Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman

Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman

Queensland Theatre Company & QPAC

Brisbane Powerhouse

26^th May – 24^th June 2012

How strange, to pit the fragility and reality of a fascinating woman against a comedic mashup that distracts and detracts from the fragility and reality of the woman!

Nobel Prize winning playwright, Dario Fo, has done just that with Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman and Director, Wesley Enoch, has had a field day with it. Freely adapted and translated by Luke Deverish and Louise Fox (who were commissioned by Malthouse Theatre for their production at the Merlyn in 2010), this version is updated and localised to an even greater degree by the most vocal and forward thinking Artistic Director our state theatre company has seen. A champion for local audiences as much as for local artists, Enoch has glued together so many different elements in staging this outrageous production that there is surely something for everyone.

Bawdy comedy and ludicrous antics fill the guts of what would otherwise be a pale, skinny corpse of a drama. I’m not a Fo fan, however, I marvel at the cunning way so many political entrails are unmercifully tossed at us throughout his plays.  (And I do love a bit of commedia dell’arte, some good old slapstick and bold, brash, silly comedy from time to time!).

Despite comedic influences ranging from farce to pantomime to commedia to slapstick (Scott Witt, as Clowning/Slapstick Consultant, has a hand in this and Enoch’s Bonzani troupe experience is obvious), the work avoids getting stuck in any one form for long. It remains unboxed, resisting packaging or prettying up. (It IS pretty, though, thanks to Simone Romaniuk’s sumptuous design; the lavish costumes and simple set are magnificent). It is what it is and we either love it or hate it. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. My first thought was that the show begs a stricter hand…one to pull it back a little. A fabulous and fun rehearsal strategy, we often let the actors take things as far as they are willing to go. It’s sometimes a challenge to put a stop to it and ask that they back off a little. Indeed, you may well ask, “WHY?” when what is happening on stage is clearly working for the vast majority of the audience. I suspect that the question more often asked in the rehearsal studio was, “WHY NOT?” When you see this show you might be convinced that the lewdness and bawdy humour is at precisely the right level, if not slightly underdone! For me, it is too many things at once and often just too, too, too OTT. But look, it’s mostly hilarious and I laughed a LOT.

The updated political gags are quick, witty and localised, thanks to the free reign given any company with the rights for this show; Fo wouldn’t have it any other way. His political theatre is continuously evolving, challenging and inspiring public thought and action. These local references will have you chortling (or wondering what everybody else finds so amusing, depending on your knowledge and understanding of current affairs of state). Well, we do love a “CAN DO” moment at the moment, don’t we?!

Updating a theatrical work is a bit like creating your own promotional images, inspired by the originals, in order to publicise your show, or the liberty taken by anybody ever, when re-writing I’ve Got a Little List for The Mikado. It’s absolutely intended and indeed, it’s necessary, to keep the content fresh, accurate and relevant. In his Director’s Note, Enoch explains, “Dario Fo believes in engaging in the world and allows the artists involved to improvise and modify the scripts to reflect their socio-political environments.”

Enoch has assembled intelligent actors who love to play. There is a real sense of it and along with the obvious camaraderie; this sense of play will keep the show fresh as a daisy up to and including closing night. I often wonder what a show will be like by the end of its run and if I had the time, this is certainly a show I’d like to see again. It feels like it’s ever changing and almost as if it’s not quite ready for us but, hell, we’ll let you see it anyway. And that’s okay. That’s part of the fun, as if we’d been let into the rehearsal space for a glimpse of how a great story gets put together.

Eugene Gilfedder plays William Shakespeare, who is plotting to kill the queen (and stealing episodes from her life for use in his own plays) and also the fantastic character of Grosslady, which he pwns. PWNS. He is absolutely hysterical in his women’s garb, with his high-heeled gait and that’s before he even utters a word of witty Tranny Speak/Drag Slang, which will have you either in tears of laughter or wide-eyed and quietly, concernedly murmuring to the person next to you, “Whaaaaat the…? What did he say?”

Jason Klarwein plays Elizabeth’s Chief of Police, Egerton, who really does plot to kill Elizabeth, as she desperately, obsessively waits for her lover, the Earl of Essex to arrive. The Virgin Queen? We don’t think so (Dash Kruck’s bare bum soon puts that theory to rest!). Egerton’s news bulletins especially, are brilliant. So slickly delivered on opening night were they that each time Klarwein asked the company whether or not they wanted to hear the report all over again, I wanted to shout in opposition to them, “YES!” His multiple costume changes are baffling though and you just might get a joke that I missed.

The production benefits enormously, as productions do in this town, by having Musical Director, John Rodgers involved. His animated accompaniment is as if we’re sitting in a silent movie theatre, with the movie brought to life before us. Dash Kruck (Thomas, the often ignored and abused Fool) can sing so he does. Although it makes little sense to me to have the songs in the show at all (in the original Malthouse Theatre production they were perhaps better contextualised, rewritten as Elizabethan madrigals), Kruck delivers them well – a little too well for the character – and gives us a reminder of what to expect next from him (no, not necessarily more nudity), as he heads to Sydney soon for a highly anticipated production of the hit Broadway musical, Next to Normal, at the Capital Theatre. I would also like to have heard Kruck’s rendition, from beyond the grave, of The Neverending Story theme song.

But that’s just me.

After only six days of rehearsing with the company in the role of Martha, Sarah Kennedy does her best and it is just enough. She can’t possibly compete with Klarwein and Gilfedder, who have clearly been given a license to party like it’s 1999. At times their relentless antics, like a Battle Round on The Voice, draw attention away from the fragility of the woman whose story it is. Martha brings the focus back to her poor, paranoid mistress each and every time with perfect grace and good humour.

Carol Burns is an absolute treasure and as the aging queen, suffering from paranoia and sleeplessness in the last days of her life, and with the boys club of Gilfedder, Klarwein and Kruck on stage, she holds her own, bounding around the room with her skirts held high and riding atop a giant wooden rocking horse, which Klarwein later sees from a slightly, err, lower perspective (it’s one of the funniest moments in the play). Hers is a highly physical role but Burns impresses most in her final moments, as the frail, brain-addled, heartbroken woman who was Queen. Romaniuk’s imposing quilted white walls and David Walters’ stark white lighting give us the sense that this is indeed – finally – the peaceful end to a mad life. With all the action having happened in Elizabeth’s head, we easily feel empathy for her; a woman who would really probably have preferred, more often than not, to be just a woman, without the royal obligations. This is the magic of Fo’s form, finally revealing once and for all, the humanity of his subject, regardless of class, creed or colour. I found Burns’ performance incredibly moving and I was disappointed that Fo felt the need to bring back his Will Shakespeare character, like Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream or the Prince in Romeo and Juliet, to close the show. Depicting an ailing, confused queen, her behaviour and emotions moving erratically between polar ends of the spectrum for the duration of the play, Burns delivers what might be the performance of her lifetime and I feel like she should have the final light.

Irrespective of its bad language (remember, this show came with a warning!), and its lewdness, this show is not so shocking or offensive that you can’t take your mum or your sister to see it. I took mine (my sister, that is; my mum is gallivanting around Europe). In fact, I think you could safely take your grandmother too!

Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman is zany, bawdy comedy at its most playful and you’ll either love it or hate it but you must see it to know which it is! Enjoy!

Tonight! Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman…

Opening officially tonight, for a four-week season at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Queensland Theatre Company presents a new translation from Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo, of the fabulous monstrosity which is Elizabeth, almost by chance a woman starring Carol Burns in the lead.

This is not the Elizabeth I as you think you know her – pure with virginity, loved by the people and mythic mother to the nation… instead you are invited, by Her Majesty’s appointment, to a right royal arse-kicking.

An ailing Elizabeth clings desperately to her throne and her sanity. She hasn’t slept for 11 days and to make matters worse, her love, The Earl of Sussex, is busy in an attempted coup d’état against her.  There are boob lifts and leech-o-suctions, ripping bodices, hearts held in treacherous hands, assassination attempts and constant conspiracies. Elizabeth suspects everyone is out to get her, even William Shakespeare, who in her mind, seems to be basing all of his plays on her life. And then there’s that ghost of her beheaded cousin Mary Stuart. It’s not easy being Queen.

Inspired by historical accounts, and drawing on all the energy and spirit of original commedia dell’arte, ‘historical factionalist’ and Master Italian playwright Dario Fo has created an Elizabeth of our nightmares – pompous, potty mouthed, paranoid and certainly no virgin!

Wesley Enoch, QTC Artistic Director, and Director of this comic gem, says Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo has drawn on the spirit and spontaneity of original 16^th century commedia dell’arte, to offer up a modern stage masterpiece. His works are often translated into other languages with a local twist, and such is the case in this new adaptation of Elizabeth: almost by chance a woman (1984), by Luke Devenish and Louise Fox for Queensland Theatre Company.“Although the obvious route to take would be to draw on Elizabeth’s ‘accidental’ throning, Dario instead draws on her womanhood as the quirk of fate,” he said. “He paints an all-too-human portrait of Elizabeth, as frightened, flawed, ferociously foul-mouthed, and quite unlike any other version seen of the Virgin Queen.”

Starring Logie award-winning Carol Burns as Elizabeth in her final hours of life, this farcical and yet strangely moving production is at once a gloriously wicked satire on the insanities of power, and a paean to human mortality. Its equal parts a bawdy burlesque, riotous nosethumbing of authority, and a surprisingly touching insight into the challenges of womanhood.

Warning: there is some incredibly naughty language in this production - 52 f***s and 4 c***s

Elizabeth – almost by chance a woman

by Dario Fo

26 May – 24 June

Brisbane Powerhouse

Directed by Wesley Enoch

Featuring Carol Burns, Eugene Gilfedder, Jason Klarwein, Dash Kruck, 

Sarah Kennedy, John Rodgers

Monarch. Maiden. Superfreak.

 BOOK ONLINE

For those who didn’t pay attention at school… 

Elizabeth 1 – her accession to the throne:

-       Elizabeth was born with an older sister, Mary, who was an illegitimate child due to Henry having annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

-       This means Elizabeth is the legitimate heir to the throne at this point…

-       However, when Elizabeth was two years old, Ann Boleyn, her mother, was beheaded, and therefore giving Elizabeth the status of an illegitimate child also.

-       A year later, Henry remarried and produced a male heir, Edward.

-       Edward became King at age nine, after Henry died.

-       Edward died at age 15 – leaving Elizabeth and Mary (his half sisters) out of his will – he excluded them from being able to succeed the crown.

-       He appointed someone else, who soon lost public support.

-       Mary then came along to succeed the crown, with Elizabeth at her side.

-       Mary jailed Elizabeth some time later, for suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

-       Mary later died and Elizabeth succeeded the crown.

-       All this before Elizabeth had turned 25, at which age she became Queen!

DARIO FO    

Writer, Actor, Director and living Master of World Theatre          

Dario Fo (1926 -) is a recognised master in world theatre, and is reputedly the most performed living playwright of the last 40 years. His works draw heavily from the Italian commedia dell’arte tradition – a vibrant, improvisational style of theatre popular in the Renaissance, where troupes of actors would travel the country providing free entertainment, relying largely on donations to survive. Their performances would combine instantly recognisable stock characters and familiar storylines with topical additions and local references to add some spice for audiences.

Inspired by the circus and carnivals, his theatre uses slapstick, puns, ridicule and parody to explore social and political issues and to criticize authority of all kinds. Fo’s politics lean decidedly to the left and his works are highly critical of those elements in society who abuse their power: politicians, royalty, the upper class, the church.  In 1997 he famously received the Nobel Prize for Literature for “emulating the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden.”

Outside of his home country of Italy, it is perhaps his 1970 work Accidental Death of an Anarchist which has brought him most recognition. But within Italy, he is best known for his legendary production of Mistero Buffo, in which he also performed, and which enjoyed an astonishing 5000 performances. The play, a satirical take on the medieval mystery plays, once aired on television and was labeled by the Vatican as “the most blasphemous show ever transmitted.”

In keeping with the commedia dell’arte tradition, and with Fo’s approval, his works are often translated into other languages with a modern local twist, and such is the case in this new adaptation of Elizabeth: almost by chance a woman (1984), by Luke Devenish and Louise Fox for Queensland Theatre Company.

backbone youth arts ensemble

Backbone Youth Arts have extended the closing date for applications for their annual performance Ensemble! The Ensemble is a great opportunity for any performing artists seeking to expand their ideas of performance and train with industry professionals. Last year’s Backbone Ensemble group performed their Ensemble show at the 2012 World Theatre Festival-Scratch Series at Brisbane Powerhouse! So the Ensemble can take you places…

The Backbone Ensemble is an audition entry initiative to provide training and performance opportunities to young performance makers who wish to create work at the cutting edge of contemporary performance.  The Ensemble is placed to explore these exciting new developments in performance:

• outside the silos of classical actor/director/writer paradigms
• by exploring and defining new performance spaces and audience engagement
• by interfacing with contemporary and emerging technological platforms
• by utilising hybrid art modalities and site specific work

Apply for this three-month training course led by contemporary performance director, Emma Che Martin, new media director, Daniel Flood and guest industry practitioners. You will work towards a devised performance, learn core producing skills to develop your career as a performance maker and meet like-minded artists.

 

The Ensemble 2012

 

WHEN: Mondays 9.30am – 4.30 pm and Thursdays 9.30am – 12.30pm, 13 April – 14 July 2012 (week intensive 16 – 20 April)

WHERE: The Edge, State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE: Friday 13th April 5.00pm.

INTERVIEWS: To be confirmed with successful applicants.

COST: $250.00 payable upfront or in five $50.00 installments.

CONTACT: Please email andrew@backbone.org.au or call 07 3210 2666

 

Backbone also have a new Performance Ensemble for people with disabilities. Working with Director and dramatherapist, Kimberley Twiner and arts worker, Anna Molnar, this group of 12 performers started training at The Edge, State Library Queensland at the end of Feburary. More news soon!

 

Sons of Sin by The Danger Ensemble. Photo by Eli Walton.

 

The Pact – World Theatre Festival from Backbone Youth Arts on Vimeo.

discover love

Discover Love

Belarus Free Theatre (BLR)

Powerhouse Visy Theatre

I adore the Visy theatre. It’s that “just right” Mama Bear sized space for very special stories. What a perfectly intimate space it is for Discover Love: a heart-wrenching, horrifying, bittersweet, beautiful story, based on actual events, from the world’s most political theatre company. If you wanted to see this show in Belarus, where it’s a crime to speak out against just about everything, you would have to know somebody who knew where it was being staged. Audiences are directed to secret performance spaces using SMS and word-of-mouth. Belarus theatre workers (and their audiences) have gone underground…it’s rave theatre and I’m grateful it’s a novelty in this country – “The Lucky Country” – and not a necessity.

The Lucky Country indeed. In cruel contrast, enforced disappearances, abductions, kidnappings and torture are rife in Belarus. In fact, politically motivated people have been disappearing, all over the world, since Nazi Germany’s Nacht und Nebel Decree of 1941. They speak out (or murmur something quietly at a party or at their workplace) and suddenly they simply disappear. Relatives of those who have disappeared have said that the pain of losing their loved one is the most acute a person can experience. There is no knowing whether or not the person is alive or dead. There is only the knowledge that they are being mistreated for their beliefs.

Directed by Mikalai Khalezin, Discover Love is the true story of Irina Krasovskaya and her husband, Anatoly, told from the point of view of Ira. She reveals how, in the midst of a near-perfect marriage and a beautiful life, Toly was abducted and murdered for his assistance to the democratic body of Belarus. It’s a love story turned political story turned human story. And it pangs, though not at first. At first, Ira shares tenderly and generously, the words bubbling over one another in her impatience to paint each picture, stories told by her grandmother and remembers, fondly, evenings spent around the radio, the spritely, contented Jewish neighbours who dance and cook and smile, and (not so fondly) her diffident father, who stomps into the tiny apartment in his heavy military boots and goes again, leaving a paper bag of candy – not the chocolates Ira preferred – on the kitchen table (“A father should know what his daughter likes!”).

Pavel Gorodnitski, who steps into a number of secondary roles, also has the heavy duty of playing a traditional clay pipe (like an ocarina), to open and close the show, establishing that, although based on real events, the story to which we are privy is a play; a piece of theatre.

The actors offer energetic, heart-filled performances, all joy and strength, demonstrating a deep connection to their story and to each other; we see it during a delightful tango, choreographed by Olga Skvortsova. We breathe in with Ira, the fantastic fragrance of fresh oranges (a rare treat in so many cold countries), spilling from their plywood box, setting up some wholly sensory theatre. I always hope to experience more of this (and we do, during Neil Armfield’s production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll). It’s whole theatre, like the notion of the whole child in education, catering for every sense, every aspect of the experience. This simple joy, however, is masterfully transformed into fear and horror, as the assassin crushes the oranges underfoot on the day of Toly’s abduction, turning a symbol of goodness and beauty into a senseless, merciless act.

The space starts out clean and simple, the changing of bed linen used to bookend each chapter of the story; like the fairy bell to turn the page in your favourite Disney book, pretty handmade quilts projected onto a screen, above which are surtitles. A note on surtitles/subtitles: It often feels like we’re missing something, flicking between words and actors; missing something of the actors when having to read the surtitles or missing the precise meaning of the words whilst watching the actors. Like sitting back in our seats and tuning into the language of Shakespeare, it’s possible to follow both. It takes practice, which indicates that we should all see more foreign theatre, films and Shakespeare. (There is no shortage of great Shakespeare in Brisbane this year)! I love language – I feel sure I spoke plenty of languages in a previous life – and it was wonderful to hear the lilt and sharp edges of the Russian along with some beautiful Belarusian.

Despite Ira’s laments, Discover Love is such a light, lovely story for so long. There’s a feminine quality to the telling of it, so much innocence and joy, which is not entirely lost but becomes, unsurprisingly, a great deal darker as political events impact more directly upon the family. Harsh, interrogative lighting replaces the softer, gentler glow of happier times.

The concluding prayer, accompanied by projected images of protestors holding photographs of those who had disappeared, got me. And it got the majority of the audience, visibly, audibly; we were moved beyond words – I literally could not speak to anybody after the show about what we’d just been through together  – and a sense of solidarity was established, in a moment of sympathy and compassion for these people, whose lives are unimaginable horror. Then the audience left the sacred space of the Visy and we made our way upstairs to the bar… and what did we do with those feelings when we left? What feeling remains, long after the show is over? What now?

This is life-affecting theatre. Whether or not it’s life changing is up to the individual.

human-rights-belarus.org

amnesty.org

icaed.org

zen zen zo actor training: the real week one. it begins.

Cathy Sheargold is vlogging about beginning Zen Zen Zo’s Actor Training. I know I said you would see her updates here on Tuesdays but this has been a crazy week for almost everybody I know. And now it’s Friday?! WTF? (Yes, that continues too, at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Get along and let us know what you see).

Technical probs have prevented me embedding Cathy’s latest vlog here but we’ll remedy that as soon as possible. Having had barely five hours sleep after seeing Summer of the Seventeenth Doll last night, I’m off to morning tea with the QTC peeps, then to the Matisse exhibition (artist’s date), then back to the coast to pick up Poppy from school and leave her with my sister-in-law (thanks, Kellie!), then to La Boite this evening for opening night of As You Like It and THEN to rehearsal in Noosa for Travelling North all weekend. So…yes, as soon as possible. In the meantime, log into your Facebook account and watch it here.

 

UPDATE -

 

 

 

Here’s Cathy’s Ouch That Really Hurts Bingo card. MYO and join the FUN!

 

Too Late! (Antigone) Contest #2

Too Late! (Antigone) Contest #2

Powerhouse Theatre

MOTUS (Italy)

 

 

Billed as an “intensely physical performance by one of Italy’s most adventurous companies famed for its take-no-prisoners theatrical style,” I couldn’t help but remember something that those who have travelled extensively usually mention upon their return.  “There’s good and bad and… interesting theatre everywhere,” they say. Let’s call Too Late (Antigone) Contest #2 interesting theatre. There is something sacred about sharing the space in which a work so intense and challenging happens and there is something slightly bemusing too. I may well be the only person in the entire western world who doesn’t love this particular piece of touring contemporary theatre.

 

Once we get past the title, which implies that one might like to have a certain level of understanding about the original ancient Greek story, which inspired Sophocles to write the play upon which Bertolt Brecht based his version in 1947, we enter a dark, open space within the Powerhouse theatre; a configuration I’ve not seen before. The audience is a typical festival crowd (yes, there’s such a thing) of newbies and hard-core theatre types, including performers from some of the other festival productions. A long, narrow strip of garish, greenish light delineates the performance space (the audience is seated on both sides of it) and two actors, one at either end, pace and sit and stand and stretch and prepare – for what seems like an eternity (Brecht’s 1977 version had the company of actors on stage throughout, in full view of the audience, forever fixing their make up and preparing for their scenes) – for a series of mini battles, which represent the recent political upheaval in Italy as much as they do the unsavoury events of the original tale. These battles intermixed with commentary from the actors as actors; make up the non-narrative structure of the show.

 

The original shocking story, briefly, for the uninitiated and for those who surfed rather than attend their Ancient History lectures (fair enough), goes like this: Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and his mother Jocasta (yes, you read that right), desires to bury properly, according to tradition, her brother, deemed traitorous by the king, Creon. Antigone elects to bury her brother’s body herself and she is captured and punished for breaking the law. In typical ancient history feminine I’m-as-empowered-as-a-prostitute-with-a-pimp response, she hangs herself. Haimon, the son of Creon who loves her, kills himself after finding her body.

 

 

At one point, one of the actors makes a reference in English, to the English surtitles; a wry dig at contemporary theatre that, unfortunately, didn’t go down so well with this particular audience, perhaps because there were those nodding their heads in agreement with the sentiment, “I hate contemporary theatre!”

 

The two actors, Silvia Calderoni and Vladimir Aleksic, play with power and status from the outset, becoming dogs, on all fours, barking and growling at each other before they become more obvious characters from ancient or current politics. They are highly physical, though not frighteningly physical; the Brechtian devices ensure that we remember they are actors in a play and, though relaxed, they are poised, ready for anything (and we’ve seen riskier moves in other productions). The androgynous-looking Calderoni (think Aaron Carter half dressed as Lisbeth Salander) literally throws herself into an early scene and onto Aleksic’s shoulders, beating him and kicking to bring down the low-set lighting rig above her. The most disturbing tactic, though used once too often, is a hug of the extreme (choking, suffocating) kind, which, when coupled with the amplified gurgled, strangulated sounds of the suddenly fragile Calderoni clasped beneath (for what seems a rather unreasonable length of time) the taller, broader figure of Aleksic, is quite chilling.

 

 

We know that a Brechtian piece particularly, and much of our contemporary theatre is designed to dissatisfy, prompting us to question the bigger issues in our dull little lives, to recognise the contradictions of living and to remember that even the good folk suffer. We see it and we know it to be true and yet it seems unfamiliar. It’s okay then, to leave the space feeling uncomfortable. That’s the idea.

 

Too Late! (Antigone) Contest #2 is not everyone’s cup of tea but if you see it’s coming to a theatre near you, I say, go. While it wasn’t my favourite thing on the menu, it was the Green Eggs and Ham show. And I know you think you don’t like green eggs and ham. But try it and you may, I say. (Who am I to tell you that the Brioche is better?) Be prepared to sit and concentrate for 55 minutes and observe from the outside in; this is an interesting show, guaranteed to get you thinking – and talking – long after you’ve left the venue.

 

Gillian Cosgriff: Waitressing and other Things I Do Well

Gillian Cosgriff: Waitressing and Other Things I Do Well

Brisbane Powerhouse 

08.02.12 – 12.02.12

I love this show. I saw it as part of a double bill during the cabaret festival at QPAC in 2011. It’s quirky, funny, delightful stuff for a different sort of cabaret crowd; one that has seen the likes of Gillian Cosgriff in the very best venues all over the world and won’t be surprised to see her in the future, play any one of them. That’s not to say that Cosgriff doesn’t appeal to a broader market but there’s something different happening here and she is, as I’ve said before, one to watch.

Ms Cosgriff is part of a new wave of cabaret artists in Australia. She is intelligent, comedic and sophisticated. Her talents are far-reaching and she remains unassuming. Not only is she a gifted composer, lyricist, pianist and vocalist but also, in addition to this pretty package, Cosgriff is a comedienne and a natural born entertainer. Cosgriff and her peers – Mrs Bang AKA Sheridan Harbridge for instance – have a quality that can’t be taught. It’s a sassy confidence, perfectly paired with a humble acceptance that, in this context at least, she is just doing her job. Well, one of them. If only she could be a full time artist!

Gorgeous to watch, Cosgriff sparkles with a cheeky, natural confidence on stage that belies her age. Her hilarious stories, told through witty songs and snappy patter, have in them something for everyone. We can all relate to ridiculous customers, the lack-of-intellect-and-unwillingness-to-commit-eventually-outweighs-the-physique ex-boyfriends, having to make small talk with boring strangers at great parties and having to study aero dynamical engineering (and perhaps the Kama Sutra) in order to put together a flat pack from IKEA. That’s right. You see if you ask Cosgriff (or her aunt), nothing could be sexier. The balance of the show is in the pathos and self-reflection. Cosgriff gives us not only a great deal to laugh about but also, a good deal to think about. I’ve noted before that the builder who represents an actor could be any one of us. His story kills me.

This is a fast-paced TV/Gamer generation’s approach to cabaret, with the jokes coming thick and fast and the audience’s short attention span well catered for. And as rapid-fire as the delivery is, nothing is lost. Cosgriff even explains a couple of clever quips, eliciting further giggles (and some snorts) from those who got the A Minor gag the first time, within the song.

Cosgriff’s cabaret is a sort of Sondheim-Streisand inspired mini Minchin act. It’s fun, it’s clever, and it’s surprisingly moving. Cosgriff seems just as likely to make your next half-strength soy latte as to grace glitzy rooms such as the Rrazz. The next time you see she’s headed your way, book those tickets. You don’t want to miss this cabaret babe.

Britney Spears: The Cabaret

Britney Spears: The Cabaret

Brisbane Powerhouse

08.02.12 – 12.02.12

Christie Whelan is a goddess. She’s the girl-next-door goddess and, as Britney Spears, she is everything we recognise in the pap’s (that’s paparazzi’s) portrayal of the poor girl who did it again…oops.

Britney’s journey has been a public one but in Dean Bryant’s brilliant comi-tragedy cabaret, with musical arrangements by Matthew Frank, Whelan lets us into the private world of the pop star. It’s imagined, though the anecdotes are mostly true versions of every situation we’ve ever seen plastered across the print media and shared across social media – and the truth hurts.

This is a role that fits Whelan as well as her tank bandage LBD (very Herve Leger). With spray-tanned legs up to HERE and her shiny silvery-pink nails and blonde, blow-dried hair, Whelan looks and sounds enough like Spears for us to suspend disbelief.

She isn’t trying to look just like Britney and she isn’t trying to sound just like Britney but, just as any A-class actress can do, she’s able to convince us that she IS, just for an hour, Britney Spears. The mannerisms are unstudied and real, the movement is the character’s show of bravado constantly foiled by faltering self-confidence. This Britney is more real than the real Britney. This is the Britney Spears who stumbles – even in the spotlight – and is okay to talk about it barefoot.

The creative team behind Britney Spears: The Cabaret could be onto something. There is a new genre here, not only a reinvention of cabaret during massive cabaret resurgence but also a fresh approach to telling the story – real or imagined – behind the star. Imagine Christina: The Cabaret, Robbie Williams: The Cabaret, Lady GaGa: The Cabaret. What about Whitney: The Cabaret? Too soon? The format is deftly crafted cabaret and it has a sizable audience.

The real tragedy of Britney’s story is that her original vulnerability, her genuine innocence, was so early questioned and wrapped clumsily in tabloid pages for sale to the masses. News today, trash tomorrow. We are drawn into Britney’s journey because we are so familiar with it; not through our own similar experiences (though I can’t speak for everyone) but through the unforgiving eyes of the media. We feel like we know her, we feel comfortable judging her and now we feel compelled to join her for what we know will be a tumultuous ride. We almost feel guilty that this total train wreck of a life is a source of amusement and entertainment. And yet we continue to read about it, talk about it, laugh about it, tweet about it. We feel some sort of despair, some strange pity, for a creature made entirely by the media. It’s not a circus in which Britney stars but a freak show.

The pain, the terror and later, the shame, is almost tangible; the audiences’ laughter reflecting our discomfort with the bizarre truth, rather than hilarity at the situation (you can’t laugh at that)! The tales are told and the songs are sung as if through the eyes of an older, wiser Britney to the eight, ten, sixteen, twenty year old girl. Dear Me. Dear Sixteen year old me…

Whelan has returned to this role after stepping off the STC stage as Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest. Before that, she was the roller-skating star of the short-lived Xanadu. She says that performing cabaret is a stepping-stone and she feels that vocally, this is her most comfortable gig to date. Little wonder, with arrangements written for her, by talented composer and accompanist, Matthew Frank. Whelan’s talent is such that she sings Britney’s hits better than Britney does. Even Britney’s worst efforts, live and sweaty, sans auto-tune, are made bearable – and absolutely hysterical – in Whelan’s hands.

Whelan scintillates, Michelle Pfeiffer Fabulous Baker Boys style, singing Toxic on the piano top. Slave to You becomes a disturbing pageant number, complete with baton twirling, tapping and the biggest little Miss America smile we’ve seen since JonBenet Ramsey’s and it changes the entire tone of the show, setting a much darker course. We’ve had dark moments before this point but all of a sudden, Bryant’s story takes us down into the grim, dark depths of Hollywood childhood. We’re in subterranean levels now and the edges are sharper. It’s Whelan’s razor-sharp rendition of Womaniser that is testament to her empathy and skill as a performer. Between Brisbane and Sydney appearances, Whelan won over a whole new audience, gifting viewers of Channel Ten’s The Circle with the final number of the show, Baby One More Time.

Britney Spears: The Cabaret, much like the real story, doesn’t have a happy ending, it just has an ending for now.

And since this act has left town, I can only advise that, in future, you see anything that any of these artists have touched! It’s guaranteed quality.

storm the stage 2011

Storm the Stage 2011 – National Grand Final Eighteen talented young Australian performers and two guest New Zealand performers to Storm the Powerhouse.

Eighteen young performers from around Australia aged between 16 and 19 have successfully achieved selection for the eighth annual Storm the Stage National Grand Final, where they will perform exceptional solo pieces in their chosen category of drama or musical theatre at the Brisbane Powerhouse Theatre on Sunday November 27. A total of $11,000 will be awarded to the best performances as judged by some of Australia’s leading performing arts professionals.

Storm the Stage is a non‐profit nationwide opportunity for Australia’s most talented up and coming performing artists. After auditions and regional finals held around Australia by Rotary and volunteer industry professionals, this year’s National Grand Final is being held for the first time in Brisbane with the theme ‘For Youth, By Youth’.

While Storm the Stage is a national Rotary project, since its inception the National Grand Final has always proudly been held in Western Australia. Due to the tragic circumstances in Japan earlier this year, Storm’s major sponsor since 2004 IFAC (International Foundation for Arts and Culture) and Dr Handa could not support the national competition this year.

Chairperson, Carolyn Fennelle said “It is important Rotary came together to maintain IFAC’s support for Australian youth in the performing arts”.

This year Storm the Stage welcomes two young guest performers from New Zealand’s NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art) who will shine on ‘Storms’ stage thanks to an anonymous benefactor.

Fennelle said “It is an honour to welcome Ashleigh Stove and Layna Hunt as our International guests from across the Tasman to perform by invitation solo acts in drama and musical theatre. In light of the devastating earthquakes in Christchurch and floods in South‐East Queensland and Victoria, youth in the arts can make a valuable contribution towards rebuilding the spirit for recovery. We value this opportunity and to bring youth together in this way to build fellowship and good will.”

Past ‘Stormer’ and this year’s National Producer, James Gauci is excited by the event and the camaraderie it will build between these effected regions.

“Theatre provides us with unlimited possibilities to express perspectives on the human experience. Storm gives young people the valuable opportunity to explore and portray these experiences in a supportive, educational, and above all engaging environment”, he said.

Prepare yourself for a kaleidoscope of solo performances as they portray characters that will take your emotions on a journey of joy, sadness, anger, despair, laughter, courage, bewilderment, inspiration, confrontation and much more. It is what makes Storm the Stage a special event.

Storm the Stage is a national Rotary project, supported by IGA Brisbane and an opportunity for young people to gain valuable experience through monologue and musical performances, as well as connect and network with peers. Storm the Stage supporter is Hugh Jackman and patron Jill Perryman, both Western Australian internationally‐acclaimed performing artists.

The eighteen 2011 finalists are:

Musical Theatre: Bonnie Page, Matty Johnston, Romy Vuksan, Natasha Walker – QLD; Lachlan Graham – VIC; Tayla Jarrett – NSW; Rebecca Riley – TAS; Adam Lebransky, Madeline Crofts – WA. Dram: Hayden Maher, May Grehan, Xanthe Eppelstun, Mitchell Page – QLD; Jasmine Jehn – VIC; Camilla Best, Terri Ryan – TAS; Jacob Dibb, Simon Thuijs ‐ WA

Scott Alan: He Came, He Saw, He Sang a Bit…in Brisbane

Irreverent American humour? Isn’t that an oxymoron? It’s certainly a term I have only used previously to describe our own sense of self-deprecating Aussie humour. Or humor. Whatever.

Whatever, it was what left a lasting impression on me after Scott Alan’s Brisbane Powerhouse appearance on Friday night.

Scott Alan, delivered unto us by Harvest Rain Theatre Company, as the second instalment in their promising Broadway to Brisvegas series, himself delivered, during his debut Australian appearance, something entirely unexpected…he was nervous, raw, honest and absolutely fucking hilarious. The man is a comic genius, of the most irreverent kind!

I’m not sure he had set out to be but at his most self-deprecating, he managed to separate the near-capacity crowd (how many of those were comps, I wonder) quite neatly – we could almost hear it – this rip at the seams, straight down the middle, splitting the new fans and friends from the old. And then another divide: the new who would stay and buy CDs forever and the new who whispered loudly to their partner, “Well, I never! Harvest Rain will be receiving my strongly worded letter!” The audible collective intakes of breath were from audience members Of A Certain Age, who clearly enjoyed the music (no doubt about that), however, they obviously didn’t appreciate the comments that came thick and fast as part of what Sam and I thought was a pretty witty repartee! How torn they must have felt! “How talented!” “How inappropriate!” “How talented!” “How inappropriate!”

…as I have said, I thought it was all tres amusement and I love the man’s work, so the manner in which he chose to deliver it for barely an hour in Brisbane one random night in the middle of his busy schedule annoyed me not. In fact, his blatant disregard for the sensitivities of the audience or singers added to the whole atmosphere, which once again felt, it has to be said, as it did when Shoshana Bean was here, more like a big ol’ High School Musical cast reunion (and I have included the link there, just in case, you know…) than a debut Australian anything. Or else I’m just too old and un-hip – and no doubt too undressed – to hang with the Harvest Rain kids *breathes sigh of relief at this sudden realisation*

I love what Harvest Rain are doing with this series. I’m not sure why they’re not selling out each concert as they are announced. I’m hoping they find a way to attract a much broader audience, an audience from outside their own inner circle. In case I forget to mention it again next time I see you, for the attention of particular friends and industry types, whose faces were noticeably absent; WHERE WERE YOU? I’m telling you, get over the whole Harvest Rain thing – whatever it is, whether or not they are themselves feeding it, WHATEVER – and support this venture!

Support the young and emerging artists who have the opportunity to learn so much from our favourite Broadway singers and songwriters, support another great effort to put Brisbane on the map as a valuable stopover!

Speaking of young and emerging artists, the talent that nearly stole the show was without a doubt, Jordan Pollard and Ellen Reed, both fabulous products of Harvest Rain (and who knows where else. I await their Facebook Fan Pages, due to appear…well, surely, imminently). While I question the decision to put your own up there on a stage in a town that’s not your own, while in your home town, by all means, let your own talent shine! And shine they did! Ellen killed Please Don’t Let Me Go and then turned on her tender side for Always. Jordan’s interpretation of Now was mature and moving (pretty quietly devastating, in fact, just as it should be) and his bold, boy-to-man Over the Mountains might just have been enough to make me predict this stirring soldier’s heart song to be the new Anthem of the musical theatre world. And Jordan Pollard the one to watch. Not that anybody takes any notice of what I say. Or predict. Or watch. Both singers shared stunning voices and just about every emotional change fathomable…and in any Scott Alan piece, you know that’s a roller coaster ride’s worth.

I will certainly look forward to seeing:

• Harvest Rain’s site updated
• Any other mention of this concert in any context whatsoever
• Who turns up, having purchased their tickets, to the next one
• Who, in fact, we will be turning up to see

In Melbourne on Monday night, appearing with Scott, was Harvest Rain’s Angela Harding, Naomi Price, Luke Kennedy and the star of Wicked in Japan, Melbourne’s own Cassie McIvor, who recently recorded one of the tracks on Scott’s upcoming album. I asked her how the Melbourne show went. Cassie said it was a fantastic night!

She sang 2 songs from the new album, Watch Me Soar and I’m Not Quite Ready Yet To Grieve (her track on his new album).

Cassie spoke highly of  The Malthouse crew, Harvest Rain’s Artistic Director, Tim O’Connor and the visiting singers; “They were not only incredibly talented but some of the most wonderful people I have met in this industry. I really want to work with them again soon.”

Of working with Scott Alan, Cassie said, “Of course, Scott and I have a relationship from New York so it was super cool to hang out with him on my turf. He has been so supportive and he really talked me up during the show, which was nice because it was my first performance in Australia for almost 3 years. He had a great time and I think he is looking forward to coming back again.”

We hope so too, Cassie! Thanks for your comments. We can’t wait to hear your track on the new album!

In the meantime, back to our own little “exceptional piece of art” (thank you indeed, Mr Cooper; come again) EROTIQUE…