We Too Us Too Me Too Too Too review

There aren't many companies or performers that could promote a show as a dark satirical physical comedy about rape and murder and actually be able to deliver the goods. Fortunately, after years in the making, The Bouffonery have proven it is more than up for the challenge with We Too Us Too Me Too Too Too and its brutal takedown of the patriarchy through the art of bouffon.

Wearing beige hooded unitards with grotesquely exaggerated growths, the four bouffons (Kimberly Twiner, Ell Sachs, Lucy Kingsley and Nicholas O’Regan) move their way to the centre of the stage where they simulate a series of births that don't go exactly to plan, that is of course, until Jimmy is born. While exploring issues related to gendered violence and toxic masculinity with numerous sketches and scenes, Jimmy is used to ground the show and keep bringing us back to its main idea.

Summer of the 17th Doll - Midsumma Festival review

Po Po Mo Co and friends

Ray Lawler's Summer of the 17th Doll premiered in Melbourne in 1955 and its public appeal stemmed from its distinctive Australian characters in a distinctive Australian setting. It resonated with Australians so much, that people travelled hundreds of kilometres to see it when it toured the country. A subsequent UK tour also saw it receive almost universal critical acclaim. Its impact has been long standing due to the discourse it created on the Australia way of life. Fast forward 65 years, and its recent production for Midsumma Festival will no doubt be sparking even more conversation.

Queer collective Po Po Mo Co bring together an assortment of performing arts makers who have been allocated a scene from the play. They are provided the freedom to explore, dissect and tear it up in any way they like, so while there is a queerness running through the scenes, the final product allows this to be presented with a variety of engaging styles.

Summer of the 17th Doll - Midsumma Festival preview

Going by their past productions, the ensemble of neo-vaudevillian company PO PO MO CO are not afraid to get their hands - and minds - dirty when it comes to bringing their queer lensed physical comedy to life. As part of the Midsumma Festival, the company has bravely decided to unleash itself onto what is considered to be one of the most significant Australian plays in history.

Written by Ray Lawler in 1955, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll takes place during the summer of 1953 and follows the events that impact the lives of six people. PO PO MO CO will be taking this script and delivering parts of it to various queer theatre companies in Melbourne and giving them free rein to reimagine their scenes in any way they see fit for their season of Summer of the 17th Doll. It's an idea that PO PO MO CO's Artistic Director Kimberley Twiner is very excited to watch unfold for a number of reasons. "We’re passionate about queer representation. We grew up with basically no one like us on stage or screen," she tells me.

4:48 Psychosis review

Playwright Sarah Kane suffered from severe depression and it was at 4:48am when she would often wake up. Kane's final play 4:48 Psychosis, is an experimental show that has no characters, nor a number of actors required, no clear narrative and upon viewing it, feels more like a piece of poetry rather than theatre text.

Director and actor, Kendall-Jane Rundle is in the challenging role of the 'protagonist' in this production. Unfortunately, a stronger emotional connection to the material and work was needed to build on the subtleties required for a person experiencing the emotions described. Jeff Wortman does well in predominantly a role that attempts to keep Rundle's character safe and not listen to the fear and anxiety enveloping her. Alisha Eddy and Jessica Stevens complete the cast, and together are a  Greek chorus of two, often commenting on what is happening on stage or adding to the emotional tension.  

Top Ten Shows of 2015

I managed to see 154 shows this year! Not exactly sure how I managed that with life and everything but there you go. That's an average of one show every 2.3 days!

Yet again, I count the fact that I live in Melbourne to be a strong reason as to having seen so much this year. The performing art scene here is some type of wonderful and just so lucky to be able to experience so much variety on stage. 

There has been a huge number of theatre, dance, performance, cabaret, burlesque, circus and so much more to go see and experience this year. Interestingly enough there are quite a lot of circus and dance shows in my top ten this year.

Like I said last year, even if your work ranks at 154, big thanks to you for making that work and creating shows for people to see and experience. However, this is my list of ten ten show of 2015, so without further ado...

(If I reviewed the show, there is a link to the original review too)

1. FAG/STAG
The Last Great Hunt - review  

There have only been four shows I have seen more than twice in my life. FAG/STAG is one of them. Playing during the Melbourne Fringe Festival, it was a beautiful exploration of life, friendship and everything else in between.  
The story follows two best friends, Jimmy and Corgan (Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs - who also wrote this) and the lead up to the wedding of Corgan's ex-girlfriend. Their friendship, thoughts and feelings on life and love were explored through the small insignificant moments right up the big stuff.
Fowler and Isaacs brought much honesty and vulnerability to their characters and as writers, they knew when to go further with something and when to draw back and allow the audience come to their own conclusions.
Like I've stated previously, not only is FAG/STAG the kind of theatre that I wish was made more often but FAG/STAG is the kind of theatre  people need to go and see.

Goblins review

Melbourne-based theatre company, Panopticon Collective are dedicated to creating new Australian work that focus on national identity and social responsibility. Performed at La Mama as part of their Explorations season, their newest production, Goblins attempts to do just that, with mixed results.

The "goblins" in this work are six women from six historical eras ranging from 2000BC to 2015 who are telling six individual yet thematically similar stories. Each of these women face some sort of persecution for daring to have control of their mind and body and speaking up for what they believe in. Written by Jeni Bezuidenhout and Cassandra-Elli Yiannacou, each story is predominantly a ten minute monologue as we attempt to get inside these women's heads and see what drives them to be a courageous force as they confront their fears.

Made In China review | Q44 Theatre

You wouldn't expect the seedy underworld of Dublin to have much in common with martial arts, but in Mark O'Rowe's dark comedy, Made In China, these two worlds collide for three men, who are all facing their own power struggle with each other and gang politics. One wants to get out, one wants to get in and the other one want to remain on top.

Unfortunately, the story moves at an incredibly slow pace, with nothing happening until roughly the final 20 minutes of this two-hour play. Even when the plot reaches its climax, it still feels drawn out and lacks any suspense. There is minimal character development, which has these people come across as monotonous beings. Even by the end of the show, there is very little that has actually changed for these people in the greater scheme of things. 

High up in the gang food chain, Kirby (Stuart Jeanfield) is such a weird character that his menace and aggressiveness is farcical, and not in a good way. In fact, I found a lot of the humour in this to be quite a miss, particular the cringe inducing sexual overtone scenes with Kirby and his Nik Naks crisps. Hughie (Vaughn Rae) is more or less a passive pawn in his power struggle with Kirby from beginning to end. Damien Harrison as Paddy is fortunate enough to play a character that at least gets to go on an emotional journey and is somewhat changed by the end of the proceedings, even if the way it occurs seems forced.

Top Ten Shows of 2014

I managed to see 91 shows this year, down 31 from last year - but I blame the three weeks I spent in Peru and the three weeks I managed to watch 51 films at the Melbourne Film Festival! 

Again, it has been a variety of dance, performance, cabaret, burlesque, circus and the list continues. I do feel very lucky to be living in Melbourne, a city that has such a thriving and invigorating performing arts scene. So even if your show ranks in at 91, I would still like to give a big thank you to everyone involved with all the shows I saw and creating pieces of work for people to see and discuss.

However, this will be my list of only my top ten shows of 2014, so here we go...

If I reviewed the show on an official basis, the link to the review is attached.

1. Finucane & Smith's Global Smash Club (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

North Melbourne Town Hall

So I was in two minds about including this in my top ten because it wasn't exactly a show but rather different performances spread throughout the course of an evening at the Fringe Hub BUT when I considered them as a continuous flow of performances, I was gobsmacked and hypnotised by them. The highlight of the evening was Anna Lumb's gimp hip-hop rap in response to what art is. 

It's thethird F&S show I have seen (and already got my tickets booked for Caravan Burlesque) and the variety of artists and art forms continues to be daring, bold, affecting, confronting and extremely entertaining.

The Beast: A monster of an awful show.

DISCLAIMER: If you are planning on seeing The Beast, I do mention examples of the "humour" used so if you want to go in completely unawares, it's best to read this piece afterwards.

Just back from opening night of The Beast at Melbourne Theatre Company and never has a show left me feeling so angry and so frustrated at what has been passed off as satire and humour. I was so deeply pissed off by this show that I could not even bring myself to clap at the end and for the majority of the second act I sat there grim faced wondering just how low this could go, and at each scene I was more and more surprised by the answer.

My Top 10 Shows of 2013

So I managed to see 123 shows in 2013 - a variety of comedy, theatre, dance, performance arts and often something in between. Here are my top ten…
If I reviewed the show on an official basis, the link to the review is attached.

1. This Trick produced by Stella Electrika
    Performed at La MaMa Courthouse

Written and directed by Kat Henry, This Trick, tells the story of a young married couple, obsessively in love with each other.
Strong performances by the leads, Penny Harpham and Matt Hickey had me completely enveloped by the story and the level of commitment they brought to the roles was more than impressive.
The minimalist set design contrasted with the dynamic lighting and choreography was well thought out and placed in telling this story of such love, where even death is not enough to separate them.

REVIEW