Ghosted - Theatre Review

What: Ghosted
When: 30 May - 1 June 2019
Where: The Loft, Chapel Off Chapel
Written by: Michael Thebridge
Directed by:Gabrielle Reiher
Performed by: Holly Chadwick, Lucinda Cowden, Ian Hart, Max Meaden, Kostas Moutsoulas, and Jayden Popik
Props by: Gabrielle Reiher and Isobel Summers
Costumes by: Chris Snow
Sound by: Matt Brown
Animation by: Bel Giles
Stage Managed by: Brendan Coppa

Kostas Moutsoulas, Brendan Coppa, and Holly Chadwick

It is cold this winter and what better way to warm up than a good belly laugh in a warm theatre with friendly bar staff? This is what you get when you drop into Chapel Off Chapel this weekend to see Thebridge's expanded stage play Ghosted.

Ghosted is a fun rom-com which began it's life as a 20 minute episode of The Owl and Cat team's Box Set 2018 at Club Voltaire. Whilst this production does not appear to be flying under the banner of The Owl and Cat it is basically the same creative ensemble who are taking the leap to a bigger stage and story - quite successfully I might add. I also believe it is in production for TV...!

Ghosted is the story of Oliver (Moutsoulas) and Kyle (Popik). Oliver is a lonely sommelier who spends his time with best friend Jordan (Chadwick). Jordan gets sick of his moping around and convinces him to get active on Grindr. The dating world is tough and as Oliver finds out, the experiences you have can haunt you forever if you let them!

Oliver finds Kyle on the dating app. Kyle was on his way to meet a friend at a club but decided to pop in for a booty call and thus we have that age old problem with these dating apps - who is looking for love and who is just looking for sex? Kyle definitely just wants to get jiggy with it and then go on with his evening, but Oliver is more of the slow hand type and wants to share wine and conversation. Star-crossed lovers indeed!

After Oliver struggles with the situation (and Kyle's pants) for a half hour or so, Kyle takes the opportunity to run off and 'ghost' Oliver. Fate intervenes however and Kyle is run over by his escape vehicle and ends up not being able to leave the apartment at all because he is now dead. After trying to ghost Oliver, Kyle is left in limbo forever destined to haunt him instead. Thus begins a fun and funny 2 hours of mischief and mayhem for them all.

Thebridge has done a good job of expanding this story to something so substantial and whilst I would have liked him to explore some more layers to give the work some complexity, most of the characters are well drawn and the actors have generally been able to find their archetypes with conviction. Cowden is the stand out as the medium Pauline who tries to evict the ghost through a seance and in the second act in particular, Popik really dives deep into the trickster archetype bringing a lot of laughs and and a great physical performance.

Chadwick has great physicality too, but she frowns way to much to really be able to sink her teeth - and the audience - into her ray of sunshine archetype. Koutsoulas is a good actor but his skills are more film oriented so we lose his nebbish in a sea of realism which is a shame given he is the central character.

Reiher (director) has gone with a very strong 50's graphic novel aesthetic for the show and where it has been applied it works extremely well. Her film skills allow her to work with projection with a high degree of sophistication and Giles' animations bring a lot of laughs. Those, linked with Brown's wonderfully funny sound design choices, create a great architecture to frame and compliment the play, moving the show forward and keeping the tone upbeat and humorous.

I really wanted more animation - especially in the second act- and perhaps it could have been used as set fill given Reiher's choice to go minimalist with the props (there is no actual set). Reiher ran the intimate performance space The Owl and Cat for several years and she is still slowly developing the skill to work in larger spaces. There are still a lot of anachronisms present in her staging which need to be addressed. In particular, there is a tendency in the staging to reduce the stage space which is at odds with the scale of the projections. The movement of the couch on and off stage (far too many times for my liking) show a lack of finesse with zoning and a dangerous affection for symmetry.

The big gulf for Reiher is the need to start collaborating with designers - especially lighting designers. So much manual handling could be reduced, and a much stronger sense of atmosphere can be created if she could find someone who understands the art of lighting - especially now that she has the opportunity to work in venues with resources and space. The sophistication of Reiher's ideas deserve that level of attention now.

Despite these areas of development not quite in realisation Ghosted is good, clean (and a little bit naughty) fun. The play moves at a great pace, is really well performed and brings lots of smiles and laughs. Thebridge brings a lot of puns to the script and the story really does keep us guessing about the outcome right to the end.

3 Stars

Garden Dance - Dance Review

What: Garden Dance
When: 24 - 26 May 2019
Where: Oak Garden, Royal Botanic Garden
Choreographed by: Jo Lloyd
Composed by: Duane Morrison
Performed by: Deanne Butterworth, Sheridan Gerrard, Hillary Goldsmith, Rebecca Jensen, Shian Law, Claire Leske, Jo Lloyd, Nasim Patel, Emma Riches, Rachael Wisby, and Tom Woodman
Designed by: Andrew Treloar

Garden Dance has been specifically created for the Royal Botanic Gardens by one of our master choreographers, Jo Lloyd. The picture above was taken in the hall of the National Herbarium because the show opened on a rain day, but the final two performances will hopefully (weather permitting) take place out on the Oak Lawn (near gate F) which is where it will reach it's intended heights and impact. Having said that, the opening performance was still incredible powerful and enhanced my awareness of the gardens in generals as I meandered through them afterwards.

The objective of Garden Dance is to explore how 'grid systems are used to tame cities and behaviour in public places' according to the publicity blurb. To do this, Lloyd has gone back to nature to investigate the natural chaos and synchronicities which exist.

It is no coincidence the performance has been located in the Oak Garden and it is no coincidence the performance is taking place at this time of year. Lloyd is using the anatomy of deciduous trees (in this case oaks) and the dancers explore the natural dance of the rainbow coloured leaves as they fall and swirl in the air and on the ground in autumn. The dancers play in the leaves and kick them up from their repose of decay at the same time as being those very leaves in motion.

Treloar has created vibrant and clever costumes which will ping as much as they blend in to their intended environment. Bodysuits colour blocked in the rainbow hues of autumn leaves and the blues and greys of Melbourne skies are counterpointed with the hard, geometric lines of man made spaces. In what is perhaps a triumph of architecture it is interesting to look at the city scape and realise many of these colours do actually form the facade of our massive edifices.

The underlaying of stretch fabric and malleable unitards have outer layers of fashion clothing made of stiff plastics in blue and grey inferring our raincoats and fashion wear. The dancers begin with both layers, walking around the space in a randomly gridded construct but as the dance continues the layers slowly get stripped away one dancer at a time as they transform into the chaotic energy of nature.

Garden Dance is beyond energetic and Lloyd pushes her ensemble to physical extremes. We all know how athletic dancers are so to see them sweat and puff like this is to say this dance is really hard work. I am in two minds about how I feel about that because I am old school enough to have been trained to believe the magic for the audience is in not seeing how hard the work really is. That is more likely more of a flaw in my training rather than a problem with this dance. Nobody complains when footy players sweat and pant!

Rather than having music and sound booming across the gardens the audience are given headphones through which is piped the sound scape for the dance. What is intriguing is this means the dancers do not hear what we are hearing and are thus working to their own intentions and rhythms. Morrison's composition compliments the ideas of the work well, breaking down musical rhythm and jumping moments in connections with the dancers as they try to keep in step with each other and adjust their course, tempo, and lead foot to create unison - creating odd moments of randomness instead...

I tend to think Australian choreographers are world leaders in innovative dance and a lot of creative energy is spent investigating the body and breaking away from classical music led dance forms such as ballet, jazz, etc. Lloyd is probably going further than I have seen in a while and as you watch Garden Dance you may think anyone could do this. On one level you would be right. The moves are very much within (for the most part) the scope of normal human movement. Of course, in Garden Dance they are executed with the power and extension only professionally trained dancers could bring!

It also seems as if Lloyd's process in this dance is one of improvisation and game play. Across the course of the event (and eerily in time with the shifts in composition) Lloyd (and occassionally Jensen) call out instructions which act as prompts for the ensemble. Some such include "search" and "check point" amongst many others. I suspect out in the garden we would not be as aware of this. It is just an interesting process detail this rain day event gave me insight into.

Luckily the weather is beautiful today so whoever goes today will get the complete package, and with luck the weather will hold out for tomorrow although the dance is incredibly enjoyable in the hall as well - and perhaps a bit warmer... Not only does Garden Dance get us thinking about city versus nature (which is always an interesting binary at the Royal Botanic Gardens), but it also creates an exciting new context with which to view the gardens after the show. I recommend making a whole afternoon experience led by this event.

3 Stars

The Believers Are But Brothers - Theatre Review

What: The Believers Are But Brothers
When: 22 - 25 May 2019
Where: Main Hall, Arts House
Written by: Javaad Alipoor
Directed by: Javaad Alipoor and Kirsty Housley
Performed by: Javaad Alipoor and Luke Emery
Set and lighting by: Ben Pacey
Video by: Jack Offord
Sound by: Simon McCorry

Javaad Alipoor and Luke Emery

We don't get a lot of home grown modern multimedia theatre in Australia so we need organisations such as Arts House to import it sometimes and show us what is possible. One such example is The Believers Are But Brothers which forms part of the Melbourne Knowledge Week program.

The question of how terrorist group ISIS was able to radicalize the male population of so many Western nations has perplexed us for a decade and Alipoor, as a British Muslim youth himself, decided to try and delve into the on-line world of post-truth reality to help us understand what has been going on better. Originally his idea was to understand what was going on with the ISIS brides phenomenon but as a male he found no entree into that space so, as he admits at the start of the show, this show is a space for men and this story is about men. As a woman I was excited and intrigued to look closely at a space I am not allowed to be in...

One of the greatest tools used by ISIS for recruitment was social media and Alipoor takes us into a world of messaging apps, online chat rooms, gaming, and political campaigns. He makes no judgement on the use of these tools but in the end I think the strongest inference becomes anything is possible and truth is malleable so the experience of being online will be anything you choose to be a part of. It will be light and fluffy and fun if that is what you want, but be careful who you let into your friendship groups because anyone can be anything and the tone and direction can change in a heartbeat.

As an enlightened theatre maker of the 21st century Alipoor not only lets us keep our phones on, but he also requests we keep our ring tones on. The show uses What's App to interact with willing members of the audience and the cacophony of messages is meant to be a part of the soundscape of escalation layering over McCorry's urgent and dangerous compositions. It was interesting and frustrating to see Melbourne audiences have been so cowed and beaten by the traditionalist presenters most could not bring themselves to obey these requests or some significant others - particularly at the end - which are so vital to the composition of the entire production.

The What's App interaction was quite intrusive, even to avid users but this was one of the points of The Believers Are But Brothers. The incessant interruption of conversation, links, and commentary add to a sense of discomfort and disgruntlement which can easily be displaced and transferred depending on what messages you are constantly receiving and what doors are being opened for you.

In a non-linear approach and something resembling a lecture Alipoor shifts from a history of internet memes, the Trump election campaign and it's international resonance (Clive Palmer was not alone in wanting to 'Make The World Great' again), Gamer Gate, and the stories of three young men who were recruited to militancy. What did they have in common? In the end it seemed to be a sense of disempowerment, a non-belonging, a sense of persecution from within their social environment, and perhaps the need to disappear down a rabbit hole to find their mojo, their purpose, their community?

The Believers Are But Brothers is a painful show, a relentless show, and an exhausting show. It does have brief moments of humour but in the end it answers no questions just as it tells no lies. This is reality. Hyper-reality.

Designed by Pacey, the stage is set up with two men (Alipoor and Emery) with complex tech gaming set ups with multiple screens facing each other and playing 'Call Of Duty'. Between them is a large screen separating them theoretically in time and space. On a more meta level this screen also resembled the board for the game Battleship and war rooms and surveillance control stations, etc. We don't engage with Emery at all, and he doesn't engage with us - kind of. I suspect he was the one in control of the messages which at times arrive at a breakneck pace then suddenly silence to extended lulls before starting up again.

Alipoor, on the other hand, switches between speaking to us directly and intimately to proclaiming over a microphone and then turning his attention back to the computers and speaking to us through the large screen. All of this reinforces the multimedia barrage of messaging coming at youth and the impossibility for our minds and senses to find time to ponder and analyse and apply critical thought and reason to the ideas.

In many respects the information was too fast and furious to follow any one thread in the story too closely, but if you think this is what you are meant to be doing you are missing the point. You CAN'T do it. All you can do is sort through the bits that you can grab and piece a picture together that matches your understanding of the world and gives you a sense of meaning and control.

I suspect The Believers Are But Brothers is going to be a real challenge for audience members who do not engage with social media. It may come across as a meaningless barrage of everything they hate and don't understand. Perhaps this is an important point too?

For the majority I really suggest you download What's App for the show (it's free) and engage. You can always uninstall it after the show as I have.I also highly recommend following the instructions because if you don't, nobody in the room gets the experience the theatre making team have set out to create.

On the other hand, perhaps not complying is a statement in itself...? This very line of questioning is all part of the quandary Alipoor is commenting on and questioning and this is what makes the show so good - and so frustrating!

4.5 Stars

Return To Escape From Woomera - Live Art Review

What: Return To Escape From Woomera
When: 21 - 25 May 2019
Where: The Stables, Meat Market
Created and presented by: Appelspiel
Set and Lighting by: Emma Lockhart-Wilson

Simon Vaughan and Nathan Harrison

It is Melbourne Knowledge Week all over town this week and, as usual, Arts House are bringing two fascinating, challenging, and conversation challenging events which push the boundaries of what is art and why we make it. The first of these events, Return To Escape From Woomera, opened last night in The Stables as the Meat Market.

Return To Escape From Woomera was commissioned and presented by Performance Space last year in Sydney. The creative team behind it, Applespiel, created this event as a step along the way towards a project with much greater scope - an idea which combines esports with a stadium experience. As the team were working through ideas it was Jeff Khan who suggested they look back at what activist gaming has been created in the past and this led them to Escape From Woomera. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

Escape From Woomera was a video game prototype developed with an arts grant from the Australia Council and was created by a group of 15 game designers and programmers in 2003 as a response to mandatory detention of refugees, the Tampa affair, and the ongoing human rights abuses. It is sadly incredibly appropriate to bring out the game again now with our Sovereign Borders policy and the even worse conditions we inflict on already traumatised refugees (at least 97% of which have been proven to be legitimate asylum seekers!).

At the time, the game prototype caused quite a controversy with the 1st person player engaging in a series of quests to lead to his escape from the Woomera detention centre.  Escape From Woomera is a point and click game built on the GoldSrc engine and is from the era where conversations appeared as text at the bottom of the screen.

Instead of having lives or energy, the character's life is displayed in a hope meter. Once you (Mustafa) run out of hope the game ends and you have to start again. All of the details in the game were meticulously researched and are as authentic as possible whilst also creating an intriguing gaming experience (for it's time). This is a single player game although there are a plethora of non-player characters to be interacted with.

In Return To Escape From Woomera up to 6 lucky people have the opportunity to play the game live with the audience watching the game play and with a panel of experts discussing issues surrounding the game and refugeeism at the same time. Before each new player begins Roberts tells us some history and facts about the funding controversy surrounding the game and Australian refugee policies over time. This is followed by some questions to and from the audience. When each player finishes their turn they are interviewed about their gaming experience from the players perspective and how much awareness of the political content were they affected by or engaged in. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

At the same time as the game is being played Vaughan and Harrison lead a discussion with two guests which may vary every night. On opening night one of the guests was Katherine Neil who initiated the original 2003 project, and the other was a refugee and advocate, Norman. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

For the first part of the night I found myself more intrigued by the game - both the play, but also Neil's stories about the surrounding controversies such as Phillip Ruddock's condemnation of funding for this kind of project and also - less well-known - the secrecy with which the gamers had to work. All of them published under pseudonyms because it was a breach of their work contracts to be engaged in this kind of project. Neil also talked about how nascent the idea of games as political tools was back then although it is becoming more common now. As Neil says, they were before their time. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

Once I understood how the game worked I became far more interested in the conversation Norman was engaging us in. As I said, the game measures character 'life' on a hope meter and Norman kept talking about how important hope is and how strenuously our detention centres work to take it away. I interrogated him further on his understanding of the word hope and it seems all he was talking about was giving people a reason to believe tomorrow is worth sticking around for - some good food, shelter, a kind word... What makes your tomorrow worth being here for? "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

The show blurb talks about the myth of Australia as 'the lucky country' but it is worth remembering white Australia was a penal colony long before it became a tourist attraction. It does not surprise me we do prisons well - it is in the very fabric of our DNA as a nation to lock people up and treat them cruelly. We are just getting better and better at it. First it was the POMEs, then it was our First Peoples, then it was the World War II immigrants, now it is the refugees. This is what we do and we do it so well some other countries are taking notes and emulating our horrid customs. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

One of the questions put to us last night was whether it is worth staging events such as Return To Escape From Woomera. I say yes. Even though not a peep was heard about our refugee national shame during the election campaign we have to keep the conversation going because once we stop questioning there stops being any reason for the Government to adhere to human values. Once the voices stop we lose our humanity. "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

Many ideas and thoughts are covered across the evening of Return To Escape From Woomera and this will be influenced by the panelists. The one thing which can be guaranteed though is incredibly stimulating ideas and a lot of sticky questions to ask of ourselves and each other. Oh, and the gamers all seemed to have a good time! "Playful is not trivial, and so we play."

3.5 Stars

It's Not Me, It's Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen - Cabaret Review

What: It's Not Me, It's Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen
When: 20 - 25 May 2019
Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club
Performed by: Lisa Woodbrook and Josh (piano)

Lisa Woodbrook and Josh

Lisa Woodbrook is probably a name and a face you have heard before as the Channel 10 'Eye In The Sky' traffic reporter but her real skill is as a performer. With an impressive voice and more stage presence than anyone has the right to possess, Woodbrook is indulging us this week with her 2018 show It's Not Me, It's Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen at The Butterfly Club.

When she is not being a TV presenter, Woodbrook is gigging around town with her own jazz trio. Knowing this, it is no surprise she is attracted to the music of these two great English vocalists. Luckily for us, Woodbrook has the voice to match her ambitions and is accompanied superbly by Josh on the piano.

Pairing Allen and Winehouse is kind of obvious. Although Allen is more ska and Winehouse is more Jazz, there are similarities in sound and lyrics which Woodbrook demonstrates as she takes us through her dating traumas. Yes, the topic is a little banal but Woodbrook has a lively face and a hilarious insight to her behaviours which lifts the show above the ordinary.

This show is not just Woodbrook standing and singing great songs well. Woodbrook is energetic and animated and, as good as the singing is (and it is very, very good), I started to eagerly await the in-between commentary more than the music because she is just so funny and not afraid to hit below the belt.

This is of course aided by the clever lyrics of Allen, with the classic 'Not Fair' amongst others. Woodbrook covers a lot of the hits such as 'Smile' and 'Fuck You' and one of the great moments for me was being reintroduced to the clever and on point lyrics of Lily Allen. I had honestly forgotten how sharp and smart her songs were (are).

And yes, we all know how amazing Amy Winehouse was and Woodbrook treats us to great songs including 'Back To Black' and 'You Know I'm No Good'. I admit to being relieved she didn't sing 'Rehab'. It has been so overdone and would have ruined the intriguing freshness Woodbrook was bringing.

There is really nothing to fault about this show. Woodbrook keeps it stripped back and lean, focussing us on her personality and the songs which, when you are that talented is a safe bet indeed.

Oh alright, I did have one little bug bare. I do wish Woodbrook had polished her boots. There. I said it.  I also kind of felt myself wishing the venue was a more traditional table set up because there is something about this show which really yearns for the casual elegance and sexiness of round tables and a bar to go with the red velvet curtains and the red hot singer. Maybe next time...

Do you just want a lazy hour of sexy songs and fun to wind down from work or wind up to a big night of partying? I'ts Not Me, It's Definitely You: The Songs of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen will get you there. (And I highly recommend this week's cocktail 'Trio of Sips').

4 Stars

Six Moments In Kingston - Public Art Review

What: Six Moments In Kingston
When: 18 - 26 May 2019
Where: Kingston Town Hall
Created by: Tal Fitzpatrick, Kingston Koorie Mob, Laresa Kosloff, Shane McGrath, Spiros Panigirakis, and Steven Rhall
Performed by: Filipino Community Choir, Shane McGrath, Steven Rhall, et al.

Filipino Community Choir

Every suburb in every city across the world is a secret little hotbed of history and fascinating stories and Six Moments in Kingston is a sneak peak of just what kind of exciting and surprisingly important historical moments have taken place in Kingston. Purporting to cover a period from 1976 - 1981 this bus tour and public art event covers a period much greater than that with roots all the way back to WWI at least, and with strong links into what the future could hold.

Curated by David Cross and Cameron Bishop, Six Moments in Kingston includes a joyful, painful and mysterious collection of people and moments brought to life in a variety of mediums by local artists. There are videos, performance art, museum tours, and craftivism filling the supposedly 1 hour bus tour although my tour ended up being about 2 hours long. Maybe we were all just having way to much fun?

What I will say is an event like this is really as much or as little fun as you want it to be. Those who know me know I really like to get involved and respond to what is happening around me and I really think that is the only way to enjoy something of this sort. You also have the ability to sit back and wait to be 'entertained' in which case you may not have the best time of your life. Just like all of life, it is your choice. What you bring to it is what you will get out of it.

One of the resounding themes throughout the piece, perhaps surprisingly, is the role of protest and resistance and its effect on communities. This is the focus of Rhall's 4 installations across the event. Rhall has sought out significant moments of civil resistance such as a protest at the old Morris smokes factory and a tent protest outside city hall to illustrate how change is activated in community. In his piece protest he creates a performance installation which takes a historic worker's strike and subtly insinuates modern concerns such as racial and gender stereotyping to give it a contemporary edge.

The bus tour is narrated by Michael Caton who tells us stories as we come up to sites of significance in his wonderfully local vernacular. You do have to listen to what he is saying though or you will miss important information because none of the installations give context in and of themselves as some people discovered to their disappointment on the tour I was on.

Panigirakis invites us to consider bureaucracy as a form of art as he takes us to some heritage sites such as the Great Wall of Hillston. Along the way we are give copies of planning documents in his piece 'Figures, Notes and Amendments' which we can read through and ponder and chuckle at on the way to his family home.

We visit Moorabbin Oval where Phil Carman famously headbutted an umpire one fateful footy game day. Kosloff has created a wonderful video installation investigating that moment and I couldn't stop laughing as it brought to mind the Italian soccer team scandal a couple of World Cup's ago. With a slightly naughty edge it is also a heart warming homage to a game which means so much to so many Melbournians.

I was delighted to discover Melbourne has its own UFO sighting theory and I also got to indulge my inner Biggles nerd as we were told the tale of Fred Valentich and the day his plane went missing on the way to King Island. Did you know Moorabbin Airport is so big it is its own suburb? Did you know it is the 2nd busiest airport in Australia? I had no idea! And did you know Kingston is the home of the Australian National Aviation Museum?

The aviation museum is the only one in the world where you are allowed to sit in nearly every plane in the collection and they have all sorts! They have 1 of only 5 Beaufighters left in the world and they have a Victor lawn mower next to the plane which has a Victor engine. The mind boggles!

'Delta Sierra Juliet' tells us the story, and shows us the plane Fred Valentich flew on his fateful flight. We also hear some of the search investigation documents, statements and findings. This one is a conspiracy theorist's dream and on the bus some women started talking about UFO sightings over suburban schools!

The highlight for me was McGrath's performance march to the Parkdale childhood home of Rick Springfield. As we marched we sang along to 'Jessie's Girl' and as we came across a figure with a guitar rockin' out on the tale of a ute I begged him to let me have his babies. Some of us just never grow up...

There was so much else to enjoy on this tour including Fitzpatrick's entree into craftivism. I think though, in quieter moments on the bus, one of the things I enjoyed most was just seeing the suburban streets and contemplating how they are the same everywhere but how each one has it's own little stamp of unique identity - be it the garden, the fence, the cars, the curtains, the toys, etc. It also had me thinking how rare it is for us to take the time to just walk around our own suburbs and really look at the place and people we share our little piece of the world with.

Personally, I really enjoyed this insight into Kingston. I enjoyed it for the stories it told, but I also enjoyed it for the prompt it gave me to look more closely at the stories which surround me. I am also on the hunt for my very own local Rick Springfield now. And remember - 'Don't Talk To Strangers'. Just a warning though, this is not really an accessible event. If you can't walk without a mobility device you will struggle as there is a lot of getting on and off the bus and some walking and stairs.

3.5 Stars

Pinocchio - Theatre Review

What: Pinocchio
When: 5 - 26 May 2019
Where: La Mama Courthouse
Written by: Carlo Collodi
Directed by: Christian Bagin
Performed by: Jasper Foley
Design by: Eloise Kent
Masks by: Newmi Newman
Lighting by: Adelaide Harney
Sound by: Felix Watson

Jasper Foley

Pinocchio is a classic morality tale and fun adventure story written by Collodi in 1880 and it is one which has stood the test of time. Exciting imagination and bringing a whole new life to this favourite Rosa Campagnaro, Bagin, and Foley bring it back to life with an authentic, energetic and exciting remediation into the finest example of Commedia dell'Arte and it is at La Mama Courthouse this week.

Pinocchio is the story of a piece of wood originally intended to be a chair leg which, it is discovered, can speak. The lonely old wood carver, Geppetto, decides to carve him into a marionette and treats him like his son, including sending him off to school. Along the way Pinocchio gets distracted and goes on a whirlwind of adventures which lead to great misfortune brought about - just like the Greeks said - by his own flaws in character.

As he travels along and loses everything he learns to be kind and brave and eventually he is reunited with Geppetto and the Blue Fairy turns him into a real flesh and blood boy - a real son for the lonely old woodcarver. This story is so popular it has world wide translations and sales greater than all other non-religious texts!

The Make A Scene team have cleverly come up with the idea of pairing this funny, sad, scary and beautiful tale with the classic theatrical form Commedia dell'Art and have hit on perfection! Watching this production of Pinocchio it looks as if this is always how the story was meant to be told.

In many respects it should not be a surprise that this piece of classic Italian literature would meld so beautifully with Commedia - after all, they are cultural ancestors - but to see it before us is a marvel. What is also a marvel is the way the team have managed to make what could be dried up, outdated content and technique come across as so modern and fresh (and unutterably hilarious!).

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Circus is experiencing a renaissance and the clowning tradition is strong in our industry. What is Commedia but the highest form of clowning? Make A Scene have perfectly allocated the classic Commedia characters of Arlecchino, Pantalone, and Il Capitano (Pinocchio, Geppetto, and la Volpe) and there is even a cameo for an audience member to come on stage as Colombina (il Gatto).

There is lots of audience participation as sound effects and ad hoc characters (although Jiminy Cricket doesn't appear and, perhaps more surprisingly, really isn't missed in this production). At it's heart though, this production is a celebration of puppetry. The show links the technique of theatrical mask to the art of puppetry. Pinocchio takes us across the realms of mask, stringless marionettes, hand puppets, finger puppets, and shadow puppets (sans silhouette...).

The techniques slip seamlessly from one to the other within the confines of a puppet booth (a la the Puncinella tradition which became the Punch and Judy show) and out in the open stage and even, at times, into the audience. There are walls and they are constantly broken and I couldn't help wondering if this is what Brecht was exploring with his ideas on gestus and alienation...?

Bagin's direction is flawless but it would all come to nothing if Foley wasn't so incredible at what he is doing. His mask work and transitions are perfection and keep the story moving along at a good pace. Perhaps my one criticism is with a running time of 80 minutes it feels a little long for younger audiences and I did detect a bit of restlessness at around the hour mark although it quickly settled back down as Foley weaved his magic and kept us all laughing and oohing and aahing.

Kent's design is a wonder and the puppet booth is a gift which keeps on giving. It is like a Sarah Lee dessert with "layer upon layer" of secrets to be revealed. Newman's masks are also a wonder to behold. So evocative and detailed and embodying the Commedia traditions whilst also telling the story of Pinocchio.

Make A Scene have chosen to follow the story of this little wooden boy according to Collodi's original writings so it has some moments which are darker than a modern aesthetic generally allows. Some people will not like this at all, but I think when you present history you should present it faithfully so as brave as it is, I loved it. The world is not a Disney movie.

I really cannot speak too highly of this fantastic version of Pinocchio. If you don't see it you will miss one of the greatest things ever staged. It is a children's story but there is so much in it for adults! Oh, and it is bilingual but don't worry, you will be fine if you don't speak Italian and you may even come away knowing a word or two yourself.

5 Stars

Arete: Epsilon - Performance Review

What: Arete - Epsilon
When: 17 - 18 May 2019
Where: Cube 37
Playwrights: Matt Allen, Hayley Lawson-Smith, Lenora Locatelli, Harry Patermoster, Jonathan Simpson, Emma Sproule, Mitchell Sholer, Helmut von Push and Emma Workman
Directors: Lenora Locatelli, Gabrielle Rando, Naomi Woodward, Jonathan Simpson, Emma Sproule, Mitchell Sholer, Jet Thomas
Performers: Paul Barry, Anthony Bradshaw, Sophie Daddo-Langlois, The eMs, Max Gettler, Olivia Gyulavary, Annie Laurenson, Jane Leckie, Rosa Leonardi, Lenora Locatelli, Cadi MacInnes, Leikny Middleton, Josiah Moah, The Pythia, Gillian Scott, Jonathan Simpson, Mitchell Sholer, Fabrizio Spada, and Helmut von Push
Set design by: Sally Curry
Lighting by: Brad De La Rue
Stage managed by: Steven Goranitis

Olivia Gyulavary and Paul Barry

If you think theatre is an inner city indulgence you are wrong. It is the life blood of community and it is as vibrant - if not more so - the further you go from the centre point and is the life blood from which the inner city blockbusters draw their material and talent (unless you are in Australia in which case most of the material will be drawn from Europe or the USA - just sayin'...). One thriving urban outpost is Dionysus Theatre on the Peninsula who put on an annual short play festival called Arete, of which it's Epsilon season is taking place right now.

These short play festivals are hugely popular in Melbourne - mainly because few producers are prepared to invest significant resources into long form local play writing. The result is, of course, that Australian writers are becoming masters of the short quip and have few skills to develop works of social and historical impact and significance... I will get off my soapbox now.

On the positive side, these types of festivals are great for young performers and directors to dip their fingers in the water of their potential long term craft and thus we have Arete. Arete is a great initiative by Dionysus because their raison d'etre is supposed to be innovative performance but looking at their production history their only full productions are dusty old European 'classics' which do little to sustain our cultural health. (Major companies are you listening?)

Having had my little rant, I will say I really enjoyed the shape and format of Arete. It is not just the usual array of 10 - 20 minute plays cobbled together. Artistic Director Melanie Thomas has really thought about the audience experience and between the plays winds several small vignette pieces which, to be honest, are the best parts of the show. As well, she has created foyer exhibitions by local artists who are also working to this year's Arete theme: "Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind" - a quote from Marcel Proust.

Personally, I think this ideology is folderol. It is a very 20th century idea that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger but that century had to survive 2 world wars. I can forgive them for believing whatever they needed to believe to get through it. Unfortunately it has also become a free pass for painful and hurtful actions though so I would suggest in the 21st century we ought to be looking for a new standard. One where happiness is okay.

Speaking strongly to the old concepts of last century and the question of high art is the wonderful Helmut von Bush who weaves his stories and his teachings across the evening. From his work with Brecht to his break up with the Venga Boys, Bush montages images and ideas which defined the European aesthetic and psychology and in so doing smashes all of that rhetoric into dust clouds filling the air behind us. Haughty and hilarious, von Bush dares us to criticise what we see tonight as something less than art. I agree. Love it or hate it, rough or polished, what is presented is definitely art.

The true revelation and glory in Arete: Epsilon is the amazing Leikny Middleton who is the centre piece of Sproule's 'Growing Pain' collection of  vignettes across the program. Middleton is a young preteen and over the course of the evening we see her go from discovering the Where Did I Come From book, to learning the truth about Santa, and menstruating. Middleton is going to have a stellar career I suspect.

The most impactful play of the night for me was the first one, 'Happiness Is An Illusion' by Locatelli although I would have liked to see her hand the work to an experienced director. It has a lot of potential with an important story. A husband and wife together for decades. The wife realises she is unfulfilled and needs time out. The husband feels betrayed and resentful. "You chose this!" So much to be explored in this one small phrase...

'Second Chance' (Lawson-Smith) and 'Moving On' (Allen) are also intriguing scripts although the ideas need a bit more clarity, and 'Nothing Is Forever And Nothing Is Forever' (Workman) is stunningly directed. A big shout out to Laurenson who's depiction of Nan in 'Moving On' was full of depth and authenticity.

The skills and abilities of everyone were stretched in Arete, but I think young directors need mentorship on theatre craft. It is a bit rough for both the person and the audience to ask someone who knows nothing about the technical crafts of acting and staging to take on a leadership role. I don't think it helps anyone because bad habits can be formed and critical insight is unlikely to have been developed yet.

In a similar vein, some things should never be paid for to be seen and 'A Short Beautiful Moment: The Swan Story' (Sholer and Simpson) is one of those things. This piece of drivel is high school boy shenanigans and does not deserve time and resources - and a paying audience should not have to sit through such utter nonsense (it's not the good kind of nonsense...). Simpson does redeem himself at the end though with '"A Voice From The Past"; With Jeremy Hanson'.

Arete is a great version of the one act play festival and distinguishes itself with it's interconnections and holistic production. All of the scene transitions need to be sped up and choreographed more efficiently (the actors can help) and I did get tired of Curry's magnificent set piece being moved back and forth like a tennis ball. You know there are too many set changes when the audience have to sit through one for the curtain call as well!

Arete is a great local product and a part of the essential fabric of skill building and idea interrogation needed to create the great theatre of our future. I am really glad I got to see it and leave quite excited about a few of the participants.

2 Stars

plenty serious TALK TALK - Physical Theatre Review

What: Plenty Serious TALK TALK
When: 9 - 11 May 2019
Where: Main Hall, Arts House
Created  and performed by: Vicki van Hout
Film performers: Cloé Fournier and Glen Thomas
Lighting by: Karen Norris
Sound by: Phil Downing

Vicki van Hout - photo by Bryony Jackson

Another great Yirramboi Festival event, van Hout's plenty serious TALK TALK is being presented at Arts House alongside Daddy. It is an incredibly clever pairing as both are dealing with the question of how a modern Aboriginal of mixed heritage combines their artistic training in Anglo style contemporary dance with the heritage elements of their indigenous ancestors.

Van Hout's conversation asks the huge questions of what is cultural appropriation, where is the line? Van Hout is a contemporary dancer trained in the Martha Graham traditions but, as she points out, Martha Graham is not her heritage so why is it okay if she uses it? On the other hand, why doesn't her Indigenous ancestry allow her to take historical moves and incorporate them into her artistry?

In this instance, van Hout is speaking to the hard line traditionalists - Mr Humble Pie as she refers to him. It is not an easy question or answer because it is always about doors being opened. Van Hout is an amazing dancer and as she demonstrates how beautifully she is able to marry both sides of her skills and traditions, it is also easy to see how people without the ancestry would see this and marvel and want to do it themselves.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does it have a judgement value of this nature and if so how is it protected? Those questions are rhetorical. There is no easy answer and certainly not any someone of immigrant origin such as myself can address.

Now this all sounds like heavy serious stuff, but van Hout manages to make the entire 50 minutes a real hoot! She is as funny as she is serious and from the very first film clip where she is a TV presenter forced to do her own welcome to country. She moves into her live entrance combining stomping for country with lyrical dance, and traditional chanting with nonsense English which shows us she is pulling as many legs as strings of yarn off a conversational ball of wool,

Some transitions are less successful than others, more because they take a long time to reveal rather than that they are inherently flawed. The monologue about Miss Light Tan is one example, where she is basically quoting some sort of review which insists her work is inherently confusing because as a person of mixed ancestry she sits in a space of ambiguity - not unlike cronuts, cruffins, and umbrella ties...

Van Hout messes with us a little bit. Each of her sequences starts in different places - sometimes funny moving to serious and sometimes moving from serious to funny - and she never gives a hint until she makes the shift which keeps us in a delightfully awkward state of suspense and uncertainty.

The most powerful moment for me was the flashing hazard light and person being beaten in captivity which speaks so loudly to contemporary issues around Indigenous imprisonment, but which she then flips to represent her conflict with "TIs" regarding the use of Indigenous dance in her contemporary works. Eye opening in both levels indeed.

One of the great themes which keeps resonating is 'what is the cost'? Van Hout puts dance up for auction early on asking if could she sell a pas de bourre for a foot stomp or a jete for a dirt flick? She ends by asking how much she could get for her Indigeneity? After all, it apparently comes with a lot of 'free stuff'. There are some drawbacks she warns - such as a decreased life expectancy, etc.

Again, it all sounds so serious and it is but plenty serious TALK TALK is also a barrel of laughs. Van Hout takes the reverence out of ideas which should perhaps never be revered beyond question and conversation. Plenty serious TALK TALK was first performed last year at Riverside and I hope it is a show which gets remounted many times across the country.

4.5 Stars

Daddy - Physical Theatre Review

What: Daddy
When: 8 - 12 May 2019
Where: Main Hall, Arts House
Created and performed by: Joel Bray
Directed by: Stephen Nicolazzo
Composed by: Naretha Williams
Design by: James Lew
Lighting and AV by: Katie Sfetkidis

Joel Bray - photo by Bryony Jackson

Sadly the Yirramboi Festival is drawing to a close but there is still a chance to see great shows this weekend.  You may all remember my glowing review of Bray’s show Biladurang earlier this year. Well, he is back with a new show Daddy and this one packs a punch!

The themes of the two shows echo each other; disconnection from father, gay culture, pain, and colonisation. The difference is scope and scale. 

Biladurang rang with the intimacy of hotel rooms whereas Daddy echoes with the grandeur of the history of the world – black, white, and candy floss pink. Bray sugar-coats the pain of colonisation (literally with icing sugar) but as we, the audience, get to lick away the drug of fantasy sweetness we begin to expose the raw truth as Bray sees and feels it.

Daddy is visually stunning (not a suprise as it is directed by Nicolazzo and designed by Lew) and is excitingly dynamic. It begins with Bray posed on pink fairy floss cloud replicating that famous pose of the reaching hand painted by Michealangelo in Rome. 

Bray has the body of Michaelangelo's David too so he merges seamlessly into the renaissance art which he  writhes to replicate in a moving gallery of white, European, christian, canonical art brought down through the ages and dominating the Australian culture. He invites us to help him complete the mis-en-scenes as props and other characters populate the pictures and yes, we can take a photo if we want.

As Bray’s lithe body contorts a sexuality emerges and the subtle question is raised about the Church’s stance on homosexuality. As we partake of his body, licking away the sweet layers of sugar drug from his body the complexity of Bray’s narrative becomes clearer. 

Bray is a white Aboriginal and as he sits us down for a yarn he begins to lead us down the road of identity confusion and the cost. Bray’s confusion is incredibly multi-layered as it is for so many Indigenous Australians. He leans into stereotypes to show how true they are and yet how misleading and crippling they can be.

His whiteness of skin denies his family heritage, as do we when we demand he prove it (as has happened so many times in his life). The price we demand to acknowledge his Aboriginality is archaic cliches such as spear bearing, physical poses, etc - "the indigineous experience" as the Victorian Liberals called it in the last election. 

And yet as much as we demand his authenticity he has never been able/allowed to learn his native language which has been stolen along with generations of new borns. He makes the devastating point that the number of Indigenous children removed from their homes now s a staggering 80% higher than at the time of The Apology!

The generational sexual abuse within his family means he is disconnected from his father and will spend his whole life searching for it in his sexual relationships. It is not all doom and gloom as he takes us into the gay bars and teaches us some hot pick up dance moves.

Bray takes us on a journey from the Sistine Chapel to Chapel Street as he searches for the man he is supposed to be, the man he wants to be, and the man he needs to be – not just a puppet on colonial strings… He seeks answers on YouTube and investigates his art of dance to find a way to blend the two sides of his identity. 

He gets mad. Mad at himself and mad at us. He seeks solace in the crowd and scolds us within two heart beats. Bray cries out in pain and begs for understanding but we like our truths sugar coated and the whole thing ends with a big vanilla icecream sundae.

This season is sold out, so if you don’t have a ticket, you have missed. Hopefully this is show which will come back again and again though!

4.5 stars!

The Honouring - Physical Theatre Review

What: The Honouring
When: 7 - 11 May 2019
Where: La Mama Courthouse
Created and performed by: Jack Sheppard
Puppetry by: Tim Denton and Greg Fryer
Design by: Tim Denton
Lighting by: Rachel Rui Qian Lee
Sound by: James Henry
Stage managed by: Stephen Hawker

Jack Sheppard

Personally I feel we have way too many festivals in Melbourne but right now we are in the middle of one of our most important - Yirramboi. The word yirramboi means tomorrow in the local languages of the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung peoples and is a selection of works which are future focussed with regard to the cultural and societal lives for our First Nations peoples. The Honouring, being presented at La Mama Courthouse speaks to this with a powerful physical theatre piece about suicide and Sorry Business.

Jack Sheppard is an emerging dancer and actor who has experienced a lot of loss in his short life through death - some suicide and some a less self-actualised form. This is not unusual for our Aboriginal community sadly. 65% of this community die before the age of 65 (Briggs recently released a song about this...) and 95% of the community have been affected by suicide in some form across their lives. What this means, if you think it through, is that there is almost no-one in the community who is not brought face to face with mortality many times across their lives, and at an age much younger than those of us of immigrant origins would even dare to contemplate.

On top of this we must face the outrageous truth that many have lost ssential cultural tradition and practice due to colonisation, including how to process death and allow their lost ones souls to return to The Dreaming. This leaves those still living lost in a limbo of despair not only for their personal loss, but also for the bereft souls not able to ascend - and also for The Dreaming which is losing their stories in the richness of its fabric. It is also believed that suicide did not exist in their community before colonisation which means it becomes even harder to make sense of. The question for us all, but most especially this community, is how to do we celebrate the lives of those who end their own and help them journey to whatever afterlife they/we dare to dream of.

Sheppard's pain began with the suicide of two very close friends in 2013 and this is where The Honouring begins. The work is temporally linear and follows the artists journey through depression, pain, grief, love, and loss.

As we enter the theatre we encounter the first body dangling from the grid and the shock of recognition is surprisingly authentic. If I didn't already know what the show was about I could have easily assumed this was a comment on deaths in custody and other mortality issues facing our Aboriginal communities...

One of the incredible strengths of The Honouring are the visuals (Denton). How Sheppard interacts with the puppets (Denton and Fryer) is a thing of great beauty and love. He dances with his lost love ones. He comforts them. He nurtures them. He mourns them. He carries them... but how does he help them move on and how does he move on himself? He has no Sorry Business rituals to engage with and The Honouring is about his journey towards creating ritual for himself.

Dramatically speaking, The Honouring is still a bit raw and unformed. It swings between intensely literal and obscurely abstracted. The show integrates all of the hybrid elements of dance, puppetry, text, music (Henry), and lighting (Lee) in a really sophisticated model but because so much of the work is so good the elements which are still underdeveloped do stand out starkly. Sheppard consulted with a range of dramaturgs (Maza), consultants (Ginsberg) and provocateurs (Jasmin Sheppard) but perhaps just one theatre maker with a clear vision and strong story-telling skills would have been a wiser choice.

In particular the text is weak although there are some refrains which echo strongly such as "the S in the chest" and "There is no going back." I also would have liked to have seen a stronger presence of the meta-narrative. Perhaps building the ritual alongside building the story and experiences...?

Having said that, Sheppard's personal story is raw and powerful. The visceral effect of the birds clawing at his stomach was unavoidable, and his love for those lost emanated powerfully through his body and the room.

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of The Honouring though, is the reminder of the depth of scarring for our First Nations people as a result of colonisation and how important it is for us to find a way to give them space, time, and agency to rebuild or build anew what has been lost to them which is so much deeper and more essential than just our 'white people' concept of land and life. Are you brave enough to confront this pain and longing in person?

3 stars

Barnum - Musical Review

What: Barnum The Circus Musical
When: 1 May - 2 June 2019
Where: Comedy Theatre
Book by: Mark Bramble
Music by: Cy Coleman
Lyrics by: Michael Stewart
Directed by: Tyran Parke
Musical direction by: Stephen Gray
Circus direction by: Zebastian Hunter
Performed by: Rachael Beck, John Barrett,  Embla Bishop, Kirby Burgess, John Clark, Greg Clarkson, Dean Cooper, Robbie Curtis, Akina Edmonds, Sarah Gray, Stephen Gray, Matthew Hamilton, Suzie Mathers, Stephen McDowell, Vanessa McGregor, Todd McKenney, William Meager, Karlee Misipeka, Gary Norman, Joshua Reckless, Roger Schmidli, Matthew Tubman, Ian Wilmot, and Tim Wilson
Choreography: Kelly Aykers
Design by: Dann Barber
Lighting by: Rachel Burke
Sound by: Michael Waters

Photo by Jeff Busby

Circus and musical theatre - the twin arts of stage spectacle - have come together in Barnum The Circus Musical playing at the Comedy Theatre this month. Storeyboard Entertainment has partnered with the National Institute of Circus Arts and Australian legendary performer Todd McKenney to bring to Melbourne a completely new production of the 1980's musical and is, from what I have read of past performances, one of the most successful stagings so far.

Barnum has always been criticised for it's poor book but a very clever Adrian Storey  and Parke went to Bramble and asked for some updates including a more modern post-#metoo sensibility. Whilst the structure is still very much like flicking through a moving images photo book, the story does hold together for the most part.

One significant change is the Ringmaster (Burgess) is cast as a woman but plays all the ad hoc male parts. An interesting decision but Burgess is more than up to the task and almost steals the show with her wonderful ability to play with voice and accent and physicality. She also starts the awe and spectacle with a graceful swan dive off the band mezzanine so we know from the beginning she is one to watch!

As a musical Barnum is really all about the songs rather than the story. These moving image snapshots track the life of P.T. Barnum (McKenney) from creation of the American Museum through to his decision to join James Bailey to create The Greatest Show On Earth (and invent the 3 ring circus). Just like any photo album there are intimate moments captured with his wife Charity (Beck) and his mythical affair with Jenny Lind (Mathers).  As well, there are the public moments such as the Museum opening, the launch of the Swedish Nightingale amongst his other most popular acts, and his run for Mayor of Bridgeport.

Swirling around all these great moments of Barnum's life is a circus troupe extraordinaire. As you can see in the photo the characters are so well drawn it is almost impossible to see the actors beneath but I will do my best to credit the right people. I should also say Barber's designs are impressively strong and I have never seen a show so perfectly suited to the heritage architecture of the Comedy Theatre (or so cleverly used by Parke) as in this show. It is pretty awesome how it all melds so seamlessly to bring us inside the 1880s.

Set in a little big top very reminiscent of our Speigeltents (although it may be truer to say Speigeltents mirror circus big tops...), acrobats fly and float and fling each other willy nilly, creating a storm of spectacle with Barnum standing - and singing - in stillness like the eye of the storm the man really was. His visions swirl around him and his story and he tries to fill his life with colour.

I was probably most impressed by the aerialists Gray and McGregor. Tiny little Gray was tossed and flung and flipped in ways which made her seem like a human pinball. McGregor demonstrated strength and grace in her aerial ring act and both were beautiful in their silks routine. What I really liked was, whilst none of the circus tricks were highest risk, what they did was technically perfect and matched the tone of the musical rather than standing out as something other.

In the end, the real strength of Barnum is the songs and the genius of this casting was an understanding of this. I have always tended (perhaps unfairly) to think of McKenney as a dancer who could sing but Barnum blows this belief out of the water. A big surprise is McKenney does no dancing at all (although he does walk the tight rope). Instead he gets to blow our mind with his incredible vocal talents which not only include pitch, power and range, but also lyrical dexterity. Do you remember the incredible lyrical gymnastics of Danny Kaye? Well McKenney is that good - which is lucky because Stewart does not give any leeway to whoever is brave enough to sing this part.

Beck demonstrates her unquestionable singing pedigree in 'Colours of My Life' across several reprises, and Mathers takes the audience to heavenly places with her classical arias which prove the one moment of truth to most of Barnum's humbugs. All of the singers are perfect and it is fair to say this production of Barnum does not put a foot wrong as a production.

It is not fair to criticise the production too harshly for flaws in the book and the latter part of the show, when Barnum takes on politics, has scary insight into politics in our time - especially whilst we are right in the middle of an election campaign and have suffered 10 years of very strange governance very full of it's own humbug.  I might suggest that Parke's direction and Burke's lighting are a bit pedestrian though.

The load very much seems to be carried by Barber and the acrobats to keep up the energy and pace but they are more than up to the task. I was also very impressed with Water's sound design. This show needs absolute clarity and that is what he gives us. The band are magnificent and I loved that when I looked up they all seemed to be having a good time.

Other moments of note include the transitions into Act 1 and Act 2. It is always a dreadful task trying to get audiences to settle. Parke uses a sound montage at the start of the show and a clever and funny clowning routine after interval and both work beautifully. They are like a theatrical prolonged "Shhhh!"

I guess what all these words of mine are saying is Barnum The Circus Musical is a great night out so get on down to the Comedy Theatre. It is fun, fanciful and fabulous with just enough contemporary commentary to have a reason to exist. And remember, noone else in the world has ever staged this particular version of the show yet!

4.5 Stars