The Neo-Futurists. The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur. 19 Feb 2015
A troupe of six very interesting and diverse young American thespians and a wonderfully eccentric concept borne of the traditions of good old improv.
This is a very Fringey Fringe show.
The actors attempt to perform 30 plays within one hour. The plays are chosen from numbers hanging on a line across the stage. Audience can call out a number and an actor will leap up, grab the number and a mini play or vignette will be enacted. There are some wonderful ideas and some screwball ideas in the lineup: ‘What not to bring to a party (Kale Chips)’; ‘A neo-futurist 12 1.2 question meta-survey’; ‘Erectile Dysfunction’; ‘Why women aren’t funny’, and more.
There is a Saturday-Night-Live feeling of American humour taking risks in this show. Some things fall flat. Some are highly lateral. Some are utterly daring. There is lots to choose from.
‘What I assumed people think I do when I tell them I’m a performance artist’ is a bit of a gem. The realisation of the thought is very fifties beatnik crazy.
‘The Neo-Futurists Demonstrate the World’s Most Bitchin’ Handshake’ showcases some pretty deft inter-actor co-ordination.
‘This and That’ is a brilliant little tongue-twisting variation on the Who’s-on-First routine.
And the audience is wooed and won by ‘An ever-changing collection of our experiences in Australia so far’. Those Americans are learning fast.
There is plenty of audience interaction. In one case, an audience member has to sit alone on stage and more or less emote.
But these shows are not consistent. No two performances are meant to be the same. The little playlets are swapped around and there is a general air of speed and spontaneity, although one knows a lot of care and workshopping has gone into the work which, overall, has been created by one Greg Allen.
The performers show the proper skills of the trade. We learn a little about each of them. They are not ordinary - but neither is the Fringe.
Why we are given names on arrival, though, beats me. I sat there wondering what Ali Baba was supposed to do. Nothing, as it turned out. Phew.
The troupe managed to get through 29 of their 30 little playlets, some lasting a few minutes and some being quick gags.
It is an hour of surprises, fun, laughs, raised eyebrows and general good spirit.
Samela Harris
When: 13 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Organised Pandemonium. The Garden of Unearthly Delights - The Vagabond. 18 Feb 2015
Organised Pandemonium indeed! Adelaide, meet Las Vegas, in this world premiere disco-circus extravaganza! Craig Ilott directed the award-winning glitz shows 'Smoke and Mirrors' and 'La Clique Royale' and he has outdone himself here. Disco is re-imagined with an impossible array of laser lights and shimmering sequins, and the beats are pounded out with the savagery of a high tech nightclub.
Ilott has assembled an impossibly talented cast combining singing and circus with burlesque and vaudeville. Crooner Brendan Maclean from 'The Great Gatsby' issues a dancing version of Gordon Lightfoot's '70s ballad, 'If You Could Read My Mind' that would have him turning in his grave. Wait a minute, he's not even dead! And while the disco tunes are flying out the door, he reverses things by slowing down The Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive' with a ukulele into a thought-provoking anthem to show biz.
Let's be frank about this, there was a hint of sexual liberation about the show. Stephen Williams wowed them on the aerial straps and Mirko Köckenberger dressed and undressed upside down on a stack of suitcases. The girls loved these guys when their ripples were revealed as the clobber was shed. Smiling Craig Reid bulged his tights in all the wrong places, looking more like an adolescent and unlikely cartoon hero, but he's not known as 'the incredible hula boy' for nothing; one, two, four, eight, more, so many he transformed into a human slinky!
Emma Goh defied gravity more than once high above the runway in dreamy tableaus that accompanied many of the songs. Perle Noire's strip tease won me over, but it suddenly became an African tribal affair with shimmering buttocks and swirling nipple tassels. Yabba dabba do! Gosh, Chaska Halliday and Rechelle Mansour showed they aren't just chorus girls with a sizzling "Turn The Beat Around.' The accomplished Joe
Accaria hid behind sunglasses way up back and mixed his live percussion with favourite songs. There was no expense spared for the outrageous costumes or anything else for that matter.
And then there was Marcia Hines. Decades as a pop and disco diva, she was the first black woman in 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame, and passed on her wisdom on 'Australian Idol.' Trussed up in a shimmering tight dress of gold lame, she was a paradigm of dignity and beauty, giving the audience the disco soul they came to see and hear.
This is a must-see show of non-stop stunning amazement. Double bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 13 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Garden of Unearthly Delights - The Vagabond
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Don't Be Lonely. The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur. 18 Feb 2015
Squidboy has now grown into a ‘Kraken’. A kraken is a mythical sea monster thought to inhabit the ocean between Norway and Greenland. Trygve Wakenshaw is a legendary physical movement comedian sighted regularly in a sea of audiences at festivals and fringes around the world, catching a swag of ‘best-of’ awards, and there are many that got away.
I was giddy from the very start. Wakenshaw is a rubber man with an uncanny ability to physicalise and vocalise character, animals, events, and objects. He is also a master of lateral thinking. Sizzling BBQ meat morphs into the hiss of a snake lulled by a snake charmer controlling the tune with a radio volume dial of compliant audience participation. A confident weightlifter transmogrifies into a mother and baby that magically becomes a drama on TV and then the birth of a horse. His human characters are hilariously hapless and naff.
Imaginary objects in his hands are easily suggested and are used in supernatural and surreal tasks. I was reminded of Robin Williams in ‘Mork and Mindy’ or even Williams' role model, Jonathan Winters. Wakenshaw loves to be looked at and could not finish the show. After an encore of embarrassing (if I was doing it) free style dance to a popular tune, he was imitating a stage hand changing over the set for the next show as the last audience member filed out; yes, that was me. Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 13 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Let Me Know How It All Works Out. Token Events. Garden of Unearthly Delights - Studio 7. 17 Feb 2015
If you are Celia Pacquola, reading this complimentary review may prove difficult. Just for you though, I promise a satisfying ending.
If you go and see Pacquola perform her show in The Garden's 'Studio 7', the above paragraph will not only make sense, it will give you a good giggle.
In a stream of comedy gold, 'Let Me Know How It All Works Out' reveals the comedienne's surprising weakness: despite being intelligent, well-spoken and otherwise normal, Pacquola is addicted to psychics, palm-readers and all things foretelling. She hates an unresolved ending, particularly her own, and her quest to know how it's all going to work out leads to a chance encounter with palm reader, Tony. His casual revelation leads to a hilarious set of events.
Pacquola invites judgment, questions fate, and delivers retribution before wrapping it all up nicely in the end. What more could you want? Bed impressions I hear you say? It's got that too.
Her chilled-out style and refreshing honesty are endearing. She quickly wins her crowd over, with the audience "heckling" cheers of encouragement and helpfully offering up Google search results on Pacquola's porn star doppelgänger. It's a great way to spend a steamy summer evening.
Epilogue: Twenty minutes after the show, Nicole ordered a veggie burger. She is still laughing.
Nicole Russo
When: 17 Feb to 22 Feb
Where: Garden of Unearthly Delights - Studio 7
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Irregular Productions. The Bakehouse Theatre - Main Stage. 17 Feb 2015
The stage is set. Four brightly coloured chairs and a piano. The players are already in place, chatting as if waiting for a rehearsal to start. The lights dim, and the players begin.
[title of show] follows the collaborative journey of friends, Hunter, Jeff, Susan, Heidi and Larry, as they try to create a musical in only three weeks for the upcoming New York Musical Theatre Festival. In lieu of an original idea, Hunter (the writer) and Jeff (the composer) decide to write a musical about two guys who are writing a musical about two guys who are writing a musical. The characters all play themselves… playing their character, that is.
This is a musical for the musical in-crowd. The show is billed as a comedy, and there are certainly some funny one-liners scattered throughout the script, but if you aren’t very familiar with the musical theatre genre then a lot of the in-jokes will be lost on you. Hint: read the glossary enclosed in the programme before lights out.
Hayley Horton directs the show, with Peter Johns as both musical director and in the role of Larry. Horton gives the show bucket loads of pace, and her players carry it off with consummate ease. But in that pace, comic timing gets a bit lost and many of the jokes are missing their laugh.
Non-stop for 90 minutes the entire cast are ‘on’. Both physically on stage and in their mental character focus. A better Adelaide amateur cast, Horton could not have wished for. Scott Reynolds, Rod Shultz, Claire McEvoy and Amy Nagesh sing the house down in this show. The odd note is out of range for some performers, but it doesn’t matter when this ensemble sings. They are the show, and they make the show.
Despite the awesome performances the script is about 30 minutes too long. The concept makes for a great musical, but beyond a certain point the show gets carried away with itself and ceases to be interesting or original.
The production is at its absolute best in 'What Kind Of Girl Is She’, the Festival ‘Montage’ and particularly in ‘Secondary Characters’. In terms of performance connection McEvoy and Nagesh take the cake when they sing together.
Tickets are selling fast. This is a well-publicised and highly anticipated show amongst Adelaide theatre audiences. If you know the show, or love everything ‘musical theatre’ then don’t miss it. But, do read that glossary.
Paul Rodda
When: 17 to 21 Feb
Where: Bakehouse Theatre – Main Stage
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au