This Is Personal review | Arts Centre Melbourne

To many, the name Mary Coustas is an instant reminder of the Australian icon that is Effie Stephanidis, the character Coustas portrayed on the television comedy Acropolis Now that ran between 1989 and 1992. With her new solo show This Is Personal, Coustas lets free the woman under the big wig and make-up, and opens up about the fears she has on not being alive to be there for her daughter when she will need her most.

In 70 engrossing minutes, Coustas takes us through her Greek upbringing and relationship with her parents, and up to the present day of dealing with her IVF difficulties and eventually becoming a mother. She seamlessly moves between time periods with small revelations and surprises along the way that draws us deeper into the performance. Her commanding presence and controlled storytelling - including well timed callbacks such as her mother's obsession with American soapies, and endearing impersonations of family members - allow Coustas to display her knack for comedy and her dramatic flair.

Greece Lightning review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Comedy Republic

Garry Starr's Greece Lightning has been doing the rounds for some time and it's a show that has been on my radar, but I’ve never been able to make its seasons. Last night, I finally did, and boy oh boy, do I regret having waited so long, because Greece Lightning is a comedy masterpiece.

This is Damien Warren-Smith’s third outing as the dim but absolutely delightful Garry Starr, (Garry Starr Performs Everything and Garry Starr Conquers Troy), and he is bigger and better than ever before as Garry attempts to perform all of Greek mythology to save his homeland from economic ruin.

NK: A Kazantzakian Montage review

Cretan writer and philosopher Nikos Kazantzakis is perhaps most well-known for his two novels Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ and epic poem The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel. However, Kazantzakis also led a life of adventure, passion and exploration and in Howard F. Dossor's NK: A Kazantzakian Montage, important and life changing moments from his personal story are presented and examined.

The story is told with the aid of a Greek Chorus that gives life to Kazantzakis' stories and allows the nine performers (Elyssia Koulouris, Erin Marshall, Kostas Illias, Nicole Coombs, Paul Pellegrino, Sebastian Gunner, Tabitha Veness, Tania Knight and Will Atkinson) to easily switch in and out of the Chorus to become a person from Kazantzakis' life. Alex Tsitsopoulos as Kazantzakis displays a sound understanding of who this writer was and delivers a thoughtful performance. However, the production falls into the trap of having Kazantzakis explaining how certain experiences made him feel and what they meant to him, rather than showing us why these moments were important. This resulted in long monologues with less impact, particularly evident in the final scene with the Chorus that had the potential to be a climatic moment and bring this unique life's story full circle.

About Sex review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Elephant & Wheelbarrow

Let's talk about sex baby. If you like my body and you think I'm sexy. Let me play with your body make you real hot. Despite these three sentences being lyrics to three very well known songs about sex, they also encapsulate Katerina Vrana's show, aptly titled About Sex.

Born in Greece but having lived almost two decades in England, Vrana's has a wealth of stories and anecdotes to share of these two cultures and their dealings with sex. Her impersonations of her family members, including her mother and father, are brilliant but it is when she talks about her 17-year-old brother asking her for sex advice that things really get cracking. One simple question from him is all it takes for the audience to be simultaneously shocked and howling in laughter.