★★★★
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
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Factory at The Garden of Unearthly Delights. 20 Feb 2020
L.I.A.R. (Life Is A Rehearsal) is a standout! If you appreciate comedy, dance, gymnastics, music, special effects, drama, physical theatre, and sexy bodies all rolled into one, then this show is for you. It is a must see event at this year’s Adelaide Fringe!
L.I.A.R. is a story about a boy growing up. The central character is played by Berlin-based gymnast/actor/comedian/performer, Remi Martin (it’s difficult to categorise him!). And what does Martin want to be when he grows up? An astronaut of course! The performance begins with him being born (!) as he emerges from a large blood-red luminous sac dressed only in very revealing briefs and clutching onto a toy astronaut. Martin’s body is tight, toned and terrific – beautifully proportioned like a classic Greek sculpture – and through delightful use of his body and a range of gestures and props, we see him develop through boyhood to manhood. Witnessing him changing clothes from short to long pants without using his hands is oh-so-funny and mind bogglingly clever!
Martin is joined on stage by two co-stars who are initially ‘roadies’ but gradually take on more important roles as they become foils to Martin’s increasing maturity. Mandi Orozco is a trapeze artist and a contortionist. She too is trim and terrific, and superbly plays the hard-to-win-over love interest for the developing Martin. Acrobat Tom Ball provides a lot of comedic interest in the entire production: his gormless looks and deliciously slap-stick antics are reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy and have the audience in stitches of laughter.
The entire performance is underpinned by a superb soundscape created on-stage by musician Tarran the Tailor, who expertly controls a range of pre-recorded sounds, effects and music, as well as singing and performing live on banjo and accordion with accomplished panache and style.
As the show progresses, and Martin confronts more and more of the harsh realities of adulthood, the cast’s circus feats become even more spectacular and visually dazzling. There’s an office scene, which incidentally is played half way up a vertical pole (of course?!), that becomes the epicentre of a hurricane which then morphs into a fight for survival on a storm ripped ocean. The lighting effects are simple but incredibly effective, and the sound scape forces you to the edge of your seat. This is dramatic stuff. At one stage wannabe astronaut Martin becomes Major Tom and floats through empty space as the sounds of David Bowie’s Space Oddity earnestly fill the venue.
And there is so much more. Did I mention dancing on skateboards, an accident with a piano, and a boy’s fascination with his genitals (oh so funny!)? These are have-to-see antics!
L.I.A.R. starts relatively sedately and, even though it is frequently hilarious, it builds to a visual and aural splendour. Life is not a rehearsal. Martin and crew give it their all, and this show – this experience – is simply not to be missed.
Kym Clayton
When: 20 Feb to 1 Mar
Where: The Factory at The Garden of Unearthly Delights
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Cirque du Kagool. Studio 7, Garden of Unearthly Delights. 18 Feb 2020
It’s English for anorak or raincoat, innit?
The Kagools are two women from London, Claire and Nicola, who prefer to remain anonymous, dress in dark blue Kagools, and take the piss out of almost anything, really. Or anything that takes their fancy, that is.
And this, pretty much, is the basis for their run of shows, which seems to confound the critics at times, since it has been suggested The Kagools aren’t very talented at anything – magic tricks, acrobatics, staged fights… which rather seems to miss the point because they make people laugh and they seem rather good at it. Not to mention things could go badly wrong, what with video interaction, lots of water fights and the like, if it were not for some very good timing.
What remains is the certainty that the show is tightly scripted (they don’t utter a word) and pretty tightly choreographed, since it relies heavily upon musical cues and moves along rather smartly, with the help of a lot of audience participation. Heaven help them (the audience, I mean) if The Kagools ever strike a night of dullards or unhelpful types. I suspect their non-verbal mocking might cause lacerations.
And that’s it. A show about, errrm, things, which begins with intro music and audience members being handed plastic blow up instruments, some running and jumping around, followed by some water being splashed around, some audience participation, a mock love affair and pregnancy, the somewhat tasteless use of a hammer, and more water.
Easy, innit?
Just don’t be in the front three rows if you don’t want to be involved in a real live Fringe show.
Alex Wheaton
When: 18 Feb to 15 March
Where: Studio 7, Garden Of Unearthly Delights
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★★
Davine Productions. Star Theatres. 20 Feb 2020
Rave, rave, rave! Davine have done it again!
Methinks Producer / Director David Gauci is going to need a bigger awards shelf at the Davine production offices. Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is a theatrical triumph, and what’s more comprises an entirely local cast!
The jukebox musical, with book by Douglas McGrath, tells the story of Carole Joan Klein (stage name Carole King), from her discovery by Don Kirshner and employment at the Brill Building in 1958, through to her transition onto the stage as a performer in her own right in the late 1970s.
The story tracks the highs and lows of King’s career and marriage to Gerry Goffin, and cleverly intersperses many of her and Goffin’s greatest hits, still recognised today as standards of the genre.
Gauci and Davine Productions are no strangers to success, having produced multiple award-winning productions; this show undoubtedly will be added to that list.
Gauci has assembled a stellar cast (where does he find them?) of spectacular young triple threats who could have performed out of a cardboard box and still blown our socks off. Gauci's simple yet wonderfully techy set is brought vividly to life by Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti’s delicious choreography, Tim Bates' lighting, and Louise Watkins wonderful costumes. The theatre is filled to the rafters with the awesome sound and musical stylings of Peter Johns' band, all perfectly amplified by Allpro Audio. This production is second to none.
The ensemble cast completely own their time in the spotlight, and special mentions are warranted for Jordan Coulter, Carly Meakin, Louisa Vilinne, Alisa James, and Anthony Vawser, for their solo renditions of various numbers which were all vocally spectacular.
Choreographers love it when dancers are up for a challenge, and Wilkinson-Sarti must have relished working with such a talented group. The big dance numbers reveal a choreographer and her dancers in perfect synchronicity; the energy and flow is electric and the choreography almost cinematic in its application.
But in this cast full of leading men and ladies, it is the actual leads that completely steal the show. Kate Anolak delivers comedy gold as Carole’s mother, Genie Klein; Brendan Cooney is measured and mature, and provides perfect balance to the youthful enthusiasm of his musical prodigies; Joshua Kerr is all at once funny and sincere in his portrayal of Barry Mann, and as his lover and music writing partner Cynthia Weil, Maya Miller is all exuberance and class packaged with a pitch perfect singing voice and enviable stage presence.
Trevor Anderson lays it all on the line as manic Gerry Goffin in what surely must be one of his best performances to date; his characterisation delivers on the rollercoaster of emotions that provide the spring board for King’s emotional and musical inspiration. Anderson is absolutely engaging to watch, especially singing Up On The Roof and Pleasant Valley Sunday.
But it is Jemma McCulloch’s performance as Carole King that will have them talking for years to come. What McCulloch gives is more than just performance, it transcends the stage, she isn’t playing Carole King – she is Carole King. McCulloch’s smoky, sultry tones are all at once filled with desire, delight, sadness, and love. She has a tonality that draws you in and envelopes you, taking your breathe completely away. McCulloch could sing me the phone book and I'd listen for hours. Sign me up for the first copy of the cast album!
The entire season of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical sold out months prior to opening. So beg, borrow, or steal your way in, or prepare to live with the regret of missing one of 2020’s best local productions; a big, but easy call to make so early in the year!
Paul Rodda
When: 20 to 29 Feb
Where: Star Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au