THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert

Directed by Kelda McManus

Music Direction by Rhys Madigan

Essgee Entertainment version

Erindale Theatre

Canberra Philharmonic Society to 7 November

 

Review by Len Power 22 October 2015

One of Gilbert and Sullivan’s perennial favourites, ‘The Pirates Of Penzance’, was first performed in 1879.  In 1991, Australia’s Simon Gallaher produced a new version of the show with changes to structure and content to make it more appealing to modern audiences.  It worked and this is the version presented by Canberra Philharmonic.

The major appeal of that Simon Gallaher production in 1991 was the sense of fun involving the audience, often satirising the work and the operetta genre itself.  Philo’s production misses a lot of the satirical opportunities and plays like a standard version of the show.

There is some fine singing in the show, especially in the big chorus numbers.  Marcus Hurley is a fine matinee idol Frederic, singing well and acting with a good understanding of the operetta style required for this show.  Maddison Lymn is a pretty Mabel with a good voice but Shane Horsburgh isn’t strong enough vocally to meet the demands of his role as the Pirate King.

David Cannell steals the show as Major-General Stanley.  His updated lyrics, with references to social media and current Australian politicians, were a highlight and the production needed more of this to make it the satirical romp it should be.

There were nice performances  from Greg Sollis as the Sergeant Of Police, Kate Tricks as Ruth and Karyn Tisdell, Esther Ramsay and Deanna Gibbs as the three daughters.  With the majority of the cast in traditional costume and playing in a melodramatic style, the decision to present the daughters as a 1950s style singing trio just didn’t work.

The orchestra was a bit shaky to start with but for the rest of the show played the music well.  Sound balance was good between singers and orchestra.  Peter Karmel’s set with its revolve worked very well and the lighting design by Liam Ashton added a good atmosphere.  The traditional choreography by Annette Sharpe was fine and was danced well by the cast.

Kelda McManus’s production seemed to sparkle more in the second act than the first.  It needed more satirical punch to be completely successful but there was still plenty here to enjoy.

Len Power’s reviews can also be heard on Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program at 9am on Saturdays.

COMPANY

Jarrad West (centre) and the cast of Company

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Directed by Jordan Best.

Musical Direction by Tim Hansen.

Choreographed by James Batchelor.

Presented by Every Man Theatre

 The Q –The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre until 24^th October.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

Although premiered in 1970, Stephen Sondheim’s angst-ridden, forensic examination of marriage and relationships still offers much to intrigue contemporary audiences and challenge the actors performing this work. His music is demanding while his lyrics require perfect articulation and phrasing.

Everyman Theatre has picked up the challenge with their much anticipated new production of “Company”, which opened in the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre last night.  Working with a strong cast of many of Canberra’s most experienced music theatre performers, director, Jordan Best has made many bold directorial decisions with her production, not all of which succeed.

The storyline revolves around the character of Bobby, played with panache by Jarrad West. A group of his married friends, pre-occupied with the fact that Bobby remains unmarried, host a surprise 35^th Birthday party for him. Through a series of revealing vignettes, the flaws in each of their marriages are exposed, and despite their best efforts to encourage Bobby to take the plunge, the musical ends with Bobby no nearer to making a decision.

None of the characters in the musical are admirable, and the challenge for the director and the actors is to make the audience care about them. By playing Bobby as a pot-smoking, cocaine sniffing, voyeur, West has upped the ante for this challenge. There is little indication that his character really cares for any of his friends nor his three girl-friends. Indeed, despite   much back-slapping and tacked-on, over-animated smiles, there is very little evidence that his friends really care for him.

"Ladies Who Lunch" - Karen Vickery (Joanne), Jarrad West (Bobby)

Sondheim’s carefully constructed songs work best with a “less is more” approach. Karen Vickery understands this, so that her brilliantly judged performance of “The Ladies Who Lunch” becomes a highlight. Similarly, Amy Dunham manages to bring surprising warmth to the usually fatuous character of the air hostess, April, for “Barcelona”.

Among other highlights is the cleverly staged Karate demonstration by Sara and Harry, (Jordan Best and Will Huang), and a scene in which Jenny and David (Helen McFarlane and Max Gambale) experiment with pot.

 Elsewhere,  Vanessa De Jager’s  interpretation  of Marta as an unsuccessful busker, imposed a subtext which distracted from the all-important lyrics of “Another Hundred People”, and the manic “Not Getting Married”, usually presented as an inner dialogue between Amy and the audience, loses much of its poignancy when shared with the whole congregation, as Laura Dawson does in her interpretation.

Riley Best, Phillipa Murphy, Jerry Hearn, and Tim Sekuless, as various of Bobby’s friend’s, all contribute strong performances.

Jarrad West (Bobby) Amy Dunham (April) 

Choreographer, James Batchelor has provided eye-catching movement for the ensemble scenes as well as an arresting dance solo for Michelle Norris.

Michael Sparks’ attractive setting of white hanging windows allows smooth scene transitions, however the positioning of Tim Hansen’s excellent band directly behind the action, in full view of the audience, too often provides unwelcome visual distraction, especially when Kelly McGannon’s lighting design exposes the vastness of the stage.

Stephen Sondheim writes sophisticated musicals for adults, and Everyman Theatre’s production is certainly that, so if you are thinking of taking the children, be aware that the drug and sex scenes are uncommonly explicit.

                                                 Photos: Kelly McGannon

This review was published in full in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 17.10.15. An edited version appears in the print edition published on 21.10.09  

The Martian

 

Review by Jane Freebury

A mission on Mars is aborted during a wild storm. One crew member is left behind, presumed killed by flying debris, but the rest of the crew escape and begin their long journey home. At NASA they notice that equipment at the abandoned habitat is being moved around. It can mean only one thing. The man left for dead is still alive.

A rescue mission would probably arrive too late to save him. Stuff of legend? Enter distinguished director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down).

So how does the stranded astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) feel about his predicament? Once he has operated on himself to remove a piece of equipment that lodged in his gut during the storm, he can focus. And once he's recognised the imminent perils of suffocation, dying of thirst, starvation, implosion, and going crazy—'Yeah, I'm fucked'— he's remarkably cheerful. He sets to with the math: there's no time to spare.

How many days does he have until a rescue—we're talking a four-year wait—and how many meals to go with it? Figuring out there's a pretty big shortfall, Watney plants a potato farm within the habitat, fertilising it with his own poo and watering it by burning rocket fuel. It's a cool ad for the benefits of survival training — and for knowing your science, which when one's life depends on it, is suddenly rivetting. Although we may not have expected it to be, sharing Watney's plight is fun.

His sense of humour helps. After all, what's not to like about being 'the first person alone on a planet', first to climb that hill, first to plant crops? First at everything?  Watney keeps his own company pretty well. He starts a video diary, sharing a joke with us and the screen, refusing to be overwhelmed by the situation. It’s some situation, you have to admit.

Damon as a stoic, sensible biologist is the perfect foil for the dramatic excesses a story like this can induce. The grandeur of the locations (many shot in Wadi Rum, Jordan) is stunning, but Scott has mostly gone against his instincts for glory this time.

Oddly, there doesn't seem to be a loved one at home to help keep him going, though parents get a mention. And whether he survives or not is in the hands of the team. We could have done with a lot less from the characters back at HQ,  when it's his fellow crew still travelling through space who rise to the occasion.

The Martian is a surprise from a director who likes to tackle the grand questions. When bombastic  past ventures from Scott like Prometheus and Kingdom of Heaven struggled with weak writing, his new film obviously benefits enormously from the novel of the same name by Andy Weir on which it is based. A great image isn't necessarily worth a thousand words.

This struggle for survival, day by day, when each tiny mishap could spell the end is far from grim or apocalyptic. The Martian turns out to be a refreshing surprise, not least for its jovial 1970s can-do pragmatism and often jaunty soundtrack. And Damon makes it real.

It’s taken me a little while to get to see this. I thought the solitary survival thing had been really well done by Sam Rockwell in Moon, and at sea with Tom Hanks in Cast Away and Robert Redford in All is Lost, so why rush to see another? Turns out it's worth it.

3.5 Stars

www.janefreeburywriter.com.au

Hamlet - Bell Shakespeare

Review by John Lombard

In Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy a savvy and charismatic politician performs a ruthless but surgical coup, poisoning his elder brother so he can claim the throne.  With the crown on his head he proves a wise and conscientious ruler, uniting his country at a time of dire peril and winning the adoration of both his people and his new Queen, his brother’s widow.  But he is a good man and guilt over the murder of his brother weakens his resolve; he vacillates when swift and decisive action is necessary, and his inaction ultimately dooms both himself and his country.  The play also contains Hamlet.

Bell Shakespeare’s new production is not the tragedy Claudius, although it can feel like that: Sean O’Shea’s interpretation of the usurper is vivid, likeable and charismatic.  We are never left in any doubt that he is the ruler Denmark needs, a vigorous master of ceremonies who inspires devotion not only from his people but from his new Queen Gertrude (Doris Younane), who is utterly in love with her dashing new Lord.

Hamlet (understudy Scott Sheridan in the performance I saw) is, ironically, the ghost at the wedding feast, a shadowy figure skulking on the fringe of Claudius’ warm and genial court.  Prince Hamlet is tasked by his father’s ghost to avenge his murder, and rather than taking the direct route opts to torment Claudius and his mother by playing at madness.

Or is he playing?  The key decision that needs to be made when acting Hamlet is how much of his madness is genuine.  Sheridan’s Hamlet is truly unhinged by his father’s death, tormented by the loss of his father and the duty imposed upon him.  But strangely, the more he starts to play at madness in japes and pranks the more in control of himself he becomes, as though embracing his madness restores his self-mastery.  As his goading (and occasional casual murder) make a shambles of the lives of those around him, he stands triumphant as the Lord of Misrule.

The script is pruned effectively to keep the play’s running time under control, but at times this means characters arcs are rushed.  Ophelia in particular sprints from health to madness to suicide with barely a breath in between, although it is to the credit of actress Matilda Ridgway that we can see the moment where she snaps, lunging at Hamlet in anguish and fury.  The Polonius-Ophelia-Laertes family circle is, wisely, a loving one.  Polonius (Philip Dodd) is still a silly old fool – and a very dangerous one – but even if Hamlet airily dismisses his death, his murder crushes his family.  Michael Wahr’s Laertes is unsubtle but always dangerous.  Hamlet holds his enemies in contempt because they do not have his sharpness, but even blunt objects can kill when swung with enough force.

Overall this is an excellent, if unconventional, production of Hamlet.  By giving us such a wonderful Claudius, Hamlet inevitably comes across as slightly ignoble: his praise for his father’s memory was always too fulsome to be believed, but in this production it feels histrionic.  We are left with a sense that it would have been better if Hamlet had stayed abroad or, failing that, Claudius had not stopped at one murder and dispatched the son along with the father.  This is a triumph for director Damien Ryan, even if it is no longer truly the tragedy of Hamlet, but of his gifted and unlucky uncle: our sympathy is with the Devil.

LOVE AND HARMONY COMBINE

Art Song Canberra

Christina Wilson, mezzo-soprano

Alan Hicks, piano

Wesley Music Centre, Forrest

Sunday 18 October 2015

Review by Len Power

Once again, Art Song Canberra produced a memorable afternoon of beautiful music with their concert, ‘Love And Harmony Combine’.  The husband and wife team of Christina Wilson, mezzo-soprano, and Alan Hicks, piano, sang and played a fine selection of songs by Nigel Butterley, Robert and Clara Schumann, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Francis Poulenc and David Matthews.

After commencing with a joyous song by Nigel Butterley from his ‘Six Blake Songs’, Christina Wilson established an immediate rapport with the audience with her personable and interesting introduction to a selection of songs from Liebesfrühling (Love’s Spring) by Robert and Clara Schumann.  This group of songs displayed the full range and colour of Christina Wilson’s voice.  Her singing of ‘Er ist gekommen’ showed great control over a wide range of emotions.

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Four Last Songs’ require fine acting as well as strong singing and Christina Wilson’s performance of these songs was the highlight of the concert.

‘Le Travail du Peintre’ by Francis Poulenc was given a thoughtful presentation with a video slideshow of works by the seven painters represented in the songs.  Christina Wilson’s singing clearly brought out the subtle variation in the painters’ styles, as detailed by Poulenc’s music.

The final work was ‘The Book Of Hours’ by David Matthews comprising six poems by Rainer Maria Rilke with English versions by Babette Deutsch.  It was musically very interesting but the meaning behind the text was hard to follow.  It was, however, beautifully sung by Christina Wilson.

Accompanist, Alan Hicks, gave brilliant support throughout the concert to Christina Wilson with his sensitive playing.

The selection of songs for this concert with a relationship theme gave the audience a wide range of music styles to listen to and enjoy.  The beautiful voice of Christina Wilson, her relaxed and, at times, humorous interaction with the audience and the fine playing of Alan Hicks provided a very pleasant afternoon’s entertainment.

Len Power’s reviews can also be heard in Artsound FM 92.7’s ‘Artcetera’ program on Saturday mornings from 9.00am.

Lord of the Dance - Canberra Theatre

 

 

Review by John Lombard

 

Few dance shows open with a trailer extolling their virtue and success, but Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games does, and that deftly sets the tone for what will follow: excellent dancing that deserves its popularity and following, but just enough egotism and bad taste to make the experience as ridiculous as it is entertaining.

 

Dangerous Games is about succession, with Lord of the Dance creator Michael Flatley stepping back from his prominent role as lead dancer for a comparatively less prominent role as only the show’s director, producer, and choreographer.  New Lords Morgan Comer and Cathal Keaney have been sculpted into worthy successors to Flatley’s nimble athleticism.  But Flately hasn’t quite hung up his tap shoes.  While he was not there in person for the Canberra performance, a hologram gave us not one, not two, but three Michael Flatleys toe-tapping in unison.

 

The story is “good vs. evil” in the most general terms, drawing on Celtic legend and Disney movies as its primary influences.  In general, the faerieland of the show is a harmonious place where young, athletic people live fairly chaste lives in balance with nature and generic Greek ruins - until, of course, a cyborg Dark Lord and his army of stormtroopers tromp in and tap-dance so frantically that the plants all catch fire.  With the tacky CGI butterflies and unicorns fleeing for safety, the titular Lord of the Dance teaches his disciples to dance like a regiment - complete with fetching berets.  However apparently moral alignment has no relation to dancing mojo, because even after an afternoon of fairly hectic dancing the two armies end up at stalemate.  So the Dark Lord, being a resourceful type, hatches a sneaky plan to win by default: tricking the Lord of the Dance out of his magical totem, a World Wrestling Federation Belt that literally reads “Lord of the Dance”.

 

Early on, evil has character and identity: their dance steps are very grounded with complex footwork that suggests both marching and a sinister earthiness.  The Lord on the other hand is more like a ballet hero, effortlessly hopping to the air as though he personifies lightness of heart.  As the show goes on, this thematic clarity is largely abandoned: the dance battle set-pieces are largely rounds of simon says.  A musical duel should involve adding something new to the routine and challenging the opponent to keep up or give up - a missed opportunity.  There was also enormous thematic confusion, with dancing robots introduced in the second act but these mysteriously being a force for good, and one sequence where everyone explores their sexuality that I can only assume was meant to represent being corrupted by evil.  Late in the show the good guys all don hip hop outfits, which was perhaps an American way of representing the restoration of their individuality that got a bit lost in translation.

 

Despite this, it works.  The link between the music and the dance is very strong.  It never strays into any particularly sophisticated emotional territory, preferring to paint in primary colours, but what it loses it subtlety it gains in accessibility: this is a show that anyone can appreciate.  Like Disney and McDonald's, Lord of the Dance has a universality that gives it wide reach but comes at the cost of a certain plasticity.  The dancers all have inviting smiles that are a little too rigid, until by the end of the show I thought the smiles looked more physically demanding than the dancing.  The CGI that accompanies the show is also genuinely awful both in content and execution - bad fantasy paintings that would not be out of place as Windows 95 screensavers.  But - despite its crimes against taste and sense - the dancing is genuinely great.  Dangerous Games is mass-market dance with many annoyances, but enough true art to entertain even those who revolt at its excesses.

DEAD MEN'S WARS

Dead Men’s Wars by Ralph McCubbin Howell.

Directed by Brett Adams. Street One. The Street Theatre. Canberra Youth Theatre Company (AUS) and Long Cloud Youth Theatre(NZ). Until October 25.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins  

 

  The right and responsibility of every youth theatre is to give voice to young people through theatre and for them to own the work that they have created.  Dead Men’s Wars is a collaborative project between Canberra Youth Theatre and New Zealand’s Long Cloud Youth Theatre. Six actors from both companies assume the principal roles of three youth ambassadors on a trip to Anzac Cove, their two chaperones, Darren (Andrew Eddie) and Helen (Lydia Buckley-Gorman) Liam Kelly plays Owen, a friend of Lori’s who is also in Turkey at the time. A chorus of performers provides the kaleidoscope of characters that populate the stage as soldiers, museum exhibits, protestors and phantoms, the abstract expression of war and attitude. Lori is joined by Charlie, who is documenting the trip and Kip, whose brother is serving in Afghanistan. Ralph McCubbin Howell’s tightly constructed script presents a discourse, sparking conflict, eliciting diverse and often opposing attitudes towards the Anzac myth and the celebration of the legendary occasion. This is a play of ideas and opinion, staged with theatrical flair and performed with unswerving conviction and energy and flair by the tightly directed ensemble.

Richard Cotta and Liam Kelly in Dead Men's Wars
Photo by Liam Kelly

 

  The play opens with a scene played by two soldiers, caught by gunfire and nerve gas in the trenches. It is here amongst the mud and stench of gas and death that one fearlessly resolves to help his injured mate. “Mates don’t leave their mates” and with this adamant retort the legend of Australian mateship is born. The scene of suffering in the horror of war segues to the present day scene between Lori and Darren. Lori has distributed her comments, criticizing the Anzac myth online, much to Darren’s disgust and fear of reprisal rom the tour’s sponsors.

  At first I think that I am revisiting the words of Alf and his son Hughie from Alan Seymour’s classic play about Anzac day, The One Day Of The Year, written half a century ago. Lori’s online posting of the speech evokes the same reaponse of disgust and horror at ingratitude and insult that appalled Alf when he leant of Hughie’s article in the university paper. It would be easy to accuse Hoell’s dialogue of cliché, however carefully this may be tempered by Helen’s more modrate approach. The situation is exacerbated further by the secret podcast recordings of all conversations that Charlie (Nathalie Morris) is preparing. Kip’s account of his brother’s experiences at the frontline also echoe the few words of the old veteran Wacka in The One Day of the Year. I make these comparisons, not to confirm the cliché as a person who remembers when Seymou’s play first tunnedAustralian audiences for its apparent attack on the behaviour of certain returned soldiers on Anzac Day, but to highlight the power of thisproduction to allow a voice for a new generation, who now experience daily the images of atrocities in the war torn Middle East  in the comfort of their own loungerooms. No such images of actual wars, happened there and now invaded the loungerooms of the fifties. One person’s cliché is another person’s new discovery.

  I gradually cast aside my first impression as Brett Adams’s excellent direction does justice to Howell’s intent to present many different sides of the argument. The play is essentially a debate. We are compelled to question istory. Whose war is it? What is left unknown, unsaid? What information determines or attiutudes?  Darren represents the conservative, traditional view. Helen speaks with a more moderate voice. Owen plays the antagonist. Kip struggles with his appreciation of reality and Charlie remains he detached observer. Supported by the varying images and characters of the Ensemble, all voices have expression in the individual opinion, and the power of this drama evolves with intriguing argument.

Bella Guererra and Ensemble in Dead men's Wars
Photos by Lorna Sim

 

  What appeared simplistic became a network of complex questions. We see the spark that Lori has ignited and its consequence, both personal in the threat of return to New Zealand and the reactions of tweeters across the globe as well as universal in the omnipotent power of the  sponsors and the power of the majority to stifle the voice of the lone protestor. It is only when the Ensemble, the vociferous majority oppose the might of the unjust that we see the true poer of the people in the face of oppression.

  The reality remains. Gallipoli was a military failure and a national success. This evocatively staged production, powerfully staged on Christiane Nowak’s expressionistic timber scaffold set and enhanced by Niklas Pajanti’s lighting design and Coleman Grehan’s sound design. may to some appear a familiar and well-worn theme. To others, and I suspect to the members of Canberra Youth Theatre and Long Cloud Youth Theatre it offers revelation through their research, rehearsal and performance of a superbly executed piece of theatre. For my part, I did feel that the company did protest too much. This is an excellent example of youth theatre, dedicated to its passion and its argument, staged with regard for the power of the ensemble, highly disciplined and imbued with clarity of action and intent. I would have preferred more tightly edited contemporary scenes with more flashbacks to actual examples of the suffering, protestation and power struggles of the period. In this production they find effective expression in the scene between the two soldiers and the scene with the nurses. However, that is a personal opinion. Collaborative projects can tend to eke out ideas and situations. Greater economy of dramatic moments would have had a more powerful effect.

  Canberra Youth Theatre and Long Cloud are to be congratulated on achieving such a theatrically absorbing performance that again invites us to question human motive, behavior and consequence. Dead men’s Wars speaks to us all with a voice that still resonates as much if not more in our own time. After all, all wars are a legacy for the generations that follow. This production urges us to contemplate still our very human nature.