SEARCH RESULTS

Fences Wharf Theatre Fences, play in two acts by August Wilson, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1987. It was the second in Wilson’s series of plays depicting African American life in the 20th century. Sydney Theatre Company produce it in 2023. The protagonist of Fences is Troy Maxson, who had been an outstanding baseball player at a time when the major leagues were closed to black players; he bitterly resents his lost opportunities. An ex-convict as well, Troy is now a garbage collector who struggled to hold the job. He is married to Rose and is the father of a teenager named Cory. Though he loves his son, he feuds continually with him and refuses to permit him to accept a football scholarship to college. An emotional, hard-drinking man, Troy ranges from tyrannical fury to delicacy as his preconceived ideas are challenged. Playing at the handsome new Wharf theatre this revival reminds us of what a pleasure it is to sit with a solid American family drama; a classic. Its clever dialogue, fully developed characters, at least three genuine gasp-out-loud moments from a rapt audience are just some of the reasons to see this STC production. Director Shari Sebbens has assembled a terrific cast. Bert LaBonté as a sensational Troy and Zara Newman as heart-breaking wife Rose capture the wit, beauty, and tragedy of this story. Set mostly in 1957, a landmark year for the Civil Rights Movement, the play dramatises much of a community caught between a violent and oppressive past and the possibility of a brighter future. Newman and LaBonté bring significant experience and insight into these pivotal roles. Some outstanding moments include the set-piece monologues (from Troy) about death, the violent past and (from Rose): “I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams…and I buried them inside you. I planted a seed and watched and prayed over it. I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn't take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky, and it wasn't never gonna bloom.” Perfection! Exciting to see some new faces on stage and kudos to a captivating Markus Hamilton as foil and friend to Troy, Mr Jim Bono. A tribute to the fine writing and depiction of Bono is that it’s tragically clear from the very first scene that Bono is trying curb Troy’s wandering eye. Troy's promotion to driver separates them at work, and Troy's betrayal of Rose separates them on a personal level. Hamilton subtly plays the gradual loss of a friend with dignity and it is so satisfying (and very sad - take some tissues!) Damon Manns, as older son Lyons, is suitably dashing and - in a play full of dreams – he makes a real connection with the audience as the passionate and ambitious jazz musician. Cory, the teenage son of Rose and Troy, (played by Darius Williams) handles the inevitable conflicts with his father with maturity. My personal favourite was Dorian Nkono’s fine portrayal of Uncle Gabriel. Soothsayer, fool, scapegoat, a damaged man. The climax of the play rests on the successful portrayal of Gabriel and Nkono delivers a home run! (I haven’t mentioned the plethora of baseball images along with the fencing metaphors that pepper the text…). An extremely satisfying moment where – as audience – you want to hold your breath and let the moment exist for as long as possible, and on the other hand hit that applause with the enthusiasm the production deserves. Unsettling and charged sound from Brendon Boney setting time and place and underlining all the edgier themes. Exquisite costume design from Jeremy Allen. These costumes are another star of this show. Shari Sebbens (director) has again demonstrated assured taste in her approach and has clearly and sensitively guided this searing drama into life to inspire a contemporary audience. Getting out of the way is a lesson that all good directors must learn. Sebbens demonstrates this wisdom and much more! Recommended. Kate Gaul

Girls and Boys by Dennis Kelly Everest Theatre - Sydney Festival 2023 Various State Theatre Companies have vied to produce this electrifying work by British playwright Dennis Kelly and now the State Theatre Company of South Australia arrives at Seymour Centre for the Sydney Festival. Evoking Euripides, Dennis Kelly presents an unnamed working-class woman (simply called Woman) who blags her way into the film industry, gets married and has two children. She and her husband build a life together, but it starts to crumble and is then brutally destroyed. This is a compelling 110 minutes of dramatic writing for a solo performer. There is a baleful side to Kelly’s work, from his 2003 debut, Debris, which featured a DIY crucifixion, through to DNA (about teenagers killing a classmate) to BBC’s brutally explicit thriller Utopia. Even his family shows, Matilda, and Pinocchio, have darker undertones. In Girls and Boys, he considers the unthinkable: family annihilation. This play is a treatise on masculinity and violence. Premiering in Britain in 2018 (with Carrie Mulligan in the role) it is a play that reflects a larger social movement. In one of the play’s key moments, Woman posits the idea that “We didn’t create society for men, we created it to stop men.” Justine Clarke - a doyen of Australian theatre – dazzles in this production directed by Mitchell Butel. Justine Clarke’s effortless comic skills have us laughing loudly. The play is almost a sort of confessional stand up, to begin. It and the performance also take us into our imaginations as Woman mimes her absent family. Don’t cringe. It’s an extremely effective technique as this is ultimately a memory play. You’ll have to see it to find out why! Back to Justine Clarke – it’s a nuanced, moving, and skilled performance. What a treat to see a luminous Australian actor in an intelligent play. This is a portrait of a woman who must live with the consequences of a marriage gone wrong and, in a society riddled with normalised sexism and toxicity. And so, she re organises her memories, reimagines her past and at the same time has a laser recall for the details that brings her to us now. But is a world beyond the violence of men imaginable? The production is everything you expect from a flagship company – impressive box set with colour grading from pink to blue (designer Ailsa Paterson); exquisite lighting (designer Nigel Levings) and a light touch composition and sound design (composer Alan John, sound designer Andrew Howard). Justine Clarke is gently amplified for this performance. If you love great acting and solid writing, then do not miss this show! Kate Gaul

Never Closer 25A, Belvoir “Never Closer” is a debut full-length play by writer Grace Chapple. It is directed by Belvoir associate Hannah Goodwin and produced by “essential workers”. This is a curious beast. Set – mainly – in a border town of Northern Ireland in the 1980s the play tells the story of a group of friends. We meet them as young, idealistic, and dreaming of the future. One of the team, Niaimh is off to England to study medicine. We can see where this is going – Niamh enters the world of Northern Ireland’s political enemies and in doing so will call into question everything these idealists believe. Indeed, that is what happens. Fast forward and we discover that Deidre still lives at home; Jimmy, Mary and Conor converge for a Christmas Eve drink and catch up and welcome Niamh and her English boyfriend, Harry. Political and personal tensions explode in a potent cocktail of half lived lives, trauma, and a lot of whiskey. The play begins with what we think is going to be an Irish ghost story – and yes, the main action happens in the past, so I guess we are watching ghosts in this almost nihilistic tragedy. To end the play, we encounter an Australian back packer searching for his ancestral roots. Grace Chapple has a talent for dialogue and the story telling is well plotted. It’s written with what sounds like an authentic Irish voice (and I do love and Irish play!). I discovered that Grace has an Irish mum. The work is at its strongest when it leans into an almost Chekhovian yearning. The characters yearn for Dublin, England, New York… they yearn for an impossible unrequited love …. They yearn for a better, brighter world which seems forever out of reach. I wanted more of that. It felt original to be looking back at a world that we couldn’t ever understand (who of us lived through Thatcher’s England?) with some knowledge of how things have and have not resolved politically. But it feels overly long and often derivative – once the major forces are established the work hasn’t many places it can go (or doesn’t in this play). The outsider will get drunk and throw up, old flames will reignite or continue to smoulder and so on. The premiere of a new play is to be celebrated and Chapple’s website reveals a good sprinkling of accolades for the play. There’s no doubt we will hear more from Grace Chapple. Bring it on! The play is set in a single sitting room. It feels like it could be a kitchen but there’s no sink, which becomes a challenge when characters are required to pour liquid away. The set design (Grace Deacon) is functional, literal save for an over-sized, patterned curtain covering the back wall of the theatre. Costumes (Keerthi Subramanyan) strain to be either authentically 80s or from a past world. When clues from the text on period were lost it sometimes wasn’t clear exactly when we were. The Margaret Thatcher reference helped. Alyx Dennison (Sound) and Phoebe Pilcher (Lighting) add solid support. I note the stellar work from dialect coach Laura Farrell who has all the cast sounding top notch. Director, Hannah Goodwin, works with a universally skilled cast to deliver this Irish Australian work. Mabel Li excels as the student doctor Niamh whose accent subtly alters after her stint in England. Boyfriend Harry is played with great panache by Phillip Lynch. He hits just the right note in a role that in lesser hands could go horribly wrong. Emma Diaz delivers detailed work as the story’s centre – Deidre – who hasn’t changed since high school but holds a candle for Jimmy (a vibrant Raj Lambade) while courting Conor (a brooding Adam Sollis). Ariadne Sgourus as friend Mary brings her usual flair and solid support. As an exploration of the stories that shape us and the power of political crisis as a backdrop to youth, “Never Closer” is worth a look. Shout out for producers “essential workers” – lead by the indefatigable Zoe Hollyoak - for whom this is their second show in the 25A season this year (the first being “Horses”). It’s a tough time for indie theatre producers everywhere who support audacious emerging artists. Hollyoak is making quiet but significant inroads into our local theatre scene. One to watch! This production was reviewed at the first preview. Kate Gaul

Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall Little Dove Theatre - Sydney Fringe 2022 Director Chenoeh Miller writes that Little Dove’s butoh-influenced performative installation “is an investigation into the possibility that it’s not necessarily a kind of love we crave but more the physiological need for human touch to survive.” Hailing from ACT it is an absolute privilege to see this work in Sydney. Great work can transform even the humblest of venues and the notoriously difficult Sound Lounge becomes the site for a small but beautifully formed work. Six female identifying humans make their way from the dressing room to the stage slowly, in unison, heads bowed. They are dressed identically in pink tutus and singlets, hair messed up and white smudged faces. Feet bare. Before they reach the stage, Chenoah Miller places a sign in front of the stage. It reads “Please Do touch”. A provocation, a plea, or a warning? The work has its origins in art-gallery performance. It is both vulnerable and fierce. The piece is a meld of Japanese Butoh, physical theatre and a looser performance art. It has, rightly, received accolades wherever it has performed. The women, in crisis, face us. Time passes. The women silently become husk-like, primal. The event reminds us of humanities destruction in a world without touch, connection, and engagement. Finally, the more woke audience members comply with the signage. The women on stage are transformed by the touch – posture and gesture change, bodies soften, faces beam. At just over 30 minutes this is the perfect length. At the fringe all art is equal. But Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall reminds us that some art is more equal than others. It takes huge commitment to bring a company of 7+ artists to an uncertain fringe. Thanks to Little Dove Theatre for making the journey. Recommended. Split Lip Gendermess - Sydney Fringe 2022 A regular on the Perth scene, Ginava is now in Sydney. And not a moment too soon. Split Lip is incredible, and I’ll say straight up that the marketing does not do this show justice. This is drag and lip synch but there’s not a song played. The work defies category. Go Go GO! Split Lip follows multiple personalities through their struggles within a psychiatric institution. Ginava flawlessly lip syncs to a series of pop culture voice overs. Her face, gestures and movements are beyond brilliant. This is a work that is meticulously created and presented. A focussed simple setting of desk, chair, and side trolley in which there is a collection of wigs – and yes, they are all worn. Ginava scribbles in a book. She is dressed in a version of a hospital gown. Her white-face makeup is haunting with its red lips and dark eyes. The rapid lighting changes and brilliant mashing together of sound bites from movies, television, and other media, through which Ginava cuts manically, are cut way above the usual fringe fair. The movement, pacing and precision are exceptional. It’s exciting to see what is possible in this format: that fringe can be incisive, polished, intelligent. Several personalities are on display. The changes of wig – when used – are pure class. The audience is held, capitated, on the edge of seats waiting to see what’s next. A light google tells me that Ginava is mother to a Perth collective of subversive artists who revel in challenging thinking with their brand of club kid art, Gendermess. This is a form of rebellious performance art. It all began in back-alley clubs and has a huge influence on RuPaul’s Drag Race. RuPaul herself began as a club kid. It is so much more than drag yet is often included under that umbrella. They are often the most maligned of performance artists, who claw their way up to be respected. Apparently, Ginava usually works with oversized costumes that go beyond drag into the realm of art and design. Split Lip is an altogether more personal affair. The work explores acceptance, moving past adversity and is ultimately life affirming. It’s kind of obvious that after 40+ minutes of lip synching we will hear her real voice. When it comes, the monologue is vulnerable, moving, jolting. One of the best shows of this year. Do not miss it! Anna Piper Scott: Such an Inspiration Sydney Fringe - 2022 Celebrated Anna Piper Scott - comedian, trans woman, and voice of a generation – is an inspiration. With a slew of awards, she arrives at Sydney Fringe. As a trans woman whose made it in the cutthroat world of comedy she IS an inspiration. It’s exhausting having to keep giving to the inspiration porn industry which doesn’t allow artists to be artists. We all love a survivor! The title is a joke, of course. This is a show about being trans, mental health, recovering from trauma and Anna’s love/hate relationship with comedy. Anna tells her story – complete with “Nanette moment”. No spoilers – it’s her story to tell. But this is a savvy, slick and somewhat dark 50+ minute comedy show. Some of it is tough. Anna takes us by the hand and leads us through her world of pronoun abuse, being cast as villain or victim and the mountain of transphobic abuse the world has to offer. It’s a warts-and-all personal journey but far beyond weepy confessional. There are funny flat mates and plenty of job search material to keep the show buoyant. Anna playfully encourages us to get down with gender issues, don’t avoid the tricky stuff. Anna is a consummate professional and knows how to land her blows. This is a beautifully crafted show. Anna is a charming, luminous (and sometimes biting) presence. She may not see herself as inspirational, but Anna is one fierce queen here to dismantle myths about trans gender folk and make us laugh. One of the top shows of the Fringe. Highly recommended. Kate Gaul

Erth - Sydney Opera House – Studio September, 2022 The suspension of disbelief is a wonderful thing. Erth’s production for youngsters and their humans combines storytelling and wonder in equal measure. Lifesize puppets are animated in full view of the audience by four black-clad puppeteers. This is a story of our vulnerability as a race and the fragility of the eco-sphere. With conservation at its heart Arc has something for everyone. An unnamed man sits alone in his room. It looks as if he maybe sorting and tidying after the departure of a loved one. He is definitely grieving. He is surrounded by carboard boxes. The floor is carpeted, the room is silent except for his breathing, his words, his musings. From his imagination he conjures a series of visitors from the animal world. There are moths and the tiny Leadbeater’s Possum illuminated by torchlight. Hammerhead sharks and others trawl the waters that seemingly invade the room. Aided by powerful projections and rich sound score it is easy to forget we are in the theatre. A snow leopard visits. We meet an angry cassowary and some strange birds from New Zealand and a rare pangolin. Time suspends as these animals explore our human world. One of the most effective moments is when 2 bed sheets, some fluffy white slippers and an exquisitely carved head become a captivating polar bear. Rather than frightening our narrator it’s as if he becomes a polar bear too. In a delicate and silent dance, they become one. Man, and beast. Not in conquest or competition but harmony. At this point the show really lands. With each encounter, the narrator comes a little closer to acknowledging his own feelings, and shares his experience with the audience to ask: what is most precious to you? Driven by a special interest in natural history, indigenous folklore, sociology, and urban mythology, Erth makes puppetry-based theatrical productions and innovative community projects that challenge and inspire audiences around the world. Renowned for the integrity and quality of the work they create, Arc represents a unique addition to the company repertoire. The place of humans in the narrative of the piece and at the centre of the work. The narrator invites a child from the audience to experience up-close some of the wildlife onstage. He shows the youngster how to greet animals by offering the back of the hand for the animals to sniff. They do. Then from the carboard boxes explodes a rain forest of flowers, leaves, air-filled trunks, leaved and vines. The vines are passed to the audience and before we know it the theatre is transformed into a place of colourful wonder. The kids love pulling the vines from the stage. Throughout, the music and projection help fill the stage and our senses. Finally, the largest animal of them all enters – a friendly looking grey elephant. Nature is resilient and we have the power to protect and preserve. Arc doesn’t hit you over the head with its themes. It gently focuses us on the future – with hope – and the understanding that our children will be challenged with what we leave behind. If you get the opportunity to experience any of Erth’s work – go! Arc is a work that will deepen in time and it’s a quality offering from one of Australia’s most exciting companies. Kate Gaul

Milkcrate Theatre Richard Wherrett Studio - 15 September 2022 In its 23rd year, Milk Crate Theatre continues to create socially relevant and paradigm-shifting performance work. Milk Crate makes work specifically by and with people with lived experience of homelessness, mental health issues and disability. It effects social change through the power of performance and provides opportunities for people whose voices are under-represented to engage in artistic practice to build confidence, skills, and connections. If you are unfamiliar with the work of this exceptional company, then DUST – now playing at the Richard Wherrett Studio - is a great introduction. For those of us who have been engaging with Milk Crate’s performance work over many years, DUST marks a development, change and exciting chapter for Milk Crate. This is a work that emerged from the COVID hiatus in public performance. This meant the company had to devise on-line. A major work was born, and it isn’t reliant on personal testimony or even social justice issues. DUST is a narrative drama, set in an imagined country motel. There’s a dust storm coming. A woman, two old school friends and her daughter are locked in as the crisis pass. Yeah, you can feel its genesis through the isolation of COVID. DUST is more resonant than just a play about COVID! The Richard Wherrett Studio is a striking space – with its elegant, exposed bricks, timber floor and evidence of past industry. Director Margot Politis situates the audience in the centre of the room on small stools and the action takes place either side of us on raised platforms. We are in the centre of an imagined common area of a motel. The platforms are hung with layers of found curtaining, the occasional generic picture in a frame, and some motel-esque furniture. The combinations of fabric (also designed by Margot Politis, assisted by Sam Read) and atmospheric lighting (designed by Liam O’Keefe) create a beautiful, sometimes creepy, and gothic aesthetic. Perfect for the revelation of secrets, lies and existential concerns with which the work deals. Director/designer Margot Politis achieves great success with guiding the development of both story and characters. She also inspires the confidence of the cast to use text, movement, stillness, and silence to great effect. There is beauty in experiencing performers working to the edges of their ability. Sound designer Prema Yin adds to the literal and metaphoric world of DUST with an eerie, unexpected, and primal score. The fragility of human connection, our hopes, dreams, and regrets are conveyed through the unity of design and performance – and importantly the subversive relationship the audience has with the action as we are sitting right in the middle of it all! Kamini Singh plays Elixir – a mum with a secret, hard-working motel owner and carer of all in this remote town. She plays the role with dignity. Her constant movement – often in slow motion – provide gravitas and elegance. Her high-octane daughter, Jeddi, is played by a fierce Lana Filies. Sparks fly when she’s on-stage and she creates a detailed, funny, touching portrait of a teen with an unsure future. Lana also impressed in Milk Crate’s production TinyUniverse. She is a talent to watch! Matthais Nudi is William. He’s well cast as the quiet centre of the work - a schoolteacher who has lived at the motel for ever. Friend and confidant to all his loyalties are challenged with the arrival of new guests. Old friend Kirra returns to bury her mum. Darlene Proberts brings her natural grace and presence to the role. Her character journey serves to remind us of the plight of the stolen generations and generational trauma that is not taught in schools. Desmond Edwards plays Two Bob - a mysterious stranger. He has panache and a constant twinkle in his eye. Is he a seer, charlatan, or prison guard? It takes a village to make a new work. I mention this because the production is ably supported by emerging theatre luminary and assistant director Lily Hayman; Key support artist Lucy Watson, Producer Jessica Saras and Production Manager Tyler Fitzpartick. There is great energy and a bourgeoning range of what I call outsider art emerging in Australian theatre. With a heightened awareness of social responsibility companies such as Milkcrate in Sydney can be viewed as a catalyst for challenging the stigma associated with functional diversity. Inclusion and recognition of difference are powerful art making elements. DUST is such a great show. Recommended! Kate Gaul

Overflow Eternity Playhouse Overflow is a welcome addition to the theatre scene in Sydney. Most programming comes in various shades of vanilla and prominent trans voices like UK playwright Travis Alananza are rarely heard. Noted for their distinct voice, in 2019 the Evening Standard listed them as one of the 25 most influential under 25year olds. The Guardian asks if ‘they are the future of theatre’ and Alabanza is listed on the Forbes30Under30List. Overflow is a 70-minute solo performance produced by Darlinghurst Theatre. Directed and designed by Dino Dimitriadis, we follow Rosie (Janet Anderson) as she isolates herself in a nightclub toilet away from a violent thumping against the door. From here, Rosie reminisces about the moments of profound bonding that she’s had in women’s toilets over the years, the experiences shared. But the public loo is also a battleground. The dangers for trans folk are reinforced by a constant drip of water coming through the ceiling and finally an overflowing sink leaving Rosie atop the toilet as she searches for safety. The design for the production has real focus and is further enhanced by Benjamin Brockman’s astute lighting design. It’s a successful synergy of elements on what is a very tricky stage. Closing the space right down to the realistically rendered club bathroom gives a great sense of intimacy to the piece and helps to amplify the playing. A striking sound design by Danni A. Espositol has a theatrical exaggeration when needed and “realistically” dovetails with the text at other times. The undoubted star of the show is Janet Anderson. Her performance has incredible energy, nuance, and intelligence. There’s terrific detail in the characters Rosie introduces. Charlotte "the best cisgender woman to ever exist and ultimate ally and protector of the trans" and life-tips giving Zee is memorable. The play flags around the 50-minute mark but Janet is spellbinding. There’s a refreshing clarity to the performance. The company has chosen to keep the work rooted in the UK and, with the assistance of voice and dialect coach Adriano Cabral, Anderson’s dialect is light but flawless. Janet Anderson is a performer to watch. I appreciated the total experience of the theatre for this production. Big ups to foyer designer Kelly Lovemonster – the Eternity Playhouse had a vibe! It was an exciting place to be. It is a fitting celebration of a play and a great production which overflows (yes, pardon the pun) with trans joy and suffering. Go see it! Kate Gaul

The Phantom of the Opera Sydney Opera House “The Phantom of the Opera” premiered in London in 1986 in an era of excess. Back then shoulder pads were big, hair was even bigger and mega-musicals – many of them by Andrew Lloyd Webber – were a spectacular new phenomenon. “The Phantom of the Opera” has become one of the most long-running shows in theatre history. Now produced by Opera Australia. The Meantloaf-esque sounds of the synth, drum machine and blasting descending organ riffs is an extraordinary sound coming from the Sydney Opera House pit (Music supervisor, Guy Simpson; Music Director, Anthony Barnhill) The plot: Christine Daae (in this production, Amy Manford) is a dancer at the Paris Opera but is discovered to have a divine voice by the new theatre managers (David Whitney and Andy Morton), at the huffy exit of the opera’s Prima Donna, Carlotta (Giuseppina Grech). She sings at the opera’s opening night and her childhood friend, Raoul (Blake Bowden) who is now a Count, recognises her and everything appears to be rosy for her. Sadly, all is not well because it’s soon revealed that her voice is not god-given but phantom-given, as her “angel of music” has been giving her lessons and has been the cause of much mischief at the theatre. The Phantom (Josh Piterman) is a character who is outcast due to his scarred face and lives in the catacombs of the theatre, composing music. Both the Phantom and Raoul claim to love Christine and fights ensue. Even though “The Phantom of the Opera” follows Christine, the “struggle” of both men to “win” Christine dwarfs her rags to riches story. Created for the male gaze both men seek to possess her and shape her into their image of her. Finally, the Phantom has Raoul in a noose and threatens to kill him if Christine does not marry him. Christine saves them both by kissing the phantom. If I rejected all forms of media because they contained problematic elements, I would live in a very silent and still world. That’s the thing about the patriarchy—it’s so steeped into our mythos that it powerfully permeates all corners of our culture. Christine could drop both men walk away, go on tour as a Prima Donna instead. She doesn’t. The fair-maiden-in-a-love-triangle ensues, with both men feeling entitled to her affection. The “need for a man to protect me” trope is alive and well. But what’s great about this production directed in Australia by Seth Sklar-Heyn? From the cast I adore Jayde Westaby’s Madame Giry – her still authority is a spectacular counterpoint to the colourful gymnastics across most of the production. Mietta White as Meg Guiry is a shining delight. As Christine, Amy Manford is exceptional. She is tender, luminous and sings with incredible confidence and strength. I was on the edge of my seat as she made her way down the side of a turret where each step emerged from the wall just as her foot was to reach each one. This, the gliding gondolier in swirling mist, the candle lit catacombs do not disappoint as part of the visual fireworks. Maria Bjornson’s original costumes recreated by Jill Parker dazzle. The second-act ensemble “Masquerade” felt squashed on the Sydney Opera House stage but was dazzling none the less given the detailed array of costumes, body shapes and choreography (original choreography, Scott Ambler). The production gets off to a spectacular start with a canvas - that covers the awaited chandelier - being sucked into its glass beads. Magic indeed. The now sold-out season will run its course in Sydney before heading to Melbourne complete with bolts of fire, jealous passion and a Phantom who lives on. Kate Gaul

By Marguerite Duras, Directed by Claudia Osborne 25A, Belvoir Silence. Eruption. Static. Stylised. Neither ordinary or dramatic. Time. Dream. The days go by, but people are always somewhere else. Eroticism. Violence. Lovers trade places. They're married but just met. They met here but already knew each other. Ferment. Destruction. Place. Undisclosed. Only one escapes. One enters, or was she already there? Madness. The forest. Tearing her mind to pieces. Making her passive. Confusion, menace, impending doom. How to stage a close-up – like, a real close-up? Passivity. Action. Reaction. Montage. Middle Class. Intellectualism. Fusion. Three people become one, but also reliant on each other. Are we residents? I want to touch Elizabeth’s hair. Why do I feel I am holding the playing card? Can someone answer that telephone? French drama film Détruire, dit-elle (Destroy, She Said) was directed and written by French novelist Marguerite Duras in 1969 based on her novel of the same name. Skilled and as daring as a post modernist, polymath Duras possibly hasn’t had the attention she deserves. Perhaps, because she is a woman? Another singular woman – director Claudia Osborne – of FERVANT, takes us through an opaque waking dream, translating this work to the stage. With the reopening of the 25A space after 2 years of theatre closure and the pandemic, my mood was already heightened. Stepping back into a space in which I know well filled me with both nostalgia and memory. This unconventional work certainly invites practitioners to think beyond the usual narrative dramas and normality of known relationships. An outstanding Grace Smibert is an extraordinary, intriguing presence. Her performance of the unhinged (?) Elizabeth haunts me still. Her physicality, long stare, and girlish laugh would be at home in a David Lynch film but are entirely her own. When and where can we see her again? Supported by Adrian Daff as the minx Alissa, Andreas Lohmeyer as the repressed Max Thor, Tommy Misa as husband Bernard and a charismatic, enigmatic Gabriel Alvarado as Stein. These are performances built around the body and are imaginatively supported by movement consultant Danielle Micich. There is nothing to dislike or even like about this experience. It’s a feeling one must pass through that leaves a residue of having drifted through a strange fog where amplified actors’ voices slide past on the air. Exemplary sound design by Angus Mills (I want to hear more!) adds to the off-kilter and unsettled mood. Two other designers – Grace Deacon (set and costume) and Kelsey Lee (Set, Costume and Lighting design) complete the strong team who have all gone to a lot of work. The lighting design in particular is sophisticated and detailed and with its odd timings, colours flashes and washes demonstrate a deft hand and dramaturgical nous. It’s all very existential, its makes no sense and yet contains all sense. At 75 minutes in the theatre it’s worth a look especially if you’re keen on embracing theatrical voices making the old new again. Kate Gaul

Virginia Plain - KXT Thursday 17, February 2022 “Chef” is an Edinburgh Fringe First (2014) winning playscript by British Egyptian playwright Sabrina Mahfouz. Produced in Sydney by Virginia Plain, directed by Victor Kalka and performed by Alice Birbara. This is a satisfying 50 minute monologue of full-flavoured and sinewy language. It is presented as part of the Panimo Pandemonium festival of new and early emerging artists at KXT. Sabrina Mahfouz was inspired to write the play after interviewing mega-celebrity chef Ollie Dabbous (google him – a rabbit hole of glorious food!). Beyond all, Dabbous is obsessed with simplicity and making something the best it can be. And so, the play opens with a peach, a woman in a short-sleeved chef jacket, tattoos on her arms, a pair of grey track pants and runners. This is Chef. We hear the journey from haute-cuisine to a prison kitchen. This chef is a convicted inmate – but the playwright takes her time for this revelation such is the confidence of the text. Leading us through her world of mouth-watering dishes and painful memories, “Chef” explores attitudes to food, and notions of violence, love and hope. Sabrina Mahfouz has been the Sky Arts Academy Scholar for Poetry, and this background may be what grounds the play in the rhythms and structures of performance poetry. The writing is highly sensitive to the flow of language, and is as much interested in the beauty of language as the subversive story she tells. The seduction juxtaposes accounts of horrific deaths, violence and abuse with a la cart sauces, jus, honey, salmon and curry. Food is a way out for Chef and she aims to inspire others to a fresh purpose behind bars. But can she break free from the limitations of her world and her past? “I’d never been in love / but I decided that I’d know when I was / because the man would remind of the way/ seagulls glide out of stalactite clouds, / suddenly, / smoothly, / that’s how he’d find me” I was impressed with Alice Birbara in a production of “Constellations”(again, Virginia Plain company) some time ago and it is a pleasure to encounter her again with this robust script. She is a striking presence. Alice confidently balances the nuances of this, often, poetic text in an understated and focussed performance that keeps us hooked. I hope we get to see more of Alice Birbara in future productions. Victor Kalka as director and designer create an unfussed production. A mottled white tiled floor, a white board and a white squiggly light reminiscent of something from the back of a ‘fridge all point to the desire, perhaps, to wipe-the-slate-clean; to escape the past, to reinvent the world again, to have genuine agency and choice. The production is supported by a gentle lighting design (Jasmin Borsovszky) and sound design (Ryan Devlin). With this short run under their belt I hope the company will find other opportunities to present it again. It seems crazy that in a festival of emerging work that artists are only given three performance opportunities. This project – for one - is perfect festival fare. A program which allows artists and teams to present the works across the entire season not only ensures audience reach but a deepening of the artistry on show. Kate Gaul

The Italians - a new play by Danny Ball is given a “stylish” premiere by director Riley Spadaro at 25A while another Mediterranean-Australian story, Looking for Alibrandi, plays simultaneously at Belvoir in the Upstairs Theatre. Part heist, part road/buddy story, part romantic comedy, part reality TV, The Italians is a family drama and a lovingly constructed look at modern Italian-Australian shenanigans. This is not an earnest play, but it is sincere. Everyone’s love story is different – and there’s a billion stories on earth. This is a gay love story but not only that – younger hetro mating rituals are interrogated as are the older parents’ courtship. It’s a story set post-marriage equality but is in dialogue with hetro normative models and at a deeper level the play relates to the key tenants of a conservative romantic comedy. A point of difference is that this story ends happily for the gay couple. Yay! Don’t forget the other elements – this is an action-packed plot. The complex plot drives the drama. The characters are colourful, if a little 2 dimensional (charmingly so – and this is where the writing leans more into farce but never quite gets there). The jokes are fast and furious and for millennials (who get the references) these are gold-plated thigh slappers. Does the play have anything to tell us about the contemporary Italian-Australian experience? I’m not sure. I’ll quote director Riley Spadaro here: “The Italians is a wild, fever dream celebration of Italian-Australians that asks the question: If Italians have assimilated into Anglo-Australian culture, who cares?!” I look forward to more work from Danny Ball – once he figures out what to do with the cliches and digs deeper. The production design (Grace Deacon) is a vision in green – a colour not often used in the theatre with such confidence. The combination of tiles, and leaf stencilled walls accompanied by the red chairs and smattering of red and white in the costuming recall the Italian flag. It’s a great palette for the zany costuming and props (red tinselled scooters stand in for vespers). And a blue Madonna pops from the walls and is the site of more than one clever revelation. It is a beautiful design. The juke box soundtrack seduces with its familiarity (Luke Di Somma). Lighting design (Phoebe Pilcher) completes the over-the-top vision for the production – her design conjures both school spectacular and a nuanced naturalism. This ability to swing from high style to contemplative truth is confidently achieved across the production. It is a tribute to the Riley Spadaro (Director) that it holds all reasonably well considering the erratic energy exerting from every pore of the work. An excellent cast is at the centre of the production. Tony Poli brings grace and gravitas as company elder to his roles of patriach, Gaetano, a fine turn as Albo, and a light touch interpretation of the aging Nino. I am old enough to remember Tony Poli – onstage - in The Heartbreak Kid at Griffin (1987). It’s a pleasure - and in this case a privilege -to see cross-generational work onstage (more please!). Danny Ball (yes, the writer; stepped into the role quite recently, I believe) plays the charismatic rich-kid Sal. Brandon Scane is well cast as his lower-class foil and lover. Nic English – another last-minute replacement – brings an enigmatic and slightly scary energy to Luca, a cousin. Stand out amongst the younger gents is Philip D’Ambriosio. The Italians reveals him as a first-rate comic character actor who effortlessly shifts from beef-cake plumber Mikey to in-drag Giuseppina and Brodie. Empathy was high for all his creations. And that classical training (thanks, NIDA) gave him an edge on the Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet and others of Shakespeare’s rom-com catalogue are the plumber’s love language. Amongst the women Deb Galanos is ever reliable as the trashy mum, Giovanna and her delightful secondary characters Oksana and Ozzie are as chaotic as this production. Giovanna’s daughter is played by Amy Hack who entertains with her dancing comp turns and with a fabulous and fleeting Lady Ga Ga. Emma O’Sullivan as Patrizia is a standout. She is one of those fascinating comediennes who can shift an eyebrow and say SO MUCH. Emma O’Sullivan is worth the price of admission. Hilarious! She truly embodies the heart of the production style and gives so much more! This is a funny funny evening. The story has a happy ending and the audience leave on a high. You will laugh. You will cry – yes, your heart strings will be pulled. A rough diamond for sure but one that shines brightly in the 25A firmament. In the words of another Italian – Madonna - “who could ask for anything more?” Kate Gaul

Dr Robert Reid – A.K.A Dr Rob - is a writer, director, critic, historian, and game designer; Artistic Director and founder of Theatre in Decay and the Australian live games company Pop Up Playground; co-editor and co-founder of Witness Performance with Alison Croggon and Rob’s current critiques and interviews can now be found on the YouTube channel, Television is Furniture. Robert Reid’s plays “The Joy of Text” and “On The Production of Monsters”, were produced by MTC; “The New Black” shortlisted for the Kit Denton Award, presented at the PWA National Play Festival and workshopped by the High Tide Festival in the UK; “Portraits of Modern Evil” shortlisted for both the Wal Cherry Award and Griffin Award and produced by Black Swan; “Eating Alone” also shortlisted for a Griffin Award; Rob received the R.E. Ross Trust Playwright Development Award for the play “A Mile in her Shadow” …. There is a bunch of other stuff too – but you get the picture, right? – Dr Rob knows his way around a theatre. He’s an academic (hence the Dr in the title) and Australian theatre historian. He’d done the work. He has an opinion, and a great sense of humour. And now this, a performance lecture – “An Unforgivably Brief History of Australian Theatre”: Aussie theatre from pre-invasion to now for the theatre buff and novice alike. Best described as an eccentric production – fittingly presented - at Carlton’s historic and recently re-built La Mama theatre. I caught this in Sydney on a live stream from the theatre. All hail digital technology and its impact on post-pandemic performance! The solo show is delivered from a laptop behind a lectern. A paper paste-up becomes a projection screen for a PowerPoint of photos, phrases, and witty remarks; a guitar propped nearby suggests that we may get a musical number! The audience is an informed, in-the-know lot - judging from the recognition laughter at topical references and the odd theatre joke. As delightful, are the responses to things learnt and a feeling that Dr Rob’s lecture is joining the dots, unearthing historical and theatrical treasure in same measure. He talks fast – there’s no time to lose in 90 minutes. Previously omitted and unknown facts, names, theatrical triumphs and disasters are ebulliently revealed inside the eras of Australian theatre history according to Dr. Rob: 1. First Nations – pre-colonisation 2. Convict – from behind bars to the boards - performance by convicts 3. Actor Manager – theatres are built. Huzzah! 4. Professional Commercial – JC Williamson et al. 5. Government subsidised – where we are now (and where to next?) You (like me) may not have delved into or even thought much about the first two categories – pre-colonisation First Nations and Convict: histories squashed or lost. Startling stories give way to the evolution of theatre based on the imported English model. Australian Theatre as we know it had not an easy birth! In 90 minutes, Dr Rob wittily dances on the surface of history. As he gets closer to our times the focus becomes more Melbourne-centric. Dr Rob apologises for omitting anything west or north of Melbourne (and parts of Sydney). He offers more than once to tailor the show to your town, region, state, or territory should you send the invite!! The freight train of history is moving fast. The first wave, the foundation of NIDA, the Australia Council, and the glory of significant government funding across Australia; the second wave; a nostalgic walk down memory lane - but no time to mourn the passing of companies such as Anthill. We swing past the surfacing of vital independent theatre, Australia on the world stage, the emergence of contemporary indigenous and diverse women’s voices – all windows into what we have achieved and stand to lose as this production reaches its conclusion: our decimated industry in the wake of savage funding cuts (thanks Brandis and your raid on Australia Council funds!), and closed theatres for almost two years of the Pandemic. From my own practitioner’s point of view we are in a world with ever increasing conservatism in mainstream programming, diminishing opportunities to produce independent work, the disappearance of performance spaces, the closure of institutions and the slow wheel of change when it comes to inclusion - I fear the show will end in a dark bitch-fest. But hey, there isn’t time for a deep analysis of where we might be heading. Dr Rob has lifted his eyebrow at the well-meaning colonialists who believed Australia wasn’t a place that needed theatre through to a poke at po-faced postmodernists. Dr Rob picks up that guitar and ends with a rendition of “The Light on the Hill” from Keating (the musical). Ever the optimist. An inclusive and wide-ranging conversation followed in the form of a post-show Q & A. Sitting atop a milk crate on the resonant La Mama stage I wondered was there an end to Dr Rob’s knowledge, generosity, and belief? Seriously, this show has everything a theatre nerd could want!!! Hopefully, coming soon to a town near you. Written, directed, and performed by Robert Reid La Mama HQ, Carlton Victoria Livestream Friday Feb 18, 2022 Kate Gaul