COPPELIA - Storytime Ballet

Production and additional choreography by David McAllister

Costumes designed by Kristian Fredrikson – Set designed by Hugh Colman

Lighting Designed by Jon Buswell

Canberra Theatre 17 - 19^th January, 2019

Reviewed by Bill Stephens.

 

 

 

 

 

With its Storytime Ballet series the Australian Ballet has devised the perfect introduction for young children to the art of classical ballet. The series reduces famous ballets to a digestible 55 minutes, without interval, and presents them with a cast of young dancers fresh from the Australian ballet school who dance the original choreography adapted to suit the format.

The costumes are usually from the original mainstage productions, as is the case for this year’s presentation of “Coppelia” which uses the much admired Kristian Fredrikson costumes, of which some of the 1978 originals are on display in the foyer.  A charming setting by Hugh Colman which, with the addition of Jon Buswell’s imaginative lighting, cleverly encompasses both the outside and inside of Dr. Coppelius' toy shop.

Sean McGrath as Dr. Coppelius 

 

This version avoids the darker aspects of the ballet with Dr. Coppelius portrayed by Sean McGrath as a genial panto-host who explains the gist of the story, and encourages the young audience to use their magic wands (purchased in the foyer beforehand) or simply wave their fingers, (if grandma’s says no to the wands), to assist with the magic at various points in the story.

The twelve young dancers who make up the cast swap characters at the various performances. At this particular performance Jasmin Forner was a delightfully animated Swanilda, who had her young audience fascinated when she switched costumes to trick Dr. Coppelius into believing that she was his prized doll, Coppelia.

Artists of the Australian Ballet in "Coppelia - Storytime Ballet" 

 

Handsome Benjamin Obst danced stylishly as her boyfriend Franz, while the rest of the cast, Dayna Booth, Cieren Edinger, Lewis Formby, Billy Laherty, Alexander Mitchell, Eliza O’Keefe, Yvette Sauvage, Estelle Thomson and Chantelle van der Hoek, shone as Swanilda and Franz’s friends, and particularly in feature solos as Coppelia, Dawn and Dr. Coppelius’ magical dolls.

Ballet Mistress for this tour is former principal dancer Madeleine Eastoe and the Ballet Master is former Canberran, Paul Knobloch. Their influence is notable in the careful attention to the detail of the choreography which is based on the original by Saint-Leon, Petipa, Cecchetti and David McAllister. While this may be of little interest to the young audience entranced by the pretty costumes and fun storyline, it is indicative of the importance placed by the Australian Ballet in ensuring that their target audience receives an authentic ballet experience. This production delivers that in spades.

 

                                                           Photos by Jeff Busby

          This review first published in the digital edition of  CITY NEWS on 18.01.19

TURANDOT

Conducted by Christian Badea – Directed and Choreographed by Graeme Murphy

Sets and Costumes by Kristian Fredrikson – Lighting designed by John Drummond Montgomery

Presented by Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House – 15^th January– 30^th   March 2019

Performance on 15^th January reviewed by Bill Stephens



Artists of Opera Australia 

It may be nearly thirty years old but Graeme Murphy’s mesmerizing staging of Puccini’s last opera, remains a jewel in Opera Australia’s current repertoire. From the very first moments when huge fans open to reveal Murphy’s swirling vision of an ancient China which exists only in his fertile imagination, one is inexorably drawn into a world in which only the ruler’s head can be seen atop his mountain of robes, and where a princess composes riddles to baffle her suitors, who have their heads lopped off by muscular swordsmen when they fail to come up with the right answers.

Murphy’s vision was shared by Kristian Fredrikson who designed imposing settings and lavishly draped costumes which perfectly compliment the choreographed undulating movement of the huge chorus, providing a succession of beautifully composed stage pictures, which frame the action and focus the attention on the principal players, connecting with and subtly enhancing the effect of Puccini’s gloriously melodic music.

First seen in 1990, and now meticulously revived by Kim Walker, and superbly lit by John Drummond Montgomery, this production makes great use of hand held props such as large fans for the dancers, strips of blood-red silk and hand-held screens to partition areas as the ensemble move around the stage. Even the children’s choir snaking around the stage in tight formation for their folk song, and the clever use of large individual mats held by Ping, Pang and Pong, stylishly interpreted by Christopher Hillier, Virgilio Marino and John Longmuir, become striking visual elements.

Amber Wagner (Turandot) - Andeka Gorrotxategi (Calaf)  - Opera Australia chorus

As the ice princess, Turandot, Amber Wagner is an imposing presence, especially when perched high above the ensemble on a tall platform. Her thrilling lustrous voice soars effortlessly above the full force of the orchestra and chorus. Later in the opera, when she descends from the platform, she achieves the near-impossible by making Turandot’s capitulation to Calaf at the end of the opera, believable, even romantic.
 

Amber Wagner (Turandot) - Andeka Gorrotxategi (Calaf) 

Equally impressive is Andeka Gorrotxategi as Calaf, the Tartar prince determined to win the love of Turandot.  Matinee idol handsome, and possessing a gloriously clear, warmly burnished tenor voice, he  eschews the usual operatic posturing, to present an assured Calaf who revels in Turandot’s frustration as he offers the correct answers to her riddles, and is unwavering in his resolve to claim his prize no matter what obstacles are placed in his way.  His carefully phrased “Nessun dorma” sung standing amid a sea of undulating silk waves was quite simply breathtaking.

Mariana Hong breaks hearts with her beautifully sung and acted performance as the tragic slave girl, Liu, who harbours a secret love for Calaf, and is prepared to die rather than betray him. It says much for the effectiveness of Gorrotxategi’s performance as Calaf that the audience is able to forgive his response to her death.
 

Mariana Hong (Liu ) - Artists of Opera Australia 

There is also superb singing and acting among the supporting roles. Richard Anderson brings both dignity and pathos to the role of Timur, Calaf’s exiled father. Graeme Macfarlane is suitably majestic as the Emperor Altoum, Dean Bassett is a dignified Prince of Persia and Andrew Moran makes a fine mandarin.

Maestro, Christian Badea, kept impressive control on his huge musical resources, ensuring a glorious sound throughout with perfect balance between the orchestra and chorus while remaining carefully attentive to the needs of his soloists.

This production is a masterpiece and a reminder of how stunning opera can be even without the technical whizbangery now available. As one audience member was heard to say as he left the theatre, “This is what keeps me coming back to opera!”

                                                           Photos by Keith Saunders

        This review first published in Australian Arts Review.  www.artsreview.com.au

      

 

THE AUCTION

The Auction written by Katie Cole.  “Out of Place Theatre” at the amphitheatre in the park between Finn and Busby Streets, O’Connor, Canberra, Thursday January 17, 2019.

Reviewed by Frank McKone

Directors – Mirjana Ristevski and Michael McNally

Cast: Ellen Sedgley (Local Resident; Greenie); George Breynard (Ron the Auctioneer); James Gardner (Russian Woman, Olga / ukulele), Marcel Cole (Homeless Hobo / Borzoi Ballet dancer / ukulele) ; Meg Foster (Teneille - sales assistant / Team Leader) ; Natasha Lyall (Police Officer).

Composer and Music Director: Katie Cole (ukulele)


Set design: ACT Parks and Gardens.

The POP Band (Pickled Onion Properties) in action
in The Auction

It was not until after this zany, thunderstruck performance had come to its final end that the company mysteriously became titled “Out of Place Theatre”.  In typical Canberra summer fashion, a lone sulphur-crested white cockatoo squawked a dire warning of doom about half-an-hour in.  Thunder rolled closer, lightning began a magnificent son et lumière.  Umbrella-less I dashed for shelter in my car, only slightly soaked, as the downpour drowned any hope of action on stage.

The storm begins to loom over The Auction

Yet, again typically, the rain eased enough for the second half of the show to go on, as it must, after only 15 minutes when the pink galahs chorussed their special kind of cackle.  It all seemed a natural part of this constantly diverging song and dance story of corrupt real estate selling.  How much should we bid when we are told the auctioneer has already bought our local park?  $6 million is not enough.

Should the local residents of Busby Street raise the money to buy back their own public park?  Should the kangaroos be culled?  What about the homeless buying the park as a place for socialising homelessly?  And how did the Borzoi ballet dancer and his twin brother-cum-female policeman and their mother Olga get into the story?

The auctioneer offered us the “golden key to unlock the pearly gates” while we sang along to “O’Connor’s got a country feel” with the Pickled Onion Properties team; and the Greenie said “I think we should cull the people according to how much they damage the environment.”

Absurdist is just the beginning of the words you might find to describe Katie Cole’s very funny piece of summer entertainment, but I found some serious things to say.

Though “Out of Place” was right on the night, I could term this a piece of “In Situ Theatre”: that is, the theme of corruptly turning every possible space into sellable real estate – played out in a suburban public park – is very much in its place, considering the regular criticism of the ACT Government’s public and green space management, even including demolishing long established public social housing along the route of the new light rail in favour of upmarket development, while the Minister for Housing and Suburban Development proposes taking community open-space land for social housing scattered around the suburbs, as Paul Costigan has reported in this week’s CityNews.

The crowd of some 170 largely O’Connor local residents watching The Auction sang along with Katy Cole’s satirical songs with laughter clearly tinged with knowing cynicism.  So here is community theatre very much in its place.

On a different note, Canberra is noted for its many uprisings of off-centre theatrical groups and bands with names such as Bohemian Theatre, Elbow Theatre and Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, going back to the Doug Anthony All Stars among many who have come or gone, or gone on.  The Auction and its company of actors, many of whom have relatively recently taken drama courses in local senior secondary colleges, is typical of the seeding of new groups in Canberra.  In this sense, too, the new Out of Place Theatre is In Situ Theatre – another in our tradition of often quirky groups.

The Hive Program at The Street Theatre, under the direction of Caroline Stacey, has a special role in encouraging all kinds of new theatre, and has played its part in developing The Auction, with guidance from playwright Peter Matheson.  The script still needs to be tightened and focussed, but in the context of a wild night of storm, squawking cockatoos and cackling galahs, the random divergences of plot and characters didn’t seem out of place, but rather farcical and funny – a humorous twist on the theme of corruption in situ.

The audience upstanding in action
in The Auction

 Photos: Frank McKone

ROMA

MA 15+, 2 hrs 15 mins
Netflix
Review by © Jane Freebury
5 Stars

In all the best possible ways, Roma reminded me of being a film student again. Of seminar weekends sitting watching something from the archive that proved a revelation. A meditation on the personal and collective human experience, wonderful to watch, like this film here.

Roma is not a film from an unknown, of course, or a first-timer with something new to say. Far from it. The most recent film by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron was Gravity, an immersive, spellbinding journey in space that was huge at the box office, worldwide.

This film is something very close to the director’s heart, a story from his childhood in the Colonia Roma neighbourhood of Mexico City. The family home, the street on which he lived and other locations in the city are meticulously recreated to look the way they did in the early 1970s.

Attention to detail contributes to Roma’s distinctive look and style. Filmed in widescreen, in digital black and white, it is an intimate story yet mostly told in long shot. Instead of using the close up much to establish connection, there are long sweeping, panning shots that keep everyone and everything in view, as though they are all of a piece. And editing is so minimal, and pacing so unhurried, you could be lulled into thinking it is in real time. The rhythms of everyday life get the dignity they deserve.

Besides directing and co-producing, Cuaron was writer, cinematographer and co-editor here.

Netflix

Cuaron’s young self is not the main character, either. It is the former maid and nanny who looked after him and his brothers and sister, while their parents were often absent without leave. The narrative begins with the marriage between Sofia (Marina de Tavira) and Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor, on the point of breaking up.

After a long day at the hospital, Antonio enters the driveway in his Ford Galaxie, too large for the space. Not without comedy, he inches in tortuously, avoiding a scratch on the duco, but squishing the wheels over the piles of dog doo-doo scattered around. It is a constant source of irritation to Sofia, unreasonably so, and besides, Borras has nowhere else to do his business.

The family home is a generous space where children have large bedrooms, while the maid, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, an untrained actor like most of the cast here), and her domestic companion the cook, Adela (Nancy Garcia Garcia), share a tiny room at the top of steep stairs above the roof and the washing lines. We note this and a hundred other inequities.


Cuaron collaborated with his former nanny and family maid during screenwriting. He dedicates this film to Libo and to her class, domestic workers who have looked after and been surrogate mothers to generations of the wealthy middle-class. A dramatic scene on a beach with surging surf demonstrates the risks she would go to for the children.

Cleo’s affair with an intense young man makes connection between events outside the home and political upheaval at the time, like a notorious massacre in the city of student demonstrators by paramilitaries. Their brief affair results in a pregnancy that only embeds her deeper within the family.

After his films on the epic scale, Gravity and Children of Men, and since the very memorable Y Tu Mama Tambien, an intimate, sensitive portrait of coming-of-age, Roma is a powerful reminder of the scope of Cuaron’s talent.

With its roots in both poetic realism and neo-realism, Roma is also a reminder of what cinema can be when not driven by commercial imperatives.

Jane's reviews are also published on her blog, the Film Critics Circle of Australia, and broadcast on ArtSound FM 92.7

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

Music by Mary Rodgers, Lyrics by Marshall Barer

Directed by Anita Davenport

Ickle Pickle Productions

Belconnen Theatre to 25 January

Reviewed by Len Power 11 January 2019

Composed by Mary Rodgers, the daughter of famed Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, ‘Once Upon A Mattress’ at the Belconnen Theatre coincidentally shared its opening night with the anniversary of Mary Rodgers’ birth on January 11, 1931.

Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, ‘The Princess and the Pea’, the show is bursting with comical characters and a plot that parodies fairy tales and ensures that audiences have as much fun as the performers.

Director, Anita Davenport, has given the show a straight-forward production tailored to the skills of her cast.  In colourful period costumes by Fiona Leach, the large cast look good and sing and dance with great enthusiasm.  Alex McPherson as Princess Winnifred sings and plays her role with an amusing street-wise assertiveness.  Isaac Gordon has a good time playing the dopey Prince Dauntless and Steven Galinec and Alissa Pearson make a strong impression in their roles of Sir Harry and Lady Larken, a couple needing to marry urgently.

April Hand (Handmaiden), Alex McPherson (Princess Winnifred) and Isaac Gordon (Prince Dauntless)

Sarah Hull is good fun as the Gypsy forever forgetting to use her fake accent, Joe Moores is funny as the mute King Sextimus and Deanna Gibbs is temperamentally imperious as Queen Aggravain.  Elliot Cleaves as the Minstrel and Jack Morton as the Jester also give good characterisations.  As the Nightingales, Jude Colquoun, Emily O’Brien and Eilis French sing and act the comic Nightingale Melody very well.

Choreography by Jodi Hammond was nicely in period and the funny ‘Spanish Panic’ dance sequence was especially well done.  There was some uneven singing by the principles who found singing to a pre-recorded musical score challenging without a conductor to help them.  The songs involving the full company were the most successful.

This is an enjoyable, colourful production which will appeal to children and adults alike.

This review was first published in the Canberra City News digital edition of 12 January 2019.

Len Power’s reviews are also broadcast in his ‘On Stage’ performing arts radio program on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3.30pm on Artsound FM 92.7.

VICE

M, 2 hrs 13 mins

All cinemas

Review by © Jane Freebury

3 stars

Controversial and reviled, American politician Dick Cheney is fair game for filmmaker Adam McKay who had his say on bad corporate behaviour in The Big Short, in 2015. Very entertaining it was too. A deft explanation of how the global financial crisis came to pass, leaving us in no doubt about the amoral behaviour in financial services that had such a big hand in it.

For former Saturday Night Live writer, McKay, a natural satirist who knows exactly how to take down anybody and anything, Cheney presents rich material.

Despite a long career in politics - notably as a chief of staff, a former defence secretary and a vice president  - and a key role in US strategies leading to and after the Iraq War, Cheney has apparently had little to say for himself. 

Vice gleefully and unreservedly makes the most of this with Christian Bale as Cheney, big as a whale, filling the screen. However, little else emerges from this opaque political personality, who is presented yet again as a shadowy space that others have become accustomed to filling. 

I went along to Vice to get the goods, as I had in The Big Short. Who was this man, committed Republican and Washington insider during the most controversial and destructive period in recent US political history? On the man and his view of the world, Vice offers scant insight.

Turning to the internet, I found there was more to him. It's interesting to see that aside from a penchant for pastries, a predisposition to heart attacks and getting pulled over while driving under the influence when young, he has been elected five times to the US House of Representatives. 

In its errors of omission, Vice would have us believe that Cheney was a bit of a no-hoper, a no-hoper with an ambitious wife. Someone who somehow or other struck it lucky after he failed at Yale (twice actually), after which he took a job as a linesman, before he proceeded, inexplicably, to an internship in the US administration. 

Actually, Cheney has two degrees in political science, and was once registered for a doctorate. His formidable wife Lynne, played here by Amy Adams, went on to get hers, and has subsequently written a raft of books on American history.

Coy disclaimers at the start of Vice, that they did their ‘f----ing best’ to present the facts, only sidesteps the issue of omission here. 

Entertaining and audacious it is, with a brave central performance from Bale (also in The Big Short) as the dubious ideologue and with terrific support from Adams as his wife and Steve Carrell as Donald Rumsfeld. Much of the early low-angle camerawork ensures that everyone looks their least attractive. While Sam Rockwell, apparently without any prosthetic at all, nails it as George W Bush.

So who, in an unfortunate sign of these times, wants to complain when a film is this entertaining? It depends on what you are looking for.

Ultimately, Vice, in the style of broad brush cartoon, rehearses the widely held view that Cheney is an opaque politician, a behind-the-scenes operator who is insufficiently accountable. We have been aware of this reputation for a long time so more insight into his way of thinking, his world view, would have been welcome.

I thought that in the era of fake news we were all agreed that the facts must matter again. So, what has happened here?

Also published at Jane's blog , the Film Critics Circle of Australia (critics voices), and broadcast on ArtSound FM 92.7