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Boop LaMama Courthouse Theatre Statera Circus is a joyous, adventurous, and inquisitive circus and physical theatre collective. According to their website - through circus performances and extended community engagement programs, the company facilitates opportunities for young people including those from vulnerable communities. “Boop” is a 50-minute Auslan interpreted show. I caught it at LaMama Courthouse. It’s a Sunday afternoon; one company member is off with an injury; the venue has basic lighting, and the sound is deliberately low level (as this is a highly accessible performance); the company rolls out the crash mat; the apparatus and props are strewn around the edge of the stage. An audience of mostly under 10s and their adults are very excited. Without the sophisticated gadgetry of contemporary circus shows, “Boop” is going to live or die based on its technical skill, dramaturgical rigour and personality of the troupe. The tumbling, acrobatics, and balancing feats have the audience squealing in delight. Adding to stuff that can be achieved on Terra Firma, the company has developed an apparatus, Perspex Balance, that can present these circus acts with a light production footprint. This team is skilled. They don’t appear to sweat, and the physical tricks keep coming. I really wanted to see them juggle the mountains of toilet paper on the stage – or the eggs – but more of that later. The team is vibrant with personality. Especially engaging were Aleshanee Kelso and Karina Schiller - not only great circus performers - but natural clowns. It would be great to see the troupe develop this side of their performance. Especially as “Boop” has an apparent narrative with characters. The blurb reads “ a ragtag team of employees subvert the 9-5 with crashing shelves, trolley races, and terrifying stunts! But will these comedic characters ever find what they’re really looking for?” It took me a while to understand what the story is and who these characters are. The narrative was so clumsily delivered that it got in the way of an otherwise enjoyable performance experience. What “Boop” needs is a director; some detailed clowning and character work; and possibly a dramaturg. All three of these elements can take this troupe to the next level in terms of their performance making and delivery. The unnecessary props (toilet paper, eggs, bad signs…) promise a show that “Boop” isn’t. The audience don’t need an external ticking clock to keep the stakes high (in this case, a rather clumsy manually operated flick clock). We don’t need hand drawn signs to tell us what is going on. We need an external eye who can help the troupe eliminate all unnecessary elements and perhaps even assist with some basic design. “Boop” is the beginnings of a terrific showcase for an emerging circus troupe. These performers are inventive and brimming with life and personality. “Boop” is rough around the edges. Big ups for Stratera’s focus on accessibility. Let’s hope they focus on polishing the diamond and get this show to shine! Kate Gaul

Theatre Works' Explosives Factory - 67 Inkerman Street, St Kilda Tuesday 3 May, 2022 A Hundred Words for Snow is a solo performance by English playwright Tatty Hennessey. The debut play won the Heretic Voices Monologue Competition and was first produced at the Arcola Theatre, London, in 2018. A new production was performed at the 2018 VAULT Festival, where it was the winner of a VAULT Origins Award for outstanding new work. It then toured the UK, with a run at the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End in 2019. This production - presented by Melbourne’s Theatre Works - is directed and produced by Gavin Roach and performed by Eddie Patterson. Theatre Works has opened a sister venue in Inkerman St, St Kilda in what used to be an Explosives Factory, a carpet factory and in recent times a residence. Now, a simple makeover provides a neat but functional performance space that suggests a multitude of possibilities. The position of the lighting rig does rather suggest where most will choose to perform but I hope artists won’t limit their imaginations for the use of this resonant space. Hard to find? Well, only once, right? Gavin Roche’s production exploits the intimacy of the venue to explore the piece’s themes of loss and coming of age. When teenage Rory’s geography teacher dad – a man with a passion for explorers - dies in a car crash she discovers in his papers at home that he’d planned a trip to the Arctic. So, of course, Rory with her father’s ashes and mum’s credit card run away on an adventure to the geographical north pole to make good this missing experience of his life. In the footsteps of all the dead beardy explorers before her, and before Mum finds out they've gone. The story is charming enough. It leans into the fate of intrepid explorers of the past, the plight of the modern polar bear, the undisclosed or foot-noted histories of female explorers. The politics is lightly touched and the production runs over a lot of this pretty quickly. The Rory in this production discovers little – it’s as if she knows it all. Or expects us to. This does create a production the feels all a bit one note: few discoveries, nothing that stops our character (or us) in our tracks. I wondered if the choice to present the work with an English accent added to this homogeneity. Positively, the performance and production are unfussy, direct and focussed. Rory – short for Aurora - shares with us her father’s enthusiasm for the cold northern climes and the great explorers of history, such as Shackleton, Franklin, Peary, and Nansen. We learn much about North Pole exploration. Franklin gets quite a chunk of time but of course being an English play makes no reference to his Australian connections – just mildly infuriating for an Australian audience (well, for me!) Rory’s journey is one of awakening. Her first sexual experience (described in some detail); her emotional detachment and inevitable melt; facts of life in a sub-zero world as well as unexpected descriptions of plane crashes and frozen bodies are memorable. Performer, beguiling Eddie Patterson, infuses much of the text with warmth, and humour. The production s beautifully supported by a haunting sound design by Conor Ross. Spencer Herd’s lighting is functional and where possible brings just a little bit of magic. The design (uncredited) is neither literal nor symbolic – a light weight tent serves as a backdrop to the work. Not at all useful in the Arctic. The all-white costume (save a navy woollen beanie) – not the clothes of an explorer – but do help us imagine an all-white world that is oft described. Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen – Norwegian polymath, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and amongst all else an explorer has the last word - ‘Love is life’s snow. It falls deepest and softest into the gashes left by the fight – whiter and purer than snow itself.’ All in all – charming, lightweight with some great factoids and descriptions. It’s worth visiting this new venue and you may even shed a tear at the end (but to give it away would be a spoiler – so go and find out how Rory’s adventure wraps!) Kate Gaul

Something you need to know about the title of this compelling dance work as part of Sydney Festival - a “grey rhino” is a highly probable, high impact yet neglected threat: kin to both the elephant in the room and the improbable and unforeseeable black swan. Grey rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence. The bursting of the housing bubble in 2008, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the new digital technologies that upended the media world, the fall of the Soviet Union…all were evident well in advance. Why do leaders and decision makers keep failing to address obvious dangers before they spiral out of control? Political analyst Michele Wucker coined the phrase after a series of interviews with leaders from around the world and asks how we recognise and strategically counter looming high impact threats. “Grey Rhino” is about philosophical questions explored through contemporary dance. A collaboration between award winning choreographers Charmene Yap and Cass Mortimer Eippe (you may know them from Sydney Dance Company) sees this vibrant premiere, produced by Performing Lines, burst forth in the open space of Bay 20, Carriageworks. It is energetic, cheeky and very entertaining. Seven dancers move together, in solos and duets across 55 minutes responding to a provocation on how to survive and avoid getting trampled! Some of the movement is playful, at other times virtuosic in its patterning. This is a high tempo ensemble show and it’s easy to forget the energy coming off the stage as the dancers make this look effortless. Beautifully designed and lit by Damien Cooper a white floor dazzles as a rim of lights hits. The rig tilts, lowers and hovers providing an impending threat around the dancers. It is super classy, almost forensic at times. Or trippy as the design swaps out from white light to a super saturated primary. Alesha Jalbert has established herself as the go-to designer for dance and her costumes on this one are deceptive. Essentially street clothes, it’s the gorgeous colour palette that satisfies and the way in which the garments move on the bodies. Alyx Dennison is composer and sound designer. Alyx has an impressive body of work (look her up!) and it’s the sheer range of sounds and source material that impresses on “Grey Rhino”. Everything from classical musical, what sound like overheard conversation, percussion, original composition – it’s a cool eclectic mix that keeps you listening. A highlight of the production for me. Original, stylish, thought provoking – “Grey Rhino” is a Sydney Festival highlight and not to be missed. Carraigeworks Thursday 20 January, 2022 Kate Gaul

A balmy evening after a day of heavy rain is the perfect setting for this outdoor production, last year’s sell out season is reprised by Griffin Theatre for Sydney Festival 2022. “’Green Park” by Elias Jameison Brown is a firecracker! Set and performed in Darlinghurst’s Green Park, it’s a familiar story of boy meets older man on a park bench. This site has particular significance as part of Sydney’s gay history. It runs parallel to “the wall” on Darlinghurst Road – once a popular spot for sex work – and a now-demolished toilet block which served as a gay beat. Located between St Vincent’s hospital and the National Art School, between the historic sandstone walls and our contemporary roadways, sandwiched between a Jewish Museum and some kind of convent - this is theatre that bristles with ghosts. In a play that makes us privy to a liminal relationship this setting is inextricably perfect. The audience gather in this park to sit (take your own rug, chair or pillow!), don headsets and encounter two characters – Warren (Steve Le Marquand), an ostensibly-straight man in his fifties visiting from the country, and Edden (Joseph Althouse), a much younger Sydneysider, openly out, a self proclaimed twink in command of an easy sexuality. This is a Grindr hook up. Both carry trauma. What are the lies? What is the truth? This ain’t gonna be an easy night. It’s an intensely naturalistic presentation, without theatrical trappings. There is no lighting other than the natural sunset and park fixtures. The “stage” is a park bench and later extends to other areas of the park as the drama escalates. If it wasn’t for the seated audience this really could be a “real” event. Once the characters decide how this encounter will end they do not return for a traditional “curtain call” which creates an odd sensation for the audience as we too wander into the night. It’s a heightened sensation of having been witness to personal truths and humanity’s rawness. Through the headsets we really are eavesdropping on whispers, cries, banter. These extraordinary actors – both brilliantly inhabit these characters. It’s detailed, complex, truthful work. It is a privilege to watch, and too rarely seen on our stages. Their bodies ebb and flow with the dialogue – it’s a beautiful dance between two strangers who are crossing time and space. Declan Greene directs with a light touch. His work is always incredibly watchable and succinct. The stakes are high and we don’t want to look away. The use of the park is masterful and means that passer-by’s become unwittingly and easily part of the action. Dave Bergman’s sound design supports the natural sound of the park and enhances the rising dramatic tension. Brown’s is a compelling play, with its nuanced dialogue and contemporary references. He clearly loves the characters each with deep flaws, deceptions and vulnerabilities. It’s very exciting to see where Australian playwriting is heading and what smart, daring and sensitive directors are bringing to interpretation. If you love new plays in the hands of great artists do not miss this season! Green Park, Darlinghurst Wednesday 19th January Kate Gaul

Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World and Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran Javaad Alipoor Company (UK) and Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta (NTP), playing as part of the Sydney Festival, 2022. Written By Javaad Alipoor Co-created By Javaad Alipoor and Kirsty Housley Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World - a co-production between the Javaad Alipoor Company and NTP is a work-in-progress showing of this work in a digital and live setting. In 1992 Iranian popstar and refugee Fereydoun Farrekhzad was found brutally murdered – stabbed more than 70 times, his tongue was cut out, and his genitals cut off. The case was never solved. Things Hidden is an investigation into this iconic murder and an investigation into the nature of investigation. It’s a world of murder mystery podcasts that presents everything in the world as knowable. Working alongside Australian artists and technicians as well as those from the UK, Alipoor’s Things Hidden is a dazzling drop down the rabbit-hole of Wikipedia and the Internet into worlds that never collide. The work-in-progress event is performed, script in hand, by Javaad Alipoor and Australian Shirong Wu to dazzling effect. This is the third part of a trilogy which includes The Believers Are But Brothers (seen at Riverside, 2019) and second part Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, all exploring how digital technology, and fracturing identities are changing the world. Rich Kids was originally performed live and in-person for audiences when it premiered in the UK in 2019, the show was converted into a digital experience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran loosely follows the fantastically rich Iranian Mohammad Hossein Rabbani-Shirazi (son of an revolutionary elite) and middle-class Parivash Akbarzadeh: twenty-somethings whose demise was reported in the New York Times. The plot moves backwards from the couple’s death in 2015, high on cocaine and alcohol in a yellow Porsche, eventually passing through a generation to witness the seeds of a movement that charts Hossein’s father as a leading light in the Revolutionary Guard and then an influential businessman. Javaad Alipoor and fellow performer Peyvand Sadeghian, both British-Iranian theatre artists are speaking to us via YouTube from their separate rooms to those at home or, on the big screen - if you are at the live-digital event - at Riversides’s Lennox Theatre. Both are extremely charismatic performers. We’ve had access to more digitally mediated theatre in the past two years than ever before. I’ve seen productions that expanded my ideas of what kind of art could be made in these liminal spaces – but none that made me think so intensely about what it means to mediate and narrate our lives through these technologies as Rich Kids. We are instructed to join an Instagram account for the duration of the show and with our phone open as well as looking at the screen (either at home alone or in the theatre with an audience) we are exposed to a rapid scrolling media collage, hashtags, Live Feeds, archival imagery and a, frankly, dazzling text of prodigious detail. Instagam becomes a metaphor for history. After seeing the smashed Porsche, we watch as Chatunga Mugabe, son of Robert, pours champagne over a priceless watch. The tales of excess are used as a pivot for an investigation into digital culture, postmodern consumer capitalism, global geopolitics, the nature of historical time, and Iran. Iran: as a post-revolutionary Islamic regime under sanctions from the West and a playboy’s paradise for a class of rich kids who bask in their parents’ influence without ever feeling their fervour. It is on Instagram that these rich kids flaunt their wealth in a way they can never do in “real” life. We are asked to consider the impact that conspicuous consumption is having on the planet, which is being altered for millennia to come. The intoxicating, fascinating and frightening facts to be taken from this show include everything from knowledge that the first iPhone came out closer to the fall of the Berlin Wall than to today; the history-subverting discovery of Gobleki Tepe; that most of us have slightly radioactive teeth; and the archaeological artefacts that will be left by our own time: a solid layer of chicken bones and the shells of shopping malls. In the theatre, the Live Feeds hit people’s phone at different times – this is markedly different to watching alone at home. Live, spoken text and sound cascade through the space adding a cacophony – unique to the collective experience that is theatre. Whatever text is spoken is also sub titled on the larger screen in case you miss it. Totally discombobulating as adrenaline rises. Undeniably good! But perhaps the most chilling revelation of Rich Kids lies in the notion of Anthropocene - the name for our current, human-impacted geological era. There is a belief by geologists that the Anthropocene is marked by an atmospheric drop in carbon dioxide in the early 1600s, known as the Orbis Spike. The cause of this decrease? The millions of slain peoples of the Americas. The imagistic text haunts long after the production ends - “There are two people, a woman on the beach waiting for the end to arrive and a white man staring back at her about to bring it.” The Orbis Spike (“an image of history we cannot delete”) implies that colonialism, global trade and coal brought about the Anthropocene. It goes to the heart of social concerns, particularly the unequal power relationships between groups of people, economic growth, the impacts of globalized trade, and our current reliance on fossil fuels. And so, we circle back to Hossein and Parivash … The story of Hossein and Parivash the show tells us, is why it is so important we know how we came to be, so we can see where we may well be going--and fix it before it’s too late. These are rich works that play with form. Ultimately, leaving audiences with more questions than answers, interrogating our concepts of time, history, the march of human progress, and what we leave behind. If you like your theatre political, poetic with words and ideas whirling, sparking and stretching your brain – with full permission to be looking at your phone at the same time - then these offerings are unmissable! Kate Gaul

Jane Hutcheon has had an incredible career as a journalist. She is also fondly remembered as the incisive and trusted host of ABC’s “One Plus One” as she elicits incredible stories from her interview subjects. Of all the stories Jane Hutcheon has encountered as an ABC journalist, China correspondent, war zone reporter and author, one has intrigued her more than any other: that of her mother Beatrice’s turbulent childhood in pre-Communist Shanghai. Visiting Shanghai in 2018, Jane began to search for the truth of her mother’s difficult beginnings. “Lost in Shanghai” is the result, a story of an ordinary Eurasian family in extraordinary times, set against a backdrop of fading colonial opulence, civil war and revolution. In the program she tells us “I’ve always wrestled with identity and belonging. Much of that was bound up with the events of my mum’s traumatic early life. I was too busy travelling the world as a journalist, telling other people’s stories, to unravel the story tucked away in my photo albums and family notes. “Lost in Shanghai” is the story of how I found my Mum - and myself - in the process” Master storyteller, director William Yang, gently focusses the production having also curated the continual imagery of Jane’s family throughout. Music is composed and performed by Terumi Narushima. It provides an atmospheric counterpoint to the narration. Jane’s story is told in her own words. The staging is elegant and visually striking with a large projection screen linking Jane on one side of the stage with the musician - and an exquisite array of instruments - on the other. Jane’s natural home isn’t the stage and although the delivery of the text and the quality of the story telling is somewhat stilted one can’t help but be moved by the unfailing resilience of her ancestors – especially the women. Jane’s mother is approaching 100 years of age. She, like Jane, has had an incredible life. Her mother may not remember her school days, the glamorous wedding, the international travel – a life richly lived. I challenge anyone not to be moved by this beautiful and moving tribute. Seymour Centre 6.45pm Thursday 13th January, 2022 Kate Gaul

The team have, yet again, set the standard for what can be achieved outside the theatrical mainstream. Image: Robert Catto Nat Randall and Anna Breckon, co-creators of the global theatre phenomenon – durational performance “The Second Woman” - join forces once more to critique the conventions of the couple drama and explore the ordinary and extraordinary facets of queer relationships. ‘Set Piece” arrives at Sydney Festival with quite the pedigree. A multi media 4-hander (8 -hander if you count the onstage camera operators) set in traverse in Bay 20, Carriageworks. Directed by Breckon and designed by Genevieve Murrray (of Future Method Studio who also designed “The Second Woman”), it looks like a festival piece. An evening for the connoisseur. We see through open metal-framed walls into a detailed studio apartment complete with bathroom (the toilet is frequently visited), kitchen (where drinks and snacks are meticulously prepared), eating nook and a large bed – almost the centrepiece – atop a stunning white shagpile carpet. Sex toys, empty bottles, drug taking paraphernalia, campy iridescent decorations, Aldi cheese and spilt wine – there is plenty to discover. What cannot immediately be seen is revealed through the incredible camera work from both the roaming steady cam operators and fixed cameras inside the apartment. An older couple - Maggie (Anni Finsterer) and her partner (Dina Panozzo) – are hosting Holly (Nat Randall) and Nic (Carly Sheppard). Subversive shades of “Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf” abound but this is a more interesting exploration of intergenerational relationship, desire, fantasy – of the erotic and emotional dynamics between women. Four lesbians hanging out imbibing too much, talking shit, fanaticising a little too much (or not enough) being ordinary. The dialogue is crafted from the everyday, the occasional trashy low-brow or pop reference – it’s mostly commonplace. The entire scenario is played with the illusion of intense naturalism which allows a seamless intersection of theatre and film – we watch moments, gestures, and subtexts emerge in close up and extreme close-up. The audience is drawn tightly into a scene, which is replayed. Lines are swapped, action dances, relationships deepen (or not). Seduction, conflict, ennui – it’s a breathtaking and sometime uncomfortable 90 minutes. Joan Armatrading’s “Love and affection” has a fitting moment. The heat, raunch and romance from the heart, gut and crotch perfectly echo the work of the four incredible women in the cast. Nat Randall has a mesmerising naivety as Holly. Carly Sheppard thrillingly navigates Nic’s ambiguous intentions. Dina Panozzzo gives a performance rich in subtext (and a dose of salacity!). Anni Finsterer is oak-barrelled bravura as she prowls the stage, every line a ruthless retort. Kate Gaul Sydney Festival, Carriageworks 8.30pm Friday 7th January 2022

3/5 Bridal Bouquets! By Joshua Hamilton. Presented by New Theatre, Sydney “Significant Other” by American writer Joshua Harmon. Jordan is gay man — staring down the devastation that is 30 — with three close female friends, Kiki, Vanessa and Laura. Each gal pal heads to the altar, as their beloved gay friend struggles to find a love of his own. Jordan’s only constant is his grandmother and this means listening to stories more than once. “Significant Other” is a bittersweet comedy about romantic yearning given a well-cast, smart and confident production by director Hayden Tonazzi. Once you get past the heteronormative world of the play, that the women have nothing in their lives apart from the men they adore (or is it hunt… it’s a jungle out there!), and the writing’s sometimes-crushing sentimentality it is possible to be moved. Stunning Tom Rodgers (who plays Jordan) creates a character with both humour and humanity. In one small scene he is waiting to go out for a drink with a friend who has arrived in New York. The hope that this encounter may become something more is incredibly wrenching as is the surface realisation that it will probably come to nothing. Inside the whip cracking dialogue and one more messy bachelorette party there’s a heart to this play. Written before marriage equality in the USA one wonders if Jordan’s predicament may have been different in a more equal world. Tom Rodgers also delivers a couple of zinger monologues: the first when workmate, Will (a brilliant Matthew McDonald, who excels in all the small roles) emerges from a swimming pool; and later when Jordan crazily deliberates about pressing send on an unrequited love email. Arghh … its ugly and unhinged and this is where the play and this production are at its best. It’s when the pain of fleeting friendships, loneliness and long nights take hold. Dominique Purdue (Vanessa), Isabella Williams (Kiki) and Laura McInnes (Laura) amuse as the besties . The play is punctuated by visits by Jordan to his grandmother (warmly played by Helen Tonkin). She’s out of her depth with Jordan’s love dilemma but the scenes serve to underline the theme of loss and melancholy as granny slowly starts to lose her memory. The entire design from set (Hamish Elliot), costumes (Kate Beere), music (Oliver Beard) and sound (Aron Murray) demand special mention. Big ups to lighting designer Morgan Moroney – proving once again a remarkable eye for colour, detail and tone. It’s always super exciting to catch the work of emerging directors, creative teams and actors – especially in the productions in the year following drama school. We’ve seen a handful of smart, electric and intelligent works at New Theatre created by such teams. In a city where spaces are disappearing and opportunities for artists and audiences are diminishing perhaps it’s time for theatres like the New to extend development, programming and producing slots. Given the size and response of this evening’s audience they could do far worse. Kate Gaul 13 June 2021