Bakehouse Theatre. STARC Productions. 31 Mar 2022
Layer upon layer of paradoxes shape and infuse playwright Nick Payne’s Constellations.
Payne takes a relationship between two people, Roland, a beekeeper (Marc Clement) and Marianne, a Physicist (Stefanie Rossi) and cuts up its linear chronology like a piece of cinematic film. It is a boy meets girl story, restructured and chopped up into bits of life creating a profoundly illuminating, comic, heartbreaking and troubling discourse that asks ‘what if I did/said’ something else instead?
The universe of infinite possibilities is the heart of Payne’s work, mediated through Marianne’s pivotal, drunk in love explication of the grand theories, Quantum Physics and String theory. Anything is possible. Is it? Change a pose. Change a vocal tone. Change of body language. All these shifts, all these possibilities – what do they add up to?
In this relationship, many things. Or none.
So we get to see and ponder, as myriad versions of pivotal relationship moments play out in all their joy and profound grief.
Tony Knight’s direction is taut, witty and extraordinary in its stripped back focus, exploring multiple shades of emotion, motivation, response and action in the relationship of Roland and Marianne. He is aided by the bright yet subtly suggestive backdrop of string lights and the strictly delineated floor space which keeps the pair to one side of the space each. Equally strict are the sound cues.
Knight’s management of Payne’s text is extraordinary as demonstrated in Rossi and Clement’s performances, staggering in ultra disciplined bright, brittle and emotively profound brilliance. Here is control with exquisite comic timing. Snap to the darkest depths, and back to light hearted banter. Passionate human frailty in thrall to a misconceived sense of omnipotence.
Rossi and Clement own the audiences’ very souls through their own soul baring spirited approach to performance. They are heartbreaking and life affirming at once in the vitality of their offering to an audience.
David O’Brien
When: 30 Mar to 9 Apr
Where: The Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: bakehousetheatre.com
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Thebarton Theatre. 18 Mar 2022
Perchance there is no entertainer in this country who can bring a house down with such effusions of boundless love.
Hans thought that moving out of a tent and into a gorgeous big traditional theatre complete with a symphony orchestra might bring his audience upmarket. Hah! It just delivered an even bigger and richer audience, a massive tribe of followers of all ages, happy to pay more for tickets and merch just for the privilege of adoring him.
In return, Hans gives them their money’s worth and then some. He turns on all the bells and whistles of showbiz with an extravagantly super high-tech production which sends his crowds into raucous rapture.
Backed by a full orchestra, he shines singing against a lyrical backdrop of lusciously verdant Tyrolean mountain-scape images.
"Hans meets Andre Rieu!” exclaims my delighted companion.
The light show is nothing less than razzle-bedazzle with full-screen illuminations ranging from floods of falling musical notes and stars to vast planetary spectacles, whizzing abstractions and cascading curtains of gold and ruby and, just to bring the show back to a proper German character, a quasi Von Trapp house facade flanked by flowing vases of red roses.
Hans prances from world to world and song to song in a series of mum-made bling outfits, each more witty, whimsical and outlandish than the last.
Mistress of feathers and sequins, diamantes and lurex, that Mrs. Gilbertson deserves an Oscar for her costume work.
Meanwhile, as evidence of the way in which our Hans has honed his act through the years, he now has all the classic entertainer tropes down pat. He blends self-deprecatory hometown boy parody with not-so-mythical super stardom. He fixes on audience targets and gives them the wicked what-for, throws some provocative topical content in with his stand-up patter, runs risqué here and there, and simply thrills his hordes of whooping camp followers.
Interestingly, this highly finessed act can be seen gravitating into the spirit of his great pinup, Liberace. With classical piano as one of his accomplishments and his bespoke symphony orchestra beside him, Hans does rare justice when it comes to a Liberace tribute. Not only the shimmering spangled cloak and train but the musicianship. Rimsky-Korsakov’s boogie woogied BumbleBee was just “wowsa!” as we say in the realms of serious musical criticism.
What with piano pieces, piano accordion bits, tap numbers, show tunes and pop, acrobatic Lucky Bastard dancers, a sensational ostrich feather fan dance, orchestra features (yes, the crowd went wild for a bit of Mozart), Hans and his slick cohort of professional production turned on the Ritz at Thebby.
The passion of the audience’s foot-stomping ovation is actually a bit scary. That glorious old Thebby theatre has seem some of the biggest, hottest, and most famous acts in the world, but for our Hans, the crowd's thunder truly was enough to shake the rafters. “Just one more song” was what they wanted.
Hans has tapped a golden vein with his blend of camp, glamour, and cheek. An accomplished treasure of showmanship, he is Adelaide’s happiness machine.
Samela Harris
When: 18 to 19 Mar
Where: Thebarton Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Piglet at Gluttony. 18 Mar 2022
Gary McAllister hails from Scotland and he is as funny as f#%k, although he doesn’t rely on crude language to get his laughs – there definitely is some. Having said that, why is it that Scottish stand-up comedians can easily get away with uttering particularly crude words but leave you in stitches of laughter, whereas many other comedians just sound offensive? Is it their brogue? Does that take the edge off (or does it add an edge?), or is it because they purposely reserve particular words for precise situations?
McAllister certainly chooses his words carefully – he’s actually a fine orator with a good vocabulary, but he’s never stuffy with it. He knows how to deliver a knockout punchline, and even when the content is bordering on routine, he always delivers a multitude of laughs in rapid succession. Every face in the audience seems to get quickly locked into a permanent smile! You just have to laugh!
Many successful stand-ups base a lot of their routine on themselves and how they feel about life in general. McAllister keenly understands this, and a lot of his material is about his own family, and it is oh so funny. He often draws you into preconceived notions of how a story is going to end – about his wife or children for example – but then slaughters those assumptions and leaves you in paroxysms of laughter.
McAllister clearly loves people, and meeting people, and although bantering with the audience can be fraught, McAllister has it down to a fine art. This evening’s performance saw him focus on a fit easy-on-the-eye seventeen-year old lad, and the banter was endearing. Yes, the lad bore the brunt of some good-hearted and harmless laughs, but McAllister showed genuine interest and used it to fuel the narrative of his show. The audience felt and understood what McAllister was feeling and saying, and it endeared him to us.
This is a really fun show, and McAllister leaves you with some genuinely funny take-away jokes to try out yourself! And they work!
Highly recommended.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 to 19 Mar
Where: The Piglet at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★
Adelaide Fringe. Legends Bar. 18 Mar 2022
John Robles is certainly happy. From the time you enter the venue and first lay eyes on him, Robles is smiling, chatting, laughing, and generally fussing around with a total lightness of spirit. He’s happy, but there is also a smidgeon of nervousness as well, and that’s OK. (BTW, his surname is apparently pronounced ‘ru-blay’, because he’s of Mexican descent.)
The show begins by Robles drawing immediate laughs by identifying the (few) straight people in the audience and him telling them that as a minority group they have his unwavering support! Clever. Seemingly mischievous in manner, and almost a throwback to adolescent cheekiness, Robles has the audience regularly chuckling as he relates quirky stories about being a gay man, including his unsuccessful dating attempts, and gives impressions of coffee baristas (!) and acting lessons. It’s all very eclectic, and episodic, which is the show’s weakness: it never really sufficiently mines each funny line for everything that it can give, and as a result there is barely a narrative. The highlight of the show was his easy rapport with the audience whom he invites to banter with him, which they do, but perhaps a bit too much.
The show culminates with one audience member ‘performing’ a mini sketch on stage for which Robles has written the script. The text almost hearkens back to previous gags in the show, but doesn’t quite get there. This could have been a golden opportunity to create a story line for the entire show, and at the one was left wondering about what might have been.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 to 19 Mar
Where: Legends Bar
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
John Robles–Gay As In Happy (And Homosexual)
2
Adelaide Fringe. Legends Bar. 18 Mar 2022
John Robles is certainly happy. From the time you enter the venue and first lay eyes on him, Robles is smiling, chatting, laughing, and generally fussing around with a total lightness of spirit. He’s happy, but there is also a smidgeon of nervousness as well, and that’s OK. (BTW, his surname is apparently pronounced ‘ru-blay’, because he’s of Mexican descent.)
The show begins by Robles drawing immediate laughs by identifying the (few) straight people in the audience and him telling them that as a minority group they have his unwavering support! Clever. Seemingly mischievous in manner, and almost a throwback to adolescent cheekiness, Robles has the audience regularly chuckling as he relates quirky stories about being a gay man, including his unsuccessful dating attempts, and gives impressions of coffee baristas (!) and acting lessons. It’s all very eclectic, and episodic, which is the show’s weakness: it never really sufficiently mines each funny line for everything that it can give, and as a result there is barely a narrative. The highlight of the show was his easy rapport with the audience whom he invites to banter with him, which they do, but perhaps a bit too much.
The show culminates with one audience member ‘performing’ a mini sketch on stage for which Robles has written the script. The text almost hearkens back to previous gags in the show, but doesn’t quite get there. This could have been a golden opportunity to create a story line for the entire show, and at the one was left wondering about what might have been.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 to 19 Mar
Where: Legends Bar
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. The Studio at The Bakehouse Theatre. 14 Mar 2022
Brothers is exceptionally fine theatre: an engaging well-written script about characters we care about deeply; skilled acting; sharp direction; and sympathetic production elements.
The action focusses on two brothers – Matt and Jay – who became estranged ten years ago as a consequence of tragic events playing out in their dysfunctional family. Matt, played by Daniel O’Kane, is battling cancer, and his prognosis appears grim. Jay, played by Liam O’Kane – and yes, he is Daniel’s real-life brother! – is a recovering drug addict who returns from living overseas to visit Matt, and to re-establish their fractured relationship. Initially, there seems to be little chance of reconciliation.
The narrative quickly and convincingly covers a lot of territory in just sixty minutes. It achieves this by dividing the text up into brief scenes and then playing them out of sequence to create flashbacks and rationales without having to burden the action with excessive detail. The cast move seamlessly from one scene to the other and the audience is never in any doubt about what is happening in the timeline. Director Peter Newling skilfully moves the cast around the limited space of the Studio’s stage and creates the illusion of it being much bigger than it is.
Daniel and Liam O’Kane stylishly traverse a wide range of emotions as they expose the fears and regrets of Matt and Jay. There is seething hatred, and then very quickly as they move back in time to happier days, there is genuine brotherly love, knock-about affection, and everything in between. Nothing is forced in their stagecraft – it is satisfyingly natural.
In true Fringe style, the setting is simple, but it is much more than ‘make do’. The few furniture items are well chosen, complete with a medical intravenous infusion pump, and there is a fetching painted backdrop in the form of a graffiti wall that includes key phrases from the play. The backdrop serves as a prompt to the audience to recall where we have just come from, and perhaps where we are heading, but it never gives anything away. The costuming is sensitive to the nature and situations of the two brothers and the lighting adds hints of detail without becoming trite or an unnecessary distraction.
This is a classy show.
Kym Clayton
When: 14 to 19 Mar
Where: The Studio at The Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au