What Did She Think?

What: Pipe Dreams Fractured Lives When: 29 November 2019 Where: Classic Cinemas, Elsternwick Featuring: Lou Allstadt, Helen Bender, Ron Gulla, Tony Ingraffea, Brian Monk, and David Smith In Australia we live on the driest inhabited continent in the world. The human body cannot survive more than a week without water. We know this. This is science. Despite this our Government keeps turning a blind eye to the great risks resource mining is putting on our miniscule water resources and endangering our existence. The film Pipe Dreams Fractured Lives looks at the most looming existential threat to Australians - fracking. The Lift-Off Film Festival brought it to Melbourne audiences last night. Fracking is a term we hear a lot, but I suspect few of us really understanding. It is the process of injecting liquid at very high pressure into underground rock layers in order to open up pre-existing cracks and fissures and create holes or tunnels. This process releases the gas which has be

What: I Shot Mussolini When: 27 November - 8 December 2019 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written and directed by: Alice Bishop Performed by: Bridgette Burton, Michael F Cahill, Anthea Davis, Sophie Lampel, Marco Lawrence, Heather Lythe, Matthew Molony, and Greg Parker Lighting by: Stelios Karagiannis Sound by: Nat Grant Video projection by: Salvador Castro Stage managed by: Hayley Fox Sophie Lample, Bridgette Burton, Michael F Cahill, Heather Lythe, Anthea Davis, Matthew Molony, and Greg Parker - photo by: Renan Goksin We live in troubled times at the moment with growing nationalism and plutocracy and isolationalism. It is causing many artists to see parallels between the early years of last century and this century. I Shot Mussolini is one such reaction, investigating idealogical conflicts within Italy and concurrent activities in Ireland (with a brief nod to Hitler). This is the play showing at La Mama this fortnight. I Shot Mussolini is a dramatisation of the story of

What: Her Hour Upon The Stage When: 27 - 30 November 2019 Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club Written and directed by: Lucy Seale Performed by: Emma Bampton, Liv Bell, Matt Bertram, Genevieve Simone Brott, Nicholas Kirkby, Isabel Knight and Annabelle Mitchell Designed by: Nicola Dobinson Lighting by: Oliver Ross Music direction by: Merryn Hughes Dramaturgy by: Ashleigh Morris Stage Managed by: Shane Woods Annabelle Mitchell, Liv Bell, Genevieve Simone Brott, and Emma Bampton As we draw nigh of the summer garden Shakespeare onslaught in Melbourne for 2019/2020 there is a show at The Butterfly Club everybody must see first - Her Hour Upon The Stage . Billed as an adaptation of the mighty play Macbeth , Seale takes a moment to raise the dead and let the women of this play have a say about what went on on those Scottish moors and this is so well crafted in every way - writing, direction, acting - you will be missing the best offering on the table if you don't get down t

What: The Trojan Women When: 22 - 23 November 2019 Where: Chapel Off Chapel Written by: Euripides Directed by: Emma Sproule Musical direction by: Sheridan Killingback Performed by: James Dale, Emma Fawcett, Mitch McDonough, Josiah Moa, Roisin O'Neill, Joshua Quinn, Madeline Rintoul, Emma Rogers, Hannah Rule, Mitchell Sholer, Jon Simpson, Tahlia Summer, Jett Thomas, Melanie Thomas, Kate Tomkins, Liam Tyssen, and Eli Williams Set design by: Sally Curry Costume design and dramaturgy by: Melanie Thomas Sound design by: Brad de La Rue and Sheridan Killingback Stage managed by: Gabrielle Rando Madeline Rintoul, Tahlia Summer, Hannah Rule, Emma Fawcett There is a new translator of classical texts on the world stage ( Emily Wilson ) and Dionysus theatre have brought her understanding of Euripides words in The Trojan Women back to the stages of Melbourne after an initial award winning production in 2018. Sadly, the show only appeared at Chapel Off Chapel for 2 nights but I

What: Electric Dreams When: 20 - 24 November 2019 Where: Gasworks Theatre Written, composed and conducted by: Drew Lane Directed and choreographed by: Roman Berry Performed by: Zak Brown, Ryan Evans, Madeleine Featherby, Matthew Field, Po Goh, Tom Green, Owen James, Drew Lane, Sophie Laughran, Stephen Mahy, Damien Mizzi, Anth Nekich, Aidan Niarros, Anglea Scundi, Anthony Scundi, and Courtney Smyth Design by: Lachie McFarlane Stage managed by: Leane Maddren Madeleine Featherby and Tom Green Yesterday I told you about some wonderful new musical theatre songs which have the potential to make great shows ( Songs Of The Northern River ). Today I am here to tell you about a brand new musical which has been developed into the full deal. Electric Dreams is a musical theatre version of the 1984 sci-fi romance film and Music Theatre Melbourne  have brought it to the stage at Gasworks this week for us all to have a laugh and think about how visions of the future become the reality we

What: Mutating Roots When: 14 - 17 November 2019 Where: Melba Spiegeltent Created and performed by: Maya Muto Directed by: Celia White Maya Muto Mutating Roots is a new work created by Japanese Australian dancer/circus artist Maya Muto and GUSH. Premiering at the Adelaide Fringe Festival earlier this year, Circus Oz brought it to Melbourne as part of the Sidesault Festival line up. In Mutating Roots Muto explores the challenges of relocating outside of one's cultural background. Muto moved to Australia 12 years ago, after spending time in Belgium and Germany, and has found a cultural dissonance which is consistent across her migratory travels. Muto uses her circus and dance background to speak to us about how her Japanese heritage supports, binds, and traps her throughout her interactions with other worlds. Her point: She is her heritage but she is not defined by her heritage. This is the challenge faced in our modern multicultural communities. The show begins wi

What: Songs Of The Northern River When: 19 - 24 November 2019 Where: The MC Showroom Written and composed by: A.J. Ridefelt Directed by: Jess D'Souza Musical direction by: Rachel Lewindon Performed by: Anne Gasko, Savannah Lind, Olivia Morison, Teagan Nowicki, Shannen Alyce Quan, and Ambrose Steinmetz Design by: Alexandra Runge Choreography by: Matthew Dear Stage managed by: Erin Handford Olivia Morison, Ambrose Steinmetz, Shannen Alyce Quan, and Teagan Nowicki Melbourne has long been a hotbed for new Australian musicals and The MC Showroom has discovered genius in its own ranks, A.J. Ridefelt . A composer and lyricist, Ridefelt brings us a selection of his talent in the song cycle Songs Of The Northern River . It is crazy to talk about a 'best of' album with a new artist presenting unpublished (until now) work but Songs Of The Norther River really is just that. This collection of 12 songs is a hit album in the making which you can buy on site (including th

What: Subjective Spectacle When: 14 - 17 November 2019 Where: RRI, Circus Oz Created by: Kimberley Brewster, Mindy Davies, Lowana Davies, Naomi Francis, Skye Gellman, Rockie Stone, and Natalia Velasco Rockie Stone The Sidesault Festival is all about taking circus out of the big top and letting it play in whatever performance arena it finds a home. One of the more exploratory iterations of this idea is the gallery exhibition Subjective Spectacle . Working within the paradigms of performance as art, performance art, and visual art, a collection of artists have come together to present a range of spectacles for viewers to examine and ponder. Whilst no two contributions are alike, all riff off the idea of the human relationship to, and effect on, the environment. There is no real definitive order to how we experienced the exhibition, but certain events did occur at different times across the viewing hour, and some, such as Stone 's, continued throughout reminiscent of a ti

What: Earshot When: 18 - 20 November 2019 Where: Footscray Community Arts Centre Written and directed by: Kate Hunter Composed by: Josephine Lange Performed by: Kate Hunter and Joesphine Lange Sound design by: Jem Savage Josephine Lange and Kate Hunter - photo by Leo Dale Premiering in 2017 at f ortyfivedownstairs , the Due West Festival has brought the phenomenal audio/theatre composition Earshot back to Melbourne audiences for only a few short days so be quick or you'll miss it and that would be a huge shame. Hunter , Lange , and Savage have come together and recreated this amazing symphony of human conversation at the Footscray Community Arts Centre and it is awe inspiring! Hunter has always been an avid eavesdropper and she has collected an hilarious and terrifying array of overheard snippets of conversation which Lange has crafted into a concerto of verbatim presentation. Working with pace, punctuation, and polyphony, the performances of these two women are au

What: Common Dissonance When: 14 - 17 November 2019 Where: Melba Spiegeltent Directed by: Harley Mann Performed by: Isabelle Champagne-Chittick and Harley Mann Harley Mann and Isabelle Champagne-Chittick In a post-truth era, when perspectival truths and logical positivism can and do co-exist, Na Djinang Circus has created Common Dissonance . A circus/dance duet, Common Dissonance was presented at The Melba Spiegeltent as part of the 2019 'Sidesault Festival' by Circus Oz . Common Dissonance begins as a creation story with the lighting of fire and the birthing of a man and woman who learn to live and laugh together through dance and acrobatics. The man (Mann) finds his strength and manhood in a glorious rope routine combining strength and beauty, and when he returns from his journey he courts his woman (Champagne-Chittick) with a peacock show of skill and flare with the diabolo. He then paints his story with ashy remains from the sparks created at the start of time

What: Six Degrees At A Hot Melbourne Market When: 13 - 23 November 2019 Where: Studio Theatre, Gasworks Written by: Louise Hopewell, Alison Knight, Michael Olsen, and Bruce Shearer Directed and designed by: Mazz Ryan and D.B. Valentine Performed by: Lennan Andrusiw, Emma Drysdale, Ruben Francis, Del Jordan, Faran Martin, Rebecca Morton and Jonty Reason Emma Drysdale - photo by John A Edwards Melbourne Writers' Theatre brings us the latest installment in their 'six' series, Six Degrees At A Hot Melbourne Market , this fortnight at Gasworks. Possibly wrongly named, this series of short plays by local writers lives up to the wonderful tradition the company has of creating a platform for writers to tell stories about the community, from the community, and with the community. I say the season is wrongly named because in this small curated collectiont their are only four plays, not the traditional six. Whether there was an intention to have six, but other two were dr

What: The Holy Shroud When: 15 - 24 November 2019 Where: SpACE@Collins Created by: Veronica Piraccini Curated by: Giovanni Butera Three faces of Christ In 2012 renowned artist Veronica Piraccini came face to face with a life-size scan of the Shroud of Turin and this encounter created within her the impetus to deepen her artistic explorations as well as her religious explorations through using her unique painting techniques to riff off the images and ideas encompassed by the Shroud. Butera has brought some key pieces (and Piraccini) to Melbourne through the auspices of GAIA for local audiences to view and ponder and experience revelation. The Shroud of Turin has been an enduring, yet iconic, religious relic for the Catholic Church since it's discovery. It is not formally recognised by the Church as a sacred item because it's provenance has never been able to be authenticated, but Catholics have been permitted to revere it as a holy relic. Therein lies the secret o

What: Exit Strategies When: 13 - 17 November 2019 Where: Main Hall, Arts House Created by: Mish Grigor, Eugenia Lim, and Lara Thoms Performed by: Mish Grigor Lighting by: Katie Sfetkidis Sound by: Nina Buchanan Video by: Zoe Scoglio Dramaturgy by: Anne Thompson Mish Gregor - photo by Bryony Jackson The world is on fire, Brexit is happening - or trying to happen - and a colonised world is trying to run away from the mess which has been made. All of these tragedies can be boiled down to the fault of one person in one single moment in time. If only Mish Grigor could work out how to leave the room! Exit Strategies , on this weekend at Arts House, is her attempt to solve the world's problems by just figuring out the best way to get out and then relying on chaos theory to do the rest. Exit Strategies is an absurdist dirge to the human wish to always move on. Lim 's clever linkage between exit signs which show the way out and chromakey green which allows unwanted t