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4/5 Smashed Barbies Choreographed and performed by Bonnie Curtis The Flying Nun As we enter the performance space we encounter a bare female torso. The woman is facing an old-fashioned dressing table with wrap-around mirrors. She sits on a child’s size chair. She is still. We take in details – a tree tattoo, musculature, a severe blonde topknot. Even as the dance begins we don’t see this woman’s face for some time. She denies our gaze and yet this solo performance by Bonnie Curtis is all about the gaze. The expectations that come with seeing and being seen. The atmosphere her still body creates as the audience assemble is electric. The dance explodes in fits and starts – occasionally graceful but more often grace turned in on itself, the body contorted, and the shapes extreme. It is beautiful. Returning to the dressing table, the brutish woman speaks in a grunt language and reveals a set of mostly headless Barbies. With plasticine she re-models body parts, taking the best from each doll. The maquette is stuck on the mirror. As a reference for beauty? The piece is humorous as the dancer/choreographer is commenting as both a woman and dancer. Dance - where women have served as "empty vessels," a blank canvas onto which choreographers and directors project their vision. This makes the woman an object, someone never entirely in control of her own power—and that connects to everything, including not knowing how to speak up, to find one’s own voice. Familiar territory perhaps. In the hands (and body) of Bonnie Curtis this exploration has enormous power as she deftly uses time – every moment and activity on stage is presented as an almost durational event. I became transfixed by the specificity of the work and impressed with its confidence. In Bonnie Curtis’ first solo piece these ideas are expressed with the maturity and grace of a committed artist. “Limits” is an original and exciting work. Dance contains multitudes: It is an art bolstered by athleticism, a means of storytelling that can connect to social issues as well as daydreams. It has space for feminism. The blurb tells us “Limits” is the story of a grotesque creature navigating the world through the lens of a stereotypical “hot-body”. A creature trying to live up to the expectations of the world around her, riddled with insecurity and self-hate. Sabotaged by her limitations. It delves into identity, societal expectations, and examines limitations, stereotypes and experiences as a female living with disability. The work is supported with elegant and atmospheric lighting design by Lucia Haddad and an intelligent and sensitive sound design by Fiona Harding – both newcomers and names to watch! Once again the team at The Flying Nun prove themselves to be canny programmers – finding the new, the best and the brightest (and sometimes the wackiest) of local talent. Providing space and time for artists to flourish is a gift and I encourage everyone to check out and support the program. Kate Gaul

4 sneaky vodkas for this timeless classic! Druid Theatre present The Seagull (after Chekhov) by Thomas Kilroy. The great Irish theatre company, Druid, include in their annual program an outdoor production in Galway which given current restrictions makes a lot of sense. This year they present the Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy’s 1981 adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s 1898 play in the haunting Coole Park. In Coole Park – immortalised in the poetry of WB Yeats - sits the ruins of a grand house. This was home to Lady Gregory who in 1899, with fellow dramatists Edward Martyn and WB Yeats (co-founders of the Abbey Theatre), first dreamed of establishing the Irish Literary Theatre just before Konstantin Stanislavsky had his first great success with his newly formed Moscow Art Theatre, directing The Seagull. Kilroy relocates the action to an “estate in the west of Ireland in the latter part of the 19th century”. Coole Park was once just such an estate. On screen its not possible to experience the full atmospheric resonances that an outdoor location lends a production but where better to convey the journey from riches to ruination of the Anglo-Irish landed class than on the site where the ghostly absence of a former Big House pervades? From my Australian perspective I couldn’t grasp all the political nuances, but director Garry Hynes emphasises the play’s examination of doomed and hopeless love. These are great roles and the great actors at work in this heartbreaking production give terrific performances united by the no-nonsense directorial eye. Story is at once crystal clear and extremely moving as its traces the despairing suicide of Constantine (Konstantin). He is destroyed by losing his sweetheart Lily (Nina) and the rejection of his emotionally brutal mother Isobel (Arkadina). She frantically clings to her fading sexual appeal and her equally fading theatrical career. Isobel’s lover Aston (Trigorin), the lowbrow writer, succumbs to the easy seduction of the innocent and dazzled Lily, is at least briefly brought to a realisation of love before finding its demands too taxing. Further down the social scale, Mary (Masha) daughter of the family land agent, a bumbling hanger-on cousin, also yearns for Constantine before settling for the local schoolteacher, who she despises. Her mother Paulina yearns for the local doctor, a suspected philanderer. The costuming was strange to my eye initially – being neither Chekhovian or contemporary - until I made the connection to Irish history that both the play and production makes. The first two acts of the play take place on a simple wooden platform amongst the trees of the park. The lake, an installation of glass panels behind the players, glows as the evening light fades. After interval the action of the play moves inside and wooden walls are brought in to create an ever more gloomy interior as the drama darkens. In long-shot the machinations of these characters – surrounded as they are by the every darkening exterior of majestic trees – seem fragile, transient and eternal. The recording for digital presentation is straightforward, mostly front-on but with enough close-ups and change of angle to satisfy viewers. The sound recording is excellent. All accompanied by an excellent program as a download for viewers. I think Chekhov would approve of theatre’s evolution wrought by the great change confronting us. “What has theatre to do with reality?” The question, not Chekhov but Kilroy - and asked by actor Isobel (Arkardina) - goes to the heart of the Chekhov/Kilroy play and this production, in which theatre/fiction and reality are inextricably interdependent. For those keen to see a snapshot of how the outdoor venue was designed I recommend this clip - https://fb.watch/7YVwVQ03HT/ The Seagull is at Coole Park, County Galway, until 21 August, and online on demand as part of GIAF (Galway international arts festival) 5-12 September 2021 Kate Gaul

5/5 for the Digital performances! Theatre Friends – I love a fringe and so have embarked on an Edinburgh Fringe Festival ON DEMAND mini fest of my own. Sadly, I don t have a heap of time during the week to binge but 24 hours in every day does mean shows will be seen. So far I can report that intelligent camera work and editing (which doesn’t deny any theatrical origin) is exciting me as much as the shows themselves. Jump on line and browse the on-demand program (www.tickets.edfringe.com/) THE SAVIOUR by Dierdre Kinahan, directed by Louise Lowe and performed by Marie Mulledn & Brian Gleeson (Landmark Productions) This is GREAT theatre. A play that explodes expectations and charts an extraordinary shift in Ireland's social, political and religious life, asking questions about responsibility, how we respond to trauma and the tricky question of forgiveness. 70 minutes of theatre-bliss – beautiful writing, a tornado of a central performance, great soundscape…. Breathtaking twists and turns. GO GO GO! A double Irish Whiskey with cream on top! AFLOAT by Eva O’Connor and Hildegard Ryan. A climate disaster hits Dublin and 2 friends are trapped. Just when you have had enough, the dramatic denouement plays a clever trick that throws the plot upside down, and forces the audience to consider, in very concrete terms, their own role and responsibility in the future of the planet. Is our most powerful resource really denial? Sidebar – I learnt that the carbon footprint of our gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them account for about 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, according to some estimates. It is similar to the amount produced by the airline industry globally. WOW! A couple of chilled ciders for these climate warriors! IMPRO THEATRE’S TENNESSEE WILLIAMS UNSRIPTED - Impro Theatre starts with a single audience suggestion and builds improvised full-length play that is hilarious, yet, tender as a Southern belle's broken heart. Somewhere between satire and homage this 70 minutes flew by as these seasoned improvisors had their way with Mr Williams’ multitude of offers. A cool lemonade chased by a chilled martini with a twist! ON BLUE BERRY HILL by Sebastian Barry. Directed by Jim Culleton and exquisitely performed by Niall Buggy and David Ganly. Fishamble: The New Play Company (Ireland) Wrought that character, time and place leap from the text. Detail so fine that the play unfolds like a movie in the mind. A story so universal that it carries the power of a Greek Tragedy. A final theatrical gesture belies Barry’s literary hand. I swar you will laugh and cry in equal measure during this play exploring violence, compassion, and love. RECCOMENDED WITHOUT RESERVATION!!! Pionta Guinness, le do thoil ‘An absolute masterpiece…spellbinding and marvellous…one of the most transcendent experiences you can have in the theatre’ Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4 BLIZZARD. A change of pace today with FLIP Fabrique. Superior circus with a strong story-line for adults & children. Combining great image making from acrobatics (on and off a trampoline), aerial dance, rollerblades, hula-hoops, juggling, and a dollop of clowning – all with an arctic theme. I loved the nifty musical element too – a customed piano on wheels that does everything!! Daring feats made effortless and with incredible joy. Coolly brilliant and brilliantly cool. Part of the Quebec at Ed Fringe program. RECOMMENDED AI-SA-SA: an ebullient film performance by Tjimur Dance Theatre, Taiwan’s professional company dedicated to the culture of the Paiwan people, brims with love and laughter. Part of the Taiwan Season at Ed Fringe the title: ai-sa-sa - that can translate as ‘Get over yourself!’ There’s certainly nothing pretentious about choreographer Baru Madiljin’s engaging work, which was shot in a blend of street, studio and stage locations. 30 minutes of pure joy Tjimur’s film puts a lively and contemporary spin on indigenous tribal customs. RECEPTIONISTS - It wouldn’t be the Edinburgh fringe without a Jacques Lecoq inspired acrobatic, multi-language show about customer service performed by two Finnish clowns. Inga and Kristiina serve up a 45-minute comedy about receptionists terrified of customers. RECEPTIONISTS is by Kallo Collective in the From Start to Finnish program. AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT - theatre maker and poet inua Ellams – yes, the guy who wrote The Barbershop Chronicles. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Inua tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, experiencing prejudice and friendship in Dublin, performing solo at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home. Currently on-demand from Traverse Theatre until the end of August. A BRILLIANT TREAT – RECOMMENDED!!! MEDICINE - In another early morning I caught the live-stream of Enda Walsh’s incredible new play “Medicine”. Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival. It is set in a hospital where patients live in limbo - they are never satisfactorily diagnosed and so never cured. The patient is John Kane (powerhouse performance by Domhnall Gleeson). It’s an annual drama therapy session and two musical theatre actors called Mary (Clare Barrett and Aoife Duffin) play out scenes from his past. John is passively accepting of his confinement and on the brink of tears at the inexpressible horror of it all. How is such an important day for him be just another day’s work for the therapists? Absurd, darkly disturbing, compassionate, deeply moving – if you like Enda Walsh you will love this production. It’s genius work. With its three charged and subtle performances, the production contains a wealth of meta-truths and internal ambiguities – as memory, madness and theatre intertwine in a world where nothing you perceive can be trusted. Free Jazz drumming (Sean Carpio) accompanies the explosive Walsh monologues. Directed with passion by Walsh every scene is a stand-out. A good measure of theatre jokes dramatizes big themes. One of my favorites - Mary’s contemptuous editing of Kane’s story, as if he were a second-rate playwright and not a human being, comes to stand for an institutional indifference to his plight. Frankly, I cannot find superlatives enough for this one! VOLCANO - Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects (for Galway International Arts Festival). Something strange has been happening. Stranger than a global pandemic? It is linked. As people muse on how long it will take for artists to make work responding to the state we’ve all been in, the reverse is happening. I seem to be responding to all art as if it has COVID related concerns at its core. “Volcano” is a new dance theatre work framed as an unfolding sci–fi thriller. Two characters exist in a dilapidated living room without a door. Here they recreate the greatest hits of old lives – a night at a rave, a favourite game show, an 80’s music video – both passing the time and quietly clinging to distant memories of a life out of reach. Think Enda Walsh with more choreography! Cameras and screens are integral to the performance – its made to be watched as much online as live. Performed in three episodes as a in a three-and-a-half hour saga, or can be seen separately. How long have they been there, and why? What is the world they have been shut off from? This work, created during lockdown, is absolutely brilliant: its sci-fi premise of a time-capsule sent into space being sufficiently expansive to encompass COVID-inspired questions of what is really of value in life, what is worth saving. Luke Murphy is the choreographer and one of the performers (the other is Will Thompson). His credits include Punchdrunk (2009 – 2017) as an original cast member of “Sleep No More” and is Artistic Director for Attic Projects – based between Ireland and NYC Kate Gaul

Come Again KXT - Broadway The third and final major project of the Purple Tapeover is a 90-minute play by Alex Tutton, “Come Again”. In 2016 Sal (Angela Johnson) reports her partner, Nic, missing. Dedicated constable (John Michael Narres) just can’t let it go. In 2023 Sal now has a new partner, Noni (Gabrielle Bowen) and Noni wants a baby. Sal isn’t so sure. The play is a series of scenes where Sal reveals herself as a downright liar or, she could be a confused victim of coercive control? This is a play of increasingly unpleasant characters. The narrative is overly long – the characters talk too much and there’s not much nuance here. The distasteful relationship violence of the denouement left me confused about the intended style of the piece. I won’t reveal the details as this would be an unfair spoiler. Chekhov wrote words to this effect, “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn’t going to go off.” It was a set of strategically placed knives in a knife block that kept catching my eye, along with a small container of salt (for the wounds?). By the time the cast iron fry pan arrived on stage the audience began racing ahead of the action. The play starts with what seems like a quasi- naturalistic dialogue between Sal and the policeman. There are several non sequiturs on the part of the policeman – his questions jump around and rely on assumptions: look, we’ve all seen police procedurals (on TV) and this guy just seemed dodgy to me. There is an extremity in the writing and – intended or not – the play has a real edge of black comedy. This is nowhere more apparent than the closing moments of the piece (again, nothing can be revealed here) where a hearty laugh from the audience bought the curtain down (so to speak). The quest for truth is the purpose of (most) art. But style isn’t related to the quest. Some of the dialogue is arch and yet the director (Lu Bradshaw) and actors seemed unaware of the potential for the riches of style here. The situations of the drama are untenable (lying, miscommunication, conceive control, domestic violence) and in theory it’s hard to get a laugh out of bleak and extreme situations. And yet that’s what writers can offer us in the interrogation of bleak and extreme situations. It’s possible I am overthinking, but I find any kind of domestic violence on stage needs assured packaging, a jolly good pay off, and at best to be avoided if such themes can be explored in different ways. Frankie Clarke’s impressive lighting is worthy of note – it’s hard to get an even wash in any theatre and here it is. The set design (uncredited) has a large mirror at each end of the traverse space – an effective touch at the KXT theatre and one that I suspect may be utilised again on other productions. Kudos to Purple Tape Productions for sticking necks out and championing new work, emerging artists, and engaging audiences beyond the stage. Impressive courage, vision, and a heap of panache. Lily Hayman and Tyler Fitzpatrick (Producers) are two names we won’t forget soon. “Come Again” runs until the end of this week – go and make your own mind up about this one and enjoy the internal struggle it inspires! Kate Gaul

माँ की रसोई MAA KI RASOI - MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN KXT Broadway A kitchen bench on a handsome black and which check floor glows invitingly as we enter the theatre. On closer inspection a pile of scripts litter the opposite part of the room. Madhullikaa Singth enters and begins something preparatory at the kitchen bench. Great – a show where and actor actually cooks - smells and flavours infusing the playing space. But no. This is a prelude to a short play about the woman who has entered. This woman is the grandmother of the speaker, a woman who cooks and who has passed down traditional recipes to her daughter. In particular a signature dish: aam ka achar (green mango pickle). The speaker – the granddaughter of this first woman - does not cook. Here begins a story of love, a celebration of tradition and the tensions within immigrant families and between generations. Written and directed by Pratha Napgal and performed by Madhullikaa Singh – “My Mother’s Kitchen” interrogates contextually different lives. It’s a smart, beautifully written text. It is intimate with details of place, language and family interwoven with the many contradictions of being mother, daughter, immigrant. How does a young university educated Australian-Indian artist understand the resilience of women who have served families through their domesticity? The monologue is also about the process of writing this play. It becomes a kind of meta-theatrical look at the creative journey. The piles of script and the detailed kitchen bench become pole star for the quest of the speaker (presumably the writer herself although the character is never named). But of course, the production is not about the process cooking and so the kitchen bench becomes a monolith. Its initial metaphoric value is redundant, and the actor spends much time in the more neutral space of the theatre. Working in a traverse theatre (such as the KXT space) is a challenge and it’s easy to fall into a split focus. The director’s instinct is right – the young woman telling this story does not inhabit a kitchen. The designer (uncredited) has created a space which dominates, and the production is hamstrung as a result. Actor Madhullikaa Singh has a gentle presence. She took her time as grandmother, mother and daughter when called to flip between roles. There is a grace and agency to this work and as an emerging artist one to watch! All a touch too sentimental for some tastes but the final moments of the performance are well tuned to the tone of the production. A woman from the audience is embraced as mother and another as grandmother. They may well be the actual mother and grandmother. Created by artists at the beginning of their artistic journeys Pratha Napgal is a writer we need to hear more from. Sound Designer Sam Cheng produced some incredibly haunting contributions and I’ll be on the lookout for more of her work too. Tyler Fitzpatrick completes the team with her usual flair as lighting designer. Another feather in the cap of the Purple Tapeover. Bring on week three! Kate Gaul

Pyjama Girl Flightpath Theatre From 1934 to 1942, the body of a woman found dressed in yellow silk pyjamas was kept preserved. Thousands of people looked at her as she lay – firstly, in a bath of ice in Albury and later, in a bath of formaldehyde, at Sydney University. But who was she? The young woman’s body was found on September 1, 1934, by a farmer, Tom Griffith, who was walking his bull near Albury in NSW. The body, with a bullet in the neck, had been pushed into a culvert under the road. The young woman was wearing yellow silk pyjamas with a Chinese dragon on them, considered exotic in Depression-era Australia, so the media quickly labelled her the “Pyjama Girl.” The case, described as "one of the most baffling murders that has ever confronted the police of this State", was constantly in the newspapers. Police followed all sorts of leads, even tracking down every woman under 40 who hadn’t voted in the Federal election the weekend after the body was found. The ongoing investigation and mystery is well documented and I encourage you to do your own research and you may, too, be seduced by this gruesome piece of Australian true crime history. That it happened and its outcomes have been the inspiration for a handful of minor plays, films, and musicals. Ant this most recent version “Pyjama Girl: Who Speaks for the Dead?” comes to Sydney via Wollongong from company Players in Exile. Writer and director Stephen Goldrick imagines the story as a cabaret style event with The Pyjama Girl, Lina Agositini, removing herself from the tub of formaldehyde to reveal the mystery of her death. Composer and Music Director Steve Wood – a veteran of the theatre scene – creates some great tunes and provides extensive underscore from the keyboard as the story unfolds. A small ensemble makes up the cast. Notably, Julia Pierrette plays The Pyjama Girl with style and a knowing wink to the audience. She sings and moves well and is a name to watch. Her work felt original. Babette Shaw is Moya Stanley and intrepid reporter and the voice of the people. Veering towards cliché at times, she does, however, help drive the story with clarity. On the edge of unintended comedy is the initial image of The Pyjama Girl in a liquid bath. For this production: a clear plastic tub of water in which the actor floats. It’s an image that potentially holds many resonances for this gruesome story of lies and violence. No sooner had the body entered the tub, the actor was climbing out in front of our eyes and then proceeded through the show’s entirety dripping wet and bedraggled. The application of trauma makeup was disconcerting. The idea is challenging to pull off and in this cabaret style musical perhaps it was misguided. It's interesting to look back at the somewhat “primitive” techniques of crime solving from the earlier twentieth century. But this is a story of a violent domestic crime unsolved and disputed. It’s a great idea to give The Pyjama Girl agency and reclaim her identity. In this work, it remains an idea. This is a story that doesn’t have a happy ending in the context of souring gendered domestic abuse in Australia. And the subject needs careful consideration if it’s to be of a musical. Kate Gaul

Do Not Go Gentle Sydney Theatre Company “Do Not Go Gentle” is Patricia Cornelius’ revelatory, brilliant, robust, and spine-tingling examination of seven characters facing death. Winning numerous awards since it was written in 2006 it has (famously) only had one indie production directed by Julian Meryrick at venue fortyfivedownstairs in Melbourne in 2010. Now STC does Patricia Cornelius and the play justice in a glorious production at the Ros Packer theatre. “(This) is not a drama about aging. Or not only a drama about aging. It is a meditation on time, loss, and love, on what it is to reach a point when a judgement on one’s life is both unavoidable and beside the point. How to speak this truth? The truth of the ultimate worth of human life on the verge of certain demise?” Julian Meryrick The characters - who reside in a nursing home - tell the parallel story of Scott of the Antarctic's doomed expedition to the south pole. A race lost to Norwegian Amundsen and ultimately cost them their lives. Again, from scholar and director Julian Meryrick “Patricia’s play is not about old people in a naturalistic sense. It places an uncompromising metaphor on stage – that of a long, ultimately fatal trek to the South Pole – as means of exposing, exploring, and expanding our experience of the aging process.” Paige Rattray (director) assembles a brilliant cast for what can only be called a masterpiece of a play. Phillip Quast (who was brilliant in STC’s “Waiting for Godot”) thrills again from his poetic opening lines and heads a spectacular cast. He does the heavy lifting as Scott is a genuine life force. Vanessa Downing plays Wilson – a woman suffering from premature memory loss and who doesn’t recognise her husband. Quast and Downing together provide tender humour in this unflinchingly unsentimental portrait of seniors sex. John Gaden as stoic ex-soldier Oates and Peter Carroll as pamphleteering Evans are of course theatre royalty both bring grace and gravitas to these angry, defiant, human men. Bridgid Zengeni is disarming as the disorientated navigator Bowers. Marylin Richardson illuminates as Maria – a woman caught between worlds and, as an artist of advanced age herself, brings a frightening fragility to the play’s realities. Josh McConnville – always brilliant – breaks our hearts in a brief scene as a Vietnam Vet who didn’t make it home and a really strange and scary man-beast. The man-beast could be many things and McConville just goes for it. Paul Jackson (Lighting Designer), Charles Davis (Designer), James Brown (Composer and Sound Designer) work harmoniously to provide a chilly Antarctic setting for this production. As with all great art this play suggests many scenarios for creative teams as it delves into ideas, emotions and experiences that are difficult to put into words. Ultimately the characters and play claw at life with tremendous force. Not to be missed! Kate Gaul

Party Girl KXT on Broadway Purple Tape Over has begun at KXT and over a month this ambitious emerging theatre company (lead by Tyler Fitzpatrick and Lily Hayman) bring us the best of female identifying and gender diverse theatre making. They inhabit both the Mainstage and Vault, and it promises to be unforgettable residency! First cab off the rank is Lucy Heffernan’s “Party Girl” – a solo performance created and performed by Heffernan which has enjoyed several iterations including a season at Merrigong X and, more recently, Adelaide Fringe 2023. Viva second third and fourth seasons of new work! “Party Girl” is the story of Fairy Sprinkles a children’s party entertainer whose actual life is a juxtaposition to the one she creates for her enthusiastic birthday children. It’s young woman as hot mess; it’s an exploration of existential dread around identity, faith, and love; and importantly Fairy Sprinkles juggles all of this and the care for a bipolar mum. The events unfold over one Saturday. Waking with a horrendous hangover, 3 birthday parties and an unexpected rescue of mum off the roof of the family home and into care. It’s a toxic cycle. Fairy Sprinkles is rendered invisible to a bunch of North Shore toffs and heart broken in the Western Suburbs as she holds a three-year-old in front of a home-made Barbie-in-a ballgown cake. The images in the writing are often striking; sometimes poetic and occasionally drawn from just another bogan turn of phrase. We can totally envisage each scenario – strong writing and a strong performance make for a satisfying journey. And it’s one that throws us off guard. Interspersed with original songs, guitar playing Heffernan uses the music to deepen each scenario. She’s an angry character – with good reason – and the story packs a punch as it climaxes with a unsettling rendition of Cher’s “Believe”. There’s a lot of “loss” in this show – loss of innocence, loss of identity, loss of faith, loss love and loss of that important relationship with the idea and reality of “mother” and “child”. It’s bleak, and this is echoed in Heffernan’s burnt-out delivery and manner. She is deliberately challenging us. And is the embodiment of the frustration and pain. Thankfully there is a lot to laugh at too. The writing, performance and entire package landed when Fairy Sparkles – at the end of the awful Saturday - finally connects with her mum in the hospital. On a mattress on the floor, her mother with masking-taped sneakers on her feet lies like a child and is comforted by her daughter. It sat, briefly, as a symbol of everything each of us will experience. Maybe not the mental health conditions of this particular story but the complex resonances of the images linger long after the play ends. The production is deftly directed and produced by Lily Hayman who is creating an impressive body of work. The production is busy and frantic at times but both performer and director understand the power of stillness and silence. This is a graceful production. And all brilliantly supported by co-producer and lighting designer Tyler Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has fun creating distinctive lighting states for the musical moments inside the drama. Purple Tape has knocked it out of the ballpark with the opening of the Tape Over project. Get along. Support and celebrate these outstanding talents! Kate Gaul

Clyde’s Ensemble Theatre What a privilege it is to witness a local Ensemble Theatre production by the great Lynn Nottage. Nottage is an American playwright with a unique voice and an impeccable record: her play “Ruined”, from 2009, about Congolese women under threat of rape and violence in the civil war, won her a Pulitzer Prize. “Sweat”, set in a bar in a decaying, deindustrialising US town, won her a second in 2017. She is the only woman to have won the Pulitzer for drama twice, which puts her in the ranks alongside Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. Her work covers a wide range of subjects but is always on the side of the marginalised and dispossessed. Her breakthrough play, “Intimate Apparel”, which starred Viola Davis in its off-Broadway production in 2004, is about a black seamstress in early-20th century New York. And now, “Clyde’s”: A truck stop greasy spoon offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at redemption. Even as the shop’s callous owner undermines them, the staff learn to reclaim their lives, find purpose, and become inspired to dream by their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich. In “Clyde’s” sandwiches tell stories, hold truths, and nourish dreams. What is next level is that Nottage not only creates individual characters with whom we empathise over the course of what is billed as a comedy, but she subverts familiar genres such as drawing room comedy or workplace dramas. Nottage is asking us to consider – amongst other things – which sorts of rooms and people have previously been considered worthy of our sustained attention in the theatre. The play is set in the kitchen where so-called line cooks prepare sandwiches. Like any good drama the action is going to be about what happens between the characters (and it is). The challenge is to create a believable environment with believable business that runs alongside the ups and downs of the human story. Simone Romaniuk designs. The Ensemble stage is currently being prepared for the upcoming in-rep season of ‘Suddenly Last Summer” also designed by Romaniuk – so the company can be forgiven for a somewhat light touch on the Clyde’s kitchen accoutrements. Given that we look over the action in this theatre there really is no hiding when it comes to that sandwich making and the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen. Darren Yap seamlessly choreographs the movement around the stage, but I yearned for more detail and genuine fireworks during the busy times; the monotony of the menial day to day; and the subtle blurring of lines between battle fields as staked out in the kitchen. “Clyde’s” is beautifully cast by Yap. Nancy Denis navigates the unforgiving Clyde with confidence. One longs for a more satisfying insight into what makes this character tick but there is the occasional hint a vulnerability behind the brashness. Sandwich visionary, Montrellous is played with charismatic integrity by Charles Allen. He is the perfect calm inside this storm of a kitchen. Gabriel Alvarado plays erstwhile bank robber Rafael. His is an exciting, exacting, and sensitive portrayal. He and Ebony Vagulans (playing Tish, battling mum convicted of robbery) conjour a heartbreaking chemisty. Both young actors impress with their intelligent, and skilled work here. Aaron Tsindos completes the cast playing white supremist Jason – all intensity hiding a heart of gold. It’s a treat seeing Aaron Tsindos in a drama which emphasises his versatility as a performer and one who never disappoints. It's a comedy but take some tissues – the emotion grabs you hard. I wasn’t expecting to see this play at Ensemble. It’s a clash of cultures par excellence sitting at affluent Milson’s Point and taking the imaginary journey into the roadside culture of economically challenged Pennsylvania. “Clyde’s” is a sobering examination of America’s inadequate social safety net, a lack of second chances, capitalism’s facility for exacerbating racial, ethnic and class fault lines with challenging lessons to ponder closer to home. Do not miss it!!! Kate Gaul

Theatresports – All Stars Enmore Theatre TheatreSports Allstars is a staple of the Sydney Comedy Festival program. This is a very accessible 90-minute event for audiences of all ages in need of a mid-afternoon laugh. The (obviously) successful schools and other educational engagement programs offered by Impro Australia (The Home of TheatreSports TM) means there is no shortage of intergenerational audiences and players. This event showcases the very best of local TheatreSports legends. Amongst the players were schools’ champions Ryan Atkins, and Amy Tustian who admirably held their own against veterans such as Daniel Cordeaux and Jioji Ravulo, to name but two. Hosted by the inimitable Adam Spencer and Josie Riley – both impressive improvisors. Adam Spencer and Lyn Pierce (the doyen of Australian TheatreSports) did a terrific interview on the ABC radio Stage Show. It was part homage to the late Keith Johnstone (father of TheatreSports) and part spruik for this event. I was primed! The event began with a round of quick fire 2-minute games which warmed up both the audience and players. There was a lot of explanation of each game and although we were promised more audience interaction there was very little overall. All teams, topics, games, and challenges were (mostly) pre-organised on Josie’s clipboard. One notable exception was a scene where the text messages from an audience member’s phone became the text to a scene onboard the Titanic (players included Lynette Voller and Daniel Cordeaux). Layered and hilarious, as the audience member sat onstage with the players, reacting from her own personal context from which the text messages were exchanged. Highlights of the event included a sensational ballad on the subject of Tinder created by trio Kate Wilkins, John Knowles and Bridie Connell with Gep Blake as improvising musical maestro; Jane Watt’s bring-the-house-down ending to Cinderella in a Wild West genre; David Callan and Monique Dykstra ticking off a bucket list in a scene of Alphabet Conversation; David Callan reincorporating the bucket list as he appeared in subsequent scenes; the aforementioned John Knowles in a small upturned rostra demonstrating the scale of his Newtown digs; and a special mention to Ewan Campbell who also reincorporated and early offer across his other appearances. And of course, playing TheatreSports isn’t all about who stands out. Knowing when to leave your teammates to it is all part of the art just as knowing when to jump in with a scene-saving (or, should I say, advancing) offer. This cast know their stuff. But more critically, most scenes were played at a strident pitch with some very average stagecraft. High energy without detail gets dull very quickly. Essentially this is a kind of demonstration event with high achieving players demonstrating skill and dexterity. This would have made sense of them playing “games”. I was expecting long form open improvisations after the warmup round. Perhaps I thought an Allstars event would take us outside the comfort of known structures and outcomes. A place where – along with comedy – players might explore hot topics of the day; not fear silence and stillness; embrace the political and vulnerability of the human condition. It all felt very safe and perhaps not as sophisticated as this incredible, centuries old artform could be even if - for the purposes of a comedy festival – your mission is to make us laugh. Kate Gaul

Three Mary’s Sydney Opera House UnWrapped Composer Andrée Greenwell’s and librettist Christine Evans’ 75-minute chamber opera “Three Mary’s” is inspired by the medieval myth of three biblical Marys who travelled from the Middle to East to France. In this opera story, the three women are Maria, her daughter Magdalene (Mary) and Sarah-Marie, daughter of Jesus and Mary. From contemporary times there is a Tunisian fisherman, Marzoug, inspired by a real, Chamseddine Marzoug, who gathers the bodies of drowned migrants he finds to give them burials. A teenage chorus - representing the voices of children who have drowned over millennia making a similar journey - complete the layering. The libretto is in English and occasionally the chorus sings in English, with French and Arabic. These layers resonate deeply with the plight of asylum seekers, the fate of women and children in war. And the hope and heartbreak of all young people who grapple with the injustice and inequality of the human condition. Bass Eddie Muliaumaseali’I (as Marzoug) shines as he anchors the piece on dry land. Maria (Heru Pinkasova), Magdalena (Jessica O’Donoghue) and Sarah Marie (Samantha Hargreaves) - adrift on a tiny platform - are uniformly excellent. There is absolute clarity of Evans’ imagistic, poetic text as is sung. Of particular note is the spirited newcomer, Samantha Hargreaves, definitely a performer to watch! Economically directed by Angela Chapman on a lowered Playhouse stage, the action takes place atop a watery mirror surfaced floor; two small platforms that become a broken boat and shoreline; and a sculptural element - that could be as literal as seaweed or metaphorically rising spirits of the dead – provided a pivot around which the chorus can move, hide, and re-emerge. At the back sit an eight-piece ensemble (designer Anna Tregolan). All is conducted from the front by a dazzling Simon Kenway. This is an exceptional piece of new music theatre. Its story moving, enraging and one of deep sadness. The music, and the text are haunting and something to be revisited. Along with the up-close performances this is a memorable event from the Sydney Opera House’s commitment to presenting works by Australia’s best independent artists. To resource, draw a team together and deliver this work is incredible. Bravo to all who supported Andree Greenwell and her undoubted passion. One hopes it has another outing as a full-scale work. I hear the Opera House is streaming this as part of their on-line offering later this year. Don’t’ miss it! Kate Gaul

Fantastic Mr Fox Roslyn Packer Theatre The redoubtable Shake & Stir’s Nick Skubij adapts Roald Dahl’s children’s book “The Fantastic Mr Fox” for an impressive cast of six who double in a multiple of roles. The story centres on a charming fox who enters an escalating battle with the three gluttonous farmers from whom he has been stealing. It’s a male-heavy rollercoaster of a production but the women in the cast shine. Nelle Lee is completely unrecognisable as pate-obsessed farmer Bunce and provides laughs a plenty with the numerous fart jokes. Her mole is a spunky warrior and so completely loveable as ally to the Fox family’s machinations! Phoebe Panaretos plays Mrs Fox with great style. In fact, the entire cast is choreographed with great precision by director Ross Balbuziente. Leon Cain as fat-suited chicken farmer Boggis has some terrific moments of physical comedy while Tim Dashwood as misguided farmer Bean is the authority figure we love to hate! Memorable doubles are Dashwood’s cider-guzzling Rat, and a trio with both women joined by Cain (still in fat-suit) as Mabel, with a punchy dance routine. Johnny Balbuziente as the son, Chase Fox, narrates the tale with a great connection to the audience young and old. Nick Skubji is working hard and admirably plays the title role of Mr Fox. He’s a cool dude! The sweat-soaked costumes belie the ease with which this talented cast bring this physical and fast-moving production to life. A highlight of this production is the design. Designer Josh McIntosh creates a playing space using three interconnected ramps, a revolve, and a projection surface. Jon Weber’s cartoon illustrations and Craig Wilkinson’s video design literally leap out at the audience and the synchronisation between the projections, the content and the action onstage is stunning. All the animals of the story live underground, and the tunnel building sequences are thrilling, funny and inventive. Split second timing, illusion, foley sound effects (sound designer Guy Webster), still leave room for individual character traits. When we are a not open-mouthed in awe of the clever conception for the piece, we are in equal parts laughing at the antics. The anthropomorphic character costumes also deserve a gold star. In a show that runs just on an hour it certainly captures Dahl’s interrogation of the ugliness of greed – on the part of all the characters – if not much else. The cartoon style gives this broad stroke morality tale a hard edge. This style is loud in every sense. It is visually in-your-face and quite a battering for the ears. Everything in this production is turned up to 11 and stays there. I yearned for a touch more nuance. There is a lot of entertainment out there for youngsters and their humans. Shake & Stir are offering a foxy tale at one end of the spectrum. A company that can fill the Ros Packer for the holidays is doing something right! Enjoy. Kate Gaul