Reviews

Kosher Bacon

By Michael Shafar. Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 (VIC). Trades Hall. March 29 - April 22, 2018

Michael Shafar is Jewish, 27, and writes for The Project. As such, he’s capable of quick-witted quips about today’s hot topics.

When he steps on the stage — tall, good-looking, commanding — Shafar starts by questioning his audience about themselves. Jewish or non-Jewish? Married? Family?

Shafar rarely singles audience members out. Instead, he makes sure everyone feels the show is being explicitly performed for them.

Diplomacy

By Cyril Gely. Translated and adapted by Julie Rose. Ensemble Theatre. Directed by John Bell. March 23 to April 28, 2018.

There was a palpable buzz in the foyer, aided by news that the play was sold out before opening night and destined for a national tour in 2019. The combination of a thrilling World War 2 drama, set in Paris, directed and starring Australia’s most lauded Shakespearian actor John Bell, had already proved box office alchemy.

Going Down

By Michele Lee. Sydney Theatre Company. Directed by Leticia Cáceres. Wharf 2 Theatre, Walsh Bay. March 23 - May 5, 2018

The new play Going Down, by Melbourne writer Michele Lee, is semi-autobiographical. She’s Asian-Australian, like her lead character Natalie. More specifically they’re Hmong-Australian, originally from Laos.

Both Michele and Natalie are seen by their audiences as more Asian than Australian. Natalie may live in hipster Melbourne and write frank books about sex and feminist ideas but people who come to see her want to hear Hmong stories. In many ways, Natalie is actually more Australian than Asian but most people see her the other way around.

You Stupid or What?!

By Dr Jason Leong. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Coopers Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street. 28 March – 22 April, 2018

Dr Jason Leong seems a very unlikely comedian given his title. In fact, Jason is an MD and his medical knowledge forms an important part of his highly amusing material. Jason has a vast array of issues and frustrations that provide ample opportunity for him to reflect on the absurdities of many of our daily activities and attitudes.

From Here to Infirmity

Written & performed by Sue Ingleton. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton VIC. 29 March – 8 April 2018

Before the show begins, it’s already begun.  An old bloke in a lightweight sports jacket, a sporty, narrow brim hat and a ‘pencil’ moustache roams about the audience waiting to enter the theatre.  He seems to know a few of us and isn’t shy about saying so.  “Jeez, Michael,’ he says to me, ‘you’re getting fat, mate.  Tsk.’  Then, turning to The Companion, he tells her she’s beautiful, and me that I’m a lucky man.  There’s just a touch of the salacious about the compliment – but that&rs

Duets with Myself

Written & performed by Charlotte Kerr. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Melbourne CBD. 27 March – 1 April 2018.

At the start of her show – and there’s some uncertainty that the show has started – Charlotte Kerr, seated behind her keyboard, thanks the audience for coming to ‘this trial’.  Oh, we think, it’s that kind of show – self-reflexive, pretending that it’s a ‘work in progress’ - a test of audience response to the material.  But maybe not. 

42nd Street

Music by Harry Warren, Lyrics by Al Dubin. Book by Michael Stewart & Mark Bramble. Presented by Free Rain Theatre. Directed by Chris Baldock. The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 26 March – 15 April 2018

It’s 2018, and we can add 42nd Street to the list of things that Harvey Weinstein has sort of ruined for us. Look at Abner Dillon – old, gauche, his only attractive quality his wallet…there’s no question why poor Dorothy Brock is with him, or what she does to maintain his patronage.

Adults Only Pirates of Penzance

By Gilbert and Sullivan. BK Opera. Director: Kate Millett. Musical Director: James Penn. Kindred Studios, Yarraville. Mar 29 – 31, 2018.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. An “Adults Only” version of The Pirates of Penzance could potentially be very funny or very embarrassing.

Fortunately it was the former.

Grace

Written & performed by Katie Reddin-Clancy. Directed by Peter Blackburn. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Melbourne CBD. 27 March – 1 April 2018

The teaser hook on the poster and the flyer – ‘A comedian’s first time on stage… as a woman’ – might lead you to think Grace is a drag show.  It’s not.  It is, however, about identity and gender while being very funny.  It’s also about role-playing, survival and ghosts.

The Resistable Rise Of Arturo Ui

By Bertolt Brecht, translated by Tom Wright. Sydney Theatre Company. Roslyn Packer Theatre. March 21 – April 28, 2018

Brecht wrote this diatribe about a gangster-turned-political saviour when in exile back in 1941, as the rise of Hitler looked assured.  

He wanted audiences to see the fragility of our democratic institutions, and the urgency for vigilance against the honeyed, fake truths of the next brute to turn demagogue.   He would love this version directed so sharply by the STC’s Kip Williams.

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