Produced by David M. Hawkins
Musical Direction by Andrew WorboysCostume by Erik Bergin - Wig by Mike Potter
Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, 4th July
2018
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Although he has directed several celebrated films,
including the cult classic “Shortbus” , and “Rabbit Hole”, which earned Nicole
Kidman an Academy Award nomination for her performance, with another Nicole Kidman flick ,“How to Talk to Girls at
Parties”, about to be released, it is clearly his rock-punk creation “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, the film he
wrote, directed and starred in, and its Broadway iteration which garnered him
two Tony Awards, that is closest to his heart.
Most of his cabaret show, “The Origin of Love”, was devoted
to stories about the creation of Hedwig, together with songs from the show, and
musings as his character Hedwig, with very little reference to his other body
of work. Wearing the Hedwig wig, and an extraordinary piece of wearable art
created by Erik Bergin, Mitchell entered to the strains of “Advance Australia Fair “.
Unfortunately he miss-timed this entrance, which
seemed to unsettle him. He also appeared uncomfortable in his costume, most of
which he discarded, piece by piece, as the performance progressed. Unusually, he
read from a script positioned beside the microphone, which he appeared to be editing
as he went, throwing unwanted pages casually over his shoulder.
Some local references and philosophical musings peppered
the scripted sections, and from time to time he broke away from the script to
share an apparently spontaneous comment with the audience. He frequently
assured his audience that he was excited to be in their presence, but his
body-language signaled otherwise. Perhaps it was nerves, this being the first
performance of the show since the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, with appearances
at the Sydney Opera House, Hamer Hall in Melbourne, and QPAC in Brisbane still
to come.
Whatever the reason, it was hard to escape the feeling
that despite flashes of forced exuberance, the show felt as if it were drifting
perilously. Even Amber Martin and the bemused backing band, led by Andrew
Worboys, appeared caught off-guard when Mitchell introduced songs in a
different order than they had obviously expected.
No surprise that Mitchell has a fine voice, and an
engaging stage presence. He certainly seemed most comfortable singing songs
from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”. His renditions of “Tear Me Down”, Sugar
Daddy”, “The Long Grift, “Wicked Little Town” and “Midnight Radio”, all had the
expected stamp of authenticity. However, there was no escaping that feeling that perhaps he had out-grown these
songs and the cliché rock’n roll cavorting required for their presentation, and
would have been much happier simply sitting on the front of the stage, singing
and sharing stories with the audience.
About three quarters into the show he threw the script
away, and with it, any semblance of structure, so that show became a rather
forced, and surprisingly conservative, rock ‘n roll concert, which though
enjoyable, was not quite as long, as polished or even as anarchic as some fans seem to have been
expecting.
This review first published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
