Reviews

How to Rule the World

By Nakkiah Lui. Sydney Theatre Company. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Feb 11 – Mar 30, 2019

Nakkiah Lui’s madcap satire begins with the promising premise of three well-educated, ambitious if marginalised Australians – an Aboriginal, Korean and a gay Tongan – trying to snatch power in the Senate by getting elected their own carefully selected bland white male.  

Back Left

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2019. Tandanya Theatre. 20th Feb – 3rd March, 2019

The Back Left project is the brain child of Professor and Head of Movement at California University Ezra LeBank, together with Mexican dancer and choreographer Isabel Aguerrebere. Their intent was to take our daily unconscious movements and flip them; thereby awakening our senses.

Blackrock

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Glassroom Theatre Company. The Arch, Holden Street Theatres, 17-24 February 2019

What would you do for your friend? Your mate? Your family? Blackrock asks these questions in Nick Enright’s 1990s play about male behaviours after a teenage girl is raped and killed. Unfortunately, Jack Cummin’s production doesn’t really help us with the answers.

It starts well, the brooding teenage figure of Jared (played by the director), sitting on a rock, looking out to sea. The language of Jared and his cousin defines the context for the next fifty minutes: this is a boiling pot of uncertain masculinity, where the boys rule, right?

Matador

The Melba Spielegtent, 35 Johnston Street, Collingwood. February 14 – Mar 2, 2019

Fiery love equals the bloody sport of a Spanish bullfight!

Matador is written, directed and produced by Bass G Fam, who has developed a passionate fusion of dance, burlesque and circus acts that circumnavigate the emotional roller coaster of raging love.

This is a torrid romance between a female Matador (Kelly Byrne) and the male Bull (Ned Zania). Along with a talented cast of performers, Matador brings zesty high energy, modern and Latino choreographed dance to blazing life.

Whiplash

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Performed by Scotty Wings. The Vines, National Wine Centre. 15 February-1 March 2019

In your face, in your head, ripping out your heart. That’s all in the first few minutes of this raw and visceral performance. Scott Wings delivers beautiful poetry of the body, in words and movement.

This is physical theatre of a different kind – a one-man journey inside himself: metaphorical, though sometimes it feels and looks and sounds quite literal.

Simply the Breast

Amelia Ryan. Adelaide Fringe 2019. Le Cascadeur at The Garden of Unearthly Delights. Feb 17- Mar 3, 2019

This is the third time I have seen this amazing woman in performance and again, she never fails to impress and delight. Amelia Ryan, is a dynamo. A talented performer with comedic flair and the ability to write accessible, hilarious original parodies; her show Simply the Breast is a ‘do not miss’ piece of theatre at The Fringe 2019.

Orpheus

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Presented by Joanne Hartstone, The Flanagan Collective & Gobbledigook Theatre and Holden Street Theatres. Sunken Garden, Holden Street Theatres. Feb 16 – Mar 16, 2019

Orpheus is the perfect example of how powerful words, story telling and music can be.

From a sunken garden in Adelaide, we were transported to a raucous night on the town with a group of lads, and from there we time-travelled backwards remembering our early, fragile and dream-filled childhoods, where the world was full of wonder and colour. It is a world that most of us lock up in a strongroom inside us until there is a moment, a wonderful moment, when the greyness of the everyday is transformed by love and the journey that takes us on.

Inspired

Cabaret – Sarah Brownridge. Adelaide Fringe 2019. Accompanied on guitar by Mike Bevan. Basement Richmond Hotel. Feb 16 – 25, 2019

Sarah Brownridge is a name to look out for in the future.  This young singer has a lot of promise as a performer and a beautiful voice. She presented her first solo professional show during this Fringe and was very well received by a good-sized audience at the Richmond Hotel.  

The winner of the Ron Denning Vocal Award 2017 at the Generations of Jazz Festival in Mount Gambier, Brownridge has the technique, passion and work ethic to make a career in music.

Dinosaur Time Machine

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Highwire Entertainment. Gluttony -Ukiyo. Feb 16 – Mar 17, 2019

Dinosaur Time Machine mixes, comedy, puppetry, some acrobatics and a touch of magic and my four-year old reviewer giggled and joined in throughout the show.

He really liked the jokes, but was a bit scared by the appearance of a T-Rex.

The presenters were appropriately high-energy and enthusiastic about dinosaurs. They also developed a good rapport with the audience.

Box and Cox: Married and Settled!

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Maniacal Arts. Don Pyatt Room, Norwood Concert Hall. 15-23 February 2019

This Victorian-era farce was first performed in 1852, a sequel to the successful Box and Cox written five years earlier. That was a story of Mr Box and Mr Cox unknowingly sharing a room; this is a reuniting of the two, each now with a wife and child.

It’s a light and uncomplicated tale, a little slapstick, overstated Englishness in its dialogue and physicality barely stained by the quickly dismissed suggestion of impropriety.  

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