared Lewis

Presented by Malthouse Theatre, Strut & Fret and Men of Steel

Becket Theatre

12 September – 6 October 2013

Wild and woolly holiday entertainment for the whole family – anybody?  Hard Rubbish could just hit the mark.  But a small warning - the mark could be you if you are sitting close to the front.  There is crossfire of toilet rolls and other fairly soft objects, as part of the fun raucous fun in the ‘liminal space’ of theatre for kids.

Risqué and pretty out there Hard Rubbish requires imaginative engagement from its audience of all ages except those who are faint hearted, who should probably stay well away or right up the back.  It delves into that pull-everything-apart, smash and shatter urge that kids have.  And on that level it ‘lets rip’ and is hugely satisfying.

On a set resembling the back recesses of any old garage where some solid, but past its use by date, furniture is awaiting its final journey to the tip, a number of puppeteers venture to bring objects to surprising life.  And what could be inane turns to an effecting ‘touch and go’ battle between goodness and meanness.

The sixty minutes is full and eventful and contains moments of surprising depth and pathos.  When asked what it was about the youngster who accompanied me said something to the effect that it has a lot to do with caring.   She was having a great time, she laughed and she cried and she clapped.

For this reviewer some spots lagged and felt a little like puppeteers playing in a workshop space.  But regardless the loud music carries everything forward and the overall outcome is a celebration of the joy of theatre and the fantastic legacy of puppeteering that Melbourne has – from Handspan to Pollyglot to Men of Steel.

Awesome for a family holiday treat!

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias

By Robert Harling

Directed by Natasha Boyd

Cast:

Truvy Jones – Sonja Prater

Annelle Dupuy-Desoto – Ebony Beaton

Clairee Belcher – Julie Wade

Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie – Marianne McLoughlin

M’Lynn Eatenton – Errin Hewlett

Ouiser Boudreaux – Maree Hingston

Mountview Theatre Macedon

August – September 2013

Steel Magnolias a skillfully written work by Robert Harling will make you laugh and make you cry in this beautifully handled production by the great team of theatre makers that constitutes The Mount Players.  

On a practical and purposeful set (Alison Dudon) of a hairdresser’s salon in dusky pinks and greens, many social pretenses are dropped and a tender, moving story of women’s loyal and loving friendships is played out to significant cathartic effect.

This is an exemplary amateur theatre production with Director Natasha Boyd eliciting beautiful work from her talented troupe actors.  Ms. Boyd displays a fine eye for detail in her staging and complex management of stage business.  The actor’s placement on the stage is consistently comfortable and appropriate to the action at all times.

The acting is dependably good.  Sonja Prater energetically leads a great cast of skilled actors who are able wholly don their character’s 1980s Southern American personalities and accents.

Julie Wade works well with the character of Clariee Belcher, often watching from the edge and then endowing her friends with a sagacious pearls of wisdom. 

Ebony Beaton makes a delightful young apprentice Annelle Dupuy-Desoto.  She very convincingly gets about doing all the things an apprentice does and travels quite some complex character journey throughout the evening.

Errin Hewlett as M’Lynn Eatenton puts in an especially moving performance in her expression of aching sadness, distress and anger. In this production the successful staging of this pivotal moment in the play is due to the believability of the enduring relationships between characters that have been so well fleshed out by all six actors.

M’Lynn’s daughter Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie is interpreted with just the right touch of vulnerability by Marianne McLoughlin.

The character of Ouiser Boudreaux as played by Maree Hingston is lively and insightful and a great comic foil.

As the season goes on all actors will comfortably afford to allow their characters to further grow and develop from this very sound start into a production that is pacey, detailed and truly flies.

The word around the traps is that the bookings are extremely heavy so it may be difficult to find seats but certainly try not to miss out.  Mount Players have a website and a 1300 number for bookings.

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - Salome

Salome

By Oscar Wilde

Presented by Little Ones Theatre and Malthouse Theatre

Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo

Dramaturgy - Natalia Savvides

Set and Costume – Eugyeene Teh

Cast:

Paul Blenheim – Salome

Genevieve Giuffre – John the Baptist

Alexandra Aldrich – Herod

Peter Paltos – The Young Syrian

Zoe Boesen – The Page of Herodias

Tom Dent – Namann the Executioner

Nick Pelomis - Herodias

Little Ones Theatre’s slick and flippant production of Oscar Wilde’s Salome is lively, loud, lighthearted and wickedly profane.  It’s an ‘in-your-face’ cabaret performance with loads of well-dressed and undressed ‘eye-candy’ and more than just a hint of Jean Genet.

Little Ones Theatre has made a fascinatingly provocative reworking of Wilde’s reworking of a Biblical Story.  

In their ‘take’ we are introduced to the concept of Salome as a beautiful desirable male Princess through the homosexual proclivities of The Young Syrian played with forthright lascivious humor by Peter Paltos. However this is one of those examples where the universal swapping of gender roles detracts from the meanings intrinsic to the story, though, it does not detract from the visual aspects of casting and set/costume design by Eugyeene Teh.   Most successful in playing against gender is Alexandra Aldrich who presents a pretty crazed Herod with aplomb. And Nick Pelomis as Herodias is fascinating to watch.

Salome is indeed beautiful and Paul Blenheim dances her dance of the seven veils with lithe elegance, but then curiously, vaguely and without intent, gloats over the dead body of the Baptist as if it means nothing to have had her cruel intent realized.

Some diligent research by Director Stephen Nicolazzo and Dramaturge Natalia Savvides is perhaps missing from the making of this work.  If my memory serves me adequately the flaw in Salome’s nature that turned her so sour on John the Baptist was her unyielding pride fueled by biting resentment at being rejected by the disciple.  The reason for Salome’s destructive intent is not adequately explored here and therefore the reworking of the story doesn’t make complete sense. 

In all, Salome is a satisfying as a spectacle that is light on meaning – but is well work catching as a showcase of some of Melbourne’s youthful and courageous theatre making talent.  The tickets are only $25 each and it is on till 14 September.

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - Savages

Savages

By Patricia Cornelius

Directed by Susie Dee

Set and costume design – Marg Horwell

Lighting design and production management – Andy Turner

Composition and sound design – Kelly Ryall

Stage Management – Clare Shepherd

George  - Lyall Brooks

Runt – Luke Elliot

Rabbit – James O’Connell

Craze – Mark Tegonning

45 Downstairs

16 August – 8 September 2013

Savages is a rich, rewarding powerful theatrical investigation of the type of masculine reality, relationships and circumstances that support, what is ultimately, predatory anti-social behavior. 

It is based on the Dianne Brimble case and explores events leading up to the discovery of her body in the small cabin on a P&O Cruse Ship that was occupied by the men who drugged and assaulted her.

There is a strong sense of ensemble and all actors excel in their roles working with courageous commitment to the text, that moves smoothly from the heightened poetic to simple naturalism, in an incisively complimentary staging by Director Susie Dee.   

The work is cleverly placed on an abstracted stylized set  (Marg Horwell) - inferring a number of environments including; underneath a bridge, a drawbridge, a ships hull, a ships deck and a disco whilst lights (Andy Turner) greatly assist in creating atmosphere.  Sound created by Kelly Ryall is used to powerful effect both naturalistically and symbolically.  It infers, cruelty, harsh alienation and, at times, expresses a dark foreboding.

Fueled by alcohol and years of disappointing miss-communication with the ‘fair sex,’ these blokes affirm each other’s sense of failure.  They nurture a lustful misogyny through the deeply binding bond, and knowing intimacy, of the type of impaired mateship that ‘others’ women.  They are all needy and craving love but heinous and destructive in their hostile desperation.

Alienation, limited communication skills and possibly intelligence, thwarted expectations, harsh treatment of one another; dishonesty and manipulation all come into play.  In almost all cases the men lack adequate nurturing love in their lives and have some difficulties relating comfortably and appropriately to their Mothers.  They also lack basic lack skills for constructive introspection and the emotional intelligence that we are beginning to understand is so important to teach children and particularly boys at school.

Parallels can be drawn with the film The Boys in that they both explore events leading up to the actual crimes.  Though this work is perhaps more probing and less terrifying than the film of The Boys by Gordon Graham and adapted by Stephen Sewell.

This timely work is engrossing theatre.

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - h.g.

Arts Centre Melbourne

h. g.

Performed by Trickster – p

August 8 – 11 2013

The folk tale Hansel and Gretel as recorded by the brothers Grimm is a profound tale of separation.  This is affirmed by co-creators Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbul in a less-is-more, strikingly condensed and rarefied, yet poignant installation that seems to intersect the fairytale more than travel along its path. 

This work is a reflective, and not in any way a narrative for children.  It is billed as a work for those older than nine.  I would venture to say that it is really a work for adults.   It does what good art can do, in leaving space between the work and the viewer for examining ones own response - to achieve a personalized interpretation.

One is greeted at the entrance helped to put on headphones and sent of with a ‘state of the art’ recording that assists and embellishes a journey through a number of starkly furnished very small dark rooms.  There is a pervading scent of ylang ylang and a number of simple visual motifs such as stones and bones.  Children’s voices ring through ones ears and there is a gingerbread house, as well as, some lovely gingerbread cookies for partaking, in the foyer, before or after ones journey.

I suggest that this type of work requires a pensive open attitude.  And if approached as such h. g. can be challenging, extremely rewarding and a little bit magic.

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers – but unpublished)

Review - Botanica

Botanica

By MOMIX

Conceived and designed by Moses Pendleton

Performed by: Dajuan Booker, Jonathan Bryant, Simona Ditucci, Morgan Hulen, Autumn Burnette, Elizabeth Loft, Nicole Loizides, Graci Meier, Matt Schanbacher and Jason Williams.

Lighting Design: Joshua Starbuck and Moses Pendleton

Costume Design: Phoebe Katzin, Moses Pendleton, Cynthia Quinn

Puppet Design: Michael Curry

Presented by the Arts Centre Melbourne

State Theatre

7 to 11 August 2013

Botanica is a well-paced, abundant and engulfing work, a visual feast richly informed and buoyed with a great eclectic cultural mix of music.  My over all response is that it is an exquisitely realized design, a rare gift of theatrical interpretation.  It is a wonderful journey amongst anthropomorphized flora, fauna and natural phenomena.

MOMIX have created a generous and joyful work that allows for interpretation.   Though it contains some dark and brooding scenarios and moments that hint at the subliminal it is a wonderfully rich work that can be enjoyed by all the family.  I was accompanied by an eight year old who, for the whole ninety minutes, appeared to be happily transfixed and impressed.  She often whispered, to me, an inquiry or meaning she gleaned as the work progressed.

gum-nut dance, the preening of a number of handsomely conceived and executed centaurs, a wonderfully narcissistic mirrored androgynous full-bodied contortion, a prehistoric dinosaur, swarms of insects and numbers of birds, a miraculous snake exhibition and even a fan dance.  

Throughout strong contemporary dancers are amply supported by wonderful multi-media, lights and costumes and masterfully manipuliable objects.  The incorporated colors are vivid and spectacular.  There are many delightful and whimsical surprises and much excellent puppetry to b enjoyed. 

Great show for children from about eight to the grandparents.

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers)