What Did She Think?

What: Dragon Ladies Don't Weep When: 28 February 2020 Where: Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne Directed by: Tamara Saulwick Composed by: Erik Griswold Performed by: Margaret Leng Tan Videography by: Nick Roux Costumes by: Yuan Zhiying Lighting by: Andy Lim Margaret Leng Tan - photo by Pia Johnson Asia TOPA has created a glorious week for me and it was topped of with the amazing Margaret Leng Tan performing her story at the Playhouse in Dragon Ladies Don't Weep. Partnering with Chambermade , Tan and her long time music collaborator, Erik Griswold , took us through a personal journey of music, mental health, and magic. A significant proportion of the show was dedicated to Tan's relationship with John Cage and his compositions but make no mistake, Tan is significant in her own right both in the incredible artistry of her performance skills but also for such notable ground breaking moments as being the first woman to ever receive a doctorate from the interna

What: Hades Fading (Hades Memudar) When: 27 February - 1 March 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written and directed by: Sandra Fiona Long Music direction by: Ria Soemardjo Performed by: Rinrin Candraresmi, Sisca Guzheng Harp, Heliana Sinaga, Ria Soemadjo, Wawan Sofwan, Dasep Sumardjani, and Godi Suwarna, Set by: Emily Barrie and Deden Jalaludin Bulqini Costumes by: Emily Barrie Lighting by: Aji Sangiaji Stage Management by: Dasep Sumardjani Heliana Sinaga and Rinrin Candraresmi - photo by Muhammad Sa'iquddin We often talk about theatre as being a beautiful art form and in Hades Fading (Hades Memudar) we get to see this truth at the pinnacle of possibilities. They say that beauty is only skin deep, and if you want to know if someone is truly beautiful you must look into their soul and judge their deeds. Hades Fading is the Plato nic exemplar of beauty and is showing for the briefest of moments at La Mama Courthouse as part of AsiaTOPA . An Australian/Indonesian co-p

What: Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands? When: 26 - 29 February 2020 Where: Main Hall, Arts House Written by: David Finnigan Directed by: J Kanicoche Performed by: , Blanche Buhia,  Bunny Cadag,Claudia Enriquez, David Finnigan, J Kanicoche, KIKI House of Dévine, Ji-ann Lachica, Claudia Enriquez, Efren Pamilacan, Brandon Relucio and Adrienne Vergara Video by: Joyce Garcia Sound design by: J Laspuna Lighting by: Roman Cruz Jr Stage Managed by: Sigmund Pecho photo by Sarah Walker Are you ready to see theatre of the scope and scale we rarely make in this city anymore? Are you ready to sit inside a whirl of energy and movement and exciting political polemic? Are you ready to be dazzled by technology and good, fun silliness? Are you ready to be afraid? Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands? Then come on down to Arts House and immerse yourself in Sipat Lawin 's newest live cinematic experience. Hurry though. It's only on until Saturday sadly.

What: Grass When: 24 - 27 February 2020 Where: Downstairs, The Butterfly Club Written by: Yvonne Martin Performed by: Stephanie Daniel and Sarah Oldmeadow Sarah Oldmeadow and Stephanie Daniel Grass is one of the new theatre pieces taking part in The Butterfly Club's new One Act Play Festival . It is an examination of how friendship is hard work once you leave the hothouse of education and start making independent decisions and choices. There are no programs for shows at The Butterfly Club so I may end up making assumptions which are not correct here because my Google stalking skills are a bit fallible. From what I can gather though, Grass is Martin 's first play. If this is true, it is a very, very good effort. The structure is good and the character development good. The only thing it lacks is action...which is a bit of a problem for theatre I admit. I have mentioned this before, but I don't think 2 people talking on stage is inherently interesting no matter

What: Chook When: 24 - 27 February 2020 Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club Created and performed by: Ava Campbell, Claire Bird, Kaine Hansen, William Strom, Dominic Weintraub, Hugo Williams Kaine Hansen, Claire Bird, and Hugo Williams Chook is one of the first lot of shows kicking off the inaugural One Act Play Festival at The Butterfly Club this year. Created by a freshly minted set of VCA graduates, Company 19 , Chook is a frenetic action thriller about the relationship between humans and chickens, much in the style of Planet of The Apes but with a lot more laughs. The VCA school of theatre has always had the tradition of naming graduate groups by the year they graduate. The idea/hope was that those groups of students - after three years of intensive undergraduate training - would go forth and create theatre companies. It worked sometimes. Of course, this concept began when production, acting and theatre making were all one school. So, for example, I am Company 97 (a

What: Salome When: 22 - 27 February 2020 Where: Palais Theatre Composed by: Richard Strauss Libretto by: Oscar Wilde, translated by Hedwig Lachmann, and reduced by Richard Strauss Conducted by: Richard Mills Directed by: Cameron Menzies Featuring: James Egglestone, Liane Keegan, Vida Mikneviciute, Dimity Shepherd, Ian Storey, and Daniel Sumegi Choreography by: Elizabeth Hill-Cooper Set by: Christina Smith Costumes by: Anna Cordingly Lighting by: Gavan Swift Stage managed by: Whitney MacNamara Vida Mikneviclute - photo by Craig Fuller There are few operas which carry the infamy and outrage which litters the history of the story of Salome . It is also a rare beast in that is it only 90 minutes long. Most definitely an opera created before it's time, Strauss ' Salome is being presented by Victorian Opera for 3 performances only at the Palais Theatre and closes on the 27th. Strauss is a composer of the late Romantic era. For those of you who think that was so

What: Clara - Sex, Love and Classical Music When: 18 - 23 February 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written and performed by: Elena Mazzon Directed by: Catriona Kerridge Lighting by: Paul Reisenberger Elena Mazzon - photo by Sav Schulman Clara: Sex Love and Classical Music is a show Mazzon created in 2018 in anticipation of the bicentenary of the birth of pianist and composer Clara Schumann . It is a feminist interpretation of what restricted a woman of such talent from achieving the place in history afforded her husband Robert in a gentle and witty retelling of her life. Clara Schumann was a virtuistic pianist during the Romantic era and was the peer of people such as Robert Schumann , Johannes Brahms , Franz Liszt ... and the list goes on. More than their match on the piano, she also dabbled in composition although - as Mazzon shows us - her life as wife of male composer and mother of 7 children, it was just not possible for her to develop her compositional skills. Espe

What: Unsuckle When: 11 - 16 February 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Created and performed by: Josiah Lulham, Isabella Vadiveloo, and Harriet Wallace-Mead Design by: Freya Allen Lighting by: Kit Cunneen Sound by: Jess Keeffe AV by: Isabella Vadiveloo Stage managed by: Christa Jonathan Josiah Lulham and Harriet Wallace-Mead Thought provoking, timely, exciting - all words which aptly and yet inadequately describe the physical theatre presentation Unsuckle which is playing at La Mama Courthouse this week. A dystopian conundrum which looks at motherhood through the ages and into the future, Unsuckle takes us through generations - through eons - and lands us hard in the here and now, forcing us to really consider our future in the midst of climate emergency. The trio of Lulham , Vadiveloo , and Wallace-Mead have been working alongside each other for many years with a shared history with DIG Collective as well as other projects. Last year they came together to present a c

What: Rehearsal For Death When: 6 - 9 February 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Created and performed by: Rebekah Stewart and Sophie Thompson Lighting and stage management by: Jordan Carter Rebekah Stewart and Sophie Thompson - photo by Mischa Baka You may recall in 2018 the Melbourne arts scene was rather obsessed with the question of death - what it is, how we approach it, how we deal with it, and many other permutations on the theme. Death is always a favourite topic though, and Rehearsal For Death , playing this week at La Mama Courthouse, is the latest iteration on the theme. Rehearsal For Death is a contemporary dance work which gets its genesis from the gothic/surrealist photographic portraiture of Francesca Woodman . Woodman shot in black and white and investigated life amidst decay and had an extremely strong femme erotica edge to her work. Whilst not having lived long enough to ever see success (she killed herself at 22), her photos have developed a posthumous fame

What: Belinda Hanne Reid - Love, Rorem When: 5 - 6 February 2020 Where: fortyfivedownstairs Created by: Belinda Hanne Reid Performed by: Coady Green and Belinda Hanne Reid Coady Green and Belinda Hanne Reid There really is something for everybody in this year's Midsumma Festival and for those who like their cabaret with a classical air Belinda Hanne Reid is taking us on an art song journey through the life and times of American composer Ned Rorem . Love, Rorem is only on for one more night at fortyfivedownstairs though, so grab your significant other and experience the laughter and loss of a man who's life had as much colour and movement as his music. Reid is a very versatile and well trained singer which is good because Rorem's art songs are incredible difficult to sing. Kudos to Green as well, because if the songs are difficult to sing, they must be challenging to play as well and he did so without a single noticeable slip and with much heartfelt nuance ac

What: Leopard Print Loincloth When: 4 - 8 February 2020 Where: Theatre Works Written by: Jake Stewart Directed by: Dominic Weintraub Performed by: Joel Beasley, Eamon Dunphy, Ben Goss, Max Greenham, Luey Kemp-Mykyta, and Rhys Wilson Ben Goss and Eamon Dunphy Leopard Print Loincloth was nominated as a top pick of Midsumma Festival by Arts Review . Doing the late shift at Theatre Works , the show is on at 9pm until the end of this week. Leopard Print Loincloth, for me, is a great lesson in how what you are expecting to see affects your experience of a piece of theatre. I came expecting a dynamic exploration of Australian masculinity, with some insight into toxic masculinity which is how the publicity explained the show. I was sorely disappointed. My plus one came to see nude male bodies and some gay story telling. He went home with a smile on his face. Is Leopard Print Loincloth a play? Perhaps in the broadest sense of the word - meaning it is a group of men playing pr

What: Adrifting Through The Vomit Generation When: 23 January - 6 February 2020 Where: The Kew Courthouse Written by: Michael Gray Griffith Performed by: Rebecca Ann Bentley, Rohanna Hayes, Angelique Malcom, and Yvonne Matthew Rohanna Hayes, Rebecca Ann Bentley, and Yvonne Matthew Adrifting Through The Vomit Generation . A powerful yet somewhat uncomfortable title for what is a powerful, yet somewhat uncomfortable play. By that I mean the play is incisive, insightful and erupts in a soggy mess at our feet showing us all what we have been eating lately. It's only on for a few more days at The Kew Courthouse so grab your tickets now while you still have the chance. Adrifting Through The Vomit Generation is a story which centres around 3 generations of women. Diane ( Hayes ) is about to lose her house because she just lost her job as a cleaner. Her boarder and best friend Magnolia ( Malcolm ) is not helping because she is 2 months behind in her rent, and her 25 year old d