Adelaide Fringe Festival 2012

Soap – The Show

The Garden of Unearthly Delights, 19th Feb – 18th March

Markus Pabst’s circus genius returns to the Adelaide Fringe via his resurrected 2007 creation SOAP – The Show. Pabst is one of the kings of cabaret variety, having directed La Clique as well as many of his own highly successful shows.

Bringing together a cast of international performers, this acrobatic show is wrapped around the theme of soap - represented here as six bathtubs placed at varying levels on the stage, which become the platforms of their solo and ensemble acrobatics.

The show features many displays of great physical strength, artful gymnastics, and contemporary dance, as well as beautiful opera from singer Patricia Holtzmann. Highlights included Adem Endris's insane juggling set and Fernando Dudka’s water set, heavily inspired by David O'mer's original 'Bath Boy' set from La Clique. François Gravel performed a spectacular trapeze finale.

The show's real hero, however, was female clown Marie-Andrée Lemaire. Her incredibly funny characterisation provided not just laughs, but a much-needed common thread for the show. Despite this, there was still something missing. Overall, the performances need tightening up and the show lacked any real narrative or congruency.

If you are planning to see this entertaining show, arrive early and pick your seat carefully. This is a great venue, but there are a number of dead spots on the sides where you will end up with a beam in your line of site, obscuring parts of the action. If you score a non-bench seat at the front, you'll be more comfortable but expect the odd shower.


Nicole Russo

The Ring. Wagner. Animated.

More Than Opera. Northwood Concert Hall (SA).

Having seen and thoroughly enjoyed the complete Wagnerian Ring Cycle produced by the State Opera of South Australia some years ago, I found it hard to imagine how such an immense work could be whittled down to just 90 minutes – approximately one tenth of the original. I need not have worried.

David Kram’s eye for dramatic detail, and ear for the best bits of soaring melody, gave us an exciting and rapid tour through the legends of gods and humans, dwarfs and giants that made for a breathtaking evening.

This was not just potted opera. Although we had the right ingredients.

An orchestra? Check. Well, wait a minute, four saxophones, bassoon, sarrusophone and keyboard. Not what one would expect for Wagner, but after the initial aural shock, it sounded just right!

Singers? Check. Soprano Olivia Cranwell, tenor Carlos Enrique Barcenas and baritone Lucas de Jong, who, with appropriate costumes, sang the afore-mentioned best bits. Glorious voices, capable of filling the space unaided, but tastefully mixed with the orchestra by Stuart Favilla, more of whom later.  Brunhilda’s Battle Cry and Siegfried’s Forging Song were only two of many highlights.

The big change was the animation. A huge video screen suspended over the orchestra and smallish stage showed a mixture of landscape, computer-generated beings, anime inspired art and (almost) cartoon cut-outs. It was a wonderfully inspired visual track to accompany the narration provided by Melissa Madden Gray. In crystal clear tones she actually made sense of the very complicated story.

The last – but by no means least – of the elements of this amazing evening was Stuart Favilla’s Ambisonics sound treatment, which captured Wagner’s objective of surrounding the Bayreuth audience with sound, and rendered it extraordinarily into 21^st century digital magic.

As one of some 900 offerings at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival it stood out for ingenuity and excellence. When it comes to a theatre near you, don’t miss it!

Norma Knight

One Flesh

By Micharne Cloughley. Makayla Bishop & Holden Street Theatre (SA). Prince Alfred Room Adelaide Town Hall. Director: Anthony Skuse. Music: Chris Bernauer. March 4-11, March 2012.

To be or not to be PC. 

That is among the questions posed by Micharne Cloughley in this Australian premiere of her NIDA born drama.

Let us now turn with her to the book of Esther and discuss it in a contemporary Australian setting. A young couple is at the crucial and volatile juncture of becoming 'one flesh'. Their emotional biochemical storm lashes against the crucial responsibility and pressure to make adult decisions that appease both themselves, each other and their community. In this volatile greenhouse, a disagreement over a single word is the seed that flourishes into an escalating divergence, between the couple, of emotionally biblical proportions. A highly attractive cast and a double bed are under a single spotlight and in a 'goldfish bowl' of an intimate space. But this is no mere soap opera. The edgy discomfort of this intimate setting forces the feeling that we are present voyeurs. 

It is director Anthony Skuse's task to squeeze all of this into and then out of the performances of the small young cast, with Bella Macdiarmid shouldering her share of the emotional weight as the more restrained Ash, while Gemma Soul as Esther, who enters the relationship aftermath, gets to release the build up more overtly. Nick Masters as Russ, is solid at the centre of all this unfolding female drama. Although I can see this show being right up the alley of the 'young christian' demographic, my friend, a confirmed atheist also found this show, like any good art, a satisfying discussion, in this case concerning relationships, their pressures and their aftermath.  

Daniel McInnes 

Sound & Fury's 'Doc Faustus'

Gluttony - Excess Theatre. Rymill Park, cnr East Terrace and Rundle Road. 25 Feb 25 – Mar 17, 2012

Sound and Fury are best described as an updated vaudevillian trio (Richard Maritzer, Patrick Hercamp and Ryan Adam Wells) who present scripted stand-up comedy loosely based (very loosely based) on fictional and real historical characters and events.

They are from LA, they are regulars at the Adelaide Fringe, they already have a bag of Fringe awards under their belts from previous shows and they deserve another for Doc Faustus.  It is a full-on laugh from the time they usher you into the venue and exhort you to “please fill the empty seats first!”

Doc Faustustakes its inspiration from the play Doctor Faustus by Shakespeare’s contemporary Christopher Marlowe. It is the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge.  S&F relocate the story to old Texas and introduce a range of western (and not so western) characters – including a speaking cardboard cut-out of ‘the Duke’ John Wayne – to explore what hell and damnation might really be in a modern world.

Their stagecraft is excellent, especially Hercamp, who swaggers and postures around the stage underlining every vacuously silly remark he makes. They relish audience interaction, and they smash the traditional fourth wall between actor and audience at every opportunity. They enjoy mistakes and glitches, and make great fun of each other if a line is fluffed or the lighting/sound technician gets carried away or forgets to come in on cue.  Sometimes it seems as if the mistakes might actually be scripted, but who cares.

This is a fun show and appeals on a number of levels and across a wide range of ages and tastes.  It is energetic high-octane silliness, but it is also clever, witty and literary.  It’s also full of enough one-liners and silly stand-up that you don’t have to concentrate too much if you don’t really want to.

Last year’s Sound and Fury show won a People’s Choice Award.  This one is better.  It is great fun.

Kym Clayton

 

Weird Lonely Strangers

The Tuxedo Cat - Green Room. Mar 1 – 18.

Billed in the fringe guide as a tender, sexy, silly & sad satirical sketch comedy from critically-acclaimed solo performer, this production could not have been further from its write up.

Writer and performer Sarah Quinn has sadly rested on her laurels this Fringe, and taken her audience for granted after what appear to be rave reviews and critical acclaim for previous shows. It is clear that Quinn is talented, and that with the right amount of focus and effort she could produce some amazing work, but Weird Lonely Strangers is under-rehearsed, under-directed and completely misses it objective.

When watching this show you might try to imagine yourself at a live performance of Little Britain, where the characters are all odd-ball, sad, lonely and outcast, but so eccentric and over the top that they are hilariously funny. Quinn has observed humanity in the same kind of way, and created a show loosely based around a group of unfortunate strangers – the kind of people you would normally avoid or simply ignore.

Reading half the time from pages of notes or prompt cards, Quinn trips over words and phrases which she should have known, had her preparation been more thorough; forgetting to bring on props for new characters; forgetting to remove them for others; and general technical issues which would be ironed out by more rehearsal were frustrating to say the least, the inability of the microphone to stay in its holder however was the highlight of the night.

The use of recorded voiceovers were occasionally effective – but entirely overused, on one occasion playing as long as 10 minutes whilst the stage was left empty and in darkness. It was clear that audience members were struggling with the concept as they got up and left mid performance.

This show has the potential to improve as the run progresses and Quinn becomes more familiar with her characters and her script. Some in the audience of 8 seemed to enjoy it. We left just before the bow.

Paul Rodda

 

Driving Miss Daisy

Central Standard Theatre (Kansas City) and The Centre for International Theatre. Higher Ground. Feb 28 – Mar 18

Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer-prized, succinct yet incredibly emotionally complex script is the backbone of this excellent show born in Kansas City, and of an earlier local production that won the Oscart for best drama in 2009.  A southern Jewish woman and her son are challenged across several decades concomitant with the American civil rights movement by her black chauffeur in her underhanded attitudes toward racial equality.  The arc of the relationship between Daisy Werthan and her driver is nearly unparalleled in modern theatre.

Harvey Williams (Hoke) and Marylin Lynch(Daisy) convey the unfathomable richness of the text with astonishing empathy.  Daisy’s pride, obstinacy, and wily ways were endearing, and her decent to dementia was too real for me.  Williams played Hoke’s charm, sensibility and dignity with an astonishing authenticity in voice, manner and subtext.  Bob Paisley’s subtle presentation as the son added humour and gravitas - his final helplessness was touching.

Paisley was also director and managed to compress the action into a non-stop 75 minutes using pace and sharp scene changes, including inter-scene references which added continuity.  Sounds effect were subtle yet added immensely to setting the action.  Two benches became huge automobiles driving in city streets and wintry nights left a chill.

Even if I owned the sky, there are not enough stars I could give this show.

David Grybowski

Dispatch Talent

The Garden of Unearthly Delights - The Palace. Feb 25 – Mar 18, 2012

The idea of three funny Canadians at the Fringe is so entrenched from the original 1994 improvisation show and reprises that it’s not necessary to say who the 3 Canadians are in the Fringe guide to draw a sell-out crowd in the GUD on Saturday night.

I gave it a bell because I was born in Canada and I’ve attended several The 3 Canadians Fringe shows.  After all, Theatresports was invented in Calgary. Brought to Adelaide by one of the original 3 Canadians, Eric Amber, this show is billed as three comics for the price of one. Hailing from the Great White North each does their shtick under brain-melting sweltering conditions. Advertised as alternative humour, it’s the grist of Fringe comedy, but should not be confused with the original The 3 Canadians productions.

Common themes are the mysteries of mating and what women want – crossing the boundary into misogyny, “Man, is it hot here!” and many familiarities about what it is to be Canuck.  Byron Bertram sweated his way through the opening act focusing heaps on a couple of girls in the first row in amusing interchanges, and finding plenty funny in comparing the sheilas of Canada, the UK and Aus.  I wish him luck growing up.

Masamo, or something like that – I could find no information on him – is a Canadian-Italian who had a warmly humourous take on his Mum’s cooking and comfort.  But when he looked at his watch three times, I began to wonder what I was doing there. Facing a Titanic moment, he brought out his shocker – necrophilia – which resulted on several walkouts on this by now sweaty mass of Masamo.

The rose between two thorns was Christophe Davidson of Montreal.  Looking more like Jesus of Montreal or some refugee from a film about the 60s, he did not perspire or talk about the heat. He just got on with the job of being naturally funny.  Davidson is like listening to a funny friend - unforced, charming, warm, relaxed and secure with a hint of danger.

Bertram and Davidson have their own shows this Fringe – Guilt Ridden Sociopath and The Time of Your Life respectively – that about sums them up.

David Grybowski

 

Spoonface Steinberg

The Bakehouse. Feb 28 – Mar 17.

Spoonface Steinbergis the touching story of a life, death and dying, and religious faith as told by a young autistic girl who has terminal cancer.  This all sounds rather grim, and it is, but the story, and the sensitive telling of it by Boo Dyer, who plays the young girl, is uplifting and an affirmation of life.

Spoonface is the girl’s nickname, because of the abnormally rounded features of her face.  It was clear that she was ‘special’ from an early age, but her mother blames her ‘backwardness’ on a blow to the head as a child when she fell during an argument her parents were having about her father’s infidelity.  Spoonface believes that her specialness is in fact God’s gift to her.

The action of the play comprises Spoonface reflecting on her losing battle with cancer, her various visits to hospital, and her interactions with her physician Dr Bernstien and the family’s kindly cleaning lady who tenderly cares for her.  Unlike children of her age, and many adults for that matter, Spoonface has a liking for grand opera and particularly for soprano arias about love and death and dying. The music of Maria Callas featured in this particular production.

In coming to terms with her illness, and perhaps because of her autism and inability to read or speak properly (although that is only ever referred to rather than ‘acted out’) Spoonface has developed an amazing sense of her place in the world and an insightful and deeply philosophical faith that transcends religion.

As touching and moving as this is, it is perhaps a weakness in the script as well.  It is not entirely believable that a child, regardless of how ‘gifted’ the child may be, would have such a profound world view.  It is also not quite believable that a child would be so vivid and expansive in her descriptions of people, events, feeling and beliefs.  The fact is that playwright Lee Hall, who also wrote Billy Elliot, has given the character over-written text, and the whole play is a good 10 minutes too long.

But, this is all easily forgivable, because the production is so good. Dyer is excellent, she used the minimalist set effectively and immersed herself in the musical bridges becoming as one with them.  The audience in the intimate space of the Bakehouse Studio Theatre was also with her right to the very end, deeply empathising with Spoonface’s pain and ultimate release.

Kym Clayton

 

Belt Up Theatre's 'The Boy James'

Adelaide College of the Arts. Feb 28 – Ma 18

This is one of the most remarkable productions I have seen for a long time.  It is easy to identify what I enjoyed about it, and how I felt, but it is very difficult to precisely define what it was about. Was it a story about lost innocence, or growing up, or about being corrupted?  Was it about a young unsettled mind that did not want to grow up?  Or was it about growing up by forcing oneself to put childish things aside?  Maybe it is about all of those things, but one thing is for certain, this production by Belt Up Theatre is provoking.

The audience is greeted at the door of the theatre by ‘the boy’, played brilliantly well by Jethro Compton, and invited into what is his own personal domain. The performance space is in the form of a living room. It is draped on the ceiling and on all four walls and is lit by several harsh lights. There are sofas and easy chairs around all walls for the audience to sit on, and in the middle is a table and chair that form the focus of the set. For all intents and purposes we are in the boy’s personal space, and he disarmingly invites us to play some simple games with him, which we do with little resistance.

The scene is set, the boy has won us over, and he then proceeds to immerse us in his boyish world.  Compton’s skill is palpable. Surely he MUST be only six or seven or eight. Eventually the boy is joined by a young man, who turns out to be his older self, played by Dominic Allen. The dialogue is then between the boy and himself, and this presents the first challenge in the text for the audience. A young girl, delicately played by Serena Manteghi, then appears, almost from nowhere, and another text challenge is identified.  Who is real? There is a struggle which leads to older James being knocked out, and boy James is distraught thinking that he has been killed.  But the girl assures him that he is not.  Following is a series of scenes where young James is gradually corrupted – drink, sex (almost rape), bad language – and the girl eventually leaves as older James recovers, and takes his leave.  But young James does not want him to go and is inconsolable.

This all sounds confusing, and it is, but it is compelling theatre, and strangely enjoyable.  Directed by Dominic Allen, the cast use the playing space superbly, and handle the absence of a fourth wall with ease.  Manteghi shifts between wide-eyed innocence and temptress, and Allen has a mystery about him that leaves you wondering until the end. Compton....well, he is just exquisite.

This production is highly recommended – an intriguing Fringe experience that you are unlikely to find anywhere else – but it will leave you wondering long after you have left the theatre.

Kym Clayton

The Year of Magical Wanking

Adelaide College of the Arts - XSpace. Feb 27 – Mar 18, 2012

This is a provocative and disturbing one-man show. Irish actor and playwright Neil Watkins' monologue is a hellish story of the inability to form intimate and deep attachments to other people and how this can manifest itself in addiction to pornography and in religious guilt.

Over the course of one hour Watkins takes us on a journey (autobiographical?) of drug infused sexual activity that spans Dublin to the seedy bars of Manhattan and Helsinki. Through the confused haze of drugs he seemingly encounters famous icons of the gay world and other celebrities, and the picture of his life that is being painted before us becomes more desperate, lonely and pointless.  The descriptions are savage and the language is sordid.  He explains that he is in his 33rd year of life, and this was how old Christ was when he was crucified. It is a stimulus for him to seek redemption and overcome personal demons and to truly address the key question of why can’t he lead his life?

This is bleak and challenging theatre, and it is passionately performed by Watkins. In a simple tightly defined performance space delineated by piercing white fluorescent lighting and complemented by a moody and unsettling soundscape, Watkins takes us through episodes of an unsettled and troubled life that eventually finds reconciliation.

Kym Clayton

10 Things I Know About You

The Big Slapple - Apollo Theatre. Mar 3 - 11

Simon Taylor is a post grad student with a BA in psychology, and his show 10 Things I Know About You is 50 minutes of amusing observations, improvised songs, and creative dance interludes based on his experiences and a few wild assumptions he has made about humanity.

This show has a perfectly structured routine, which conforms to all of the conventions of comedy - with great timing and excellent production values. Having said that however Simon Taylor would perhaps be better described as an entertainer rather than a comedian. Not because he is not funny - but rather because he is funny in a less conventional manner - and on the whole far better as an entertainer.

Taylor plays the piano, the guitar, does card tricks and dance tricks and cleverly involves the audience in his "myth time" sessions and improv. Everyone in the audience really enjoyed the show and, although the laughs were more scattered than a traditional standup routine, left feeling energized and excited.

This piece of the Adelaide Fringe is definitely worth your consideration. Check out this show for a light-hearted wrap up of the 10 things Simon Taylor knows about you - I wouldnt want to spoil the fun by giving it away.

Paul Rodda

Scaramouche Jones

Higher Ground. Feb 24 – Mar 4, 2012

Scaramouche Jonesis an outstanding piece of theatre beautifully written and masterfully performed by Justin Butcher. It is another exemplary production from Guy Masterson’s Centre for International Theatre.

The story is almost a self-eulogy. It is New Year’s Eve 1999, and it is the eve of the 100th birthday of the clown Scaramouche Jones. It is also his final performance–ever, because tonight he has chosen to die. There is nothing more he can possibly achieve in this life, and he tells us why. Regaled in bald wig, white face, red nose and baggy costume, Scaramouche takes us on a richly described journey through his long and eventful life.

His out-of-the ordinary life begins with his birth to a prostitute mother on a fishmonger’s slab in a port in Trinidad. At a young age he is sold into slavery several times and eventually ends up in Africa as an assistant to a snake charmer where he tours bazaars and other exotic places. He then joins the Italian navy, goes AWOL, and travels with gypsies to Krakow where he ends up in jail.

During WWII he finds himself incarcerated in Auschwitz, where he is put to work as a gravedigger. Strangely, he finds solace in providing a moment of joy in the wretched lives of young children by performing mime and distracting them at the final terrible moment of their murder. It is this act of humanity that absolves him of complicity with the Nazis and war crimes.

Like layers of theatrical make-up, each troubled episode of his life learns and takes strength from the previous one, and prepares him for the next. His life is one of accumulated and remarkable experiences. After the war he finds his way to England and clowns for the next fifty years as a preparation for his swan-song.

Butcher’s richly embroidered script is a remarkable demonstration of the power of simile and metaphor. It has a lilt and a structure that gives it power, gravitas, tragedy, humour and excitement.  Butcher’s performance was mesmerising and fluid. His stagecraft was as good as I have ever seen, and a lesser actor would not have been able to carry off the sustained effort and concentration that was needed. For nearly ninety minutes he held the audience firmly in his hand as if it was his personal play thing, and we loved it.

Kym Clayton

PianoDivalicious!

The Tuxedo Cat - Red Room. Feb 26 – Mar 18, 2012

In the Red Room of The Tuxedo Cat, Amy Abler presents her well toured show PianoDivalicous!. Mashing classical, pop, rock and blues numbers together, Abler's show is a feast of fast paced piano fingering fun. Seamlessly combining a range of numbers Abler effortlessly blends songs like The Black and White Rag, ABBA's Dancing Queen and Moonlight Sonata as if they were always meant to be one.

Elements of comedy are incorporated, such as a re-worded version of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and an interesting Turkish travel story told to Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca.

Abler describes herself as a 'recovering classical concert pianist - on the 12 week program', but despite her energy and abundance of talent, something is missing. This production would benefit from a director to help find a line of continuity through the many interesting yet oddly unrelated acts she performs. Abler sings, dances, plays piano with her feet and tries to blend a few jokes, but it’s all a bit slapdash and sadly too low on production values.

Despite all this, she maintains wonderful energy and the tradeoff is witnessing her amazing skills as a pianist. In a rock-and-roll section she covers Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire, and with a piano accordion we get the theme to Rocky and a version of AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long. Its hard not to get caught up in the laughs as Abler seems to have so much fun on stage. Don't expect a grand piano and surround sound system - just get along to enjoy one big personality and a bucket load of talent.

Paul Rodda

The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts

Higher Ground. Feb 24 – Mar 18, 2012

The Ballad of the Unbeatable Heartsis the heart lifting story of a young gay man who fails in his suicide attempt and who then accepts his homosexuality and goes on to establish, grow and lead a spectacularly successful gay support organisation that gives hope, direction and fulfilment to countless others and changes the world.

The structure of the play is complex. Writer and solo performer Richard Fry plays a number of characters who each have their own clear voice at different points in time–the past, present and in the future–but it is never confusing. Fry easily and convincingly moves between them, and in the role of narrator he delivers an incisive array of explanations, impassioned speeches and humorous asides directly to the audience.  He takes you in.  You feel you are part of his world, and it is unnerving and liberating and frightening and happy, and ultimately a call to action–to counter hate.

The text is written in verse that moves between a range of poetic forms, but never gets bogged down.  The metrical structures and rhyme never get in the way of the message or the choice of text, and rhythms are exploited to great effect and have a physiological effect on the listener.  At times I could feel my own pulse and breathing quickening or slowing in sympathy with what was unfolding before me on stage.

The ending of the play is savage–there is a huge twist that almost guts you–but as you leave the stark and untrammelled simplicity of the venue, Fry’s message of compassion is firmly in the front of your mind.

This is compelling theatre, and Fry’s performance is moving and gripping. Yes, the subject matter is bleak at times, but as director Guy Masterson says in his programme notes: “Great theatre should be a tempest of energy illuminated by flashes of blinding communication where the audience are on the receiving end of a theatrical thunderbolt. It should be an experience that no other medium can provide.” Richard Fray and The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts do just that.

Kym Clayton

Tom Ballard Doing Stuff

Rhino Room. February 21 – 25, 2012.

Tom Ballard is a smart young guy.  Funny as too.

A co-presenter on Triple J’s breakfast show, you get the distinct feeling he keeps his true comedic genius under raps by day and savours the freedom his own shows provide by night.

Lucky for us, the Adelaide Fringe provides an opportunity for us to see him in night mode, because it’s highly entertaining.

Ballard’s latest show, Doing Stuff, explores why it is that we are so disengaged with the world’s problems and generally, do nothing about them. Doing Stuff, apparently, is simply too hard.

This is a very quick summary, but Ballard masterfully draws his own observations out over the hour with hilarious wit and intelligent political comedy. He is clearly a well researched and engaged twenty-something, sadly a rare beast these days.

Don’t get me wrong though, if lowbrow puns and smutty humour are your thing, you won’t be disappointed.

Ballard makes light work of shredding the veneers of modesty that generally grease the wheels of polite society.  Case in point: masturbation. Let’s be honest, as Tom says most people do it, and the fact itself is not groundbreaking.  But most of us don't talk about it in general conversation.

Ballad's refreshingly blunt tales of his own “gay masturbation” as well as the worst gay sex stories he has heard and experienced had the audience in stitches.  He saved the best for last though.  His attempts to expose just how equally gross heterosexual and homosexual intimacy can be had this audience member gasping for breath.

In a rare gem, Ballard also sums up his show with finesse; taking a (relatively) more serious tone to describe his own actions to “do stuff” and encouraging his audience do what they can to make a difference.

First step - go see this show!

Nicole Russo

Road Movie

Adelaide Town Hall, Prince Alfred Room. Feb 27 – Mar 3, 2012

Road Movie is a stunning one-man show about earnestly searching for love and the despair when it is cruelly snatched away by an insurmountable enemy.

Dirk Hoult plays Joel, a gay New Yorker, who is desperately trying to find himself through the love of another person.  He has lost a small part of himself along the way, somewhere, and his is desperately trying to retrieve it.  Tragically he has AIDS and he habitually looks in the wrong places.

But this is not just another AIDS story.  There is a very real risk that it could be self-pitying and an anthem for the tragedy of an underserved disease and wasted life, but the writing leaves such overworked themes well behind.

Joel finds himself down and out in San Francisco and meets Scott who is attracted to him. They form a relationship but it ends when Joel returns to NY.  Joel misses his new lover terribly and after a period of trying to make the best of a long-distance romance, he decides to return to SF and heads off on the five day road trip to get there.  At various stopovers on the way he meets a number of quite peculiar characters, who each share very personal aspects of their lives, and through these encounters he learns more about himself and about meaningful love. However, when he arrives in SF and looks for Scott he is greeted by tragic news.

Hoult’s performance is remarkable and very moving. The text is largely comprised of a number of episodic dialogues – the solo actor speaking both parts – separated by narrations, and Hoult moves effortlessly and convincingly between the numerous characters; a different smile and set of the head for one character; a different lilt and accent for another. His characterisations were hip and humorous when they needed to be, and heart achingly sad at other times.  The intimacy of the venue allowed him to seemingly look his audience members in the eye and share Joel’s pain and joy with them.

The text by Godfrey Hamilton is exceptional. It is richly described without being overwritten or laboured. The numerous characters are quickly established, but there is enough substance in each of them for Hoult to develop. The writing in the final scene – where Scott’s drugged-out flatmate explains that each piercing in her face is a memorial to a friend and that the most recent one is still painful to the touch – was incredibly moving and poignant.

This is the sort of theatre that you can very easily go back to and see again, and again.

Kym Clayton

AKMAL

Royalty Theatre, Angas Street. Feb 26 – Mar 18, 2012

This was my first ever experience of a live Akmal show, and it won’t be my last. This guy is stand-up magic and the laughs don’t let up from the time that he walks on stage to the time he leaves.

The planned narrative is underpinned by a close connection to the audience, and he spends the first twenty minutes talking to members of the front row, getting to know them, and then unapologetically but cleverly connecting them at every available opportunity into each of his gags.  He has a genius for extracting from the audience exactly what will be comedy gold.

Very occasionally his interaction with the audience caused him to lose his train of thought, but he used this as an opportunity to gouge an extra laugh as well.  Several audience members tried to interject with a smart remark but his comebacks were razor sharp, oh-so-funny and as fast as greased lightning.

Akmal showed that he is quite up to speed with what’s happening in the world and cleverly included reference to hot topics like geo-politics into his gags.  As luck had it, one of the audience members he quizzed earlier was from Afghanistan, and you could almost see him licking his lips with anticipation at what such a happy coincidence would offer, and he didn’t disappoint us.

Kym Clayton

 

Seven Kilometres North-East

Version 1.0 - Adelaide College of the Arts, Main Theatre. 23 Feb to 4 Mar.

If you are not already familiar with the atrocities which took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars when, amongst other things, the Croats and Serbs attempted to divide and assimilate the land between them (Bosnian War 1992-1995), then this show is a great opportunity to find out more.

It focuses specifically on the events which took place on the famous Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad and at the Vilina Vlas Hotel, a notorious rape camp where almost 200 women were tortured and eventually killed.

Kym Vercoe recounts for us in great detail her experiences as a naïve tourist, and then delves deeper as she describes her return to the country armed with a thirst for more knowledge and a desire to delve further into the history of a political social genocide; why she wants to know more - she herself cannot explain.

Vercoe devised this production after stumbling across something haunting, which she cannot let go. “It’s a story about remembering,” she writes. Narrating her journey in English and occasionally in Bosnian, Vercoe gives the characters in her story the life which they gave her – translating their impact on her with the passion and vigour one only gets when they have been profoundly changed by an experience.

With excellent lighting design by Emma Lockhart-Wilson and Christopher Page, stunning video artistry by Sean Bacon and poignant musical direction and singing by Sladjana Hodžić, Verecoe creates the perfect mise-en-scène – combining her use of props, timing and the space just wonderfully.

Vercoe incorporates her own journal notes, the writings of award winning novelist Ivo Andrić, her travel bible (a tourist guidebook), and transcripts from the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. All the time projecting footage, filmed on location, onto a blank white wall, which eerily symbolises the Vilina Vlas Hotel, and her accidentally disrespectful balcony clothes washing incident (you’ll have to see the show).

Warning - this is no comedy. This is not cabaret, burlesque, circus or musical. Be prepared to be taken on a journey to Višegrad. Vercoe’s heart is in this work – much like the geographical shape of the country she loves so much, this production fills right out to the edges.

Paul Rodda 

Gordon Southern's A Brief History of History

Rhino Room - Downstairs. Feb 15 – Mar 17, 2012

Gordon Southern has a mischievous glint in his eye – shades of Jimeoin – and he enjoys sizing up his audience to get a sense of whom he is dealing with and to identify a punter (or two) he might co-opt willingly or unwillingly into his act.

In A Brief History of History he sets himself the rather silly task of surveying the history of civilisation in about an hour, and he begins by profiling the age of his audience. The oldest turned out to be a spirited 71 year old gent by the name of Drummond, who was sitting near a group of educated young women who were self-confessed Melbournians, much to the derision of the largely parochial audience. The girls took great delight in correcting Southern when he stretched the truth, and Drummond was the point of reference for times past. Poor man.

Like a lot of good humour, Southern’s gags relied on stretching the truth, or drawing ridiculous comparisons, or imputing meaning that is not really there. Some of the gags were ‘dark’, especially when he was covering World War II and joked that an archetypal photograph of Hitler with several of his henchman looked like that of a Nazi boy-band with a name like The Fuhrer’s Four posing for the album cover which featured the hit single The Vinyl Solution! We cringed, but laughed all the same.

The performance seemed a little under-rehearsed, and Southern made free use of a cheat sheet, but the audience couldn’t have cared less.

A feature of Southern’s routine was a music sampler which he used to make musical exclamations to underpin his narrative.  He also used.....wait for it......PowerPoint technology (which he thought should nearly blow Drummond’s septuagenarian mind!) to project images of historical events and people about which he would poke merciless fun.

Kym Clayton

 

James McLean - A Kick in the Head and Other Seduction Techniques

The Crown and Sceptre Hotel – Courtroom 32.  Feb 26 – Mar 17.

A Kick in the Headis a tale about one young man’s attempts to navigate the peaks and pitfalls of love. Single, and determined to change this, his search for companionship takes many a twist and turn as he learns to find his own approach to wooing the ladies.

This witty and well-written piece is the first for McLean, a graduate of the Flinders University Drama Centre. It’s a lovely story, intertwined with classics from crooners such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. In an inspired choice, it features the wonderful talents of pianist David McEvoy on key accompaniment.

To be honest, there are things to pick at in this show. McLean’s voice is not up to a solo cabaret performance. He shows good promise, but requires more confidence, accuracy and vocal projection.

He admirably mixes cabaret and comedy, but it was a nervous performance, particularly during the first half. While jitters are completely understandable, they make comedic timing and strong vocals difficult to achieve. He steadied over the performance and hit his stride in time to deliver a strong conclusion.

McLean’s strengths are in his writing, and the rest will come with time. Kudos should go to him for creating an interesting and engaging piece for his first public foray into Cabaret.  This is something to be treasured in the Fringe, where performance talent generally abounds amongst a dearth of production and writing skill.

Look out for more from McLean in the future.

Nicole Russo

The Lonely Man

By Jamie Jewell. La Boheme. 22 Feb, 23 Feb, 28 Feb, 13 Mar, 2012

There is something captivating about the eccentricity of a person who differs from socially accepted norms. The way they move; the way they look; the way they interact, grabs our attention and we watch, fixated with interest we cannot explain - nor attempt to. The Lonely Man, created by Jamie Jewell, has one such character. Jewell’s character is so odd, reclusive and solitary, obsessed with objects and bemoaning his past. This character is drawn from Jewell’s own struggles, periods of depression and difficulty finding himself after coming to terms with his childhood.

In this character driven narrative cabaret it isn’t really clear whether the songs are a device for the story or if the story is a device for the songs – they mesh so seamlessly together. Jewell’s lonely man is alienated, however, and is somewhat at risk of alienating parts of his audience. I absolutely loved this show, but its intriguing tapestry was so rich for me that it seems possible it could just have easily not been to another person’s tastes. Like Coriander, it’s either loved or hated – never in-between.

Creator Jamie Jewell and director David Jobling have together cast a very skilful hand and eye over the balance of the action in this work. Most of the time it is overplayed, yet it never seems unrealistic. There was a section in the middle of the piece which sadly digressed into too much slapstick, but the metaphors were always beautifully simple, only slightly cryptic, and always left lingering questions – a heavy suitcase full of memories; a sad faced mask revealed, predicting the ending to the show perhaps – all were beautifully delivered.

Jewell gives a gentle rendition of songs such as The Show Must Go On, Where is Love and Over the Rainbow, and does so beautifully. Musical director and accompanist Carol Young plays wonderfully. In an interview about the show, Jewell reveals that his cabaret “asks people to consider the consequences of their actions and the impact that can have on their lives and those around them.” He asks the audience to choose either a triangle or square of card on entrance to the auditorium, which they do without consideration to its consequences. This choice determines the ending – happy or sad. Life or suicide. I chose the triangle, and The Lonely Man took his life. Now I can’t help but feel responsible.

This is a great production, and highly recommended viewing in this year’s Cabaret Fringe.

Paul Rodda



Tom Thum - Beating the Habit

Garden of Unearthly Delights. 23 Feb to 14 Mar, 2012

This show is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Fringe!  The diverse opening night audience of Beating the Habit performed by Tom Thum (of the Tom Tom Crew) comprised the very young to the young at heart and those on the wrong side of fifty, all however were astounded by the sonic antics of this quite remarkable young artist.

To say that he is a beat boxer – a vocal percussionist – is simply inadequate. Not only does he imitate the sounds of nearly every percussion instrument you can think of, he also creates with unnerving and eerie believability the sounds of wind, string and brass instruments, as well as the sounds of living nature and the inanimate world.

Into the mix Thum records his own singing voice from contralto to countertenor.  With the aid of three Kaoss Pads he electronically samples and processes his own vocal effects as he creates them on the spot and builds and combines them into an incredibly rich aural palette.

Thum uses the sound effects to tell and embellish a range of stories, which included a five-minute version of the creation of the world from the ‘big bang’ to the emergence of prehistoric life, and a take-off of the ‘Rise of the Machines’ from ‘Terminator 3’ (or Tominator 3 as he would have it!).  The show is full of good-fun humour as well, and an on-screen tongue-in-cheek doco about him trying to kick the beatbox habit amply demonstrates his quick wit and intelligent and incisive humour. 

My taste is usually for serious ‘concert’ music and I wouldn’t know a hip-hopper or a rapper if I fell over one, but this show is not to be missed.  Thom Thum is remarkable. 

A joyous experience.

Kym Clayton



Barry Morgan’s World of Organs

Garden of Unearthly Delights - 18 February 2012

Barry Morgan’s World of Organsis a joyous and well put together show and the capacity audience loved every minute of it. Barry Morgan (aka Stephen Teakle) takes to the stage in a safari suit, wears his hair big and his smile even bigger. There are shades of Bob Downe, Liberace, Don Dunstan, and Mr Ed (the teeth!), and he plays his electronic organ like there is no tomorrow.

For one hour the audience is regaled with every ‘organ’ double entendre you can poke a stick at – it is always risqué and cringeworthy, but never offensive, and it sails innocently over the heads of the kids who are none the wiser and who laugh anyway. His ‘one-finger method’ of organ instruction tickled everyone’s fancy as he demonstrated its effect with a bit of audience participation in a ménage a quatre, and we heartily roared when he ‘went down’ on the pedals and played them with his hands.

In between sips of Campari, quick costume changes from a trouser safari suit to a smart Bermuda shorts outfit, he dazzles the audience with his digital dexterity at the Hammond Aurora Classic, all captured on glorious technicolour ‘organ-cam’. Now this instrument is not to everyone’s taste –some even gag on it– but he makes it play the gamut of instruments from accordion to zither with apparent ease. It is no mean feat to arrange a program of thirty plus musical numbers–all with their own unique sounds and registrations–and toss them off with gay abandon. His routine is well polished –as is his organ– and he is clearly a very capable musician, but I suspect the audience would have appreciated a little more music and a little less patter.

Kym Clayton

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