Monologue For A Murderer Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/99540

Melbourne Knowledge Week Workshops

http://www.melbartsfash.com/99543

The Summersalt Outdoor Arts Festival launch

http://www.melbartsfash.com/99420

The Things We Get Ourselves Into

Somehow or other, I have managed to become involved in a project without really having any reason for being there.  This is slightly different than my usual habit of sticking my nose in where I am not wanted.

As many of you know, I have spent the year investigating Vorticism as a performance making technique.  As part of that investigation, I gathered a group of actors, a dramaturg, and a designer to engage in some workshops.  It went well and I have almost finished my second play.  You can read Entropia, the first short play by clicking on that page at the side of the screen.

The designer who was working with me on the project was El Lindberg, who was the devisor and producer of Self Contained Spaces - details of which can also been seen by clicking on the page at the side of the screen.  El contacted me a few weeks ago and told me she was about to undertake the creative development of a new project, and would I be willing to come in and direct a few rehearsals from a Vorticist perspective.

This sounded very exciting and I agreed.  I didn't hear anything more for a while, but then we suddenly kept running into each other at random places like on the tram.

Anyway, she invited me to a rehearsal where I could see what they had been doing, but when I got there, nothing was achieved because one of the performers was late (this is a very small ensemble).  When he finally got there, the last hour ended up being a discussion about content.  Apparently no concept or content had been explored yet.  They had spent the last couple of sessions just exploring physically, and creating pretty 'pictures'.

I should point out that I don't think there is anything wrong with that, and in many ways, that is what a creative development is for.  The difficulty is that a showing is planned for the 15th November and they are only rehearsing/exploring for a few hours every Sunday.  I did the math and that is only 8 working hours before showing this to people - I assume people of some significance.  The other complication is that El won't be there for the Sunday prior to presentation.

Another complication is that I am unavailable that Sunday too, because I am doing audio describer training at Vision Australia that day.  I actually haven't told El that yet.  I lost my diary and wasn't entirely sure.  I have only reconstructed my November commitments this afternoon.

The way I figure it, in this time frame there is no point in even beginning a discussion about Vorticism because the performers are starting to freak out about structure and content.  El seems either unable or unwilling to really take any leadership in this regard which is not really helping.

I attended rehearsals today, thinking I was going to see some of the physical stuff they had been playing with, but one of the actors has decided to take charge and drive a narrative for performance.  Today I ended up spending a lot of time speaking on behalf of El to try and keep the project in line with what I am hearing her saying.

We had a chat on the phone last week and I suggested that really my best role for this project would be dramaturgical, so I tried to focus on that today.  Of course, it's not as simple as that, because the show revolves around 4 people. and El only has three.

We started with El playing one of the characters, but halfway through the session I swapped with her because it was becoming a bit too much like I was directing, and if anyone should be doing that it should be her.  Now my big fear is that I will have to end up performing.

This is problematic on a number of levels.  The first is the rehearsal I can't attend.  The second is a concern about the physical demands as the others are working quite strenuously.  The final one is that if they call a rehearsal before the showing on the 15th, I won't be able to attend until late because I have audio describer training on that day too.

So here I am, not working with Vorticism and having an ambiguous role within a project I have no background for and questionable right to inform.  How did I get myself into this mess???

The Trouble With Harry Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/98598

Hipbone Sticking Out Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/98447

My Lover's Bones Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/98195

Eavesdropping On Artists

http://www.melbartsfash.com/98047

Have I No Mouth Review

What: Have I No Mouth

Where: The Coopers Malthouse – part of the 2014 Melbourne Festival

When: October 10 – 13

Written & Directed by: Feidlim Cannon & Gary Keegan

Performed by: Ann Cannon, Feidlim Cannon, and Erich Keller

Costumes by: Emma Downey

Lighting by: Sarah Jane Shiels

Sound by: Jack Cawley

Video by: Kilian Waters

Have I No Mouth is being presented as part of the Melbourne Festival at the Coopers Malthouse until October 13.  This play is the creation of the Irish company BrokenTalkers which formed in 2001 and who have gone on to impress the world with their innovative approach to theatre making.

BrokenTalkers are all about making accessible theatre.  For them that means performing works in diverse places but more importantly, creating work with a diverse group of collaborators.  They source their skills and stories from the real world around them and although they do work with other professional artists, their main aim is to bring authenticity to the work which means they also use people who are not connected to performance making or even the arts when it is appropriate.

Have I No Mouth is the perfect example of this.  The story is that of Feidlim Cannon and his Mum, Ann, as they struggle to come to terms with the death firstly of Feidlim’s baby brother and then his father.

Rather than write a play and have actors perform, the protagonists are the real people involved.  Thus, the cast consists of Feidlim, his Mum Ann, and their real therapist, Keller.

Do not misunderstand.  This is an incredibly well structured and well performed work.  The tone of the piece is that of being a part of the therapy process. As such it does not require heightened emotions or any formal acting form.  The point is the story being told and the relationships being examined. The inherent naturalism and reserve that comes from not just non-performers, but the real people involved, sets exactly the right tone for the work. 

The staging itself is a fairly standard modern configuration with clusters of furniture around the stage which will evidently become acting spaces for various scenes.  There are random props on each of the three tables, a microphone on a stand, two cardboard cut outs of children, and a wall which becomes the projection screen.  However, right from the start of the show, we realise that this is not going to be quite the traditional theatre event we may have come to expect.

A film begins with a glass of Guinness in every shot.  We don’t know how to interpret this although it seems humorous and then Feidlim walks out and explains that this is a film he made to commemorate his father’s death.  Then we get all serious but he has built in a humorous exchange with the film and this allows the audience to understand that we are allowed to laugh even in serious moments.  This is perhaps the moment we really understand that these are Dubliners before us.

Feidlim then introduces us to his mother and his therapist.  Before the story kicks in the therapist takes us through some relaxation techniques, and later he teaches us about anger balloons.  The sound of a room full of balloons ‘farting’ as the air is released may very well be the funniest bit of audience interaction I have ever been a part of!

We are then placed inside the therapy sessions with Feidlim and Ann.  The reason this works so well is that they have managed to retain the immediacy and spontaneity of the mother and son interactions so you do not feel like you are watching a rehearsed piece of theatre.  This is voyeurism at its best and without the guilt.  We are given permission to listen in and are spoken to directly at various points.  We are the witnesses to the pain and, potentially, healing.

As the show progresses we come to understand many things about grief, but one of the most poignant lessons is the sense of betrayal and distrust which is engendered in children by the death of a family member.  The anger lies on so many levels: anger that the person has gone away, anger that others let it happen, anger about how and when you are told.  The saddest part is that it doesn’t really go away.  You just have to learn to let it out slowly like a farting balloon, rather than letting it ‘pop’ destructively.

The most illuminating and climactic moments are in the ‘Frankenstein’ scenes.  Enacting transference, the therapist becomes the missing father, and Feidlim orders him about and fights with him, and pours Guinness on him, and dances with him, and asks to be hugged.  It is here that we understand the true depth of loss and pain.

Cannon and Keegan have created a real masterpiece with Have I No Mouth.  The balance of fact and pathos is just perfect and it avoids that hairy trap of indulging in overemotionalism.  The production elements are also perfectly balanced. 

Cirkopolis Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/97744

Tanderrum & Murra

http://www.melbartsfash.com/97687

Framed Movements Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/97604

Who Are You Supposed To Be Review

Theatre Review by Samsara Dunston

What:  Who Are You Supposed To Be

Where:  The Owl & The Pussycat – part of the 2014 Fringe Festival

When:  September 23 – October 5

Written by:  Keith Gow

Performed by: Rob Lloyd and Jennifer Lusk

Who Are You Supposed To Be is the current show in production for playwright Keith Gow and is playing at The Owl and The Pussycat in Richmond until October 5.

This play is a two-hander comedy, with some serious social dialogue underpinning the repartee.  Two science fiction geeks meet in the foyer of a convention called Nerd-vana Con, and through the less than subtle use of costuming which occurs in those environments, recognise each other as Dr Who fanatics.

The original season for this play was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013.  The subject matter and timing were apropos as the world was waiting with bated breath for the official announcement of who the new (12^th) Doctor would be.

There was a lot of public debate at the time about whether the new Doctor would – or could – be female and this is the discussion which opens the play.  Lusk (as Ash) enters in full costume as Peter Davison (the 5^th Doctor), and Lloyd (as Gene) comes up to her affronted that she has chosen to dress as a Doctor rather than one of his endless line of female companions.

This leads to a discussion about the relative merits of the companions and then to the presence of women in science fiction universes in general.  The banter is quick and clever and light, but pointed when it needs to be.

It turns out these two people know each other from the twittersphere and the bloggoverse so there becomes a reason and connection for them to continue to run into each other throughout the conference and  maintain contact and develop a relationship.  This is a great addition of detail.  It means we don’t spend the rest of the show wondering why on earth they wouldn’t just ignore each other after that initial meeting.

The structure of the play is in four parts, one scene for each day of the conference.  This works well because it allows for the use of anticipation and then completion along the course of the play in a way which rarely happens in the theatre form.  We also get to see the conference programme on the wall right from the start, so we can constantly refer to it to confirm timelines and anticipate what is coming up.  It gives us a bit of a feeling that we are actually at the convention ourselves.

The witty references, to not just Dr Who but the entire science fiction and fantasy multiverse collection, are quick and multitudinous and it becomes a little game for the audience to see if we can keep up.  Oh, yes, there are Monty Python jokes in there too...

As well as all this geek fetish fun there is still the gender discussion happening.  Lusk ‘can’t’ dress as a Doctor, not only because the Doctor has never been a woman, but also because women can’t be real science fiction fans.  There is a panel discussion on ‘fake geek females’ who only come to these conferences to dress as ‘slave’ Princess Leias in order to show off their bodies.  At one point Ash asks what their nefarious might be after doing that...Gene has no answer.

Lusk plays a feisty woman who treks across the world to meet ‘her’ Doctor.  It nearly doesn’t happen as she suffers from an anxiety disorder and has a panic attack just at the moment her dream would be realised. 

I have to say, I didn’t think this part of the story line was convincing or particularly pertinent.  Shyness would have been enough to foil the meeting, and Lusk does not play the anxiety with any sense of true understanding so it kind of falls flat. 

Lusk has been playing this role since the beginning and her energy and timing are superb, but she is starting to anticipate what is coming next, which means we as the audience loose the element of surprise in the journey ourselves.  Her performance is a bit too much like a well worked routine.

Lloyd is fun as the blogging geek, and has found mannerisms that are certainly cliché, but also establish his status socially and personally very quickly and easily.  The journey for this character is to stop hiding in these make believe worlds developed as a shield since adolescence.  He learns that he needs to be real with the people around him every so often if he doesn’t want to be lonely or a loner his whole life.

Lloyd actually looks a bit like David Tennant and has a performance history of playing the 10^th Doctor.  It is wonderful when, in the final scene, he comes out in that costume.  Nerdy fun, but really satisfying.

The show ends with a wonderful reference duel reminiscent of magic fights between Merlin and Morgana, or Harry and Voldemort.  It is like a fast money round in a game show, and was the perfect rounding off.

Gow has crafted a really witty play here, full of accurately researched trivia and a true understanding of the nature of people involved in these mega-conventions.  He demonstrates an awareness of the various layers of social impact these parallel fantasy universes have on people as individuals and also of how they impact and reinforce societal structures.

The show only runs until Sunday, so make sure you go and see it if you love this stuff.  They have a con-play discount in place.  If you go in costume you get your ticket half price.  It can be any costume, they are not discriminating.

Everyman and the Pole Dancers Review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/96972

Gough Review

Theatre Review by Samsara Dunston

What:  Gough

Where:  Long Play – part of the 2014 Fringe Festival

When:  October 1-5

Written and Directed by:  James Cunningham

Performed by:  Warwick Merry

Gough is a one man show being performed at Long Play in North Fitzroy for this, the final week of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.  Written by James Cunningham, Gough is his second foray into Melbourne Fringe, having written and directed The Sheds last year.

The programme notes say that this show is ‘...a personal, intimate portrait...’ of the closed door shenanigans during the 1975 Constitutional crisis.  The theatre at the back of Long Play is like an elegant small bunker, so there was an aura of expectation that we would be hearing some dark and dirty secrets about this famous moment in Australian history which has left everlasting effects on our political psyche.

I was seven years old when this event happened, and one of my most enduring memories of that time is of my mother sitting on the sidewalk crying into the night.  This event broke the trust of the Australian people and left us with suspicion about politics and politicians.  What was unthinkable in those times – a double dissolution – is now common parlance every budget session.

One of the great examples Cunningham provides in the script is Winston Churchill’s response when, on being questioned about the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, he was asked why he didn’t consider that the great guns of Singapore were able to be pointed both north and south, so they could be turned and used to defend the island.  Churchill defended his decisions on the basis that ‘...it never occurred to me for a moment...that the gorge...was not entirely fortified against attack from the northward.’

This position is the one taken by the narrative of Gough.  Cunningham makes the argument that, although everyone agrees that Whitlam was the architect of his own demise by appointing Kerr as Governor General, he himself could not have anticipated how it would happen as it was so beyond understanding that such a fatal flaw existed and, more importantly, would be actioned.  This was our national loss of innocence.

Possibly the one great revelation I had from this show was on this point.  We really don’t get much insight into either Gough the man or Gough the politician apart from that.  Cunningham has basically written a university lecture (or half of one as it only runs for thirty minutes).  Every time he gets near a personal revelation or a quote, he shies away from it keeping everything very formal and detached.

Cunningham apparently got script input from journalists and a speech writer, but I wouldn’t even call this a speech.  Most speeches – the political ones at least – are delivered with passion and emotional hooks.  This script always closes the door on the audience just when you think you are being invited inside.

Merry’s performance doesn’t help either.  Merry is a corporate MC and character impersonator, so I admit that I expected a good caricature of Whitlam.  What we got was a cardboard cut out.  Far too focussed on presenting the speech, Merry never let down the facade to let us see the real man underneath – his passions, his fears, his paranoia, his anger.  We got none of that.  All we got was slow measured talking.  Even his vocal work failed to capture that odd hybrid Whitlam has of learned vowels with Aussie drawl.

The show was interesting in that we learn a little bit about how Frazer and Kerr were able to do what they did and a bit of a look at the mechanisms put in place, but there are no deep insights.  The play is just too short to get us there.  I actually had to ask another audience member if the show was over or if it was just interval.

Overall, it is a nice wander down memory lane.  We get to see the ‘It’s Time’ TV ad, and we see Whitlam’s concession speech on the steps of parliament.  The show just doesn’t have enough depth.  Whitlam comes off as naive, if not stupid, and there is no sense of personal ownership of the events.

This is an inoffensive evening of theatre, and the Long Play bar is a really cool and groovy place to have a top shelf drink and listen to funky tunes on a record player before and after the show.

All The Single Ladies review

http://www.melbartsfash.com/96734