- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Supersonic Australia, The Domain, Sydney: As part of the Wild God Tour, the band played two shows in January featuring a messianic performance by Mr Cave, a 17-piece ensemble, some of the best backing vocals I have head in a long time, and a supporting cast of bats flying overhead at dusk (the lack of Release the Bats from the set was the only disappointment). Nick Cave is a consumate performer, whether belting out fan-favourites Tupelo and O Children or baring his soul with tunes about his dead son, I Need You (with the repeated refrain, 'just breathe') and Joy. Warren Ellis does Warren Ellis things at the side of the stage as Cave roams, struts and surfs about the place, equally comfortable pounding the piano or stroking the keys, his energy through two and a half hours is obvious in every gesture and facial expression. Jubilee Street is a deliverance for the ages, while more mainstream hits Red Right Hand and The Weeping Song invite the crowd to sing along until there is barely a dry eye in the domain by the time he finishes (us) off with Into My Arms.
- The Book of Mormon - Anne Garfino, Important Musicals and Suzanne Jones, Capitol Theatre, Sydney: A delightful and irreverent pastiche of a show that mocks every genre of musical theatre, cultural hegemony and organised religion while still maintaining a moral code. From the team that brough you South Park comes a musical that skewers itself with outstanding acting, singing, choreography, sets and costumes. From the opening number, Hello! in which we are introduced to a cast of missionaries of the Latter-day Saints, we know there is earnestness up for lampooning. Elders Price (Sean Johnston) and Cunningham (Nick Cox) are paired up and sent to Uganda - not quite the cushy Orlando posting they anticipated. Cue jokes about dictatorship, AIDS, child abuse, blasphemy, and myth making. The songs are memorable and amusing, the sacriligeous Lion-King-inspired Hasa Diga Eebowai and the toe-tapping Turn It Off about supressing unwanted feelings are highlights, and the dream-a-dream ballad Sal Tlay Ka Siti is the version of the song that goes like this (performed by Paris Leveque with wholly convincing naivety in her professional debut). Spooky Mormon Hell Dream is a wonderful excuse to play with props, character and lighting, and the breathtaking audacity of I Am Africa had me wondering how they got away with it. The last word should go to Trey Parker who writes, "There's this line that you can cross all you want as long as you have a reason for doing it. If it has a point and it has a story and it has genuine, real character and emotion, then you can pretty much do whatever you want. There is no line if you're being truthful. We learned that lesson a long time ago."
- You Tell My Mum I'm Dead - Sunspot Productions, The Courtyard Studio: This is an interesting new work from a promising young writer (Emily O'Mahoney), focussing on the Australian 'schoolies' phenomenom where hoards of 18-year-old school leavers descend on beach towns (particularly the Gold Coast and, in this instance, Bateman's Bay) to celebrate their new-found freedom. Gangs of youths, many of whom are away from parental control and experimenting with excessive drugs and alcohol for the first time, flirt, fight and try to figure out who they want to be as they emerge blinking from the confines of adolesence into the bright lights of adulthood. What could possibly go wrong? Director, Kathleen Dunkerley makes some bold choices in their use of space, light and sound effects, accompanied by straightforward acting decisions as they play to the cast's strengths. We spend time in the company of three young women: Cara (Emily O'Mahoney), whose natural performance and final decisive monolgue capture the insecurity of being on the cusp of womanhood; Max (Breanna Kelly), who brings energy and sincerity to an assured performance with unexpectedly emotional anguish; and Layla (Ainslie Bull), with a metaphoric speech about lambs being led to slaughter which could be the crux of the play if delivered with more power. The commitment and engagement from all involved make this an exciting ensemble to watch in future.
- La Souris Blanche - ReAction Theatre, Street 2: Nancy Wake was a New-Zealand born Australian nurse and journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive during World War II and briefly pursued a postwar career as an intelligence officer in the Air Ministry. Known as the White Mouse, part of her legendary appeal is due to her insistence on maintaining her femininity amidst guerilla warfare, often taking silk nightgowns, Chanel lipstick and red satin pillows on spying missions in the French mountains. This production, written by Christine Croyden and translated by Véronique Duché is performed entirely in French, to immerse the audience in the language and the atmosphere of the resistance. Surtitles as well as wartime images are projected onto sheets hanging from the top of the stage, ripped and layered to provide entrances and exits, suggesting forests, apartments and nightclubs, all while evoking torn parachutes of downed airmen - both practical and imaginative. Nancy herself is performed by Ionna Gagani and Natalia Nour (as young Nancy) as the agent provocateur prepares to receive a belated award from the Australian government and reflects on her life and the choices that led her here. Flashbacks of her training and actions, including learning to kill silently and the consequences of that ability, are executed with passion, wit and candour. Director Louise Howlett doesn't shy away from the violence, while incorporating the romance and an artistic element through song and dance. There is a lot to the story, and this 80-minute play only peels back a partial couche d'oignon, leaving audience members craving more information, which is surely one of the purposes of drama, n'est-ce pas?
- Bedroom Farce - Canberra Repertory Society, Theatre 3: The play can be pretty dated with its casual references to domestic violence and defined gender roles, as four couples talk about the things that happen behind closed doors. The title is misleading as it is not a farce so much as a sit-com where character interplay matters as much as precision timing. In this, the older couple, Ernest (Pat Gallagher) and Delia (Sally Rynveld) are perfect as the slightly stuffy and bewildered moral compass (think Richard Briers and Penelope Wilton in Ever Decreasing Circles). Their son, Trevor (played with too much posturing and insufficient presence by James Grundoff) has a combative relationship with Susannah (Lara Connolly whose histronics elicit ridicule rather than empathy), who crash the house warming party of practical jokers Malcolm (well-executed bonhomie from Lachlan Abrahams) and Kate (Antonia Kitzel as the centrepiece of the play with a fun and thoughtful performance). Making up the octet are Nick (Rob de Fries has a good line in physical theatre and condescending disdain but is way too old for the role which makes it ick) and Jan (Azerie Cromhout), Trevor's former girlfriend. Although the script frequently mentions her strength and how she would have been a better match for the tempestuous Nick, this is not evident on stage. All the action occurs across a series of bedrooms, delightfully designed by Andrew Kay, showing the character of the couples and allowing continous sightlines and theatrical flow. Despite some good acting and technical elements, the zeitgeist-blind casting of a couple where the man is old anough to be the woman's grandfather and the tone-deaf approach to domestic violence are insurmountable issues.
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| Ionna Gagani and Natalia Nour as Nancy Wake in La Souris Blanche |
