My top ten shows at the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival

So another Melbourne Fringe festival comes to an end, and having watched 27 shows, I present to you my TOP 10!
If I reviewed the show on an official basis, the link to the review is attached.

1. FINUCANE & SMITH'S GLOBAL SMASH CLUB

So technically this was a free event at the Fringe Club BUT every single performance was amazing and I was thrilled to be able to see another Finucane and Smith show. I feel this shows encapsulates what Fringe should be all about, daring, bold, affecting, confronting and extremely entertaining.

Some acts I had seen before but with a show like this, once is never enough - still waiting to see a repeat of Finucane's act to U2's "With or Without You"- even after a year,  I still remember it so vividly. Highlight from this evening would have to be Anna Lumb's gimp hip-hop rap in response to what art is. 

My top ten films at the 2014 Melbourne International Film Festival

Another year, another Melbourne International Film Festival. Bought myself a passport and managed to surpass last year's effort of 37 films to 51 films.
This included films from Spain, USA, Germany, Australia, France, Taiwan, Georgia, India, China, South Korea, UK, Japan, Norway, Brazil, Iran, Austria, Canada, Finland, Mongolia and Italy

These are my top ten:

1. Mommy

I don't think Xavier Dolan can do any wrong. He gets such amazing work from his actors - in this case Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clement and Anne Dorval, who just about steals every scene she is as the mother to Steve, a troubled, violent youth who returns home.
The writing is flawless and Dolan creates a story that demands your attention. Some beautifully shot scenes including the "dream sequence" and a soundtrack that supports the development of the story. Cleverly filmed aspect ratio comes into effect at pivotal moments of the film too.
It reminded me a little of I Killed My Mother but (and not wanting to take away from its greatness either) much stronger all round.

Dan Savage and his "savage advice"

I happened to catch Dan Savage in Sydney give a talk as part of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Entitled "Savage Advice" he discussed the idea that infidelity is not the end of the world in the reality of long-term relationships and referred to his own "monogamish" relationship with his husband and how it can work for some people.

Savage informed us that 40-60% of men and 40-50% of women will cheat on their partners and as we invest so much time into relationships we should not walk away from them because of the occasional slip up. I could not disagree more. If you are going to commit to someone, you commit to someone. You don't commit to them part time. Firstly, creating a cute term like "monogamish" will not lessen the impact of what has occurred and I will not and can not accept "monogamish" into my life. Secondly, you either are monogamous or you're not. Just like you either are vegetarian, sexist or racist or not. No one is vegetarianish or sexistish or racistish.

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.

2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival Top 10 Shows

So another Melbourne Fringe festival comes to an end and so I present to you my TOP 10!
If I reviewed the show on an official basis, the link to the review is attached.

1. MKA: KIDS KILLING KIDS

Four young theatre makers take an adaptation of Battle Royale (an amazing Japanese movie) and create it for a Philippino audience. The response was something they never expected and here they tell us their story.

I really enjoyed this: it provoked some intelligent conversation about responsible theatre making and what in fact those responsibilities are. They are not arrogant to tell you the answers, but succeed in getting you talking about it.

This was very much a love it or hate it show as I know people who felt they were taking advantage of what had happened and trying to capitalise on it and had not really expressed any regret over what had happened. I personally, don't believe they need to.

REVIEW