Review - Kiss Sigh Shout Laugh Cry Dream

La Mama Theatre presents

Kiss Sigh Shout Laugh Cry Dream

By

The La Mama Youth Ensemble

Curated by Adam Cass

Creators and Cast

Alanah Allen, Jade Biezen, Caitlin Duff, Megan Elis, Louise Giavas, Bridget Grace, Stephanie Haley, Kim Ho Poh Choo Kee, Sara Laurena, Phillis Lim, Sophie McCrae, Campbell McNish, Tiffany Mestrinho, Taylah Sheppard, Lauren Sheree, Anna Grace Smith, Jue Theng Soo, Isabella Tolley, Harriet Wallace-Mead, Nick wright and Aly Zhang.

This youth work offers much to a big crew of emerging and developing theatre makers and their audiences.  Although all aspects may not be fully formed or acutely realized, as an ambitious conceptual piece brought to production, it is inspirational and inspiring.

So much youth literature and many contemporary stories are post apocalyptic.  Well this work is apocalyptic.  One is submerged in the events of global flooding (pardon the pun) and La Mama is a base - a refuge.  Desperate times are being explored.  And really what timing for such an event in view of the severe weather warnings we have been experiencing in Melbourne.

The stakes are very high.  It is a matter of survival.

Starting with three or four strangely dressed and masked individuals harrying the audience from outside the fence and creeping into the courtyard.  Kiss Sigh Shout Laugh Cry Dream is sight specific - set in found places in and around the theatre and based on some curious and at times noteworthy writing.  Heaps is happening with varying degrees of success.  Some scenes are very strong and clear and some found spaces work better than others.  

The little garden shed makes an excellent retaining area for enforced solitude and self-reflection.   By contrast what happens in the kitchen area, mostly due to production values, is not as convincing. 

Walking along the street and around the block away from the immediate site offers a chance to dwell on the juxtaposition of our extremely affluent life style, with the pending doom that could be realized through global warming. 

All the acting is strong due to the very focused commitment of all performers.

Some scenes could be more subtly and empathically teased out.  The strange charming yet dangerous lurking creatures in masks could do with a more lavish and uniform costume design.  Issues of how our behavior will be affected and changed in such times of crisis could perhaps be more fully explored.

This is an extremely ambitious organic beast of a work that would need mountains of time to truly cover all bases.  And doubtless it is developing and being tweaked in performance as I write.

It boldly ticks many boxes.  Most particularly offering numerous young performance makers the opportunity to explore a variety of aspects of their craft and demonstrate commitment and the capacity to negotiate and develop and bring to fruition a fascinating piece of theatre that is relevant to them.      

And it is marvelous to witness a large troupe of young adults growing as artists honing their skills as theatre makers.

This troupe is fortunate to have Adam Cass working as curator and support.  He has a great track history from his work with Platform Youth Theatre and obviously the knowledge, experience and accepting understand nature required.

What rings beautifully true are the singing voices.   Singing brings cohesion and coherence at the beginning and the end of the work.

Kiss Sigh Shout Laugh Cry Dream leaves me wondering how our behavior and ways of relating to each other will change as we are faced with the inevitable difficulties brought on by the pressure cooker of global warming.

Full marks to La Mama and Adam Cass for facilitating this bold strong and thought provoking venture.

Suzanne Sandow 

(For Stage Whispers)  

Review - Song for a Weary Throat

Song for a Weary Throat

By Rawcus

Director – Kate Sulan

Designer – Emily Barrie

Lighting Designer – Richard Vabre

Musical Direction & Composition – Jethro Woodward and Gain Slater

Sound Designer – Jethro Woodward

Director Invenio Singers – Gian Slater

Devised and Performed by The Rawcus Ensemble and Invenio Singers

Theatre Works

29 November – 10 December 2017

Rawcus’ work brings together talented dancers/performers of various abilities is so seamlessly it is marvelous. 

In Song for a Weary Throat, proceedings commence with a chalk inscription being written on the blackboard of the set.  A dark, desperate and overwhelming precedent is set.  What ensues as sound is initially quite shocking (warning – loud noise).  This morphs into an amazing music featuring the exquisite voices of Invenio Singers. 

I would so love to have this celestial music as a re-playable sound track by artisans Jethro Woodward and Gain Slater.

An evocative liminal space is established in Theatre Works.  An atmospheric dark brooding neo-classical design with a bacchanalian feel and a rubbish heap is design by Emily Barry and lit by Richard Vabre.

Like a difficult, dogged and slowly stifling dream, individuals and groups of, performers suddenly change positioning again.  Then - they dance or don’t dance as mood or attitude takes them.  Exquisitely touching and undeniably sad and tormented relationships and tableaux are shifted and danced in and out of.  Timing is of the essence and often stunningly split second.  

Although presented with generosity and wonder this work talks of self-obsession, exhaustion and mean spiritedness.  However it is apparently about hope and this sentence, that speaks volumes, from the insightful Rebecca Solnit is quoted by director Kate Sulan in the program:  “Power comes from the shadows and the margins…Hope is the dark around the edges.”

The 6o minutes of Song for a Weary Throat is a deep and entrancing cathartic journey through an all-enveloping all too human lethargy.   And yet everyone does dance, and, for the audience there is the intrinsic delight of watching many and varied styles of individual self -expression. 

A rich and haunting work.

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers)

Review - Present Laughter

The Mount Players Presents

Present Laughter

By Noel Coward

Directed by Andrew Meldrum

Set Design – Marg Muehlheim and Andrew Meldrum

Set Artist – Marg Muehlheim

Lighting Design - Roger Farley

Costume Design – Julie Baldwin

Cast

Daphne Stillington – Serah Nathan

Miss Erikson – Margaret Muehlheim

Fred – Alan Stone

Monica reed – Cherry Servis

Garry Essendine – Michael Treloar

Liz Essendine – Michelle Tanner

Roland Maule – Tim Allen

Morris Dixon – Frank O’Connor

Joanna Lyppiatt – Justine Press

Lady Saltburn – Bernadette Tonna  

17 November – 3 December 2017

This production is spiced with moments of real theatre magic.

Interesting how Noel Coward’s work seems to be experiencing something of a serious come back.  Present Laughter is currently being played on Broadway and starring Kevin Klein.

The story is simple; famous charismatic actor Garry Essendine is gearing up to do an African tour.  The complications are intrinsic to his relationships, lifestyle and the business of Theatre production.  It is a comedy of manners teetering in farce and often really funny in that clever witty high camp way of Coward’s work and era. 

The romantic relationships that cause consternation and angst are heterosexual, though I think, part of the depth of the work is the intrigue of Coward’s actual sexual orientation.

The set is handsomely realized (Marg Muehlheim/Andrew Meldrum) as an art deco apartment with depth, style and several doors for off set rooms - for hiding people – of course.  Costumes (Julie Baldwyn) very often work in lovely sync with the colours of the set. 

All actors take to their parts with real aplomb and serve the production skillfully.  Serah Nathan brings us a lovely lively Daphne Stillington who sets the scene and creates a kind of background narrative to what eventuates.  Her heightened energy truly enhances the piece.  No mean feat to open a piece of theatre and Ms. Nathan must be complemented for doing this so charmingly.

Tim Allan as Roland Maule exudes energetic wackiness and is most entertaining.  Alan Stone as Fred, Essendine’s manservant conveys appropriate ironic awareness and even dances a lick.  Margaret Mulhlheim’s Miss Erikson is fascinating and particularly in her exit scene.  Cherry Servis as Monica is marvelously straight laced in her extraordinary capacity to deal with the vicissitudes of her employer.  With a twinkle in her eye she graciously witnesses Essendine’s romantic mess-ups and experiences is curt glib discourtesies.

But it is Michael Treloar and Justine Press who really wow the audience.  The best work emerges in the second half of the performance and particularly when these two are on stage together.

Mr. Treloar plays the acerbic, cynical, sarcastic, over wrought Garry Essendine something of a parody of Coward himself.  This is a fabulous role for him and he excels in it. (Many times in interval I heard audience members whispering ‘isn’t he good.’)

Justine Press as Joanna Lyppiatt is just a joy to watch.  Miss Press inspires comforting confidence as she is quite obviously completely in control of her marvelously facetious yet courageous character.  She embraces the style and times of the piece and with perfect diction and exemplary timing.

Andrew Meldrum as director overseas a well paced and beautifully flowing production.   He is to be complemented on this and his excellent casting.  Things move very smoothly in times when the set is peopled with a considerable number of characters.  There is no unnecessary clutter either realized or imagined.

I will be very surprised if Present Laughter doesn’t have a sell out season.  Very classy!

Suzanne Sandow

(For Stage Whispers)