ALADDIN - The Victorian State Ballet - Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse.

Elise Jacques (Princess Jasmin) in "Aladdin"

Choreography by Michelle Cassar de Sierra & Martin Sierra Robles.

Music by Carl Davis with excerpts from Minkus score for La Bayadere.

Costume design by Felicity Kerr, Jill Kerr, Jan Tredrea – Lighting Design by Martin Sierra

Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, April 23^rd & 24^th.

Performance on April 23^rd reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

The Victorian State Ballet's production of "Aladdin"

Victorian State Ballet’s production of “Aladdin” is a spectacular, playful, fantasy ballet created and choreographed by the company’s founders, Michelle Cassar de Sierra and Martin Sierra Robles incorporating Arabian elements and segments from the classic Petipa ballet, “La Bayadere”.

This One Thousand and One Nights extravaganza is a feast for the senses blending classical ballet elegance with the magic and wonder of a timeless tale told with glittering jewel-encrusted costumes, and impressive settings enhanced with evocative projections that transport its audiences into a fantasy world of bustling markets and opulent palaces, bathhouses, harems and a cave with dancing jewels.   

Josh Steinke (Aladdin) - Elise Jacques (Princess Jasmin) in "Aladdin"

Michael Scott-Kahans is a dashing Aladdin. His dancing is secure and impressive, initially displaying a winning boyish charm and enthusiasm, then maturing into an attentive partner as his love blossoms for the Princess Jasmin, delightfully portrayed by Elise Jacques. Their superbly danced Grand Pas Classique in the second act is a thrilling highlight.

An impressive showcase for the Victorian State Ballet, “Aladdin” boasts a cast of 43 dancers, among whom Tristan Gross impresses as the mysterious Jafar, introduced in the prologue, then eventually revealed as the dastardly villain intent on stealing Aladdin’s magical lamp.

Daniel Sierra as The Genie in  "Aladdin"

As the genie, Daniel Sierra uses his wiry frame to excellent effect to create a memorable characterisation, while also displaying impressive partnering skills in his ‘Diamond” duet with the tall, stately Maggie de Koning in the Cave of Riches sequence.

The Cave of Riches scene is one of many highlights in this ballet. Four couples, each accompanied by a trio of attendants, all costumed in magnificent jewel-encrusted costumes to represent a specific jewel. Grace Kefford and Felix Milewski dance Emerald, Alana Puddy and Connor Beavis dance Sapphire, Courtney Taylor and Thomas Spencer dance Ruby, and Maggie de Koning and Daniel Sierra dance Diamond.

All acquitted themselves superbly in a gorgeous sequence designed to display the richness of talent in the present company.

Throughout, the many ensemble dances are a spectacle, performed with confidence and admirable phrasing and precision.

Stand-out moments which linger include the spectacular jetes executed with eye-popping precision by the six Guards in the first scene, the human magic Carpet, and the delightful laugh-out- loud section when Aladdin’s mother, played by Charlotte Jones, decides to take over the organisation of the lavish wedding of Aladdin and Princess Jasmin.  

Just two elements of this impressive production jarred. Although well-executed and easily justified, the overuse of traditional mime tended to slow down the storytelling rather than enhance it; and abrupt cuts at the end of some orchestral selections tended to leave the audience confused as to whether to applaud. 

Those reservations apart, this is a spectacular production by Victorian State Ballet that is destined to become a family favourite.  

                                                   Images by Enpointe Productions  

   This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au 

CONSTELLATIONS

 

Written by Nick Payne

Directed by Kelly Somes

Free-Rain Theatre. ACT Hub. April 16-25.

 

Constellations is a deft and fascinating play. There are only two characters, a bee keeper and a scientist. Roland (James O’Connell) keeps bees and makes honey. Marianne (Lucy Goleby) studies the universe. 

 

The deftness comes in with the way in which time is treated. Scenes are short, runs of dialogue often repeated, the two characters may react in different ways in the same situation. The space is in the round. Three red chairs are moved about in the space as needed.

 

The relationship between the two varies. Sometimes it looks like they will get together, sometimes not. But the relationship keeps on developing though good times and tough outcomes. Tensions flow and ebb.

 

Goleby and O’Connell handle this difficult shifting material with ease and panache. It is a delight to watch them perform this challenging two hander with its multiple variant scenes and emotional through lines.

 

And The Hub once again proves that it can be a magical place as these two performers work the in-the-round space to create  a story about relationships - how they go wrong, how they can go right. They and director Kelly Somes have done a great and sure footed job.

 

A very satisfying and moving evening, not to be missed.

 

Alanna Maclean 

 

NO EXIT

 

 

 

No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. 

Directed by Céline Oudin. A Mockingbird Too Production. Mockingbird Theatre Company and Acting Studio. Belconnen Arts Centre. April 14-17

CAST: Garcin – Eli Narev. Inez – Victoria Tyrell Dixon. Estelle – Phoebe Chua. The Valet – Peter Fock

PRODUCTION TEAM: Director – Céline Oudin  Assistant Director – Sophia Castello Producer – Chris Baldock Lighting Design – Rhiley Winnett and Céline Oudin Sound & Projection Design – Céline Oudin. Set Design & Realisation – Céline Oudin & Chris Baldock Stage Manager and Lighting, Sound & Projection Operation – Sophia CastelloCostumes – Céline Oudin Props – Ben Castle, Shamus Moore and Céline Oudin Intimacy coordination – Steph Evans.Publicity & Photography – Chris Baldock

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Victoria Tyrell Dixon as Inez. Eli Narev as Garcin

 

It  is almost thirty years since I watched a student production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential play No Exit. At the time it seemed an ideal piece for three student actors and their student director. It was written for three actors and observed Aristotle’s unities of time, place and action. It was therefore quite simple to stage and an excellent vehicle for the theatre students.

Eli Narev as Garcin. Peter Fock as The Valet in NO EXIT

It was therefore with some interest that I went to see the production staged by Mockingbird Too, Mockingbird Theatre and Acting Academy’s second tier arm for emerging artists. It should provide the best possible opportunity for members of the production to learn and develop their skills. In the case of No Exit, the production offered an opportunity for emerging director Céline Oudin to demonstrate her skills as a director. To achieve the best possible result it is important that an emerging director is given the best possible conditions to achieve the best possible result. Oudin is fortunate to have as a mentor Mockingbird Theatre’s Artistic Director Chris Baldock. In this instance she also has the support of a strong cast in the three roles of Inez, Garcin and Estelle. Victoria Tyrell Dixon is a highly experienced and renowned Canberra actor whose performance of the lesbian Inez commands immediate attention. Eli Narev gives a most credible performance as the guilt ridden wife beater and cowardly defector and Phoebe Chua provides the right degree of vain, but fragile superiority as the London socialite Estelle.

 

Phoebe Chua as Estelle in NO EXIT

Director Oudin’s task is also assisted by the relative simplicity of the setting and the action. In an attempt to emphasize the universality of Sartre’s play, Oudin has furnished the room with three sofas that the Valet (Peter Fock) refers to as items from IKEA. It is far from the original 1944 production that stipulated Second Empire furniture and I felt that there could have been some comical irony if the furniture had come from Freedom Furniture, given that the three characters are destined to spend eternity together in this one room from which they may never exit. An assumedly immovable bronze statue purported to be a Jeff Koons’ dog seemed more like a painted balloon dog from the National Folk Festival. Perhaps it would have been helpful to consider the original stage directions more literally. In any case Oudin and her actors have given careful attention to the characters and their circumstance.

Victoria Tyrell Dixon (Inez). Phoebe Chua (Estelle). Eli Narev (Garcin) in Jean-Paul Sartre's NO EXIT

 We learn quickly that each character has been ushered by the valet into one of the rooms in Hell, allocated to the dead. Each has committed a crime that condemns them to an eternity from which there is no escape. Inez has seduced her cousin’s wife, resulting in the cousin’s death. Garcin, a wife beating journalist has deserted during wartime. Estelle has killed her newborn, leading to her former lover’s suicide. Each arrives, expecting to be tortured for their crimes, only to discover that they are the torturers, assembled to torment each other in Sartre’s moral judgement. Their eternal confinement turns each one on another, while also allowing them to see the consequences of their deeds in the world that they have left behind.  In Sartre’s philosophy Hell is other people.

No  Exit has been regarded as a seminal work that at the time of its first performance towards the end of the second world war appeared as a lightning bolt of theatrical innovation. At the final matinee performance I attended No Exit appeared somewhat dated, and the ideas no longer startlingly revelatory. Nonetheless as a psychological study of human behaviour, Mockingbird Too’s studio production was engaging and entertaining in a thought provoking way with interesting and believable performances by the cast and  clear and confident direction by Oudin. A stronger sense of cruelty might have made this production more riveting,  befitting the torturous entrapment in a personal Hell within and without.

If this is the kind of work that we can come to expect from Mockingbird Too’s emerging artists, then I look forward to future productions of such high standards.