Thursday 28 April 2011

I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, Tasmanian Theatre Company, tour Vic April-June 2011

 I Am My Own Wife
Whitehorse Centre, April 28
Star rating:***

In this solo play, I Am My Own Wife, Robert Jarman plays Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, described as Germany’s most notorious transvestite. It is a challenging role and Jarman and director Annette Downs, provide a competent but not masterly interpretation of Doug Wright’s award-winning play.

We witness the chequered life of Charlotte who was born a man in Berlin in 1928, but lived her entire life as a woman, choosing not glamorous drag queen garb, but drab peasant dress, headscarf, boots, a string of pearls and no make-up.

The eccentric, irrepressible Charlotte survived the Nazi and Communist regimes to become a legend in Berlin and win a medal of honour. Her private museum displayed her Grilnderzeit antiques (1890-1900) and she ran an illegal, gay club in her cellar for thirty years.

Her reputation was tarnished when, in the 1990s, she was outed as a Stasi informant who betrayed her friends.

We see Charlotte through the initially naïve eyes of writer, Doug Wright, a character in his own play. Such self-referential writing can fail. Here it illustrates that Charlotte’s stories are well rehearsed and her truth is clouded.

Using vocal and physical shifts, Jarman creates a cast of characters. Sometimes the character changes are loose and Charlotte’s German-accented English is inconsistent, but Charlotte’s eccentricities and startling story are compelling.

Comparisons must be made with the consummate performance we saw in 2006 of Jefferson Mays in the Tony Award winning production. Jarman and Downs must sharpen the detail, timing and theatricality to meet that level.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Porn.Cake , Malthouse, April 25, 2011


Malthouse Theatre: Porn.Cake
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 25, 2011 12:00AM


orn.cake

Christen O'Leary and Travis McMahon star in Porn.Cake at Malthouse Theatre. Source: Herald Sun 

VANESSA Bates' script for Porn.Cake feels unfinished and peculiarly unsatisfying.  It craves savage editing and better dramaturgy to address its lack of structure or clear intention.

Not so the cacophony of elaborate cakes used both as edible props and as a delectable part of Christina Smith's sleek set design.

An entire wall of glass display cabinets houses 54 (I counted) glorious gateaux: iced, glazed or swathed in chocolate and fruit. It is enough to send you into insulin shock.

Pamela Rabe directs this light-as-a-sponge comedy and a capable cast (Heather Bolton, Luke Elliot, Travis McMahon and Christen O'Leary) works hard to give depth to a thin script.

The non-linear narrative deals with two fortysomething couples, confused and dissatisfied with their lives and partners. Their individual monologues are the most effective components, providing simple storytelling about memories and happier moments.

Between the monologues, the women try to stimulate their partners' interest and senses by serving exotic cakes. But the men, frustratingly, are preoccupied with phone texting.

The cake-eating scene is repeated by each pair, then deconstructed, until it is a garbled, comical collection of fragments and colliding words.  Unfortunately, this abstracted repetition looks like an acting exercise.

The characters are undeveloped, relationships are shallow, the writer's intention is unclear and the separate layers do not jell. It is form over substance.

PORN.CAKE, Beckett Theatre at Malthouse Theatre, until May 8, 2011

Star rating: ** 1/2

Friday 22 April 2011

City of Riddles, Polyglot, April 21, 2011


City of Riddles, Polyglot Theatre
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 21, 2011 1:45PM

Polyglot Theatre's City of Riddles. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Source: Herald Sun olyglot Theatre

Polyglot Theatre's City of Riddles, city and regional tour until July 

CITY Of Riddles, directed by Sue Giles, provides an interactive world of play for primary-school children.

The open space is littered with tiny cardboard houses filled with miniature households. Inside are written riddles to be solved.

Leading the adventure are three voiceless characters (Christian Bagin, Tamara Rewse and Jacob Williams), or "mime guys" as one child cleverly dubbed them. In teams, the children construct their own town, devise their own rules and solve the cute riddles.

As the playful, fun activities evolve, the formerly mimed instructions are replaced with increasingly autocratic signs, and, finally, a Dalek-like, disembodied voice that barks onerous orders. We realise slowly that the characters' voices were stolen and their freedom eroded.

The concepts teach about power, freedom, co-operation and having a voice. If the kids missed the impact of the message, it was loud and clear to the adults as we chanted for freedom.

CITY OF RIDDLES, Polyglot Theatre, at MTC Theatre, Southbank. Touring Bendigo (April 22-23), Frankston and West Gippsland (June), Kingston and Upper Yarra (July).

Stars: *** 1/2

Thursday 21 April 2011

Melbourne Comedy Festival, 21 April, 2011


 Melbourne Comedy Festival wrap, 2011

The Melbourne Comedy Festival was once a vehicle for quirky groups who broke the boundaries of conventional stand-up with theatricality, characters or vaudevillian style.

The 2011 Festival sees the overwhelming dominance of solo shows, particularly stand-up comics. The rapid-fire, laugh-every-30-seconds-or-die joke-telling gets exhausting. I crave more intelligent, stylish, original, theatrical or character-driven comedy that is not fuelled purely by fast gags.

Charles Ross recreating the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy alone was my festival highlight. He transports us to Middle Earth with impeccable theatrical skill.

Ross Daniels’ show, Punked, is a skilful collision of stand-up, characters and theatrical storytelling. Rod Quantock’s subversive walking tour hilariously breaks all the rules.

Glynn Nicholas in This Way Up changes the stand-up dynamic in his polished and personal storytelling about happiness and ambitions. In Honestly, Felicity Ward’s wiry frame vibrates with barely contained energy as she grabs us by the scruff of the neck until we laugh out loud.

The programme, as always, boasted some gems and some real clangers. Many comics work to the lowest common denominator but there is a palpable shift now to “working blue”. It makes it difficult to take the family.

City of Riddles, Polyglot Theatre, April 21, 2011


 City of Riddles
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 21, 2011 1:45PM

Polyglot Theatre's City of Riddles, city and regional tour April to July, 2011

CITY Of Riddles, directed by Sue Giles, provides an interactive world of play for primary-school children.
The open space is littered with tiny cardboard houses filled with miniature households. Inside are written riddles to be solved.

Leading the adventure are three voiceless characters (Christian Bagin, Tamara Rewse and Jacob Williams), or "mime guys" as one child cleverly dubbed them. In teams, the children construct their own town, devise their own rules and solve the cute riddles.

As the playful, fun activities evolve, the formerly mimed instructions are replaced with increasingly autocratic signs, and, finally, a Dalek-like, disembodied voice that barks onerous orders. We realise slowly that the characters' voices were stolen and their freedom eroded.

The concepts teach about power, freedom, co-operation and having a voice.

If the kids missed the impact of the message, it was loud and clear to the adults as we chanted for freedom.

Stars: *** 1/2

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Rod Quantock conducts The History Of Melbourne Comedy Festival – A Walking Tour, April 18, 2011

Rod Quantock conducts The History Of Melbourne Comedy FestivalA Walking Tour
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 18, 2011 2:30PM
 
 
Rod Quantock
Rod Quantock conducts The History Of Melbourne Comedy Festival A Walking Tour, starting outside Melbourne Town Hall, until April 24, 2011

IF you like your comedy with a healthy serving of subversion and you’re happy to participate, Rod Quantock’s walking tour is just the ticket. Comics decades younger cannot achieve this level of confrontation - even using nudity, obscenity and shock tactics. 

Quantock’s unique, playful humour is far more transgressive, invasive, political and confrontational than anything they dish up. The tour recalls Quantock’s inimitable bus tour, famous for invading public and private functions. 

Rod, armed with his renowned, rubber, comedy chicken (Made in Taiwan) jammed onto a stick, leads a gaggle of 50, all thinly disguised in Groucho masks. It’s amazing what embarrassing, intrusive things people will do when their identity is obscured. 

We invaded an unsuspecting sandwich shop that occupies the site of the Old Tivoli Theatre, where we rehearsed How Much Is That Doggie In the Window – Woof Woof.  We performed it in shops, street and the Fed Square stage - without permission. We hit big targets or, rather, Target, which is built on the site of the old Theatre Royal.

We invaded and derided that American coffee chain, hijacked a tram and ended up at the 25 Years of Laughs exhibition.
And there was so much more.

Star rating: ****

Monday 18 April 2011

Melbourne Comedy Festival 2011: REVIEWS, April, 2011


 Darren Freak in Freakuent Flyer
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 14, 2011 3:53PM
  •  
Darren Freak in Freakuent Flyer at the Hotel Discovery until April 19, 2011
As we trail the corridors of the Discovery Hotel looking for Darren Freak’s venue, we smell the unmistakable scent of beer-soaked carpet and sense the air of desperation from young, penniless travellers scarfing microwaved noodles and hauling 15 backpacks.

Freak spends plenty of time in airports, on international flights, in foreign cities and in backpackers’ hotels. It makes sense his solo stand-up show is in a scruffy, backroom cinema in a Melbourne backpackers’ hotel.

He has some good material about travelling, tour groups, airline safety and shared accommodation, but it would be best edited to a tight 20 minutes. When he relaxes and engages directly with us he is at his funniest.

His material about his Sound of Music tour in Salzburg is funny and one song that gets laughs is These Are a Few of My Favourite Things about Salzburg brothels.

His photos of Austrian warning signs are a hoot, including one that seems to indicate mountaineering on trains.
 
Freak’s songs, although some have amusing lyrics, need to be excised completely – unless he can get someone to write better music or sing them for him.

Star rating: **



 The Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 14, 2011 4:03PM 
  •  
The Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour until April 23, 2011

THE Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour is more museum tour than comedy. The gags may be old but the exhibits are even older, given the Earth is more than three billion years old.

After dividing the audience into groups, three guides (Ben McKenzie, Stella Young, Kate McLennan) lead each group in turn through their special museum room.

Young’s tour is the funniest, with witty quips about animals in the taxidermist’s dream room, a gallery decorated with shelves of stuffed beasts.

McLennan, playing a cheeky six-year old, leads us through the children’s gallery. Many of her jokes are lost between the circuitous gallery corridors.
 
In McKenzie’s tour of the exhibit, 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves, we see interesting samples of local fossils but, with such a large group, it is impossible to see or hear everything.

The tour needs a restructure to increase the comedy level, reduce the groups, address audibility issues or even stop groups in one location to ensure everyone can see and hear.

Star rating: **



 Amelia Jane Hunter in Dear Endora
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 12, 2011 3:43PM

Amelia Jane Hunter in Dear Endora at Trades Hall until April 24, 2011

TALL, striking, acerbic, agony aunt, Endora (Amelia Jane Hunter) suffered her own agonies on this night. A show-stopping fire alarm – not a joke - saw the complete evacuation of Trades Hall five minutes after the start. With the help of enough hairspray to decimate the ozone layer and a couple or 10 bracing glasses of cure-all chardonnay, Endora survived the near-calamity with graceful aplomb.

Endora has flaws to drive a truck through, including her boozing and wardrobe malfunction. She sports an appalling two-piece, plaid, polyester, hipster pantsuit that reveals her knickers.

She is at her funniest when dispensing crazed, homespun advice to the lovelorn, desperate, lost folk who make the serious miscalculation of writing to seek her advice.

Endora offers her pointed insights into everything: dangers of Botox, perils of cruise ships, sex tours, Relationships Australia and why Anthony Robbins is a fake. New-age psychics, shonky spiritual healers and self-help gurus also feel the sting of Endora’s verbal whip, during her unhappy stint as host at a hippie festival.

The first 20 minutes is smart, sharp and funny but tighter editing could transform Dear Endora into a winner.

Star rating: **

 
 
The Lemon-Lime Funtacular Occurence Hour Right On with Ryan Withers
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 12, 2011 4:30PM 
  •  
The Lemon-Lime Funtacular Occurence Hour Right On with Ryan Withers at Softbelly Bar until April 24, 2011

RYAN Withers’ Lemon-Line Funtacular leaves us with several unanswered questions: who the heck is Mrs Funberries and why does an hour of unfunny, ill-conceived and juvenile humour feel like a lifetime? Withers – who resembles Ron Weasley – and his offsider, Shane Matheson, have the misguided chutzpah to serve us a shambolic, half-baked, variety show. 

They spent plenty of time creating video and Powerpoint slides, but they need to spend more time writing, editing or having a director shape their material and performances. They try hard on stage but, unfortunately, nothing works as comedy.
Lemon-Lime contains a mish-mash of one-liner gags, impressions, clips from a fictional documentary, and an awful, musical version of “Lethal Weapon” that, in the right hands, could be a riot.

Apart from laughs of bemusement at the lack of skill, my only laugh was at a slide of Withers’ missing pet ibis, Shadrack.
Ryan and Shane, something that seems funny over a few beers with your mates doesn’t necessarily make a comedy show.

Star rating: *

 
The Etiquette Hour With Lady Cordelia Winterbottom
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 07, 2011 2:37PM 
  •  
The Etiquette Hour With Lady Cordelia Winterbottom at Footscray Community Arts Centre until April 23, 2011

ISABEL Hertaeg’s alter ego, the smug and superior etiquette expert, Lady Cordelia Winterbottom, is a character with plenty of comic potential. Some of it is fulfilled in The Etiquette Hour. The show starts well, but loses its way and runs out of steam. It would make a better tight 30 minutes than the current loose, slow-moving hour.

Toffy-nosed Lady C, with her rounded vowels and clipped consonants, dressed in ruffled blouse, pearls and flowered pillbox hat, instructs us in the delicate art of etiquette. She educates us about the niceties of life such as elocution, cake-baking, catching a man or dealing with bores. She quotes hilarious excerpts from real etiquette experts: Barbara Cartland, Princess Beris Kandaouroff and even Cosmopolitan.

The show crescendos when this entertainingly patronising parody of a British upper-class twit reveals her barely disguised, inner tart. She tears off her blouse and explodes into a trashy burlesque act while singing Tom Lehrer’s Masochism Tango.
She really is just a hussy-baggage from Bacchus Marsh or a tart from Traralgon.

Star rating: **


 
Review: David Quirk: The Day I Ate Wombat
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 07, 2011 4:50PM

David Quirk: The Day I Ate Wombat, at the Portland Hotel until April 24, 2011

DAVID Quirk has a killer smile – but he doesn’t use it until the very end of his stand-up routine. If he switched it on at frequent intervals during his show, the Charm-o-Meter would go off the scale.

Quirk is not a quirky comic but, rather, a good-looking bloke yarning over a beer. His style involves intimate storytelling and the show is built around his unforgettable, teenage experience eating green wombat stew by a campfire, beside two rivers, in the sticks where he lived.

His material has plenty of comic potential. His stories about working in retail and approaching customers with almost inaudible obscenities embedded in the greeting are funny and credible. He talks about his sleeptalking in bed, being dacked by your mates in inappropriate situations, “twinsest” (incest between twins) and an urban myth about grandma’s dead dog.
He gets a few big laughs from his comparison of relationships with working on an oil-rig.  

Though he misses opportunities for more frequent gags and sometimes waffles before getting to the tagline, he is smart and engaging. But, Dave, sharpen the material and turn on that killer smile and you’ll go into the stratosphere.

Star rating: ***

Review: Ross Daniels in Punked
  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 05, 2011 6:33PM

Ross Daniels in Punked at Footscray Community Arts Centre until April 23 

IF YOU remember the 1970s Punk revolution – well, I guess you didn’t take enough drugs or get kicked in the head by cops.

Ross Daniels’ slick, inventive show, Punked, about his teenage, punk music experience in conservative 1970s Brisbane, is a skilful collision of stand-up, characters and theatrical storytelling. We even get to write an original punk song called I Hate My Life.

Daniels cunningly peoples the stage with characters, shifting physically and vocally to conjure his grandparents, punk mate Dave Death, thick cops, the late Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and that other babbler, Molly Meldrum.

We witness 16-year-old Daniels’ wide-eyed astonishment when he first hears the raucous music of The Sex Pistols on Countdown. It nearly gives grandad a heart attack.

We laugh at his evocative descriptions of The Stranglers’ concert, the riot when the Blondie gig was cancelled and Tommo, the pinball playing, teenage, Greek oracle who miraculously knew about 4ZZZ-FM and the Buzzcocks’ new single.

But there are dark stories. Brisbane was home to corrupt government and coppers, and Daniels’ memories of police brutality during a street march are chilling.

Star rating: ****



Review: Asher Treleaven: Matadoor

  • Kate Herbert
  • From: Herald Sun
  • April 05, 2011 12:00AM

Asher Treleaven: Matadoor, at Melbourne Town Hall, until April 24. 

ASHER Treleaven sums up what he considers the most successful material for a comic: a balance of socially responsible rhetoric and rude jokes.

In his new stand-up show Matadoor, he cleverly uses both to expose and attack the ugly and pervasive racism in Australia.
Treleaven's performance had an edge of discomfort at first, but relaxing, his energy escalated, and he prowled the stage like a lanky praying mantis.

He takes comical swipes at his favourite targets (bigots and racists) and has endless examples of people's irrational hatred of other races, cultures, colours and religions. Racist slogans on bumper stickers and T-shirts combine two of Treleaven's pet hates: bogans and poor grammar.

His tale of being lost and drunk at night in the Thai jungle while clothed only in Speedos is a doozy, but his bullfight with his family's angry ram takes the crazy, physical comedy prize for the show.

Star rating: * * *