Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

Melbourne’s Midsumma festival is now in full swing with great offerings such as Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens which gives life and voice to those lost and left behind in the wake of the AIDS crisis.  This new production revives Bill Russell’s free verse poetry and Janet Hood’s music, striking right to the heart of what it means to survive and be remembered.

Playwright Bill Russell drew on two sources of inspiration when he wrote Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens in the 1980s:  The Names Project Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology (a collection of epitaphs of characters from Spoon River cemetery which later became the source material for a musical).

Russell started writing monologues in the voices of characters who had died from AIDS based on stories he’d heard from friends and acquaintances and then approached Janet Hood to collaborate on songs to accompany his monologues.

The first full staging of Elegies for Angles, Punks and Raging Queens was presented in New York City in 1989. Since then, there have been productions in London, Australia, Germany and Israel, amongst other countries.

Tonight’s production was at The MC Showroom, an intimate little theatre in Prahran with a small stage, so the set needed to be minimalist with a 3-piece band positioned in front of a section of the AIDS quilt on loan from Thorne Harbour Health (formerly Victorian AIDS Council) featuring pieces representing the lives of real people who had died from AIDS in the 1990s.

The show began with the band, smoke haze and single actor entering to deliver the first monologue. As the ensemble entered everyone was dressed in white like angels.  Listening to the lyrics it was easy to comprehend that Russell is also a poet reaching around anticipated cliched phrases to find just the right words to suit the rhyme and rhythm of the piece.

I expected to be on the verge of tears with such a sensitive theme, but the material was positively handled in an upbeat way. It was so touching, dramatic and humorous that I was simply drawn into each character’s story but also reminded of our past when there was so much fear and ignorance around AIDS.

Director/Choreographer, Jesse Matthews ably assisted by Manda Rozen-Flannery has put together an ensemble of eight highly talented, trained and gifted individuals.  The many characters they inhabit weaving in and around each other with practiced fluidity. This show has been performed previously with as many as 52 in the cast so the eight people in Heirlume’s cast each need to inhabit a number of different characters.

The ensemble cast comprised of Mackinnley Bowden, Ezri Cranston, Cameron Davey, Marcus Frost, Zoe Nichols, Saša Nikolić, Georgina Scott and Joti Van Carlos Gore.

The music had a blues, jazz and at times a real rock gospel feel. The band was ably conducted by Musical Director, Charlotte Greenslade from her seat at the piano, featuring Jacinta Dennett on Harp and Charlotte Kube on Cello.  I always love to hear the mellow sounds of a cello, but of course a show that gives voice to the dead has to have a harp!

Early on in the show there is a moment of musical beauty with the play of harmonies between Zoe Nichols, Georgina Scott and Ezri Cranston. Indeed, the entire ensemble were extremely well-rehearsed and worked as one.

Lighting design was conceived by Cale Dennis and sound by Emerson Launder.

Lynette Williams

WARNINGS:  Age guideline of 14+, mature themes, use of smoke/haze and latecomer lockout. 

Performance Photos (top two) by Darren Thao

Rehearsal Photos  (lower two) by Manda Rozen-Flannery