★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Regal Theatre. 22 Feb 2020
Sometimes one is born into a squad; sometimes one becomes a made-man through the influence of a squadfather. Such was the case for Ben Roberts and the goodfellas he hangs with. In this production, the Ukelele Death Squad pay homage to their musical muse (if I can mangle the metaphors) Bruce Riley. Not that Bruce was a maestro of the instrument, but without him turning up to Ben’s guitar lessons and asking to learn ukelele, Ben may never have picked one up himself. And thus, serendipity reared its lovely head, and the amazing musical experience that is the Death Squad was formed.
Beginning the show with a filmed tribute to the late Riley, the band doesn’t take long to kick into gear. And there is no tip-toeing through the tulips going on here. It’s loud, it’s raucous and it’s really bloody good. Jackets come off, ties are loosened and the ubiquitous beards get, well, sweaty.
Vocalist Mathew Turner (who is allowed to play the throat but hasn’t yet been trusted with his own weapon) fronts some great songs: the Squad play quite a bit of original material from their debut recording but mix it up with some well-known tunes (Misirlou, Streets of Philadelphia). There’s a mix of musical styles as befits the glorious instrument, and each is played with the gusto, or sensitivity it deserves. A particular highlight: the original Home, a beautiful original song that brought a tear to the eye.
A mark of performance skill is in the way artists react to the audience; in this instance a melodic heckle about “lobster days and lobster nights” started up a call and refrain (with slight return) throughout the performance, with crustaceans being referenced with gay abandon.
A great acapella performance of Black Velvet Band gave us the singalong of the evening, and a raucous, dance-along medley of pop songs rounded out the night, complete with dancing in the aisles.
Ah, squaddies, we are not worthy. Unmissable.
Arna Eyers-White
DISCLAIMER: This reviewer is a ukulele player and may have a slightly biased view of the production. But she doesn’t think so.
When: 14 Mar
Where: Regal Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Gilded Balloon and Red Book Theatre in association with Holden Street Theatres. The Arch, Holden Street Theatres. 21 Feb 2020
This is the theatre of goosebumps. Henry Naylor returns to the Fringe with a fourth searingly poignant political play in his Arabian-Nights series, this one referencing ISIS and its cruelty to Syria. The play springboards from the English media rebound to the story of Shamima Begum, a teenage girl who wanted to come home after disappearing to Syria as a jihadi bride. Hence, narrator of this play is a tabloid journalist who is under editorial pressure to deliver a hostile keep-her-out story. The journalist, however, thrilled to escape from yet more beat-ups about Meghan Markle’s father, has other sensationalist ideas as she hunts down an embittered and traumatised returned soldier in his militaria shop. Naylor elevates the media currency of the play by having the journalist describing the writing process and the exchanges with her tawdry editor as her relationship with the former Army officer evolves. The result is an eruption of brutal truths. It is intensely harrowing, or would be were it not sheathed in the remarkable beauty of Henry Naylor’s prose and delivered by a splendour of fine performances.
Nicholas Boulton, a handsome Englishman of superb stage voice and Aoife Lennon, an elegant Irish actress, command the stage under Louise Skaaning’s perceptive direction. It is a potent experience, a chilling and heartbreaking meditation on man’s inhumanity to man, underscored by a wildly symbolic torrent of arachnophobia.
Samela Harris
When: 21 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Arch, Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★
The Ultimate Australian Playlist. Gospo Collective. Cornucopia, Gluttony. 20 Feb 2020
When an Australian hits show opens with John Farnham’s You’re the Voice, you have to figure they’re very confident they can keep the hits up. Under the guidance of choral director Charmaine Jones, the Gospo Collective backed by the fifty-odd strong choir delivers songs from the past six decades without letting up.
The Seekers Georgy Girl nodded early to the sixties and the hits didn’t stop. Some cleverly arranged mashups (“oh, was that a line from Powderfinger dropped in there?”) set the level early, and a full house, primarily a family audience, showed loud appreciation for each reveal.
Each of the vocalists had their moment to shine, and shine they did, even showing a fair hand at The Hilltop Hoods The Nosebleed Section. Cold Chisel, INXS, Kylie Minogue and the BeeGees all got a guernsey, mashed up and tossed out with perfect timing. It should probably be noted however that Crowded House is not an Australian band, much as we might like to claim them!
The show’s pace barely falters; there’s a small vignette where they gather round the piano without the backing choir and the (often too loud) band, but for the most part it’s loud, fast and relentless. Even Wendy Matthews’ The Day You Went Away gets the full treatment, rather losing the effect that such a poignant song usually has on the listener.
The less said about the costumes the better; suffice to say, Olivia Newton-John’s seventies’ hit Xanadu suited the image perfectly.
An entertaining – if exhausting – night of song.
Arna Eyers-White
When: 21 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: Cornucopia, Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Variegated Productions and Holden Street Theatres. Holden Street Theatres. 20 Feb 2020
OMG! I didn’t expect this at Holden Street Theatres. You know you are in for something different when the ushers are handing out ear plugs.
Ragnarøkkr is Old Norse for their myth of the ultimate destruction of the gods in a cataclysmic battle with evil, out of which a new order will arise. Götterdämmurung is Robert Wagner’s opera within the Ring Cycle on the same topic, also present in Revelations as Armageddon.
St John Cowcher and his co-writers and musicians Gracie Smith and Joe Paradise Lui manifest a cast of hundreds with unrelentingly loud and superbly performed heavy metal drums and guitar that back Cowcher’s impressive stage presence and vocals. And out of the orchestrated chaos a magnificent narrative emerges.
The energy never lets up from go to whoa. Cowcher wows wearing an anthropomorphic animal design that makes him larger than life. In contrast, looking more like a check-out chick than a metal head, Gracie Smith compels you into the gothic Norse underworld with her authority over the drums. Paradise Lui electrifies the air with skillful fretwork and faultless fingering. Yet Cowcher’s vocals clearly cut through the aural pandemonium under Chris Donnelly’s dark lighting.
A rock opera loudly and evocatively rendered in burnished metal. If it’s not your cup of Bundy, maybe Fringe is a good time to broaden your horizons.
David Grybowski
When: 21 Feb to 1 Mar
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Matt Byrne Media. Don Pyatt Hall, Norwood Town Hall. 20 Feb 2020
Matt Byrne is a major force in Adelaide’s community theatre scene and if you are an avid theatregoer, it’s unlikely you haven’t clapped and laughed at one of his Fringe productions sometime in the last 23 years. In addition to producing, writing, directing, and starring in his annual Fringe offering (this year it’s Matt Byrne’s Vegans – a comedy to diet for), Byrne also has been producing a play, a musical, and an ANZAC Day show annually for many years now. Where does all this creativity come from?
Matt Byrne’s The True Story of Dad will fill you in. Kevin Byrne passed away at the age of 98 (now there’s a clue for how long Matt might continue making theatre) during last year’s Fringe. Seconds after this show began, it seemed like a eulogy, and Matt soon confirms that the show originated as his eulogy at Kevin’s service. So that explains that. The stage is decorated with old family photos and, of course, Port Magpies and Port Power scarves. Early in the proceedings, Matt asked audience members for the names of their deceased Dads. The audience was old enough that everybody had a deceased Dad, and responding with the name Charles further hooked me into a show that I was already well hooked into. Turns out Kevin was an ordinary bloke who did an extraordinary thing with his wife – raise five children who made their way in the world. An important achievement for a bloke who, at age 7, lost his own Dad to typhoid.
With humour and whimsy, Matt’s true story of Dad is delivered with familiar nostalgia. Matt sings the songs of the day when Kevin had an ear to the radio while building sheds in the back garden, or driving a truck for E&WS, and quotes jokes that his father never failed to tell more than once. Eg: What do you call a dog that does tricks? A labracadabrador. Kevin was on the road five days a week for a considerable part of his working life. My Dad did the same thing – he was a travelling salesman, would repeat riddles and jokes, and he was proud and pleased with his family - when you consider that Matt’s and my parallel upbringings occurred on opposite sides of the globe, this is the kind of stuff that brings people together in this shrinking planet of ours.
Why Matt thinks his jokes are any better than his Dad’s, God only knows. Matt’s vulnerability was poignant and endearing in this moving and thoughtful production. No doubt, your own Dad stories will empathetically arise, and if he’s still with us, you can tell him how you feel. Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 18 Feb to 13 Mar
Where: Don Pyatt Hall – Norwood Town Hall
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au