Black is the New White

Sydney Theatre Company presented by State Theatre Company of South Austraia. Dunstan Playhouse. 14 Nov 2019

Yes, Black is the New White on the Australian stage and playwright Nakkiah Lui is the new creative superstar who has leapt upon the zeitgeist of Australia’s cultural melange, thrown its most serious and divisive issues and impasses skywards and brought them down in a gale of outrageous humour.

The name David Williamson whizzes through the mind alongside a sense of the exuberance of Bran Nue Dae and the poignant eloquence of Secret River and, oh, the blithe spirit of Top End Wedding and the best of smart satirical writing and the unresolved status of the first custodians of this land and, OMG, dare we be creased up in laughter at a barrage of racist jokes?

A healthy culture is one which can laugh at itself. Lui has mainlined Australia with an injection of “now” in a play which parodies the Aboriginal middle class, affluent career-driven celebrities, and their views on race and intermarriage.  Here, a successful Aboriginal solicitor brings her new boyfriend home for Christmas with her family. The family holiday house is a schmick, modern McMansion with a Lloyd Wright-esque feature window framing a handsome mountainside rock face. Her dad is a renowned Aboriginal politician and her successful fashion designer sister is married to an Aboriginal sporting hero. They are black, beautiful and preening with black pride. And, Look Who’s Coming to Dinner? The boyfriend is white. 

Cleverly, Lui lifts the action from conventional narrative to zany fun and folly by adding the outsider perspective of a Puck-like narrator in the pleasant form of Play School’s Luke Carroll. He not only offers occasional commentary but also leads the audience into raucous participation. 

In other words, this show has everything - and then some. It has curves and bends and seemingly endless surprises.

The unemployed musician boyfriend’s parents are clichés of the bourgeois Right bringing racist debate to new peaks of absurdity, adorned by bursts of wild and impeccably-timed physical comedy.

Running ever-present beneath all the fun and games is the core seriousness of the racial mores, politics, and human misunderstandings. There are two sides in this black and white comedy.

And it is not all black and white. There’s gender diversity, feminism, patriarchy, manners, family power games and, oh, yes, love. Lots of love.

All of this overload of topicality, even with its “OK Boomer” snipe, is borne on the skills of a magnificent, versatile, exquisitely-cast troupe of actors, many originating from WA. One falls in love with all of them. Not for nothing is Miranda Tapsell the new darling of Australian stage and screen. She’s a captivating gem of comedic talent. But while Tapsell’s young lawyer character is catalyst to the tale, it is Melodie Reynolds-Diarra as her mother who delivers the powerful feminine heart of the play. It’s a mighty, moving performance. Tony Briggs oozes star quality as the Aboriginal politician dad while Geoff Morrell seems to revel in taking the mickey out of the ugly Australian. It’s an over-the-top and, in the end, endearing characterisation. Tuuli Narkle is the essence of facile glamour as the fashionista sister and Anthony Taufa deliriously funny as the sports star who has found Jesus. Yes, it’s all in there, including the hapless romantic hero, played like a symphony of gawky long legged clowning by Tom Stokes contrasting with Vanessa Dowling as his mum, consummate in her clever underplay to deliver the downtrodden wife of the blustering polly. But is this the full nature of the characters as herein described? No. And you don’t see it coming. They all have other sides and each one gets a big moment in the sun delivering issues of the day in this exhaustingly busy play.

The Renee Mulder set is superb. The Ben Hughes lighting is right on the mark. The Steve Toulmin sound adds a feel-good commentary of its own. And Paige Rattray’s direction makes it fast, bright, and madcap with an edge of physical danger. The spirit of the production is infectious. The cast is having fun with the work. It is a seriously silly romp. 

And the first night audience did not stand to ovation. It leapt as one!  It knew a hit when it saw one.

Samela Harris

When: 13 Nov to 1 Dec

Where: Dunstan Playhouse

Bookings: bass.net.au

The Mikado

State Opera Of South Australia. Festival Theatre. 13 Nov 2019

At their very essence, the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan were about mercilessly parodying the society for which they were written, and their ongoing success very much depends on the libretto being updated so that a contemporary audience can relate to it.  The text of the current production of The Mikado by the State Opera of South Australia, which had its first outing in 2011 in Queensland, does just that, and the diverse audience that included nine year olds to nonagenarians, was in stitches of laughter throughout.

But the humour didn’t just lie in the updated and oh-so-witty text that was riddled with cutting references to the foibles of modern society, it was also due to the costuming, the stagecraft of many of the cast, the clever setting, and the razor sharp diction of the singers that expertly navigated the unforgiving technical hurdles of a score that’s riddled with tricky rhythms and tempos.

Under the tight direction of conductor Simon Kenway, a pared down Adelaide Symphony Orchestra - comprising less than twenty musicians - provided a perfect toe-tapping accompaniment.  Kenway generally took a moderate pace, which the soloists found comfortable, but occasionally eased the reins such as in the ever popular Three Little Maids From School Are We.  Artistic Director Stuart Maunder might have occasionally insisted on a brighter pace, complemented by more animated choreography from Siohbhan Ginty, because the production lagged a little at times, as if it were trying to become grand opera - in which it is mostly about the quality of the singing - when it is not.

Such reservations are minor when one considers the quality of the principals and the chorus.  The singing was of a very high quality, with standouts across the board.  Pelham Andrews was excellent as the Mikado and his brief forays into ‘high camp’ were greeted with delight from the audience.   His booming but warm baritone voice suited the role, and his costuming added to his imperious stature.  More exaggeration in other characters would have been welcome.   Elizabeth Campbell played Katisha with controlled absurdity and used her Dame Edna-esque spectacles to great effect.  Amelia Berry was the perfect Yum-Yum.  Her gorgeous soprano voice cut sweetly through the syrupy text and her coquettishness had the heart of every young man in the audience ‘all a flutter’.  Dominic Walsh sang and acted a perfect Nanki Poo.

The crowning glory of the cast was Byron Coll in the pivotal role of Ko-Ko.  Above everything else he is a consummate actor with honed comic timing, expressive gesture, and the ability to switch on athletic and sometimes improvised physical humour at will.  He also sings very well.

The production is very well designed by Simone Roamaniuk, with an inventive and flexible set expertly moved around the stage by the cast to create different acting spaces.  Dramatic and colourful fly-ins add to the spectacle.  Donn Byrnes’ lighting design is inspired, and uses a rich palette of colours that invokes cherry blossom and the sometimes garish spectacle of contemporary pop culture of Japan.  (Think ‘Hello Kitty’.)

The State Opera have a rollicking success on their hands in The Mikado.  It plays at the Festival Theatre until Saturday 23 November.

Kym Clayton

When: 13 to 23 Nov

Where: Festival Theatre

Bookings: bass.net.au

Nunsense A-Men!

Matt Byrne Media. Holden Street Theatres. 9 Nov 2019

Writer Dan Goggin sounds like a fun guy but he has only one thing on his mind – nuns! What started out as his greeting card quips by cartoon nuns has turned into a nunsense factory initiated by his first off-Broadway musical in 1985 which had nearly 3700 productions and was translated into 21 languages. He milked the concept with sequels themed on country & western nuns, Yiddish nuns, Christmas nuns, etc. - six new musicals! – and then in 1998 this lucky seventh - Nunsense A-men! - a transvestite version that is so effectively ridiculous, it’s hard to imagine how its antecedents with female cast could possibly be as funny. Writing about nuns must be habit-forming.

The convent-cloistered nuns are putting on a fund-raising show – reasons revealed by a charming prologue video skit of a poisonous lunch – and no form of entertainment is safe from these batty sisters as they hoof, joke, jostle, and reveal their vulnerabilities.

The male cast sometimes play men dressed like nuns, sometimes nuns, sometimes men playing women, sometimes women – did I miss anything? David Gauci is a formidable addition to any sisterhood and director Matthew Byrne gave him the pivotal role of the Mother Superior. Gauci has an awarded career in professional cabaret, and in producing hits with his theatre company Davine Productions. Gauci’s penetrating deep voice is always a pleasure, even when spouting nunsense. A special bonus was his physical comedy in a sketch where Mother Superior accidentally sniffs up some amyl nitrate – his hyenic laughter was literally infectious amongst the audience. Jayke Melling played a novice nun with a fetching naivety and an insouciant smile that, well, made you smile. His ballet was a surprise but wouldn’t get him into the Bolshoi. Ron Abelita’s nun was slightly crazy and a real treat. His Sister Mary Amnesia’s ventriloquist act was also unexpected – a much forgotten art. Chris Stansfield’s Brooklyn accent and undisguised masculinity gave me the impression he escaped from South Pacific to don the habit. A warm performance and another powerful voice. Producer and director Matthew Byrne also plays convent nun second-in-command. He generously mostly inhabits an elderly nun dealing with the others’s tomfoolery. Byrne commanded the closing number and is the true mother hen as character, and likely also as director and producer. Knowing Byrne, he probably inserted a few “enhancements” to Goggin’s book.

Loose chorus work must have had choreographer Rose Vallen wonder why her simple steps were only regarded as mere suggestions by the irreverent and independent cast members.

Musical director Ben Saunders had his hands firmly on his organ and kept the others musically timed.

Nunsense A-men! is a vacuous night out of frivolity and vaudeville and not to be taken at all seriously – a perfect evening cap to a long hard day.

David Grybowski

When: 7 to 30 Nov

Where: Holden Street Theatres

Bookings: holdenstreettheatres.com.au

Assassins A Musical

Hills Musical Company. Stirling Community Theatre. 8 Nov 2019

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd - Assassins (1990, much later than any on the list) isn’t in the same league. It’s based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. and that’s an interesting story. Sondheim was a panelist at a script lab and liked Gilbert’s offering so much that he asked if he could borrow the idea. “Great,” said Gilbert, “I’d love to write the book.” “No,” said Sondheim, “I have somebody else in mind, so thanks. Leave it to the big boys,” or something like that.

The wings to the stage of the Stirling Community Theatre are wonderfully decorated with a newspaper collage of the bad news of the day – the assassination or assassination attempt of an American president. Large black and white portraits of the relevant presidents are quite nostalgic to see and are rendered over in a blood red spreading spot when their time comes in the narrative (Cameron Hapgood – set design and Matt Ralph – lighting design). There is a professionally fetching programme design as well.

The band, under conductor Andrew Groch, starts off a little shaky and promises a disappointing musical evening, but they improve. In the opening number, the assassins and failed assassins from Lincoln’s to Reagan’s, mill about aimlessly as if at a carnival. One by one they are invited by a carny - who appeals to their aimless nature - to buy a pistol in the motif of a duck-shooting game and make something of their lives. Megan Donald as the game handler murders her uncredited choreography, probably the directors’, Monique Hapgood and Macintyre Howie Reeves.

The granddaddy of American assassinations is Lincoln’s, so worthwhile time is spent on it, and indeed, it’s a highlight of the production. David MacGillivray delivers a fully developed characterisation of John Wilkes Booth and his obsession with his place in history as someone setting a great wrong right is beautifully dramatised in the moments before his capture. Casmira Hambledon and Bronwen James are charismatic and all too plausible as the failed assassins of President Gerald Ford, who, quite independently made their shooting attempts only seventeen days apart. That would keep the Secret Service busy. Their fictitious scenes together as common spirits needs a bit of subtlety but did provide provocations of humour. The other assassins, and wanna-bes, are more inscrutable, simply because they fit the bill of the loner sociopath and they are harder to come to grips with. Robin Schmelzkopf’s Charles Guiteau - the assassin of President Garfield – is avuncular but unfathomable and the other performers also haven’t much to work with. Yet weighing in at two hours and fifteen minutes without interval, it is enough. James Nicholson’s costumes were extremely good in defining the styles of the days of the deeds.

John Weidman’s book has the assassins and failed assassins mingle and merge as phantoms. Some dialogues between them, and monologues, is too long and tedious. The last assassination that stopped the nation was Kennedy’s and here Weidman goes off into la-la land with a scene on the sixth floor of the book depository building with the diachronous group encouraging a reluctant Lee Harvey Oswald to get on with it and join their infamy, as if his dilemma was whether to shoot himself or at Kennedy. This is very fanciful as the evidence shows that Oswald was a committed activist and highly motivated. And anyways, Oswald did not fire the killing shot. Victoria’s ex-detective Colin McLaren - in his 2013 book, The Smoking Gun – re-demonstrated Howard Donahue’s theory of decades ago that a Secret Service agent in the follow-car accidently killed Kennedy, creating that horrific head-exploding wound with the Service’s AR-15. The cynicism and black humour dominating Assassins melts away with some sombre reflections on the tragedy of Kennedy’s violent passing.

Assassinsis a strange brew of verbiage and vaudeville, and only once finds real passion in John Wilkes Booth’s final moments. While Weidman’s book is a difficult target, this production has trouble finding it.

David Grybowski

When: 8 to 23 Nov

Where: Stirling Community Theatre

Bookings: hillsmusical.org.au

Photo Credit: Mark Anolak