I'm adding my voice to the chorus of raves about this production
here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/les-liaisons-dangereuses-188698?sc=1
Christopher Hampton’s Les Liasons Dangereuses is about morals, ethics, control, sexual politics, cynical manipulation and the shattering of innocence, in a world where everything is hidden behind a facade and no-one is what they seem. Le Vicomte de Valmont (Hugo Weaving) and the Marquise de Merteuil (Pamela Rabe) try to amuse themselves, warding off ennui by gambling extremely high stakes in a battle neither of them can afford to lose. Both appear to be juggling things successfully, but we soon learn that toying with people’s emotions can lead to disaster.
With his fabulous cast and excellent creative team, director Sam Strong brings us a magnificent production - fluid, almost conematic - that enthralls, horrifies and has you on the edge of your seat. De Laclos’ book, upon which Hampton’s play is based, was first published in 1782. The play, full of ironic, almost Wildean wit, was written in 1985.
The rather complicated plot unravels like this: the Marquise and Vicomte have a history, now hidden by the vengeful plans with which they tease and delight each other. The Vicomte’s first target is Mme De Tourvel (Justine Clark) who is temporarily living with his aunt, Mme de Rosemonde (Jane Harders) while her husband is away. The Vicomte views this as a challenge to his prowess: making a virtuous married woman succumb to him and abandon all her strictly held morals and beliefs.
Simultaneously the Marquise urges the Vicomte to seduce and corrupt the virginal, innocent Cecile de Volanges (Geraldine Hakewill) the daughter of her ‘friend’ Mme De Volanges (Heather Mitchell). This would be a sweet revenge as the man Cecile is meant to to marry has recently dropped the Marquise as a lover. However, Cecile is in love with her music tutor, the Chevalier Danceny (dreamily handsome James Mackay) and the Vicomte and the Marquise cunningly pretend to offer their services to ‘further’ the romance between Cecile and the Chevalier while actually using and sleeping with them as part of their own perverse plans. With the enforced breakdown and betrayal of the relationship between Mme de Tourvel and the Vicomte (it is ‘beyond his control’) , war is declared between the Marquise and the Vicomte with eventually tragic, fatal results.
Pamela Rabe as the ruthless Marquise is magnificent, thrillingly cruel and powerful, elegant and poised in her silver bobbed hair. As the satyr-like and charming but aging rake, the Vicomte, Hugo Weaving is superb: hypnotic and devilishly desirable, an aristocratic Don Juan.
Justine Clark as the betrayed, exquisitely Grace Kelly-like Mme De Tourvel is fabulous; her despairing throwing over all her moral scruples and ‘ruining’ herself for love is magnificently portrayed.
As the young, innocent, eventually corrupted Cecile, Geraldine Hakewill is tremendous. Heather Mitchell as her elegant mother Mme De Volanges is equally brilliant.
Tall, leggy Ashley Ricardo sizzles in the minor role of Emilie, and Jane Harders as old world weary Mme De Rosemonde is terrific.
Only rarely are you able to see such an intricate, multi-layered production featuring such fine acting from the entire ensemble.
Strong’s production updates the story to contemporary times, typified by Mel Page’s stunning, elegant outfits, though Dale Ferguson’s marvellous white, light and airy Rococo-like set designs hint at the play’s original setting of pre-Revolutionary France. Alan John’s score blends delicate, limpid Baroque piano with eerie, relentless metronomic contemporary beats, culminating in a gripping climactic scene of Russian Roulette in Act 2.
If you haven’t already, quick, book now for this gripping, chilling production.
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Les Liasons Dangereuses
By Christopher Hampton
From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos
Director: Sam Strong
Set Design: Dale Ferguson
Costume Design: Mel Page
Lighting: Hartley T A Kemp
Composer: Alan John
Sound Design: Steve Francis
Assistant Director: James Dalton
Cast: Justine Clark, Geraldine Hakewill, Jane Harders, James Mackay, Heather Mitchell, TJ Power, Pamela Rabe, Ashley Ricardo and Hugo Weaving
Running Time: 2 hours 45 mins (approx) including interval
Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1
April 5 – June 19
Monday, 23 April 2012
Sondheim's Company
a most wonderful movie - more please!
here's what I said for Sydney Arts Guide
http://sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1030
They don't come much better than this! For Sondheim fans this is sheer magic, with exceptional performances by a stellar Broadway cast - glorious theatrical heaven.
Filmed at Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Centre in New York in April 2011, a top flight cast joined forces with the marvelous 35 piece New York Philharmonic Orchestra , under the sparkling conducting of Paul Gemignani, to bring us a 'concert' ( ie semi-staged ) version of COMPANY (book by book by George Furth, music and lyrics Stephen Sondheim), that is full of verve and panache. There is clear and uncluttered camera work, with intense close ups and it really 'works'. The translation from stage to screen is extremely effective.
While it is a concert performance, the fluid, flexible staging (some chairs/tables/sofas that slide across/in or out and the inclusion of a railing that separates the cast from the conductor for example) is excellently managed.
Neil Patrick Harris ( 'from ' How I Met Your Mother' ) in the pivotal role of Bobby is superb, spot on as the single , thirty five year old, warm, wry, questioning birthday boy, who feels pressured by all his friends to get married. His birthday is, in fact, celebrated three times in the show - are they the same birthday?! It doesn't really matter. The show is about his reaction to this pressure, his mid life crisis and an analysis of the marriages of his five coupled friends. Do they think Bobby is ready for marriage? What is it like being married? How do marriages work?
By the end of the show, he hasn't changed that much - he is still hesitant about marriage and commitment and unmarried, unable to say I love you. But Bobby's 'Being Alive' can be seen as exuberant, life affirming yet digging deep in self analysis as tremendously performed by Harris.
In a series of vignettes, we first met Sarah (Martha Plumpton ) and Harry (Steve Colbert) - Bobby becomes delightfully entangled in their karate practice, Sarah's food problems (is she secretly a bullimic?) and Harry's drinking situation. With David ( Jon Cryer) and Jenny (Jennifer Laura Thompson), Bobby gets hilariously stoned. He is best man at Amy ( Katie Finneran) and Paul's ( Aaron Lazar) disastrous wedding , visits Susan ( Jill Paice ) and Peter ( Craig Bierko), admiring the view on their balcony, and being embarrassingly chatted up by Peter and joins Joanne (Patti Lupone) and Larry (Jim Walton) for drinks....plus there are the assorted girlfriends in his life April (Christina Hendricks) Kathy (Chryssie Whitehead) and Marta (Anika Noni Rose)- who perform the Andrew Sisters’s like 'You Could Drive A Person Crazy'. Is Bobby in fact scared of marriage and commitment or is it that he hasn't met Miss Right yet?!
Leggy Chryssie Whitehead as Kathy shines especially when leading the hot Sweet Charity like dancing during 'Tick Tock', while Bobby is seducing April. Act 2 has a huge production number ( 'Side By Side') that is a traditional musical showstopper with tapping cane, soft shoe shuffle , straw boaters and 'the works ',with nifty razzle-dazzle choreography in the style of 'Gypsy' ,'A Chorus Line ' or 'Cabaret'.
The song brings the house down as do several other numbers: for example stunning Marta (Anika Noni Rose) has the bright, excited 'Another Hundred People'. Special mention must be made of Amy's (Katie Finneran) jittery descent into pre wedding nerves and almost madness in 'Getting Married Today'.
Broadway superdiva Patti Lupone, as cynical, world weary Joanne, in an elegant black lacy pantsuit, stops the show completely with her magnificent rendition of ' The ladies who lunch'. Simply sensational…
This is seemingly part of a small but growing trend of 'cinecasts ' of opera , theatre and ballet and dance (eg the National Theatre from London screenings ) bringing the productions to a wider audience .Long may it continue!
The running time is 2 hours 45 minutes including one interval.
© Lynne Lancaster
1 April, 2012
Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- COMPANY, Stephen Sondheim, George Furth, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster.
here's what I said for Sydney Arts Guide
http://sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1030
They don't come much better than this! For Sondheim fans this is sheer magic, with exceptional performances by a stellar Broadway cast - glorious theatrical heaven.
Filmed at Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Centre in New York in April 2011, a top flight cast joined forces with the marvelous 35 piece New York Philharmonic Orchestra , under the sparkling conducting of Paul Gemignani, to bring us a 'concert' ( ie semi-staged ) version of COMPANY (book by book by George Furth, music and lyrics Stephen Sondheim), that is full of verve and panache. There is clear and uncluttered camera work, with intense close ups and it really 'works'. The translation from stage to screen is extremely effective.
While it is a concert performance, the fluid, flexible staging (some chairs/tables/sofas that slide across/in or out and the inclusion of a railing that separates the cast from the conductor for example) is excellently managed.
Neil Patrick Harris ( 'from ' How I Met Your Mother' ) in the pivotal role of Bobby is superb, spot on as the single , thirty five year old, warm, wry, questioning birthday boy, who feels pressured by all his friends to get married. His birthday is, in fact, celebrated three times in the show - are they the same birthday?! It doesn't really matter. The show is about his reaction to this pressure, his mid life crisis and an analysis of the marriages of his five coupled friends. Do they think Bobby is ready for marriage? What is it like being married? How do marriages work?
By the end of the show, he hasn't changed that much - he is still hesitant about marriage and commitment and unmarried, unable to say I love you. But Bobby's 'Being Alive' can be seen as exuberant, life affirming yet digging deep in self analysis as tremendously performed by Harris.
In a series of vignettes, we first met Sarah (Martha Plumpton ) and Harry (Steve Colbert) - Bobby becomes delightfully entangled in their karate practice, Sarah's food problems (is she secretly a bullimic?) and Harry's drinking situation. With David ( Jon Cryer) and Jenny (Jennifer Laura Thompson), Bobby gets hilariously stoned. He is best man at Amy ( Katie Finneran) and Paul's ( Aaron Lazar) disastrous wedding , visits Susan ( Jill Paice ) and Peter ( Craig Bierko), admiring the view on their balcony, and being embarrassingly chatted up by Peter and joins Joanne (Patti Lupone) and Larry (Jim Walton) for drinks....plus there are the assorted girlfriends in his life April (Christina Hendricks) Kathy (Chryssie Whitehead) and Marta (Anika Noni Rose)- who perform the Andrew Sisters’s like 'You Could Drive A Person Crazy'. Is Bobby in fact scared of marriage and commitment or is it that he hasn't met Miss Right yet?!
Leggy Chryssie Whitehead as Kathy shines especially when leading the hot Sweet Charity like dancing during 'Tick Tock', while Bobby is seducing April. Act 2 has a huge production number ( 'Side By Side') that is a traditional musical showstopper with tapping cane, soft shoe shuffle , straw boaters and 'the works ',with nifty razzle-dazzle choreography in the style of 'Gypsy' ,'A Chorus Line ' or 'Cabaret'.
The song brings the house down as do several other numbers: for example stunning Marta (Anika Noni Rose) has the bright, excited 'Another Hundred People'. Special mention must be made of Amy's (Katie Finneran) jittery descent into pre wedding nerves and almost madness in 'Getting Married Today'.
Broadway superdiva Patti Lupone, as cynical, world weary Joanne, in an elegant black lacy pantsuit, stops the show completely with her magnificent rendition of ' The ladies who lunch'. Simply sensational…
This is seemingly part of a small but growing trend of 'cinecasts ' of opera , theatre and ballet and dance (eg the National Theatre from London screenings ) bringing the productions to a wider audience .Long may it continue!
The running time is 2 hours 45 minutes including one interval.
© Lynne Lancaster
1 April, 2012
Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- COMPANY, Stephen Sondheim, George Furth, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster.
Supermodern Dance of Distraction
a most interesting show at Parramatta
here's what I said for Sydney Arts Guide
http://sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1029
Fast, fascinating and fluid, this is a delightful work that showcases four excellent dancers. Choreographer Anton has brought together four terrific dancers ( Kristina Chan, Robbie Curtis, Sophia Ndaba, Timothy Ohl) in a work that is a collage of highly skilled yet very accessible dance, which is embodied by movement that is inspired by the fast paced multi tasking world we live in.
The dancer's various characters are caught between themselves and the rapid pace and change of today's world. In a humourous way the work also examines the idea of personal ideology and the concept of personal space. It also looks at human experience within the social structure of a group or couple, and blurs the borders between physical and conceptual space.
Some of Anton's marvellous choreography uses repeated phrases of small everyday movements ( twitches, a hand…) and can be quite sculptural or like exploding stars. In other sections it can be robotic and extremely controlled. This is contrasted with a section that has ecstatic jumps .Each of the four dancers (who are in casual street clothes) have small showy solos . Fragments of the work are reminiscent of Chunky Moves' 'I Like This' and Murphy's 'Poppy''.
One segment examines how we see ourselves and how we are viewed by others in society - large white 'picture frames' are manipulated and 'posed' in. This section leads to a segment where one of the characters seemingly has nightmares and is unsympathetically treated by the others. There is also a section that uses the idea of looking at yourself in the mirror and reflections that leads to a wonderful, quite difficult pas de deux with the dancers ending up kissing passionately through the piece of glass. There are some 'cool' explosive martial arts like pirrouettes and jumps for the men included. Some use is made of mirroring /echoing in pairs at various points.
In another funny segment towards the end, that the audience loved, the dancers become various sorts of flashing lights (almost in semaphore) and beeps , like a truck reversing, or at an airport, or streetlights. Much fun, as is the pretend use of mobile phones at one stage.
Towards the end there is a section where microphones are used and it is quite rock -star like. In one section there are two large plastic frames that could be doors/beds/barriers that are used to great effect.
The set design is deceptively sparse and simple, almost a 'black box ' studio, but with the lighting rig in a square defining the performance space.
Guy Harding's excellent lighting includes a segment that very effectively uses projections and red with great shadow effects. Some viewers might need to be aware that strobe lighting is used.
The relentless, pounding, driven score, commissioned by Jai Pyne, Nick Wales and Timothy Constable, is very powerful and can be quite overwhelming.
Summing up, this was a mesmerizing, thought provoking work showing off four terrific dancers and exciting choreography. The mostly schools audience that attended the performance I went to were extremely enthusiastic. The silver gliiter/confetti at the end was enchanting - perhaps a symbol of hope?
Anton's SUPERMODERN: DANCE OF DISTRACTION, with a running time of one hour straight through, opened at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre on Wednesday 28th March and plays until Saturday 31st March, 2012.
© Lynne Lancaster
30th March, 2012
Tags: Sydney Dance Review- Supermodern: Dance of Distraction, Anton, Parramatta Riverside Theatre, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster
here's what I said for Sydney Arts Guide
http://sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1029
Fast, fascinating and fluid, this is a delightful work that showcases four excellent dancers. Choreographer Anton has brought together four terrific dancers ( Kristina Chan, Robbie Curtis, Sophia Ndaba, Timothy Ohl) in a work that is a collage of highly skilled yet very accessible dance, which is embodied by movement that is inspired by the fast paced multi tasking world we live in.
The dancer's various characters are caught between themselves and the rapid pace and change of today's world. In a humourous way the work also examines the idea of personal ideology and the concept of personal space. It also looks at human experience within the social structure of a group or couple, and blurs the borders between physical and conceptual space.
Some of Anton's marvellous choreography uses repeated phrases of small everyday movements ( twitches, a hand…) and can be quite sculptural or like exploding stars. In other sections it can be robotic and extremely controlled. This is contrasted with a section that has ecstatic jumps .Each of the four dancers (who are in casual street clothes) have small showy solos . Fragments of the work are reminiscent of Chunky Moves' 'I Like This' and Murphy's 'Poppy''.
One segment examines how we see ourselves and how we are viewed by others in society - large white 'picture frames' are manipulated and 'posed' in. This section leads to a segment where one of the characters seemingly has nightmares and is unsympathetically treated by the others. There is also a section that uses the idea of looking at yourself in the mirror and reflections that leads to a wonderful, quite difficult pas de deux with the dancers ending up kissing passionately through the piece of glass. There are some 'cool' explosive martial arts like pirrouettes and jumps for the men included. Some use is made of mirroring /echoing in pairs at various points.
In another funny segment towards the end, that the audience loved, the dancers become various sorts of flashing lights (almost in semaphore) and beeps , like a truck reversing, or at an airport, or streetlights. Much fun, as is the pretend use of mobile phones at one stage.
Towards the end there is a section where microphones are used and it is quite rock -star like. In one section there are two large plastic frames that could be doors/beds/barriers that are used to great effect.
The set design is deceptively sparse and simple, almost a 'black box ' studio, but with the lighting rig in a square defining the performance space.
Guy Harding's excellent lighting includes a segment that very effectively uses projections and red with great shadow effects. Some viewers might need to be aware that strobe lighting is used.
The relentless, pounding, driven score, commissioned by Jai Pyne, Nick Wales and Timothy Constable, is very powerful and can be quite overwhelming.
Summing up, this was a mesmerizing, thought provoking work showing off four terrific dancers and exciting choreography. The mostly schools audience that attended the performance I went to were extremely enthusiastic. The silver gliiter/confetti at the end was enchanting - perhaps a symbol of hope?
Anton's SUPERMODERN: DANCE OF DISTRACTION, with a running time of one hour straight through, opened at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre on Wednesday 28th March and plays until Saturday 31st March, 2012.
© Lynne Lancaster
30th March, 2012
Tags: Sydney Dance Review- Supermodern: Dance of Distraction, Anton, Parramatta Riverside Theatre, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster
Sydney Dance- 2 One Another
a fabulous show loved it
here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/2-one-another-188242
At times detached, at others intimate, mesmerizing, glittering and lyrical, this world premiere by Sydney Dance Company with choreography by Rafael Bonachela will have you rapt and breathless.
A plotless work, 2 One Another seeks to explore the ‘experience of connecting and disconnecting, of being part of a group yet simultaneously alone, individual. To feel whole or crushingly empty. To know and experience the difference between solitude and loneliness, contrasted with being part of a larger group, interacting (or not) with many multifaceted networks which are there, with or without Me.’
It opens with crashing thunder and a blinding lightning strike and ends with a sculptural, posed pas de deux in a vivid red sunset.
The amazing dancers perform Bonachela’s challenging, demanding choreography superbly. Technically the dancers are more than marvellous, and seem boneless. Tiny everyday gestures (a hand, a foot, an animal yawn, the touch of a finger or elbow) are taken and expanded and developed into extraordinary choreographic phrases.
A large part of the work is a series of sculptural solos, duets or trios – sometimes pas de quatre or pas de cinq – that are dazzling. In particular there are solos for Chen Wen, Richard Cilli and Charmene Yap, and a duet for Natalie Allen and Andrew Crawford that are especially breathtaking. The dancers perform captivating calligraphy in space, swirling in ecstatic, creamy movement. In the looming, ominous ensemble sections they can appear emphatically solid and automated. In one section Bonachela favours using a deep Graham plie and there is also a possible hint of Bangarra influence. Attempting to explore the philosophy of human relationships, theirs is a human, controlled, physical and bodily reaction to emotional impulses; the final results of a combined poet’s expression and choreographer’s vision.
The stage is bare, with a white floor, to showcase the magnificent dance. Tony Assness and Benjamin Cisterne’s marvellous designs, using the specially imported giant soft LED screen range from cold, blinding sharply electronic vertical lights to magical, lyrical swirling and twirling trails of stars. There is also an ominous yet warming glowing red light at one point.
Assness’ costume beautiful designs are all subtly, individually different (the cut of a sleeve or the neckline for example). For about three quarters of the show the dancers are clad in layered, semi transparent, blue-grey futuristic leotards, then in bold, flowing red for the last part. (I agree with my colleague who didn’t like the distracting luminous yellow emphasis on the zip at the back for the bluey-grey costumes.) And it seems to be the ‘in’ thing for the men to be neatly bearded.
Nick Wales’ soundscape, a blend of original and existing music, ranges from haunting Baroque to driving, relentless electronic pulsating rhythms, and is seamlessly woven into the performance; an integral part of it . His score also includes voiceovers from the work of poet Samuel Webster, the text developed as part of the collaborative creative process.
A stellar performance of magnificent dancing.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
2 One Another
Sydney Dance Company
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela
Production & Costume Design: Tony Assness
Creative Direction of Screen Content: Tony Assness
Lighting Design: Benjamin Cisterne
Original Music: Nick Wales
Text: Samuel Webster
Sound: Adam Iusyon
Sydney Theatre
March 9 – 31
here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/2-one-another-188242
At times detached, at others intimate, mesmerizing, glittering and lyrical, this world premiere by Sydney Dance Company with choreography by Rafael Bonachela will have you rapt and breathless.
A plotless work, 2 One Another seeks to explore the ‘experience of connecting and disconnecting, of being part of a group yet simultaneously alone, individual. To feel whole or crushingly empty. To know and experience the difference between solitude and loneliness, contrasted with being part of a larger group, interacting (or not) with many multifaceted networks which are there, with or without Me.’
It opens with crashing thunder and a blinding lightning strike and ends with a sculptural, posed pas de deux in a vivid red sunset.
The amazing dancers perform Bonachela’s challenging, demanding choreography superbly. Technically the dancers are more than marvellous, and seem boneless. Tiny everyday gestures (a hand, a foot, an animal yawn, the touch of a finger or elbow) are taken and expanded and developed into extraordinary choreographic phrases.
A large part of the work is a series of sculptural solos, duets or trios – sometimes pas de quatre or pas de cinq – that are dazzling. In particular there are solos for Chen Wen, Richard Cilli and Charmene Yap, and a duet for Natalie Allen and Andrew Crawford that are especially breathtaking. The dancers perform captivating calligraphy in space, swirling in ecstatic, creamy movement. In the looming, ominous ensemble sections they can appear emphatically solid and automated. In one section Bonachela favours using a deep Graham plie and there is also a possible hint of Bangarra influence. Attempting to explore the philosophy of human relationships, theirs is a human, controlled, physical and bodily reaction to emotional impulses; the final results of a combined poet’s expression and choreographer’s vision.
The stage is bare, with a white floor, to showcase the magnificent dance. Tony Assness and Benjamin Cisterne’s marvellous designs, using the specially imported giant soft LED screen range from cold, blinding sharply electronic vertical lights to magical, lyrical swirling and twirling trails of stars. There is also an ominous yet warming glowing red light at one point.
Assness’ costume beautiful designs are all subtly, individually different (the cut of a sleeve or the neckline for example). For about three quarters of the show the dancers are clad in layered, semi transparent, blue-grey futuristic leotards, then in bold, flowing red for the last part. (I agree with my colleague who didn’t like the distracting luminous yellow emphasis on the zip at the back for the bluey-grey costumes.) And it seems to be the ‘in’ thing for the men to be neatly bearded.
Nick Wales’ soundscape, a blend of original and existing music, ranges from haunting Baroque to driving, relentless electronic pulsating rhythms, and is seamlessly woven into the performance; an integral part of it . His score also includes voiceovers from the work of poet Samuel Webster, the text developed as part of the collaborative creative process.
A stellar performance of magnificent dancing.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
2 One Another
Sydney Dance Company
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela
Production & Costume Design: Tony Assness
Creative Direction of Screen Content: Tony Assness
Lighting Design: Benjamin Cisterne
Original Music: Nick Wales
Text: Samuel Webster
Sound: Adam Iusyon
Sydney Theatre
March 9 – 31
Ensemble The Gingerbread Lady
here's what I said for Artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/the-gingerbread-lady-188427
The current production at the wonderful Ensemble Theatre marks the only time in its 53 year history that a play has been given a second revival. Written by Neil Simon in 1970, The Gingerbread Lady features a serious subtext lurking beneath a selection of wonderful repartee, sarcastic one liners and scintillating wit.
The play’s title comes from one of the birthday presents that struggling cabaret singer Evy Meara gave her daughter Polly, when Polly was a little girl – a gingerbread cottage, with a gingerbread mother standing at the window included. When the cottage crumbles – beware!
The play begins when Evy (Kate Raison) returns home from rehab, to be met and supported by her long time friends, ‘resting’ actor Jimmy (Tamblyn Lord) and beautiful, self obsessed socialite and blocked writer Toby (Danielle Carter) All three friends seek to disguise their wounds with makeup, booze, self-depreciation or a potent combination of all three. Unexpectedly, Evy’s now-teenage daughter Polly (Kellie Clarke) turns up, and what follows is a deliciously witty, warm and eventually life affirming play about love, the solidarity of friendship, and mother/daughter relationships.
In the tradition of the well structured play, Act One introduces and establishes the characters, and Act Two is where the major crises hit – on Toby’s 40th birthday. When a party has been planned, Toby’s husband announces he wants a divorce. The same day, Jimmy is fired from the show he was working on, three days before opening night. Both have major meltdowns – brilliant, hysterical, over the top set pieces, superbly played by Lord and Carter. No wonder Evy is driven to drink!
In Act Two we see Evy slowly getting drunker and drunker, becoming rude, insulting, and slowly disintegrating. In Act Three the pieces are tidied away with a possibly happy resolution, or at least the chance of it.
In the pivotal role of Evy, Kate Raison is brilliant; alternately sober, warm, witty and caring, or embarrassingly drunk. She is especially stunning in Act Two, in a spectacular red dress. Evy obviously needs help in picking up the disintegrating pieces of her life and is in denial about just how bad her drinking is.
As Jimmy, who suffers the slings and arrows of outraged fortune in a terrible Broadway show, Lord is fabulous.
The exquisite, beautifully elegant Carter gives a magnificent performance as Toby, who is always conscious of her beauty and femininity, and uses it to great effect to look after herself.
As Evy’s daughter Polly, Kellie Clarke is excellent, just right as the feisty but caring 17 year old. As this is the 1970’s she is dressed hippie-like, a ‘flower child’ and is into marijuana. She attempts to make her mother be a mother and ends up instead, with grudging respect, mothering her.
Adriano Cappelletta is great in the double role of uppity delivery boy Manuel and Latin stud Lou, Evy’s ex; an unwanted, uninvited visitor whose infidelity originally drove Evy to drink. He does love her, admitting that their life together, however searing and harrowing, was the best eight months of his career. But he has a tendency to lose his temper and blacken Evy’s eyes (and more) when a lyric won’t flow, when his guitar is broken...
Graham Maclean’s designs for Evy’s place bring it to life as a cluttered, very 70’s messy yet elegant home (one gathers it has been rather abnormally tidied for Evy’s return).
A serious yet extremely witty examination of some thought-provoking issues. Director Sandra Bates has gathered together a very strong cast and production team for this very good version of Simon’s dark drama.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The Gingerbread Lady
By Neil Simon
Directed by Sandra Bates
Designer Graham Maclean
Lighting Scott Allan
Wardrobe Coordinator Lisette Endacott Cast: Tamblyn Lord, Adriano Cappelletta, Danielle Carter, Kate Raison and Kellie Clarke
Ensemble Theatre
March 15 – 28
Running time 2 hrs 45 mins including 2 intervals
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/the-gingerbread-lady-188427
The current production at the wonderful Ensemble Theatre marks the only time in its 53 year history that a play has been given a second revival. Written by Neil Simon in 1970, The Gingerbread Lady features a serious subtext lurking beneath a selection of wonderful repartee, sarcastic one liners and scintillating wit.
The play’s title comes from one of the birthday presents that struggling cabaret singer Evy Meara gave her daughter Polly, when Polly was a little girl – a gingerbread cottage, with a gingerbread mother standing at the window included. When the cottage crumbles – beware!
The play begins when Evy (Kate Raison) returns home from rehab, to be met and supported by her long time friends, ‘resting’ actor Jimmy (Tamblyn Lord) and beautiful, self obsessed socialite and blocked writer Toby (Danielle Carter) All three friends seek to disguise their wounds with makeup, booze, self-depreciation or a potent combination of all three. Unexpectedly, Evy’s now-teenage daughter Polly (Kellie Clarke) turns up, and what follows is a deliciously witty, warm and eventually life affirming play about love, the solidarity of friendship, and mother/daughter relationships.
In the tradition of the well structured play, Act One introduces and establishes the characters, and Act Two is where the major crises hit – on Toby’s 40th birthday. When a party has been planned, Toby’s husband announces he wants a divorce. The same day, Jimmy is fired from the show he was working on, three days before opening night. Both have major meltdowns – brilliant, hysterical, over the top set pieces, superbly played by Lord and Carter. No wonder Evy is driven to drink!
In Act Two we see Evy slowly getting drunker and drunker, becoming rude, insulting, and slowly disintegrating. In Act Three the pieces are tidied away with a possibly happy resolution, or at least the chance of it.
In the pivotal role of Evy, Kate Raison is brilliant; alternately sober, warm, witty and caring, or embarrassingly drunk. She is especially stunning in Act Two, in a spectacular red dress. Evy obviously needs help in picking up the disintegrating pieces of her life and is in denial about just how bad her drinking is.
As Jimmy, who suffers the slings and arrows of outraged fortune in a terrible Broadway show, Lord is fabulous.
The exquisite, beautifully elegant Carter gives a magnificent performance as Toby, who is always conscious of her beauty and femininity, and uses it to great effect to look after herself.
As Evy’s daughter Polly, Kellie Clarke is excellent, just right as the feisty but caring 17 year old. As this is the 1970’s she is dressed hippie-like, a ‘flower child’ and is into marijuana. She attempts to make her mother be a mother and ends up instead, with grudging respect, mothering her.
Adriano Cappelletta is great in the double role of uppity delivery boy Manuel and Latin stud Lou, Evy’s ex; an unwanted, uninvited visitor whose infidelity originally drove Evy to drink. He does love her, admitting that their life together, however searing and harrowing, was the best eight months of his career. But he has a tendency to lose his temper and blacken Evy’s eyes (and more) when a lyric won’t flow, when his guitar is broken...
Graham Maclean’s designs for Evy’s place bring it to life as a cluttered, very 70’s messy yet elegant home (one gathers it has been rather abnormally tidied for Evy’s return).
A serious yet extremely witty examination of some thought-provoking issues. Director Sandra Bates has gathered together a very strong cast and production team for this very good version of Simon’s dark drama.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The Gingerbread Lady
By Neil Simon
Directed by Sandra Bates
Designer Graham Maclean
Lighting Scott Allan
Wardrobe Coordinator Lisette Endacott Cast: Tamblyn Lord, Adriano Cappelletta, Danielle Carter, Kate Raison and Kellie Clarke
Ensemble Theatre
March 15 – 28
Running time 2 hrs 45 mins including 2 intervals
Monday, 12 March 2012
I Love You You're Perfect Now Change by the Regals Musical Society
A great show much enjoyed
here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change-187735
Subtitled ‘Everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws but were afraid to admit’, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change first opened off-Broadway in 1996 and closed in 2008 after more than 5000 performances. It has been translated into at least 14 different languages and produced everywhere from London to China, Norway to Turkey. In this version it has been adapted for Sydney audiences, with references to Tim Tams, the HSC, Long Bay Jail and the Coles/Woolworths dispute among other things.
The show opens and closes with the cast, hooded and cloaked as Mediaeval-style monks, making a dramatic procession through the audience, with 'Biblical' quotes about the fall of mankind and how men and women are made for each other. Then – bang!
With minimal sets and props (just four podium/rostra-like boxes – in red, blue, green and yellow – that convert to tables, chairs, beds etc), some use of video cameras and screens, and lots of costume and character changes, the fabulous cast under the excellent direction of Lauren Nalty bring us a hilarious yet poignant and moving show. Using a series of witty vignettes, with all the cast playing multiple characters, it examines life, love and relationships – from the nervous first date through the pressure to become parents and then old age and loneliness. Joe DiPietro's script is deliciously wicked and biting, though sometimes very close to the bone with awkwardly embarrassing incidents everyone can relate to.
Musically it ranges from quiet, tender love ballads to hot jazz and all-stops-out showbiz Musical numbers, from Strauss waltzes and opera to country and western. The small band of three, under the musical direction of Kane Wheatley, were excellent.
Highlights for me included 'Satisfaction Guaranteed', a delightfully naughty ad for a law firm, which had the audience in stitches; 'I Will Be Loved Tonight', sensationally sung by Jessica Shirley in a tender, excited and joyous performance as she dashes off to make lasagne; and the poignant 'Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?', which, as sung by Tim Watson, was heatbreakingly moving.
Watson also deliciously performed a hot and steamy tango with Tanya Boyle, both clearly having a whale of a time. And speaking of hot, a spicy speed-dating segment reveals the different expectations of men and women, which leads into the hilarious 'A Stud and a Babe', fabulously performed by Chris Malliate and Meg Day to show how appearances, body language and other messages sent and received on the first awkward dates can be deceiving. This segues to another hot number, 'Single Man Drought', that leads to the men's version (‘Why? 'Cause I'm a Guy’) – again showing the differences between the sexes.
There is some fun staging for 'On the Highway of Love', where we again see the dichotomy between male and female views – this time of cars and driving ... and relationships, marriage and horrid, whiny kids. Another fun highlight was 'Tear Jerk', where a man attends a movie with his girlfriend and the movie makes him cry, although he's determined not to.
In 'Whatever Happened to Baby's Parents?' Brad Facey steals the show as he regresses to the infantilism of a delighted new parent. 'The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz' is also a hoot, with a stellar performance by Phoebe Wynne. And Laura Sheldon brought the house down with her raunchy lament of 'Always A Bridesmaid'.
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change had all this and more, performed by an excellent cast, all of whom shone brightly in their various moments in the spotlight. The audience whooped, hollered and hooted its enormous enjoyment and enthusiastic approval at the end of this fabulous show.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Regals Musical Society presents
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Book and lyrics: Joe DiPietro
Director/Choreographer: Lauren Nalty
Musical Director: Kane Wheatley
Music: Jimmy Roberts
Cast: Tanya Boyle, Meg Day, Brad Facey, Ryan Fisher, Lynley Fuller, Alessandro Gamba, Benjamin Hanly, Natasha Hoeberigs, Kelly Horrigan, Chris Malliate, Ellie McAdams, Paul Morrison, Laura Sheldon, Jessica Shirley, James Swain, Mal Tuck, Tim Watson, Phoebe Wynne
St George Auditorium, Kogarah
15–18 February 2012
here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change-187735
Subtitled ‘Everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws but were afraid to admit’, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change first opened off-Broadway in 1996 and closed in 2008 after more than 5000 performances. It has been translated into at least 14 different languages and produced everywhere from London to China, Norway to Turkey. In this version it has been adapted for Sydney audiences, with references to Tim Tams, the HSC, Long Bay Jail and the Coles/Woolworths dispute among other things.
The show opens and closes with the cast, hooded and cloaked as Mediaeval-style monks, making a dramatic procession through the audience, with 'Biblical' quotes about the fall of mankind and how men and women are made for each other. Then – bang!
With minimal sets and props (just four podium/rostra-like boxes – in red, blue, green and yellow – that convert to tables, chairs, beds etc), some use of video cameras and screens, and lots of costume and character changes, the fabulous cast under the excellent direction of Lauren Nalty bring us a hilarious yet poignant and moving show. Using a series of witty vignettes, with all the cast playing multiple characters, it examines life, love and relationships – from the nervous first date through the pressure to become parents and then old age and loneliness. Joe DiPietro's script is deliciously wicked and biting, though sometimes very close to the bone with awkwardly embarrassing incidents everyone can relate to.
Musically it ranges from quiet, tender love ballads to hot jazz and all-stops-out showbiz Musical numbers, from Strauss waltzes and opera to country and western. The small band of three, under the musical direction of Kane Wheatley, were excellent.
Highlights for me included 'Satisfaction Guaranteed', a delightfully naughty ad for a law firm, which had the audience in stitches; 'I Will Be Loved Tonight', sensationally sung by Jessica Shirley in a tender, excited and joyous performance as she dashes off to make lasagne; and the poignant 'Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?', which, as sung by Tim Watson, was heatbreakingly moving.
Watson also deliciously performed a hot and steamy tango with Tanya Boyle, both clearly having a whale of a time. And speaking of hot, a spicy speed-dating segment reveals the different expectations of men and women, which leads into the hilarious 'A Stud and a Babe', fabulously performed by Chris Malliate and Meg Day to show how appearances, body language and other messages sent and received on the first awkward dates can be deceiving. This segues to another hot number, 'Single Man Drought', that leads to the men's version (‘Why? 'Cause I'm a Guy’) – again showing the differences between the sexes.
There is some fun staging for 'On the Highway of Love', where we again see the dichotomy between male and female views – this time of cars and driving ... and relationships, marriage and horrid, whiny kids. Another fun highlight was 'Tear Jerk', where a man attends a movie with his girlfriend and the movie makes him cry, although he's determined not to.
In 'Whatever Happened to Baby's Parents?' Brad Facey steals the show as he regresses to the infantilism of a delighted new parent. 'The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz' is also a hoot, with a stellar performance by Phoebe Wynne. And Laura Sheldon brought the house down with her raunchy lament of 'Always A Bridesmaid'.
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change had all this and more, performed by an excellent cast, all of whom shone brightly in their various moments in the spotlight. The audience whooped, hollered and hooted its enormous enjoyment and enthusiastic approval at the end of this fabulous show.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Regals Musical Society presents
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Book and lyrics: Joe DiPietro
Director/Choreographer: Lauren Nalty
Musical Director: Kane Wheatley
Music: Jimmy Roberts
Cast: Tanya Boyle, Meg Day, Brad Facey, Ryan Fisher, Lynley Fuller, Alessandro Gamba, Benjamin Hanly, Natasha Hoeberigs, Kelly Horrigan, Chris Malliate, Ellie McAdams, Paul Morrison, Laura Sheldon, Jessica Shirley, James Swain, Mal Tuck, Tim Watson, Phoebe Wynne
St George Auditorium, Kogarah
15–18 February 2012
The Quiet Brother
A fascinating play - here's what I said for artshub
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/the-quiet-brother-187878
Presented by Australasian Art & Stageworks, The Quiet Brother is a poignant, intimate analysis of a Chinese family’s struggle to survive, both in China and Australia, before, during and after the Lambing Flat riots of July 1861.
Anti-Chinese immigration laws were first introduced in 1855 by the colony of Victoria; similar legislation was soon introduced by every other colonial government. This eventually led to the White Australia Policy, which was in place until 1973.
The Quiet Brother was written in 2011 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Lambing Flat riots, when some 250 Chinese gold miners were seriously hurt after a violent mob attacked them and drove them from the diggings. A thrilling, whirling martial arts display and traditional Chinese music are interwoven with the fabric of the play, which is written in English, but includes some Chinese words, phrases and calligraphy.
Exploring our rich multicultural era before the passing of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, the play also examines the domestic experience of a migrant family. It’s about assimilation and integration and becoming Australian while struggling to stay true to one’s culture; the use of language and how language defines identity.
The challenges of immigration and identity, both personal and cultural, are played out across three generations of a Chinese family. Young James wants to be a writer - in both English and Cantonese; and his grandfather Ah Lung adopts Western clothing. It is, however, the middle generation, Lily and her brother Henry, who suffer the most from the challenges of belonging to two cultures at once.
The story is told through letters between the family’s patriarch Ah Lung (Michael Quin), who has moved to the Lambing Flat goldfields, and matriarch, loving wife and mother Ah Toy (Gabrielle Chan) .Through Ah Lung's letters, as he labours to make enough wealth to bring his family to Australia, we have a vivid description of his voyage to Australia, his struggles to survive, the racist treatment he and other Chinese received at the hands of others miners, and the horrific riots themselves. Ah Lung was one of the lucky ones who escaped with his life, but lost everything else.
Ah Lung is excellently played by Quan, who totally engrosses us in his story. Beautiful Ah Toy, dramatic in red and black and with glorious long black hair, is exquisitely played by Gabrielle Chan. Through Ah Toy’s letters to Ah Lung we learn of her loneliness and anguish at being trapped waiting in Canton. And waiting. And waiting.
Troubled Henry, their son, caught between two cultures, is magnificently played by Lap Phan. His sister Lily, mother to James, is passionately played by Ivy Mak, severe in an embroidered white blouse and long black skirt.
Grandson James (a terrific performance by Sean Alex Wang), who is far more at home in both cultures, epitomises the hope for a peaceful, more integrated future.
The riots are depicted through a very effective use of martial arts (a fabulous performance by Derek Quan) combined with film, shadow figures and tumultuous fire on screen. Mention is made of Richard Roberts, who helped over a 1000 Chinese, sheltering them on or near his property Currawong.
Clayton Buffoni's sparse, simple set designs include a hessian wall for the goldfields tents and a few tables, chairs and boxes, making the flexible playing space of the black-box studio space of Belvoir Downstairs seem much larger than it is. The musicians are hidden in the wings.
The cast did very well to cope with the annoying distraction of various audience members’ mobile phones ringing, especially in the middle of a very quiet, intense scene, until one mobile at least was confiscated.
While perhaps slightly uneven in parts, this is a fascinating, challenging and very moving work about a little known slice of Australian/Chinese history.
Rating: Three and half out of 5 stars
The Quiet Brother
By Ivy Mak
Director: Nikki Selby
Production Designer: Clayton Buffoni
Video Artist: Elka Kerkhofs
Technical Director: Jocelyn Speight
Musicians: Jillian Freeman (musical director, Erhu, composer) and Leighton Lam (percussionist, composer)
Cast: Michael Quan (also producer and Cantonese narrator), Derek Quan (martial artist/choreographer), Sean Alex Wang, Lap Phan, Gabrielle Chan (also producer and Chinese translation), Daphne Lowe Kelley and Ivy Mak (writer and producer)
Presented by Australasian Arts & Stageworks
Running time 45 mins (approx) no interval
Belvoir St downstairs
February 23 – 26
http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/the-quiet-brother-187878
Presented by Australasian Art & Stageworks, The Quiet Brother is a poignant, intimate analysis of a Chinese family’s struggle to survive, both in China and Australia, before, during and after the Lambing Flat riots of July 1861.
Anti-Chinese immigration laws were first introduced in 1855 by the colony of Victoria; similar legislation was soon introduced by every other colonial government. This eventually led to the White Australia Policy, which was in place until 1973.
The Quiet Brother was written in 2011 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Lambing Flat riots, when some 250 Chinese gold miners were seriously hurt after a violent mob attacked them and drove them from the diggings. A thrilling, whirling martial arts display and traditional Chinese music are interwoven with the fabric of the play, which is written in English, but includes some Chinese words, phrases and calligraphy.
Exploring our rich multicultural era before the passing of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, the play also examines the domestic experience of a migrant family. It’s about assimilation and integration and becoming Australian while struggling to stay true to one’s culture; the use of language and how language defines identity.
The challenges of immigration and identity, both personal and cultural, are played out across three generations of a Chinese family. Young James wants to be a writer - in both English and Cantonese; and his grandfather Ah Lung adopts Western clothing. It is, however, the middle generation, Lily and her brother Henry, who suffer the most from the challenges of belonging to two cultures at once.
The story is told through letters between the family’s patriarch Ah Lung (Michael Quin), who has moved to the Lambing Flat goldfields, and matriarch, loving wife and mother Ah Toy (Gabrielle Chan) .Through Ah Lung's letters, as he labours to make enough wealth to bring his family to Australia, we have a vivid description of his voyage to Australia, his struggles to survive, the racist treatment he and other Chinese received at the hands of others miners, and the horrific riots themselves. Ah Lung was one of the lucky ones who escaped with his life, but lost everything else.
Ah Lung is excellently played by Quan, who totally engrosses us in his story. Beautiful Ah Toy, dramatic in red and black and with glorious long black hair, is exquisitely played by Gabrielle Chan. Through Ah Toy’s letters to Ah Lung we learn of her loneliness and anguish at being trapped waiting in Canton. And waiting. And waiting.
Troubled Henry, their son, caught between two cultures, is magnificently played by Lap Phan. His sister Lily, mother to James, is passionately played by Ivy Mak, severe in an embroidered white blouse and long black skirt.
Grandson James (a terrific performance by Sean Alex Wang), who is far more at home in both cultures, epitomises the hope for a peaceful, more integrated future.
The riots are depicted through a very effective use of martial arts (a fabulous performance by Derek Quan) combined with film, shadow figures and tumultuous fire on screen. Mention is made of Richard Roberts, who helped over a 1000 Chinese, sheltering them on or near his property Currawong.
Clayton Buffoni's sparse, simple set designs include a hessian wall for the goldfields tents and a few tables, chairs and boxes, making the flexible playing space of the black-box studio space of Belvoir Downstairs seem much larger than it is. The musicians are hidden in the wings.
The cast did very well to cope with the annoying distraction of various audience members’ mobile phones ringing, especially in the middle of a very quiet, intense scene, until one mobile at least was confiscated.
While perhaps slightly uneven in parts, this is a fascinating, challenging and very moving work about a little known slice of Australian/Chinese history.
Rating: Three and half out of 5 stars
The Quiet Brother
By Ivy Mak
Director: Nikki Selby
Production Designer: Clayton Buffoni
Video Artist: Elka Kerkhofs
Technical Director: Jocelyn Speight
Musicians: Jillian Freeman (musical director, Erhu, composer) and Leighton Lam (percussionist, composer)
Cast: Michael Quan (also producer and Cantonese narrator), Derek Quan (martial artist/choreographer), Sean Alex Wang, Lap Phan, Gabrielle Chan (also producer and Chinese translation), Daphne Lowe Kelley and Ivy Mak (writer and producer)
Presented by Australasian Arts & Stageworks
Running time 45 mins (approx) no interval
Belvoir St downstairs
February 23 – 26
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