There is one dance production included in the Sydney Festival’s 2009 program and it is a must see: not because it’s the only production: because it is spectacular.

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After an exciting first night opening party of the Sydney Festival, full of aural gluttony, as sounds spilled onto the Sydney CBD and a rainbow of multiple choice adventures to be decided upon: I opted to start my festival experience with The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy written by Finegan Kruckemeyer.

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Little Shop of Horrors by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, is a standard favourite among botanists and theatre practitioners alike offering a good dose of black comedy, toe tapping tunes and a hearty dose of moral excavation. Nurtured in the strong and skilled hands (and feet) of Stephen Colyer this beautifully presented cult classic of Music Theatre has it all: song, dance, an astounding array of talent and even a bloody thirsty plant!

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Sweetly irreverent, injected with innuendo and at times surreptitiously clever, Tripod are one of Australia’s premiere comedy acts, having performed all over the world in Fringe/comedy festivals and now in The world famous Speigletent in the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.

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It’s a busy time in Sydney at the moment: the Sydney Festival is on, Short and Sweet Festival is on.. and theatre folk (goers and makers of theatre) are still crawling out of Christmas like the munchkin children, dusting sleep from their eyes and perhaps the economic crisis has slowed the willy-nilly spending habits of the more conservative theatre goer. Hammerhead (is Dead) would have a lot to compete with if Nick Coyle (writer and director) didn’t have a giggling support group of twenty-somethings ready to enjoy his latest creation currently showing at The Stables.’

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A green triangular structure zig-zags down the centre of a black painted theatre in Darlinghurst. Occasional epileptic fits of green light stutter out of the black occasionally lighting the faces of four people who speak with one voice. Mark Ravenhill’s “pool (no water)” is a raw and robust production from square the circle neatly packed into 55 minutes of pure storytelling. Directed by Anthony Skuse this is theatre at its most unadorned. Language: muscular and potent. Performers: natural and transparent.

“Pool (no water)” centres on a collective of four (but what was five) artists who worked together on community based, thematically strong and issue based art. When “Sally” (unseen by the audience) left the collective and became successful as an artist on her own, the collective struggle to come to terms what that success means to them in their pursuit of beauty and art and success. Sally’s “success,” in its many material incantations, including that of a “pool” is greeted with smiling devastation amongst her colleagues (“friends”) who are left behind anonymous and still among the working impoverished. Bitter loathing and hidden resentment bubble to the surface as they confess their grief, anger and sheer exhilaration when witnessing the suffering of those succeed.

This is a remarkable and fascinating piece which asks us to confront the ugly side of human achievement: envy and shadenfraud. Who’s work is it? What is art for? What are we left with at the end of our lives? Is the endless pursuit of art, is that long-winded conversation of art which has been moaning on for thousands of years really, REALLY worth the effort and the angst, the struggle and the pain? Confronting every artist is the competition with their peers, with their contemporaries. Is the grass always greener and who gets what when and why? Who is more talented? More entitled? More successful? What is success? What are we reduced to but a mob of nasty egotistical hedonistic competitors hoping for the fall of someone else so we may have a chance to climb to the top of the heap? Is it all worth it when it makes such ugly creatures: is success really worth it?

All performers (Angela Bauer, Guy Edmonds, Lisa Griffiths and Sam Haft) are impressive storytellers who explore what it means to be yearning to be a part of a group: the basic pack/herd mentality humans possess: the need to belong. At times powerfully raw and others flippant and honest, Bauer, Edmonds, Griffiths and Haft command and control our attention, share and divide our opinions and ultimately leave us impressed and surprised at the simplicity with which a world can be constructed sans props, sans complicated set: fuelled by words.

Anthony Skuse has carved the long, winding “molten stream of dialogue” into a beautifully woven piece of theatre. The rhythm of the story is carried and bounced between actors with the aid of microphones and polyphonic sound design by the prolific and ever-impressive sound designer, Jeremy Silver. There is no doubt this is a devastating, surprising confessional. Lighting design by Verity Hampson is distinct and simple and allows the performers to weave in and out and around the lighting structure like a fence rail around a pool. Rita Carmody’s set and costume design are simple and functional: allowing the story to be the heart of the experience.

Simple and raw, pool (no water) reminds us of the power of the performer, of language and exposes the ugliness of competition. A very provocative piece of theatre and sometimes a little too close to the bone.

Review first published: 15/08/08 www.australianstage.com.au

There are actors on stage, on a couch, when the audience enters. Blank and comfortable, breathing as people who have barely moved do. We watch them watch the nothing on an old large TV and wait for something to happen. It’s the music which tells us, to watch them watching. The absence of sound, than a pastiche of theme tunes which easily affect and sway…as we begin Bumming with Jane.

Written by Tahli Corin and inspired by a short, winding poem by Charles Bukowski,  Bumming With Jane follows the lives of Patrick (Tahki Saul) and Jane (Sophie Cook) as they resourcefully manage and celebrate their “ragged-arse life” whilst dodging six months worth of rental payments to their Landlord Beverly (Gertraud Ingeborg). Patrick and Jane live from hand to mouth, week to week obliviously and completely in love. Using inventive ways to entertain each other for free and in order to sustain their life, Patrick and Jane go “dumpster diving” in search of all the “treasures” they need. Gradually, sacrifices are made, challenges are faced, and piece by piece the life they have together disintegrates into a collection of empty wine bottles and impassioned arguments out on the street.

Corin’s script is simply spectacular. Weaving story and character together: at times detailed, believable and emotionally honest, at others light and nearly invisible. We delve into the complex world of the “opposite to decadence, ” and the world of the hopelessly momentarily employed to the devastation of betrayal, all without us feeling resentment or anger towards the characters. Sophie Cook’s “Jane” is bright, fun and fragile which balances Tahki Saul’s solid, tender, mellow “Patrick.” Gertraud Ingeborg swings gracefully between seduction and power in her elegantly controlled “Bev”.   A beautiful cast who are robust and free in the hands of Mackereth’s sturdy and inventive direction. It is easy to love Patrick and Jane and easy to understand why they would love each other.

At times funny and sweet, at other times filled with terror and pain… Corin’s writing is elegantly poised where in the joy and random games are balanced by heart wrenching choice. It is the full range of a relationship: through laughter, tears and sickness … and we sit willing them to just… just… if only they just….

What is so surprising and beautiful about this production, is the tender and simple means in which Kellie Mackereth imparts this story. At times a shift in light from designer Sophie Kurylowicz, complimented by smooth electronic music by composer Rosie Chase, allows a graceful shift in time or space. Costume and set design by Melanie Paul is simple, highly textured and rustic… balancing ideas of clutter and sparseness seemingly simultaneously: the impulse to want to touch the back wall is ever present as is the shadows and reflections from the green glass sculpture upstage.

This production dares to be simple. Dares to speak simply about love, compromise, and money, and all obstacles in between. And in it’s simplicity, it  is perfect. Bumming with Jane offers us an alternative view of a road less travelled, which asks us to suspend our preconceived judgements on welfare and “centrer-stink”, on unemployment, on poverty and in the act of doing so, we begin to truly wish and believe that love will conquer all.

Miss Reardon Drinks a Little… whilst set in domestic dysfunction, is a play which according to director Nicholas Papademetriou, addresses the broader issues of “how the world is getting faster, madder and harder.” And if you are looking for a play exploring ideas pertaining to: advancing technology, changing social modes, spirituality, sibling rivalry, co-dependency, paternal abandonment, the education system, vegetarianism (and all its attendant politics), insanity, sexual indiscretions with a student, anal retention and workplace nepotism…. Well…here it is… Miss Reardon has it all… look no further…

Two sisters live in the apartment of their now deceased mother, after nursing her through her terminal illness. Anna (Lucinda Armour) is a teacher in the middle of a mental breakdown/phantom bout of rabies acquired from a stray cat, and is supported by her ever-attentive yet slightly alcoholic vice-principal sister Catherine (Helen O’Connor). When their estranged sister Ceil (Monique Spanbrook) arrives unexpectedly in her dual function as sister and superintendent of the education department, an unlikely power struggle erupts as the past is dredged up in an attempt to discover the reasons behind her sister’s breakdown. As the programme cover states: “One Night Three sisters, a whole lot of trouble…”

Trouble indeed… lots of it. Primarily, Paul Zindel’s play feels dusty and dull. Though valiant attempts to make the 1967 script pithy and relevant to a contemporary Australian audiences with mentions of “myspace” and “being sent to Iraq”, the sloppy structure of the play, decorated with functional and fleeting characters, namely Mrs Pentrano (Bernadette Hughson), an Avon lady of sorts and a hip hoppin’ delivery boy (Dominic di’Tommaso or Vincent Jones Varga depending on which night you attend), leaves a lot to be desired. The lengthy and monotonous conversations of the sisters are made even less tolerable due to the complete lack of character development within the script: what you see is truly what you get. Relief arrives briefly in the characters of Fleur (May Lloyd) and Bob (Nicholas Papademetriou) who drive the scenes with animated and vivacious confidence until they too wear out their welcome. Lloyd can be commended for her complete commitment to character, and for imbuing some subtext into, what, on the surface may be regarded as an homage to Fran Drescher. Accompanying the stale script drenched in exposition are cumbersome American accents that fluctuate as they flirt with the occasional Australian diphthong. One wonders what compelled the contemporization of the script, without neutralizing the accent? A change of time, but not of place? In addition to this, this reviewer was also left wondering what is the genre? At times played as an intense familial drama, at others action is fractured by the appearance of farcical fancy as the staunch vegetarian is encased in a fur coat… Is this a black comedy? Is it a comedy? How am I to understand the tragedy of woman’s breakdown? Who am I to believe? According to the New York Times’ quote on the website “The audience went berserk with the humour of this play” and I sincerely wonder why.

Unfortunately there are no answers offered in John Pryce Jones’ design. What is, in essence, a beautiful and poetic design concept (an apartment made of/encased in bubble wrap) is completely confused by hyper-realistic 50’s décor and furniture of an ill-designed house which is accompanied by a painted cityscape (inspired by Elwood Middle High Art Class, New York) and strange naive art portraits of the family (inspired by Bedford Middle High Art Class, Connecticut)…

Nicholas Higgins’s lighting design is adequate for the most part, but highly under utilized until the final moments of the play we finally see a clever and evocative use of light…but to what end?

There is no shortage of talent in this production: the cast is accomplished and the crew experienced however, 3Some Productions’ Miss Reardon Drinks a Little… is severely congested with too many ideas, too many issues, too many accents, too many design concepts, too much exposition and not enough rehearsal, leaving the whole experience anything but “faster, madder, harder.”

You may have seen shows at the Darlinghurst Theatre- perhaps the latest off Broadway or fringe theatre success: A dark comedic script hailing from the northern hemisphere or a moving dramatic quartet? Perhaps you have watched the space transform into hundreds of places, or plays or styles or colours: or perhaps you haven’t. Regardless, there is something very unique afoot at the Darlinghurst theatre, something which stretches beyond the regular confines of independent theatre: A musical!

Hello Again by Michael John Lachiusa, is a musical which is based upon La Ronde written by Arthur Schnitzler in 1900, a play which was considered scandalous and was banned for over 20 years after it was first written, being sited as pornographic. Hello Again, however Is a more recent reflection on the ideas presented in La Ronde: ideas about sexual predation and yearning for love, structured via a series of musical vignettes which trace the pattern of “predator” and “prey” thoroughout several decades.

Listed as type or title, the characters within this musical are defined by their coupling, in a chain which shows the progression of the interconnectedness between people. There are ten couples in all linked by sexual yearning: Whore (Lisa Callingham)/Soldier (Vincent Hooper); Soldier/ Nurse (Liz Stiles), Nurse /College Boy (Keane Fletcher); College Boy/ Young Wife (Katrina Retallick), Young Wife/ The Husband (Matt Young); The Husband/ The Young Thing (Gareth Keegan); The Young Thing/ The Writer (Zack Curran; The Writer/The Actress (Sigrid Langford-Scherf); The Actress/ The Senator (Nathan Carter). This cast is a strong and impressive group of performers: some recent WAAPA graduates, others seasoned musical theatre performers. Particular mention should go to Katrina Retallick for her portrayal of the Young wife, which is both a times acerbic and impatient and yet hauntingly tender. And Zach Curran’s “The Writer” who is so amazingly narcissistic and egotistical when wooing “The young Thing” and manages to shade the character with vulnerability and compliance in his coupling with “The Actress.”
The ensemble effect is very impressive on stage: at times the performers, dance through scene changes, offer close harmony back up singing, they move all set on and off the stage.., and create an impressive presence when all on stage.

Geoffrey Castles as musical director balances the demands of a complex contemporary score with the spatial and acoustic limitations of the venue with great ease. The simplicity of the accompaniment (by 4 musicians: Geoffrey Castles, Samantha Gilberthorpe, Kerryn Blanch, Greg Jones) is strong, mellow and adds a warmth to the production which would otherwise be missing. The gentle underscoring and at times abrupt orchestration is well suited to the theme and style of the production, which crosses several musical genres including Opera, Disco, and  80’s Rock.

Director Stephen Colyer, is a world class dancer and performer in his own right, having danced for the Australian Ballet and Feld Ballet in New York, and has directed and choreographed this production with great flare and creativity. At times the cast are indulging in some showy routines, at other times in an Argentinian tango and at others bodies melt into tableaux of statuesque beauty. Not be overlooked is also Colyers sense of fun and humour, which is sometimes kitsch and sometimes cheekily postmodern.

Colyer’s production is beautifully complimented by strong design from designers Iona McAuley (Set), Kate Williams (Costume), Gavan Swift (Lighting), Brooke Trezise (Sound) and Imogen Ross (Scenic Art). The set is a simple and elegant circular scrim which serves, as backdrop, divide, screen, curtains and at times creates an almost “soft focus” on the action. Costume design by Kate Williams is ornate and sophisticated, with hints of colour which echo throughout the production.

Although this is a visually fascinating, impressively choreographed and beautifully performed production, not all of “Hello Again” is easy to watch or hear. At times the discordant score jars with the sweet voiced performers. At times the failing and struggling relationships are difficult to watch. The repetition of lovers yearning, tormenting and destroying each other is exhausting. In a genre known for its hope and rosy view of love, this musical is fascinating as it completely subverts expectation. Love is fickle. Sex does not guarantee connection. And we are brought into the understanding that regardless of our intentions, we affect each other, damage each other and despite being ultimately connected to each other: whether we realise it or not. These ideas, ensure that “Hello Again” is more than a mere sexual romp, but an analysis of relationships.

With some strong performances, Colyer’s production of “Hello Again” is ambitious, clever, sexy and at times devastatingly tender and certainly a fantastic night out for those in search of provocation: on any level.

First Published: 11/10/07 www.australianstage.com.au
Wharf2Loud is hosting a double dose of plays from the bizarre and beguiling mind of Melbourne based playwright Lally Katz. Known for her absurdist and refreshingly self-referential explorations into unique and disturbing parallel universes, Waikiki Hip does not disappoint.

Firstly we are emersed in Waikiki Palace:  a “liquid candy” shot of holiday love through the eyes of Prairie, a thirty-something-year-old who has escaped the cruel indifference of her “sonofabitch ‘usband” and has tumbled into the arms of a much younger man.

Pippa Grandison is a strong yet dreamy “Prairie” who is destined to fall in love with “men who do not love her”. In her attempt to emulate a scene in the film “Punch Drunk Love”, she makes grand plans for her last night on Waikiki with Jack (Luke Ryan) to be as magical and romantic as she dreams until a chance encounter with a post-coital couple  Clay (Ben Adam) and  Eve (Sophie Ross) alters the course of her evening.

Peppered with quirky little ditties and moments of conversational naturalism; the fickleness of love, transience of sex and echoing after effects of the connections made on holidays, reverberate through the landscape of Waikiki.

Ben Adam is a comfortably swaggering “Clay” endowed with a heavy southern style accent who is beautifully complimented by Sophie Ross as the awkward co-student/18 year old part-time stripper, “Eve”. A stand out performance from Grandison as she slinks her way through the basic conversations with charm and sensuality.

The second half of the evening is Hip Hip Hooray. The previously veiled set in Waikiki Hip is revealed to show a stylised and cubist set by designer Halycyon Pratt, which is as bright as a playschool episode and complete with an birthday- cake-bearing “Apocalyse Bear”. It is in this play that they bravery and excitement of the Katz/Kohn partnership screams out into the audience.

Ben Adam plays Wilbur, quadriplegic husband of Stepford -wife Alice (Grandison), who welcome a geriatric Pakistani squash champion (Luke Ryan) and his “much younger” girlfriend Catta (Sophie Ross) over for dinner. This piece, though splattered with witty and interesting dialogue and dilemmas involving all manner of appropriate behaviour, is devastating. This brilliantly executed piece is a great testament to the performers ability to commit to the challenges Katz weaves through her scripts. Sophie Ross is particularly heart wrenching and fascinating as a Catta and Luke Ryans’ boundless energy and vivacity and mesmerizing performance as Hashim keeps the see-saw of hilarity/confusion and inexorable heartbreak evenly balanced.

Hip Hip Hooray employs the very best of Luiz Papolha paints light into each scene making time and place expand and contract with great ease and effectiveness. Digital images by Scott Otto Anderson are both functional and artistic and are used in great effectiveness in Hip Hip Hooray, though only subtly and sparingly incorporated in Waikiki Palace. Jethro Woodward’s underscoring of both pieces is powerfully tense and a perfect synergy with Chris Kohn’s direction.

At the heart of what could be experienced as a kitsch romp into popular culture, vacuous conversation and selfish preoccupations with shoes, success and fame is a very real and tender centre about love, aging and expectation. Katz seems to throw back the simple intricacies of conversation and awkward interactions with a cartoonish quality. Yet, what is most disturbing of all is the under current of suffering which penetrates the smiling babbling awkward folk.  This is contemporary writing at its most vivid and Chris Kohn handles the direction with courage and humour.

This is an exciting and visceral evening of theatre and an important inclusion in the Wharf2Loud’s program as the step up into production from the 2006 Push season rehearsed readings in which Waikiki Palace was first presented.