Reviews

Fractured Fairytales by Last Dodo and performed by The Nitwits (Matt Grey and Kathryn Placing) has come to Adelaide after winning Best Kids Show at the Perth and Sydney Fringe Festivals. It is for children between the age of 5-10 years old, and from the delight the children showed at the hot afternoon performance I saw, it is a complete success.

Written in 1956, and first produced by The Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1957, this one of the first plays that explored the effect of racism and discrimination in Australia following the arrival of European refugees and migrants after the Second World War. So relevant was its message, that it was produced in the West End in London in 1959, was recorded as an ABC radio play in 1962, and was adapted for television by the ABC in 1968.  

Bell Shakespeare here repeats the familiar device of characters randomly lounging around the set before slipping out between the chairs and into some action.    

It aids the speedy scene changes of this play, which leaps between Rome and Egypt, but it’s repetitive and, in this production, drearily reductionist.  After her mafia hotel lounge for Richard III, designer Anna Cordingley here does retro, pastel chairs and ottomans, surrounded by transparent curtains (expressively) coloured by Benjamin Cisterne’s lights. 

Flamenco is a dance form from Southern Spain, particularly Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia. The oldest record of flamenco dates from 1774. Since then, it has evolved to become not only synonymous with Spain but also a popular international dance form. Flamenco has numerous elements, which includes cante (singing), toque (guitar), jaleo (vocalisations), palmas (hand-clapping), pitos (finger-snapping), and baile (dance).