Adelaide Fringe. South Australian Playwrights Theatre. The Lab. 2 Mar 2023
There is something magic about the unconventional performance space of The Lab: a wide V-shaped stage in the form of a catwalk merging two walls into a corner of the venue. The audience sits on the diagonal and the walls become a backdrop of wonderful artsy projections. It conveys a sense of calm and clean spaciousness.
It is fortunate for this production since its narrative is as dense and layered as the venue is pristine.
Recalibrate is a ferocious, multi-generational, life-and-death feminist work by Lucy Combe. All of its characters have agendas and few of them are likeable. Their emotional baggage is pain and guilt and then some.
Perhaps the old gal, Carmel, a university professor, draws most sympathy since she is undergoing repeated chemotherapy treatments for terminal ovarian cancer. The inimitable Jacqy Phillips embodies this role with fatalistic potency. She is depicted against the emphatic brightness of a giant projected IV drip facing not only death but the frustrations of failed feminist philosophies and obtuse academia. She rails against these fading lights while dealing with two disappointing daughters: the “good mother” and the “mad auntie”. Phillips, beautifully costumed as a faded hippie, has to convey the failure of an entire era; a tough call, which was oddly undermined by the overkill of selfies and a loud-hailer.
As Mary, the good mother, Katie O’Reilly presents a moving emotional rollercoaster of one whose life was upended by one terrible mistake while Emma Beech is the flip sister who has come home. Other characters pop in but focal interest remains on the sisters and the audience is not disappointed in the denouement. Meanwhile, there is Tessa whose intellectual acuity shines from a broken body. Her pain and disability do not detract from her promise as the hope for the future. The ever versatile Kelly Vincent portrays this character, controlling not only her mobility but a litany of text messages from her wheelchair.
There are many themes entwined in this 80-minute piece, directed by Elena Vereka: self-harm, sex, ageing, suicidal ideation, and emotional blackmail are among them, so a pretty play it is not. Aesthetic it is. And thought-provoking. Has Simon de Beauvoir’s legacy disappointed?
Samela Harris
When: 2 to 5 Mar
Where: The Lab
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Guy Masterson, Floating World Entertainment & Joanne Hartstone. 2 Mar 2023
The Marvellous Elephant Man is one marvellous musical of Proboscidean playfulness. You may have seen a reprisal of the Bernard Pomerance play which premiered in 1977 or David Lynch’s 1980 film – both highly successful and dramatically awarded. The screenplay was based on a couple of books: one from 1923 and Ashley Montagu’s The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity from 1971. That title says it all. And of course, there really was a Joseph Merrick (1862-90) whose deformities were so cruelly described. It was fortunate that the freak show was going out of fashion in Victorian England and Merrick, like in his play, his film and now his musical, is bounced from vilification and prejudice to understanding and love. The narrative arc in the musical is not Merrick’s but is masterminded for mirth without minimizing the man.
Marc Lucchesi with Jayan and Sarah Nandagopan have rewritten the ultimately redemptive story as a humourous Victorian melodrama brimming with hyper-real performances, witty lyrics, and catchy tunes. The producers quote a review thusly, “The Book of Mormon meets Beauty & The Beast” but I found it more like Rocky Horror meets Young Frankenstein.
The producer’s website shows a set encumbered by furniture, but the marvellous Spiegeltent compelled the action to be right out there and personal with the audience and scene changes were seamless. Consequently, the action was non-stop and the energy was soaring.
The villain, a mean doctor, is played so effectively by Kanen Breen he elicits boos. Ingenue-playing Annelise Hall excelled in emotional confusion. Marc Lucchesi - in a number of delectable roles he wrote for himself - took time off from leading Vaudeville Smash to satirise the Italian taste in women, score points against the English and mock the French. Hilarious! Ben Clark as John Merrick (John has always been his stage name) was an absolutely wonderful study of a human finding his place in the world after trauma. In the role with the most range, his Merrick desperately grasps at small hopes, is gracious with gratitude, is beaten by cruelty and demanding his dignity. Bravo! The chorus is kinetic, vibrant and enjoying themselves (Eden Read – choreography). The singing is wonderful. Once again, it’s Clark who steals scenes with agony and triumph expressed so beautifully in voice. The costumes – and there’s plenty of ‘em - are eye candy; a mix of the natty and naughty Victorian (Roberto Surace – set & costumes). Co-composer Sarah Nandagopan leads the musicians from the keyboards with panache. Sound designer Wayne Pashley spreads audio around just right while lighting designer Jason Bovaird masters the tricky lighting of a small round stage with colour and focus.
The Marvellous Elephant Man: The Musical is a brand new work with only one previous production, at last year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival. It’s clearly ready for the stage but maybe not Broadway. There were two possible endings before the ending that contained greater redemptive qualities. Pulling a revolver is meant to raise the stakes, but it’s a cheap trick – anybody can say, “Wait, I have a gun.” Everybody dies, like in Hamlet, but are resurrected for a happy ending. And where did that wolfman come from? A nearby production of Little Red Riding Hood?
In this original Australian production, co-directors Chris HF Mitchell and Olivier Award-winning Guy Masterson have led their team of creatives in gripping the Lucchesi/Nandagopan book and music and making theatre magic in all its glorious elements for a raunchy, fun, thoughtful and soundful night out. Double bravo!
PS Have a look at the website – www.marvellouselephantman.com - That is the handsomest and most well-dressed bunch in a clutch of program portraits I’ve ever seen!
David Grybowski
When: 21 Feb to 13 Mar
Where: Wonderland Festival Hub – Hindmarsh Square – Wonderland Spiegeltent
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Festival. Adelaide Writer’s Week. Adelaide Town Hall. 1 Mar 2023
Cream rises to the top, and so has Sir Tom Stoppard OM CBE FRSL HonFBA. He is an esteemed and decorated writer, and has written for film, radio, television, and the stage. It is theatre where he shines most brightly (e.g. Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, Arcadia, and most recently, Leopoldstadt).
Stoppard has quite an unordinary personal history. In brief, he was born Tomáš Sträussler in Czechoslovakia, and fled the Nazis with his family to Singapore, and thence to India with his mother and brother. Stoppard never saw his father again, who stayed behind and perished during the war. Stoppard was schooled in Darjeeling, and subsequently in England following his mother’s marriage to British army major Kenneth Stoppard, from where he derived his new surname and anglicised first name. After leaving school at age 17 – he never went to university – he became a journalist and wrote drama reviews amongst other things, which led him eventually to becoming a playwright. He has been married three times and has four children, including the stage and screen actor Ed Stoppard.
Stoppard has been influenced in his formative years by world events, and the Writer’s Week festival has also been impacted by the views some of its featured participants have about contemporary world events. The inclusion of Palestinian American Susan Abulhawa and Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd in the program has ignited passionate condemnation because of the preposterous views they hold, such as Abulhawa holding that Ukraine is itself responsible for the current war! There have even been calls for Louise Adler, the director of Writer’s Week, to resign for allowing such writers to have a platform to preach their vitriol.
The evening commenced with a Welcome from Premier Peter Malinauskas whose government has been dragged into the controversy. In his speech he noted that politicians should not lurch to censoring free speech thereby deciding “what is culturally appropriate”. Rather, he opined, the Festival should be about listening to diverse opinions, even unpopular ones, and then challenging them with a view to changing them. Stoppard once said: “I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead.” Malinauskas and countless others would believe that the ideas and words of Abulhawa and El-Kurd are not ‘the right ones’, but others do. The fight rages on, and there is always unfinished work for word warriors.
In 2013, knowing that several writers were circling him to write his biography, Stoppard pre-empted them and invited Dame Hermione Lee to do the job. Who better? The result has been described as rigorous and affectionate.
The biography – Tom Stoppard: A Life – was published in 2020, and this is the connection to Adelaide Writer’s Week.
Louise Adler, Director of Writer’s Week, has pulled off a coup: she arranged for Dame Hermione Lee and Sir Tom Stoppard to be interviewed about the biography by Professor Glyn Davis AC, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (who apparently is a Stoppard ‘aficionado’), and for it to be filmed. The film was shown at last night’s Writer’s Week event and was followed by a live conversation between Stoppard (appearing via livestream from London via his wife’s smartphone!), the internationally acclaimed Australian-British playwright Suzie Miller (Prima Facie – think Jodie Comer in the stunning recent London West End production), and New Zealand-Australian multi award-winning theatre director Simon Phillips, with Glyn Davis ‘in the chair’.
The filmed interview focussed on the process of the creation of the biography and was full of insights into Stoppard’s psyche. It also gave a glimpse of the inner workings of the mind of a top notch biographer. It was intriguing.
The conversation focussed on the relationship between a playwright and the director. With two top notch playwrights and a first rate director ‘on the couch’, the discussion was brimming with insightful perceptions, rib-tickling humour, and profundity. At one point Stoppard became so absorbed in responding to a probing question from Davis that he lost his way and from behind the wisping smoke from his cigarette he concluded with “But I don’t really remember the question”! The audience lapped it up.
Writer’s Week is so important (and entertaining!). Try to take in an event or two!
Kym Clayton
When: 1 Mar
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. Stevprodukt & The Garage International. 1 Mar 2023
The Camino de Santiago comprises long-distance pilgrimage walks through Spain. Originally they were pilgrims’ ways to the remains of the apostle St James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, but now, invariably, they are walked by people from the world over working through their issues and seeking renewal. Middle-aged Aussie Steve Wilson is one of those and he has lovingly restored his adventures with a lively recollection and slide presentation. And like I hear from everyone else I’ve spoken to who have made tracks on the Camino, the scenery, the food, the walking, the challenge and especially the camaraderie of fellow travelers does indeed have rejuvenating powers.
Steve begins at the beginning with a few things gone haywire in his life and chooses trekking the Camino as the circuit breaker. He conveys the simple pleasures of a welcome hot coffee or a sandwich or finally finding a bunk to flop in. Dinners with new and re-met acquaintances look convivial and fun with friendship jumping out of the photos. Beach swims and rainstorms and wrong ways and blisters. Tapas and paella and glasses brimming with cheap but delicious red wine. Steve makes life-long mates. A few tips: don’t bunk next to the way to the loo, take stuff to salve your feet, and always say yes to an invitation.
Steve’s initial delivery was diminished by rehearsed excitement. He wasn’t authentic and he isn’t an actor, so who was he? But as the trail wore on, Steve easily revealed his good-natured soul, finding the best in any situation or person. The more intimate the friendship experience, the more interesting he got.
The photos are just happy snaps and each day’s travel is introduced with a plainly lettered slide stating Day 5 or whatever, the destination and kilometres. These title slides would benefit from a bit of spicing up. Plus 20 km days were typical, and two were over 50 km! I found this astonishing but Steve says you do what is right for you on the Camino. One fellow traveler had a colostomy bag and there were copious crap knees. Some took taxis over the boring bits.
Gentle Steve effectively and seductively takes you right along on the trail with him. If you’ve done the walk, you’ll love the talk. And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Steve will show you the way of St James.
David Grybowski
When: 28 Feb to 5 Mar
Where: The Garage International @ Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★
Adelaide Fringe. Umbrella Works Inc. The Lark at Gluttony. 1 Mar 2023
As the title suggests, Pupperotica: 7 Heavenly Sins is a puppet show in which the puppets bang on (er, yes, pun intended!) about erotica, sex, and smut. They are very, very naughty and their handlers, Keren Schlink and Josh Walker, have a rugged time keeping them in check.
The show is a SA première, and the Perth-based production company –Umbrella Works Inc – is well known in Western Australia – where previous shows (such as Pupperotica: Sex-capades) have won awards at Perth’s Fringe World Festival. However, Pupperotica: 7 Heavenly Sins has a way to go before it achieves similar success here at the Adelaide Fringe.
There is no doubting the skill and passion of Schlink (who wrote the script) and Josh Walker. As puppeteers they know what they are doing and they do it well. One finds oneself ignoring them and focussing on the puppets, which is as it should be. What is in doubt is the overall quality of the script, which is like the curate’s egg – it has good bits and not-so-good bits. The good bits include a spiel about how sex in all its forms is dealt with in the Bible. Schlink’s research is impressive. She unearths numerous biblical verses about sex and sexuality and then turns them all on their heads with contradictory statements. Such fun!
Most segments in the performance are essentially monologues, with a puppet waxing eloquently about something. On a few occasions several puppets go head to head, and the dialogue and visual impact is much funnier, but for the most part the whole thing comes across as a series of mini lectures.
Puppetry is often used to tear down barriers and taboos. It can allow audiences to ponder things they wouldn’t normally talk about or laugh at in ‘polite company’. Puppets allow us to shelter behind the unreality of what’s in front of us. For this to be effective, the puppets have to have something interesting, engaging and funny to talk about, which was not always the case tonight, and they need to be vibrant, colourful, brash, and bold – which they were.
The show needs more polish.
Kym Clayton
When: 1 to 5 Mar
Where: The Lark at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au