Review - Glory Box

Finucane & Smith’s

Glory Box

La Revolucion

20 August – 13 September 2015

Melba Spiegeltent

Johnston Street Collingwood

In Circus Oz’s beautiful Melba Speigeltent through a hazy atmosphere one is escorted into a very adult world of the exuberant expression of ‘the feminine’ in a myriad of forms.  From the grotesque to the ultra feminine the disruption of gender conventions is releasing, sensual, erotic, racy, a little bit tongue in cheek and just a tad tawdry - all at the same time.

Clare St Clare and Moira Finucane

Be warned this amazing, ‘over the top’, ‘in your face’, show is not for the faint hearted.  And really you need to be a good sport and especially brave to sit in the front rows. 

But what a memorable evening you will have!

In this fantastic, intense and maybe even tense celebration of variations in gender and female sexuality the gusty larger than life, seemingly uncontainable, Moira Finucane excels, as do, all other unique and idiosyncratic performers.  

The whole moves at a rollicking pace with class act followed by the next class act.

Finucane, Mama Alto and Clare St Clare

One is fascinated and bemused by Mama Alto – described as a Countertenor Diva.  She/he has a beautiful voice and is accompanied exquisitely by Miss Chief on the piano, as is lovely sultry composed Clare St Clare.  Rocky Stone presents several acts with chairs and aerial work.  She is a strongwoman extraordinaire.  Holly Durant and Lily Paskas delight with dance.  Unsettling but divine and voluptuous is Durant’s female satyr.   All three wild guest divas, Yeshewambtat Maharete, Azaria Universe and Natasha May shine.

There are lashings of milk and tomato sauce and even the fun of a raffle.  The latter denoting heaps of support to get this troupe around the world; this time to Cuba as they have been invited to perform at the Havana International Theatre Festival.

Just bring your sense of humor and friends specially if they are a little on the wild side and be prepared to be surprised, well, quite probably shocked.   And maybe even astonished in a not

Rocky Stone

dissimilar way to the way we were stunned by Maude Davey and her outrageous act at the Club, just around the corner in Smith Street – over twenty five years ago.

Transcendent – don’t miss out on what everyone is marveling about and the chance for a liberating fun night out.

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - Picnic

KAGE and 45 Downstairs

Present

PICNIC

Written by Marieke Hardy

Directed, Choreographed and Performed by Gerard Van Dyck

Composed by Alisdair Macindoe

Video and Lighting Consultant – Ben Shaw

18 – 30 August 2015  

45 Flinders Lane

This is a delightful short crisp lyrical work that is great fun from go to woe.   It is the type of sparkling lovely show that one could base a light and happy night out with friends, or that special person you have been meaning to catch up with, on.   It is a delicate sensitive joyful work, for which, Marieke Hardy has written a lovely ‘springboard’ that Gerard Van Dyck has fleshed out.  

Gerard Van Dyck - photo by Jeff Busby

PICNIC opens with the magic of sound and trilling birds that indicate the countryside, and I for one kept thinking of Chekhov, as we were taken along for a picnic - a quirky time in a liminal space with eskys and an eccentric family.  

Van Dyck engages us with anecdote and his charismatic personality.

He is a beautiful expressive lyrical dancer.  His work is joyful, nimble, agile, and has a sense of weightlessness.   In fact the whole ends with a delightful homage to the magic of elevation.

As a fun poetic work highlighting true creative mastery, like all good art, it speaks to the creative urge in the viewer.  I noticed the woman next to me drew two beautiful little birds on the tiny small bit of paper the audience is given to write a love letter.  

Photo - Jeff Busby

Hopefully this specific offer (the love letter) to respond to the work can be ironed out, a bit.   It could be suggested that the love letter everyone writes could be generic and un-gendered and glowing.  So as one leaves the performance space and takes a lucky dip written by someone else it can have a beautiful - neutrality and offer the illusion it was meant for you and you alone.  (The one I picked out with addressed to Bree - so I had no doubt that all the love and passion wasn’t directed to me.)

Photo - Jeff Busby

Grab the opportunity to see this delightful work.

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - The Platform at La Mama Collaboration

The Platform at La Mama Collaboration

Creative Director - Adam J. A. Cass

Lead Artist Facilitator - Georgia Symons

Executive Producer – Rose Godde

Ensemble: Adrian Del Re, Alanah Parkin, Cassandra-Elli Yiannacou, Cera Maree Brown, Chris Hosking, Danae Crawford, Dominic Weintraub, Ebony Beaton, Harley Hefford, Jalen Lyle-Holmes, Jai Leeworthy, Jeni Bezuidenhout, Jonathan Walpole, Julia Hanna, Kate Weston, Laura Hartnell, Lucy Pitt, Martin Hoggart, Melissa Davidson, Niamh Vlahakis, Sandra Chui, Shannon Ly and Steph Cordell.

August 12-23, La Mama

What is not to be missed, at the moment, is the vibrant and exhilarating energy of youth surrounding and permeating every nook and cranny at La Mama.   With its distinguished history of experimentation what better place then La Mama to endorse the experimentation of the young emerging theatre makers that is Platform Youth.

Supported and nurtured by Executive Producer Rose Goode who highlighted to me just how well this troupe is refining collaborative skills and Lead by Artist Facilitator Georgia Symonds very ably guided by Playwright Adam Cass twenty three or so young theatre makers are exploring the craft of writing, developing, designing, directing and performing new works from inception. 

And with some glitches mostly issues of time management, but hey that was opening night Platform Youth and their mentors have pulled off something that is many things including acutely insightful, confronting and rewarding and intimate.    

One can take ‘pot-luck’ and be one of five audience members at any of the 13 minute performances or request to follow the specific interest of a particular young theatre maker. 

I probably need to declare an interest here and state that I was specifically keen to see the work of Ebony Beaton who I know.  I found her Direction of Expose the Clothes beguiling and performance of Connect a gloriously bemusing contradictory physical piece to be truly fascinating and very much of the feminine.  And hey Adam Cass was doing his BA at La Trobe at the same time I was doing mine and I am always impressed by his generosity of spirit and curious to see what he is up to.

I was disarmed by The Shed, provoked by 3AM THOUGHTS, delighted by the work of Sebastian Bertoli in Like Breathing and so enjoyed Jalen Lyle-Holmes fun energetic performance in Expose the Clothes.

There is so much to see in this collaboration that one would need to make several visits to catch all the shows.  It is the wholehearted commitment to the work and the careful attention to the presentation of each piece that is especially impressive.  And looking back over the performances I was lucky enough to catch they were all full of a sense of fluidity and curiosity that is youth.

So worth catching!

Suzanne Sandow