Reviews

Matriarch

Written, performed and produced by Sandy Greenwood. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Directed and Produced by John Merkel. Cultural and Story Consultants: Aunty Lauren Jarrett & Aunty Sandra Buchanan. 30 September – 17 October, 2021 on demand

Matriarch opens with the entrance of actor Sandy Greenwood as an energetic and lively young girl expressing her delight in country and collecting berries for her numerous siblings.  Greenwood, a consummate indigenous performer, from salt water Bloodlines and Songlines, appears, almost magically, to be bathed in the vital and rejuvenating spirit of country in this beautifully recorded version of her show.

According to Rumour

By Robert Scott. Presented by Tea Tree Players. Tea Tree Players Theatre. October 13-23, 2021

British playwright Robert Scott has written a quickfire comedy that hits the ground running. As the curtain rises, we witness the aftermath of a party that has taken place the previous night. Set in the flat of newly divorced Carter, we meet a half-naked woman named Kitty Kat and his best friend Roger. With scattered memories from the night before, Carter does his best to piece together what has happened before his domineering mother and sister arrive for an unplanned visit.

Hey, Hey, It’s Lockdown

Written & performed by the Game Boys – Joshua & Eden Porter. Game Boys Comedy. Audio Visual Design by Kinetic Screen. Melbourne Fringe Festival – Digital Fringe. 1, 8 & 15 October 2021

Hey, Hey, It’s Lockdown (HHIL) is a ‘variety’ show that went out live, via YouTube, for only three Friday nights during the 2021 Fringe Festival.  It was different each night and included prominent use of the YouTube Chat Room facility.  Basically, the target of the Game Boys, Josh and Eden Porter, is the very long-running, very popular television show (1971–1999) Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday, hosted and produced by Daryl Sommers.  Indeed, if you kept an eye on the chat room, frequently on screen, you’d see entries from ‘

Medea and Jason: A Mini Musical

By Loucas Loizou. Melbourne Fringe. September 30 to October 17, 2021

The myth of Medea inspired the famous Euripides play, written and performed in 431 BC. It received third prize, considered a fair appraisal, during the Dionysus Festival in Ancient Greece. Medea is now considered one of the greatest plays of Western civilization. It has had countless productions, adaptations, yet is still resonating with modern audiences for its core themes that explore patriarchy, vengeance, betrayal, filicide, exile, and political corruption.

Rising

Ensemble Trivium. Old Government House, Brisbane. 15 October, 2021

Brisbane's thriving classical music scene continued this week with an interesting programme of pieces for string quartet and flute by Ensemble Trivium - Monika Koerner (flute), Natsuko Yashimoto (violin), Anne Horton (violin), Yoko Okayasu (viola) and Katherine Philp (cello). These talented musicians are also principal players with interstate and international experience, and currently perform in Brisbane for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Camerata, Queensland Pops Orchestra, Kurilpa Quartet, Lunaire Collective, and Southern Cross Soloists.

Body Horror

Created & performed by Students of Sir Zelman Cowan School of Music & Performance. Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo. Melbourne Fringe Festival – Digital Fringe. 13 – 17 October 2021

The dominant colour is red – blood red.  The ‘body’ of the title is assailed – in nightmare, in metaphor, in tangible anxiety, in visceral terror.  Across ten segments, some with text, some a mixture of image, sound and music, we experience a variety of horrors.  Bodies drip with blood and writhe in pain – or do they dance?  Three ballet dancers lace up their toe shoes – which fill with and spill blood.  A woman drowns in a pool filled with red balloons.  A viola player is paralysed with the fear of being exposed as just

Little Monster

Created and Performed by Telia Nevile. Dramaturg – Sameena Zehra. Music – James Dowell. Costume – Sharon Nevile. Melbourne Fringe Digital. October 9 – 17, 2021 On Demand.

The many faces and few delights of the inner demons we try to hide but can’t ignore.

Something many of us have in common is the experience of living in share houses.  Telia Nevile  bases the premise of this new show on that experience.  However, the share house portrayed is her mind - in this cleverly and constructed, beautifully remembered and executed, epic poem.  So, aspects/ways of neurotic thinking and behaving are represented as personified tenants in a share house.

Pah! Deaf Storytelling Night

Created by Sam Martin. Melbourne Fringe Digital – 12 – 17 October, 2021

We all seem to be fascinated by the marvellous expressive embodied language of Auslan.  It can be transfixing to watch the Auslan interpreters at live presentations whenever and wherever they occur. I have a feeling that the incorporation of an interpreter ups the attention span for most of us.

Streaming Seamen

The Digital Sea Shanty Spectacular. Melbourne Fringe Digital. 14 – 17 October – on demand.

Opening with a vibrant lively introduction of each individual by their first names, Streaming Seamen commences with the fabulous traditional song ‘What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor’.  Presented with such energy and irony – it’s enough to bring tears of delight to one’s eyes!  A product of lockdowns, it is just miraculous what can be achieved by ten awesome singers, with harmonizing voices, cleverly honed together from isolation.

Triple Bypass

Three Ten Minute Plays About Living for Death and Dying for Life, written by Deena M P Ronayne. Aberdeen Community Theatre. Melbourne Online Fringe. Sep 30 – Oct 17, 2021

All three plays are the brainchild of playwright Deena M.P. Ronayne. Dealing with hard to talk about topics can be challenging but most important. Theatre is a wonderful medium as it evokes thought and educates the audience. Ronayne is successful in doing both.

Using the talents of Aberdeen Community Theatre to cast the three plays was a bonus, as each instalment was filled with layered acting and tight production values.

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