LEATHER LUNGS: Happy Ending - Cabaret Review

WHAT: Leather Lungs: Happy Ending
WHEN: 12 - 15 October 2023
WHERE: Trades Hall (Common Rooms)
CREATED & PERFORMED BY: Leather Lungs

Leather Lungs

Every so often you go along to cabaret and get blown away from the moment the house lights go down to when they come back up. It's not as often as we would wish, but one such experience is Leather Lungs: Happy Ending at Fringe Hub, Trades Hall.

Leather Lungs has a 4-octave vocal range (for real!). Leather Lungs has the vocal power and grit of Aretha Franklin, the sweet vocal lightness of Mama Alto, and the deep baritone of James Earl Jones. Leather Lungs also has jokes coming a mile a minute, enough cartoon voices to do his own Warner Brothers cartoon show, and enough pathos to bring the room to tears.

Leather Lungs: Happy Ending starts like a lot of other drag cabaret shows. The artist comes on stage with a power melody, there are sparkles and spangles as well as an array of ass jokes and splayed legs. Right from the start though, we know Leather Lungs is something special because this artist does not hide their talents. None of them (wink, wink).

If I had to find a criticism, it would be that Leather Lungs does all of their vocal gymnastics from the very first to the very last song with a couple of notable exceptions I will mention later. All the vocal talent and gymnastics are brought out right away and in a way, this means we have nothing left to look forward to except song selection and what is hopefully a good yarn (and it is, believe me).

The power of the vocals belies the vulnerability of the person singing and it is breath-taking how generous Leather Lungs is with their personal story of horrific domestic abuse. They counteract this with intensely joyous and loving stories about their family in Aotearoa which begins by explaining that mum makes all their costumes. Leather Lungs cries honest tears of love as they talk about leaving their nephew behind before breaking into the most glorious - and funniest - version of 'Old MacDonalds Farm' you are ever likely to hear.

There are two songs in this show which really stood out to me because of their honesty and simplicity. These two songs have no gimmicks. The first is an ode for their parents who are in the audience, and the second (ABBA's 'The Winner Takes It All') is an homage to survival.

Leather Lungs hits all the bangers including 'It's Raining Men' and 'The Voice'. I suspect 'The Voice' is standard repertoire but it couldn't be more powerful or potent at this point in time in Melbourne and Leather Lungs demands (theatrically, of course) that we take part in the song, just as we are about to take part in the biggest decision of the century for us.

Leather Lungs is an amazing vocalist and an outrageous and authentic performer. You will have to look far and wide to have a night so rousing and yet elegant in places.

4.5 Stars

FOR LOVE NOR MONEY: Theatre Review

WHAT: For Love Nor Money
WHEN: 11 - 22 October 2022
WHERE: Trades Hall (Meeting Room)
WRITTEN BY: Angus Cameron
DIRECTED BY: Justin Nott
PERFORMED BY: Clarisse Bonello, Matthew Connell, and Alexander Lloyd

Matthew Connell and Alexander Lloyd - photo by Chelsea Neate

I often get frustrated by the Fringe 45 formula and I have really enjoyed how some shows in the late timeslot this year have allowed themselves permission to expand beyond that and give their shows some of the time they need to develop and resolve. For Love Nor Money, showing in the Meeting Room at Fringe Hub, is one of those shows. Presented by Victorian Theatre Company, this new play expands to almost an hour and half which makes it a real and satisfying night of theatre.

Love Nor Money, Angus Cameron's latest play, follows the love triangle of Mel (Clarisse Bonello), Liam (Alexander Lloyd), and Ryan (Matthew Connell). The play does not follow the natural timeline of their intersections. I don't know how much of the structure was workshopped in rehearsal, but in a post-dramatic arc, the play follows the fluctuations of the relationships - the highs and lows, the connections and the disconnections.

Mel and Liam are a couple. She is an emerging film director and he is an up-and-coming poet (or he thinks he is...). They have been a couple for a long time but it is a relationship which regularly includes a third. Mel notices someone (Ryan) one night and convinces Liam that Ryan might complete a new menage a trois.

Ryan is a political aide but to a certain extent, in this iteration of the play, that is somewhat irrelevant. What is important is that he is a source of money. That comment might give you a slightly wrong impression about the play though - or perhaps the correct one. His clothes set him apart in this production. As the play progresses and the characters are revealed, as well as the circumstances of their coming together (remember I said it is not chronologically linear), I find myself wondering how much of Mel's interest was piqued not only by a pretty man, but also by a man so obviously of means? 

The actors are of the finest calibre. Connell plays the metamorph with skill, revealing little yet being an agent of great impact on the triangular relationships in all of their manifestations. His ambiguity is the catalyst from which Mel is able to take her career leap of faith, his money is what facilitates this. I very much enjoyed how Bonello balanced the play of emotions which underpinned the conflict between her ambitions and her need for human connection. 

In many ways, Liam is the only emotionally honest character and Lloyd's portrayal of vulnerability in a world too fast and too entrepreneurial was heartbreaking. It was also delightful to see those social and emotional stereotypes of man and woman inverted. We need to break them down. Women can be ambitious and men can be vulnerable. Thank you Angus!

Justin Nott as director is a good match with Cameron's writing. They share an artistic ouvre and work in similar creative spaces. There is a small schism though. Nott sits firmly in the realm of post-dramatics and this dominates in this production. I think, though, that Cameron's writing is more post-truth and I wonder if some important sub-text has been left unrevealed in this production of For Love Nor Money. That may also be a result of fitting the show into the Fringe construct. I would love to see another iteration of this play where Cameron explores the politics of Ryan and the poetry of Liam a bit further although I realise that is generally not the timbre of this playwright's past work.

Nott has made some really clever choices. The staging keeps the three characters locked in a tight triangle together - a rather literal interpretation with fluro lights defining the space and only a chair at each point. I mentioned earlier about how much I liked the costuming, but I found the scene changes too long and repetitive. Music filled the void but it was disconcerting to hear the theme for Vikings in this context. That music is too iconic and pulls us out of this story and into that one. Eventually, in the second half of the show, the scene change music did change into strong driving, less recognisable stings. This worked much better, but in my opinion the time wasted changing costumes would have been better spent exploring sub-text, and building breathing space into the rapid-fire dialogue, interrupting the rhythm to emphasize intention.

That probably sounded like I didn't enjoy For Love Nor Money but I really did. I loved the ideas in the play and I really enjoyed the characters. They are modern, and they are meaningful. They make hard choices and they live and love with passion. They are us and they are now. Be very afraid of that...

4.5 Stars

FLUSH: Theatre Review

WHAT: Flush
WHEN: 10 - 14 October 2023
WHERE: Queen Victoria Women's Centre (top floor)
CREATED & PERFORMED BY: Isabella Gilbert
DIRECTED BY: Elizabeth Walley
STAGE MANAGED BY: Dylan Lines

Elizabeth Gilbert - photo supplied

Tinder shows abound and they generally follow a formula. Flush, on the other hand, goes much deeper, connecting climate change and 400 years of literary history with intensely minute detail of Tinder hook ups nobody wants, but all of us can relate to. Flush is being presented at the Queen Victoria Women's Centre as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

The top floor of the QWVC is a small space, but a full glass wall with double doors opens onto an open roof space. Isabella Gilbert (performer) uses this adjunct cleverly, providing her with a space to play and extend and expand in the dance segments of the show, which is in effective counterpoint to the intimacy of her connection to the audience for the spoken sections. 

The show opens with Gilbert in a dance sequence in silhouette. The doors are closed and we are disconnected which creates a curious, voyeuristic intrigue. The choreography is opaque at the start of the show, but it slowly reveals itself as the show progresses and we get peaks into who Gilbert is and was.

The intimacy of the space is perfect for the spoken sections of the show. When inside the room, Gilbert tells us stories of an array of horror/comedy Tinder hook up experiences. Her writing is hyper-naturalistic and the minutia of that style is perfect for such a small space. Gilbert constantly refers to dripping and intersperses her recollections with references to David Attenborough's Frozen Planet TV series. Suddenly the white dance floor covering the carpet starts making sense.

Sometimes, after a particularly icky date/hook up, you feel very dirty and channelling Lady McBeth is a very natural progression. This is not the last we will hear of the bard. Despite reciting a common misconception about Shakespeare 'inventing' new words, the story becomes an apt and witty vehicle to demonstrate the absurdity of the male ego and has the audience in gales of laughter. 

Elizabeth Walley (director) has helped Gilbert navigate the space well, and some of the imagery created by Gilbert with one prop towards the end is almost breath-taking and outrageously funny all at the same time. I didn't really like the costume but it is probably just a matter of taste. The music is loud and insistent and it's energy drives the subtext of frustration. Frustration about men, frustration about climate change, frustration about the limitations of our human body.

Flush is a comic dating show with a difference. With Flush Gilbert doesn't just bring honesty. She brings heart and horror and hope. Hope for something better. Hope for something different. Hope for a future and a world to live that future in. 

Flush is text book post-dramatic theatre. It juxtaposes minutia with grand ideas. The banal and the erudite sit side by side in this very intelligent piece of dance theatre. It was a very happy surprise to see the layers Gilbert has built into Flush.

3.5 Stars

ZAFFE: Event Review

WHAT: Zaffe
WHEN: 5 - 15 October 2023
WHERE: Malthouse Theatre (The Tower)
CONCEIVED & DIRECTED BY: Stephanie Ghajar
CREATED & PERFORMED BY: Taj Aldeeb, Jean Bachoura, Rawya El Chab, Camille El Feghali, Stéphanie Ghajar, Ayman Kaake, Julia Landberg, Hadi Moussally, Meena Shamaly, Mia Shouha, and Lara Week
DESIGNED BY: Ayman Kaake and Lara Week
LIGHTING BY: Giovanna Yate Gonzalez
STAGE MANAGED BY: Julia Landberg

Meena Shamaly and Jean Bachoura - photo supplied

What is the one thing everyone loves more than a wedding? The wedding party, of course! Zaffe brings you all the fun of a big nuptials event without bothering with the silly detail of someone getting married. Head to the Malthouse Tower this Melbourne Fringe season for fun, dancing, and (hopefully) a little bit of the wedding cake. 

With Zaffe director Stephanie Ghajar and her collaborators allow us the opportunity to experience an ancient culture in its moment of great celebration. The word zaffe is from the middle-east and it refers to a celebratory event which includes music, dance and public participation. A zaffe can take place when escorting important people but is at it's most rousing when it is a wedding party. 

The host, Meena Shamaly (after some rousing call and response) tells us it is a procession. Indeed, as the night goes one we certainly do proceed through activities served like menu courses, until we find ourselves leaving the building, following a Pied Piper out the door. It was almost a shock to suddenly realise I was exiting the building. Now I know how those mice felt!

One of the things I find fascinating about old cultures such as that of the Lebanese, is their understanding that joy and sorrow are just two sides of the same coin at any moment in time. Shamaly explains this, whilst rousing us into a state of primed expectation, exhorting us to dance because we may not be here tomorrow.

On the night I went, Zaffe began late just like every wedding I have ever attended. The wedding cake hadn't arrived and rumours about where it was abounded throughout the night. I'm pretty sure I got 3 different stories whispered to me from people around the room! 

Zaffe had all of the elements of any wedding including announcement about people parked in the wrong spot and we had the wedding band. Camille El Feghali played the Qanun whilst Taj Aldeeb sang a 'completely original' repertoire which all sounded very familiar...'Fever' perhaps, amongst others? They both made sure to spruik their business every chance they got. Oh, and the subtitling was fall on the floor laughingly funny!

Jean Bachoura brings us back to earth gently as he displays family photos. Reminding us that a wedding is about family and the generations before us. He points to the family matriarch in a picture full of people and tells us about how she was one of only 12 out of 40 family members who survived the death marches of the Armenian Genocide at the start of last century. People who know death, know how to party and 'Ammo Jean' brings the fun back as he tries to sell us on his 'not-financial financial advice' business.

Meena Shamaly serenades on the Oud, Rawya El Chab teaches us how to make tabouli, and the wedding cake still hasn't arrived. Salma Zahore invites us to get up and bellydance to techno-trance (if you have a hip scarf bring it and revel in a chance to cut up the dance floor), and yes, the Macarena makes an appearance too. The Lebanese community start dancing in a circle reminding me of the Greek Zorba or perhaps a strange Conga Line for those of us less familiar with these types of traditions. Big drums are promised and big drums ring out around the room.

Eventually the tone settles along with the guests as a hakawati (Ayman Kaake) entrances us with a tale of family and history. He ceremoniously brews a warming beverage to share with the people sitting at his feet.

The night progresses until it is over. A marvellous procession just as Bouchera promised. Remote family members are projected onto the screen across the evening, interspersed with suspicious advertising and links and QR codes to family services. The film work (Hadi Mousally) is very funny and the tables are glorious, decked out with battery operated candles and glorious flowers strewn across stark white table settings. The evening is a rise and fall of voice, bodies, and emotions. 

Zaffe is everything. It is family, community, fun, remembrance, laughter, song, and food. I am going to mark it down a tiny bit for accessibility though. Some people couldn't get up and join the fun on the dance floor and those people missed out on...THE WEDDING CAKE!! Noooooooo! But seriously, Zaffe is an invitation to understand and celebrate Lebanese history and culture. And don't forget your hip scarf ;)

4 Stars

DUCKY'S THEATRE OF THE INTERNET: Theatre Review

WHAT: Ducky's Theatre of the Internet
WHEN: 4 - 8 October 2023
WHERE: Long Play
WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY: India Alessandra
DIRECTED BY: Bronya Doyle

India Allesandra - photo by Syd Farey

What a fascinating, confusing and contradictory place the world has become with the arrival and embracing of the internet. There is so much screaming about privacy in a world where such a thing is perhaps now one of the luxuries of the rich, but to be seen amongst all the hubbub takes Herculean effort and a personal surrender akin to (and sometimes aligned with) sex working. It is into this fray that India Alessandra takes us with her Melbourne Fringe show Ducky's Theatre of the Internet, playing at Long Play.

Ducky (India Alessandro) has a OnlyFans page and, after an absence of a year, is back with her first 24 hour live stream. With her phone and ring light on a selfie stand in one corner of her bedroom, in a leotard straight out of a Jane Fonda video, and with the most ridiculous platform heels on the planet, Ducky settles in to entertain her fans and answer all their questions for 24 hours - all for the price of a donation and a click on her link and bio.

It is not explicitly stated in the show which makes it a bit confusing until you figure it out, but Ducky is a music artist. I say it is confusing because the night involves a lot of overly sexualised dancing and OnlyFans is known to be something of a sex shop. 

This is not accidental on the part of Alessandra. Alessandra is deliberately interrogating the space women on the internet inhabit in our sex sells pop culture. At one point, somewhere around the 15th hour, Ducky speaks to her hyper-sexualised photos and how they need to be that way to cut through miasma of wannabe influencers. Ducky's Theatre of the Internet constantly references the push-pull of that space, whilst also subtly crying out about a world where if you aren't an influencer then are you anything at all? 

As the hours go by, Ducky's Theatre of the Internet exposes just what a marathon those durational streams are and just how much work and energy goes into doing them. Respect to those women out there doing it for whatever reason!

Alessandra is a self-confessed devotee of Lana Del Rey and a lot of Ducky's story arc riffs off Del Rey's controversies of 2020 although she is not named specifically. Just like Del Rey, Ducky has made inappropriate commentary which caused her to be cancelled, which explains the year long absence. Ducky is back though and not apologising for anything (just like Del Rey). At one point she even quotes part of the famous tweet which got Del Rey in trouble.

Perhaps the weakness of this show lies in Alessandra's unwillingness to be direct and present a clear point of view. Whilst she writhes around the floor and responds to the lovers and haters and urges them to click on link and bio, it is a bit unclear what position (if any) she takes on OnlyFans and the culture it inhabits and promotes, or Del Rey. As such, the ending is a bit disappointing and a big opportunity has been missed by Alessandra and Bronya Doyle (director) to let us into who Ducky is when the selfie light turns off. The on-line persona only makes sense if we have a sense of who the off-line person is IMO. By that I don't mean we need any more time with Ducky offline. I mean we need that moment to have more intention.

Alessandra is quite brilliant as Ducky and the choreography is really on point. The videography does just enough without taking over the show and the dramatic structure is excellent. You can't take your eyes off Ducky, even when she accidently falls asleep. The dramaturgy (Ivana Brehas) is excellent.

One thing Ducky's Theatre of the Internet does really well is remind us that everything we see on-line is performance. Do not look to the digital landscape for reality. Everything is a show and all of us engaging online are putting on a costume and playing a role. When we are online we are 'on'. This is not real. This is not us. There may be moments, but they are quickly covered and hidden. That is how you survive and throw off the inevitable trolls - for as long as you can.

3.5 Stars

HOT FAT CRAZY - Cabaret Review

WHAT: Hot Fat Crazy
WHEN: 4-8 October 2023
WHERE: Trades Hall (Music Room)
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY: Thomas Bradford and Eadie Testro-Girasole

Thomas Bradford and Eadie Testro-Girasole - photo supplied

Tommy (Thomas Bradford) and Eadie (Eadie Testro-Girasole) are a powerhouse new comedy team on the Melbourne circuit. This year they debuted an explosive new cabaret at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and they have brought it back for a short return season at Fringe Hub as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Hot Fat Crazy is a jam-packed 50 minutes of great songs, hilarity and sock puppets.

I first came across the work of these two fabulous performers in 2018 with Bradford's musical Tinder Tales. Hot Fat Crazy sees the pair lean into their strengths and their performances are high energy and faultless.

Hot Fat Crazy sees Eadie's character writing in her diary as she reminisces about her time in a psychiatric facility. Everything seems quite normal for that first minute of the show. It is when she discards the diary that things fall down the rabbit whole of outrageous surrealism. The diary (Bradford) comes back with a whole lot of attitude and the first banger of the night 'Welcome to the Psyche Ward' explodes, as do the audience - with laughter.  

We go on to meet Trish (Bradford) and Trish (Testro-Girasole), the ward nurses as well as a whole bunch of other patients and characters. Oh, and did I mention the sock puppets? Georgia Gurr and Cat Woodfield are the puppeteers and they were amazing both as puppeteers and also in their cameos towards the end of the show!

After witnessing Eadie's in-patient sex romp we also travel down a time lapse into characters of the past. I mentioned earlier that this show is surrealist so the 'journey' Eadie takes does not need to make sense. Just go with it. 

Here we come to the one part of the show which shook me and upset me, and I really hope they change it. Testro-Girasole sings a sexy siren song about Mothman, her homophobic cat. The song is brilliant and she is brilliant singing it. Along the way though, Mothman (Bradford) comes out into the audience and incites a full on audience chant shouting 'ban gay rights'. I assume this is meant to be ironic and at the end of the song Tetro-Girasole says "he is allowed to say that, he is gay". For me though, the entire incident was terrifying. 

I hope the people in the room didn't really think that, and were just going along with it, but it scares me to see how easily a group can be incited and how few of them were able to resist joining in if they really didn't think that. I consider myself a sophisticated consumer of theatre and I assume nothing hateful was meant with this song and the way it was arranged and performed, but I don't think it was contextualised well enough and I left this show feeling scared and incredibly sad. To be honest, I wasn't able to enjoy the rest of the experience, but I know there was some fabulous work after that song.

The show continued with all of the amazing energy and talent for comedic performance as had been displayed up to that point. In particular, 'Magnet Wizard' was heaps of fun and the sock puppet band was delightful.

Up until the cat song, I was on my way to giving this show 5 stars. I can't ignore the horror that song caused me though, and I can't support a show which says those things and performs them in such a way. I do think Tommy & Eadie are going to be a comedic force in the future. Keep an eye out for them.

2.5 Stars

BEARDIFUL: Cabaret Review

 WHAT: Beardiful
WHEN: 7 - 22 October 2023
WHERE: The Butterfly Club/Digital Fringe
WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY: Sarah Jay

Sarah Jay - photo supplied

Nobody likes to be the first person to arrive at a party, but lucky for me Sarah Jay came through the door to make me laugh and cry, and she warmed the cockles of my heart with her first ever solo show, Beardiful. Produced by Picked Last For Sport, Beardiful is playing at The Butterfly Club for the first week of the Melbourne Fringe Festival and is then available On Demand as part of Digital Fringe.

Whilst Jay is flying solo this time around (and the nerves do show), you will probably remember her from other superb Picked Last For Sport shows such as Creatures of the Deep and 2 Proud 2 Prejudiced. Beardiful kicksoff with  a rousing little number about just how hairy we women are, accompanied by the ukele. Instantly we are transported back to the fun and wit of previous shows, supported by her visage which would look at home in the throne room of the Queen of the Dwarves in the Lord of the Rings movies.. 

Somewhere in all the fun we get a slight sense that this solo show might just have a slightly sharper edge to it as Jay slides us into the endless and unfruitful life we women lead being hair shamed by society. It doesn't take long to find out Jay is taking us on a potentially more serious journey than a standard comedy cabaret would provide. 

Jay transitions from the nascent hairs growing in our armpits and on our chins (and other places), to talking about 'becoming a woman'. The red dress becomes meaningful as mentruation is explored but don't be put off by this. Beardiful has a lot of heart and one of the more beautiful stories - and funniest songs - is the tale of how the addiction she and her school friends had for Mills and Boon novels grew into a lifelong bonding book club. Teenage tingles have turned into complicit gales of laughter but the sharing of experiences over time is a pearl in the oyster of life.

Books lead to tingles, tingles lead to boys, boys lead to men. That is the tale society tells us about our journey into womanhood. Jay is here to tell and sing us a much more convoluted story. We always hear the first time you have sex it might hurt, but what is going on if every time continues to hurt and how can you tell anyone about it if nobody, not even doctors, want to listen? It might interrupt the social narrative and how can we allow that to happen? Keep it quiet. Keep it a secret. Pretend. Always pretend to be enjoying sex. That is what women do.

Across the hour that Beardiful graces our lives we learn about debilitating conditions which come with having holes and ovaries. Jay reveals important truths about vaginismus and devastating admissions about the role polycystic ovarian syndrome. Along the way she lays open her heart and soul as we walk with her through the tale of trying to get pregnant.

We talk about 'authenticity' a lot in the theatrical realm, but the rawness and honesty of Jay's story is a pain almost too hard to bare. Don't worry though, it is padded with humorous songs and a generosity of giving. If you are the lucky live audience member you will even get a song written just for you. The magic of this song is the sincerity in which Jay delivers it to you, and only you. 

This song of generous love brings us out of Jay's great sadness and speaks to the spirit of a world I want to live in. This superb dramaturgy (created in collaboration with Sonia Di lorio) is what makes Beardiful shine and allows the audience to leave with love filling our hearts and a smile on our face. 

3 Stars

BIOGRAPHICA: Opera Review

WHAT: Biographica
WHEN: 21 September - 1 October 2023
WHERE: Theatre Works (Acland St)
MUSIC BY; Mary Finsterer
LYRICS BY: Tom Wright
DIRECTED BY: Heather Fairbairn
CONDUCTED BY: Patrick Burns
DESIGN BY: Savanna Wegman
LIGHTING BY: Niklas Pajanti
PERFORMED BY: Helen Bower, Melody Chia, Julia Cianci, Belinda Dalton, Tom D'Ath, Elyane de Fontenay, Rosa Hwang, Rachael Joyce, Douglas Kelly, Dion Mills, Juel Riggall, Ely Ruttico, Mira Stephens, Laura Tanata, Terrence Teo, Brandon Waterworth, Tim Willis, and Raphael Wong
VIDEO BY: Aron Murray
STAGE MANAGED BY: Brittany Stock

Rachael Joyce, Juel Riggall, and Douglas Kelly - photo by Jodie Hutchinson

For a short period at the start of this century Chamber Made was producing small but magnificent new operas of the scope and scale of the show being presented at Theatre Works right now. Sadly, Melbourne has lost that resource as the company has moved in a different direction now. On the other hand, Lyric Opera has sprung up and moved into that space. Whilst this season of Biographica is not a premier (it was first staged in 2017 in Sydney) it demonstrates how important it is to bring these stunning new works to other parts of the country to inspire and invigorate an art form struggling to be seen as relevant in our ever-progressing performance syntax.

Biographica is a surrealist exploration of the life of Renaissance man Gerolamo Cardano (1501 - 1576). Who? You may not know his name, but you know this man's work. He invented algebra, developed probability calculations (the way to work out betting odds), and - among other things - invented the gimbal and the basis of the combination lock. Without him we wouldn't have compasses, binomial coefficients, or a systematic use of negative numbers. 

Cardano was a mathematician, a physician, a philosopher, and a rampant gambler and playboy. The unwanted illegitimate son of a lawyer, Cardano went on to marry and have three children, all of whom died in ignomy. Cardano himself died at the hands of the Inquisition after accusations of heresy.

Mary Finsterer is a dynamic contemporary composer who works to meld the music of the Renaissance with the modes of today. The life of Cardano was perfect fodder for this obsession and it shows in the composition of the music in Biographica. Finsterer plays with the progression of music in the 16th century, mirroring Tom Wright's tale of the life and times of an amazing thinker who changed the world.

The show opens with golden guardian spirits singing the prelude in stillness. A static tableau allows the music to establish itself and its intentions. Early in the 1500's church music was still using Gregorian style chants and this style influences the early movements in Biographica. However as the century moved forward secular music began to be included in sacred circles and Finsterer plays with that, introducing a jaunty madrigal into what had been established as a formal and processional space. The tensions between these styles play with the tensions between the protagonist and his children as his life story unfolds.

One thing to know about the music of that time is that it was slower. The standard note in the Renaissance was the semi-breve compared to today where it is the crochet. Also at that time there was a move towards featuring vocals over instruments. This is when the basso continuo became de rigeur, and music embraced the cantus firmus and polyphony. All of this becomes evident as the voices of the singers fills the Theatre Works auditorium and vibrate through the body - a little bit uncomfortable and a whole lot sensuous.

In the 1500's vocal music became more expressive and singers where given permission to explore and luxuriate in the notes. This creates extraordinary effects on the body but I have to admit it does get in the way of intelligibility of the lyrics. Biographica is sung in English, but I do think it needs surtitles - not because of articulation problems, but because it is a style we are not conditioned to hear and understand anymore. It does show the measure of skill and ability of the singers though!

Belinda Dalton (soprano) has a powerful voice which is weapon of mass impression! The other soprano, Rachael Joyce, has a gentler tone perhaps but is still as impactful and she plays the dying daughter with pathos and authenticity. Hearing her cry out for her father's love on her death bed almost brought me to tears. Juel Riggall brings incredible acting skills along with her beautiful mezzo-soprano voice to her roles. Riggall never drops out of her characters at any moment, even when she is chorus. She is always engaged and engaging.

Douglas Kelly (tenor) displays an incredible range and his falsetto is as sweet as any choir boy's. Playing the younger son, Aldo, he faces his father down as he points out the sins of the father must necessarily be the downfall of his son. Raphael Wong (baritone) brings a surprising softness to his deep tones as he examines the torment his cheating wife bestows on him.

One of the things which makes Biographica different and modern is the non-singing character of Cardano himself, played by Dion Mills. The story begins at the moment of his death. It is a solipsistic rememberance of his life. 

A curious truth about European religion is how astrology and Christianity became entwined whereas these days we think of them as separate and conflicting ideologies. If you tour the churches of Europe you will see all sorts of astrological iconography all over them. It is fascinating and confusing for us now, but Cardano's obsession with the stars and their impact on humans was commonplace back then. He begins and ends asserting he always predicted exactly when he would die.

Mills is outstanding as Cardano. The role is not easy because although it is spoken, it is definitely metered and pitched with musical imperative. He does it well, carrying the visage of the harried genius orator comfortably. Walking around and peering into the fringed gimbal hoops created by designer Savanna Wegman, Cardano watches his memories reveal themselves. 

Perhaps a flaw in the structure of this opera is that there is no evidence of insight or revelation but perhaps there doesn't need to be any. He is about to die after all... More disappointingly is that his amazing discoveries and inventions are only hinted at through some muttering at his workbench and some quite magnificent projections (Aron Murray). The core of the work focusses on his family and his personal failings. I would have liked a better balance between the two.

Wegman's set is stunning in it's simplicity and Niklas Pajanti has lit it beautifully. Whilst not exactly a contemporary of Cardano (Caravaggio was born 5 years before the inventor's death), Wegman and Pajanti have used the tonal palette and chiarascura effect of the great painter's works. Real candles glow and flutter on Cardano's workstation and Pajanti has managed to use the lights to expand the yellow glow to exude across the stage to light a shadowy world. Even the ubiquitous smoke machine centres around those flames and the haze is allowed to gently float above the performers rather than engulfing them (and us).

The orchestra consists of instruments of the time - mainly strings and wind with some percussion. An electronic keyboard sits among the historical instruments, playing the continuo role historically owned by the harpsicord or organ. All of it making up a gentle and exquisite back line to the emerging expression and exploration of the voices.

Director Heather Fairbairn has led the Biographica team to create a magnificent visual diarama which allows Patrick Burns (conductor) to showcase the music as it expands and embraces the audience. Both production and music take control immediately and lead us through a shadowy world of human frailty and magnificence.

Biographica is a wonderful chamber opera. If we had more of these and less of those behemoth productions by the major companies I think more people would make opera a part of their regular live theatre repertoire. Finsterer and Wright have combined forces to create an incredible opera. Thank you Lyric Opera for bringing this to Melbourne.

4.5 Stars 

TURN, TURN, TURN: Theatre Review

WHAT: Turn, Turn, Turn
WHEN: 13 - 23 September 2023
WHERE: Theatre Works (Explosives Factory)
WRITTEN BY: Keith Gow
DIRECTED BY: Renee Palmer
SET BY: Tom Brayshaw
LIGHTING BY: Gabriel Bethune
SOUND BY: Patrick Slee
PERFORMED BY: Melanie Audrey, Sarah Hartnell, Sodi Murphy-Shrives, and Eben Rotjer
COSTUMES BY: Adele Cattenazzi

Sodie Murphy-Shrives, Sarah Hartnell, Melanie Audrey, and Eben Rotjer - photo supplied

I love science fiction. I live it. I breath it, I would eat it if I could. I REALLY love how science fiction is making a permanent and entrenched place in live theatre. The latest entrant in that genre is Turn, Turn, Turn which is being presented at the Explosives Factory this month.

Written by Keith Gow, the premise for Turn, Turn, Turn is a future in which humanity keeps moving from planet to planet as they use up the resources on each one they colonise. In this play the characters are abandoning Earth 7 and are in a race to get to Earth 8. Earth 8 is different though because they are not colonising a pre-existing planet. This one has been terraformed for them.

Much like the land grabs in the pioneering days of the USA, if you get to the next planet first you get the best bits of land and greater privilege in the new community. Along the way the play has surprisingly little to say about the environment, a bit to say about tradition, and a whole lot to say about privilege.

Riffing off ideas such as those found in The Hunger Games, Hon (Melanie Audrey) and Tee (Sodi Murphy-Shrives) have been selected from birth to have the right to emigrate as long as they win the race to the spaceships. They have been given lifelong advantages and a thing called 'Juice' which makes them think better and heal more quickly. The play starts with these two racing to the ships but Hon has broken her ankle. Her lover, Tee insists on helping her sneak onto a ship despite her injury. We find out later in the play why. Instantly we are introduced to the theme of rule breaking.

The ship takes off and we meet Navigator Naz (Sarah Hartnell) and their partner, Engineer Elk (Eben Rotjer). The ship is a junky old freighter with no chance of winning the race to Earth 8, or so Hon and Tee think. This ship has illegal temporal drives though, so they all have to choose whether to use them and risk getting caught and kicked off the new planet and returned to Earth 7. This is the core of the play. It all centres around an ethical battle between jockeying for a position of privilege or respecting community standards - which in this play are sneered at as 'tradition'...? Personally I think tradition is not the same thing.

I find Turn, Turn, Turn a confusing play and I feel like maybe Gow doesn't actually understand what he has written. He speaks to wanting to address privilege and tradition but what I walked away with was the ideas that cheaters win and we should feel sorry for people with privilege because they do it tough too. I suspect that was not meant to be the intention but Turn, Turn, Turn is a world which is definitely leagues away from the Roddenberry universe.

Turn, Turn, Turn is a tough play to stage because it is, for the most part, set in the claustrophobic space of a ship made for 4 people. Brayshaw (set designer) has done some good work on the set but in the end I think he created too much space. Renee Palmer (director) moves the cast around skillfully but it would be much more visually dynamic if the cast had to keep climbing over each other and dancing around each other. It also would have helped sell the stakes of how desperate they are to get back planetside.

Gabriel Bethune's lighting does the job but I did not understand the constant haze. In a spaceship you should only see smoke when something is broken and then you get scared. If I was on a ship constantly smoking like this one I would run straight to the airlock. I am probably going to die anyway. More importantly though, having it there all the time dilutes the moments of specific terror when things actually go wrong. Luckily, Patrick Slee's sound design is full of energy and dynamics which keeps us believing in the uncertainty of the journey the four miscreants are all undertaking.

The cast are skilled and intriguing. In particular, I really loved Naz (Sarah Hartnell) and Elk (Eben Rotjer), and I think I am supposed to. My one tip for the caste would be to focus on keeping your cores activated. It is natural to relax when you sit down - and there is a lot of sitting in this play! When the core relaxes the voice relaxes too, and then we all relax. Nobody should be relaxed in Turn, Turn, Turn, especially not the audience.

I can see the play Turn, Turn, Turn wants to be but I don't think it is there yet. People say good science fiction is just people stories in space suits. I disagree. You have to get the science right or there is no world for us to believe in. I guess from the publicity I wanted more information about climate crises, colonisation, and the carelessness of moving from world to world rather than changing behaviours to save the world the people are already living on. This play assumes there are a lot places for us to go. There isn't.

I personally don't have much time for people of privilege crying 'poor me' and I certainly don't like it when privilege gets their happily ever after because they cheated. Turn, Turn, Turn is fun but I really struggle with the subtext. I always enjoy a fun trip into outer space though, and that is as good a reason as any to see this play.

3 Stars

THE NERVOUS ATMOSPHERE: Performance Review

WHAT: The Nervous Atmosphere
WHEN: 14 - 17 September 2023
WHERE: Arts House (Main Hall)
WRITTEN & COMPOSED BY: Zoe Barry
DIRECTED BY: Ingrid Voorendt
SET & LIGHTING BY: Bosco Shaw
SOUND BY: Jed Palmer
PERFORMED BY: Zoe Barry and Goldie Palmer
COSTUME BY: Renate Henschke

Zoe Barry - photo by Sarah Walker

Before you sign a contract you really need to make sure you read the fine print. I strongly recommend you do this before going to see The Nervous Atmosphere produced by Chamber Made and presented at Arts House this week. If you don't you risk not really appreciating the show for what it is and that would be a shame.

Zoe Barry (writer, composer, performer) had three unexpected and unusual encounters with lightning in the space of 6 months at a certain point in her life. Whilst none of them were direct, unabated traumas (the first hit her car, the second landed in front of the car and the third hit her house several months later) she felt changed by the experiences. It is a basic fundamental of human psychology to look for meaning in our world and our lives - that's how religion got invented - so it is no surprise these events triggered a quest for Barry.

Coincidentally, Barry had already started reading up on the parascientific debates of the 19th century. This was a strange point in history when real scientists discovered electrical current can trigger muscles spasms, when real and pseudoscientists were curious about electricity and the brain, and when the difference between a tarot reader and a psychologist was a matter of linguistics. Having been targeted so dramatically by natural electrical forces as she had been, there is little mystery about the breadth of Barry's quest to find equilibrium.

Undoubtedly, this curiosity was also peaked by the zeitgeist of our current times when the difference between truth and hope are blurred. Fake news is not just a political term. It invades our health and wellness with just as much danger as it invades our halls of power. Just like the quackery which emerged in the 19th century, today people are selling herbs and vitamins as miracle drugs, magnetic jewellery is being sold as a cure for arthritis, and TENS machines are sending low level electrical current into bodies by the millions to manage chronic pain. All of this is the parascience of today.

Barry spent a long time after these incidents chasing answers for her altered state and perception of the world. Everything was strange and she was strange in her spaces and places. We discover, in The Nervous Atmosphere, an incredible array of people she consulted with including doctors, psychologists, osteopaths, and - possibly the most interesting of all, although sadly not much explored in the show - a psychic. The great disappointment of this show is that beyond being a list of description, Barry stays on a metaphysical plane with all of her text so we don't really get to enjoy the ups and downs of her reality. Rather we stay suspended in the ether of altered consciousness.

This is where reading the fine print is important for this show. The Nervous Atmosphere - although having a starting point of thunder and lightning - is a sonic meditation. The word nervous in this case means 'of the nerves' and is not referencing an in situ agitated psycho/physical state beyond the most incidental of references. It is, in fact, a reaction against that very thing.

As Barry bows her cello rhythmically, and speaks her texts in a slow, hypnotic fashion, you are meant to fall into a kind of trance. The cello is bowed in steady time although it slides between majors and minors (mostly settling in the minor modes), and occasionally lazily sliding out of tonality altogether as if the weight of gravity and/or ennui make the act of bowing just too active for Barry...too connected...too grounded.

The show is 70 minutes long though, and I would suggest it could happily sit at 45 and that would make a satisfying experience. Instead, it lingers long past it's natural end which is disappointing. Having said that, Barry's practice is based around slowness which makes it entirely in line with her creative oeuvre. I guess I am just a bit too MTV. 

I think Ingrid Voorendt (director) could have helped guide Barry a bit more strongly with regard to performance dynamics. In particular it was the wrong move for the show to be performed with Barry in the back corner of the playing space which allows her to become disconnected from the audience. This is basic theatre-making and as much as there may be a good array of artistic rationale, it is bad blocking.

I have to say The Nervous Atmosphere is visually and sonically stunning. Bosco Shaw (set and lighting) has created a liminal space for Barry to examine her metaphysical investigations. Shorn sheep wool is piled across the stage like a big fluffy cloud and lights flicker underneath. It is as if Barry has ascended above the electrical turmoil which changed her so emphatically. Nature chose her and now she transcends it. The thing which impressed me most about Shaw and his impactful and innovative lighting is that he was able to evoke this limbo, this ether, without smoke, fog, or haze. There are not many lighting designers in Melbourne with that kind of skill or creativity these days and it is powerful.

Jed Palmer (sound) also works hard to keep this altered state and space in play, shifting the sound in space and time. Sometimes in synch with Barry's looped cello and reinforced speech, and sometimes in counterpoint. The cello and the loudspeakers have their own conversations about stasis and untethering. If the script (a combination of writings from Barry and other sources) was more relaxed and lyrical these sonic excursions married to the explorations of the bowing of the cello would have really taken us all to a higher plane.

The Nervous Atmosphere is an intriguing exploration. With some stronger performance dramaturgy it has the possibility of being incredibly disquieting and utterly peaceful at the same time. 

3 Stars

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM: Musical Theatre Review

WHAT: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
WHEN: 8 - 24 September 2023
WHERE: Chapel Off Chapel (The Chapel)
MUSIC & LYRICS BY: Stephen Sondheim
BOOK BY: Larry Gelbart and Bert Shevelove
DIRECTED BY: Melanie Hillman
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY: Trevor Jones
SET BY: Sarah Tulloch
COSTUMES BY: Jemima Johnston
LIGHTING BY: Rob Sowinski
PERFORMED BY: Sarah Barlow, Sarah Brown, Gen Campbell, Rina D'Cruz, Charmaine Gorman, Milo Hartill, Jacqui Hoy, Trevor Jones, Kristie Nguy, Mel O'Brien, Alanna Ritchie, Judith Roberts, Luisa Scrofani, Sophie Weiss, Cathy Woodhouse, and Sarahlouise Younger
CHOREOGRAPHY BY: Sophie Loughran
SOUND BY: Marcello Lo Ricco
STAGE MANAGED BY: Daikota Gerrett

Charmaine Gorman, Jacqueline Hoy, Milo Hartill and Mel O'Brien - photo by Jodi Hutchinson

Let's be honest. Staging A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum today is a fraught decision - almost as fraught as staging Shakespeare. After having watched it I truly believe the only way you can do it in modern times is exactly the way Watch This have done it. You can see what I mean by heading to Chapel Off Chapel this week.

Written in 1962 by the incredible Stephen Sondheim with Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, Forum is a classic sex farce which which even predates the word farce! Riffing on the comedy stylings of ancient Roman playwright Plautus, this team play with all the archetypal comedy tropes to create a comedy of errors Shakespeare would envy (particularly as this is exactly the kind of thing he did too). There has been an attempt to list the specific Plautus plays encompassing the plot of Forum but why bother? As all wise theatre makers know, once you have a formula you put it on rinse and repeat and voila! you have a career, repertoire, and a reputation. If you are lucky enough to be a man it can sustain you for centuries.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is a tale of men seeing sexy women and striving to own them or bed them, women as sex slaves, and house slaves doing anything to buy their freedom. All the men are rich, brave, or strong, and the few women included are slaves or wives. This should not work on a stage in 2023 but Melanie Hillman (director) has dipped into the feminist and non-binary gender zeitgeists and found a way to tell this story, but also reveal and expose this story for everything it is and everything it isn't.

Every character in this production of Forum is played by a woman. And not just any women. The women in this cast defy the male gaze. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colours.  Mel O'Brien is a knockout as the sexy and dumb Philia despite spilling out of her blue gown in all the right places. Luisa Scrofani is a giant on stage despite her diminutive size as she plays the bombastic Miles Gloriosus. Sarahlouise Younger brings gravitas and sophistication to the scurrilous brothel owner Marcus Lycus.

The genius of Hillman's production is that she hasn't changed a word of the script. There is no concession given to the gender of the actors in word or deed. This is what packs the punch and masculine ribaldry and lasciviousness runs amok along these Ancient Roman streets. The cast play the story true and that is the most dangerous thing they can do. In the process they do their own lampoon on this old lampoon and also the modern theatre strictures for women who dare to tread the boards of the great theatres of the world.

As a musical, this production of A Funny Thing Happened To The Way To The Forum is fine. The acting, directing and choreography (Sophie Loughran) do the job they need to do. Luckily all the women are very fine vocalists, the band is uptempo, and Sarah Tulloch's set is visually outstanding even though it doesn't really give the actors much of a dynamic playing space. Kristie Nguy as the protean (an ancient supernumerary) is absolutely scene-stealing in her incredible acting, singing and dancing.

If you really want to go and see such old and out-dated theatrical offerings such as A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum then this is the one to see. At least this one says something new and current rather than engraving old patriarchal tropes even deeper into our psyche. Oh, and yes, it is very funny. Literally a laugh a minute.

3.5 Stars