THEATRE/MUSIC
By Joseph O’Farrell & Sam Halmarack
At Arts House, North Melbourne, until Dec 10, 2017
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: **1/2
By Joseph O’Farrell & Sam Halmarack
At Arts House, North Melbourne, until Dec 10, 2017
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: **1/2
Review also published in Herald Sun Arts in print on Fri Dec 8, 2017 (TBC). KH
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| Joseph O'Farrell (JOF) and Sam Halmarack - Photo by Byrony Jackson |
We Are Lightning!, by
Joseph O’Farrell (JOF) and Sam Halmarack, is shambolic, messy and confused, but
parts of the show are oddly diverting.
The premise is that a
live music venue is closing, so JOF and Sam are producing one, final night of
performance, incorporating their own music and segments by a community choir, a
young, local band, two older, rock guitarists and a six-piece brass section.
The audience stands like
a crowd at a pub gig, switching its attention between four, small, shabby stages,
one set against each wall of the cavernous North Melbourne Town Hall, and sometimes trying to watch all four
stages at once.
JOF and Sam present as a
sort of demented comedy duo, with JOF being the extroverted, yammering guy playing
drums and brainstorming outlandish ideas for the show, while Sam plays guitar,
sings his original, love ballads and runs away when the show gets overwhelming.
The audience enjoys JOF
and Sam’s songs and banter and the brass sextet is a treat – especially when
they appear in marching band outfits – but the two guitarists’ hard rock riffs are
all too brief. Give us more!
The 50-person community
choir sings Shenandoah, adds back-up vocals to Sam and JOF’s numbers or strolls
around the hall in colourful robes, while the youth band plays original songs,
one of which muses nostalgically about being 17.
A voice-over by one of
the participants captures the confused form of this show when she announces
that JOF and Sam have produced a show that’s not actually the performance for
which she and others signed up.
We Are Lightning! starts
with some good and some goofy ideas, but it is not ground-breaking theatre and its
execution is chaotic and rambling so it needs some tightening and clarifying.
By
Kate Herbert
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| WE ARE LIGHTNING! by Joseph O'Farrell (JOF) and Sam Halmarack - Photo by Byrony Jackson |
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| WE ARE LIGHTNING! by Joseph O'Farrell (JOF) and Sam Halmarack - Photo by Byrony Jackson |
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| WE ARE LIGHTNING! by Joseph O'Farrell (JOF) and Sam Halmarack - Photo by Byrony Jackson |
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