Chris Lassig. Tuxedo Cat at Broadcast Bar - Gate 1. 18 Feb 2018
This show should really be called Dr Chris's Theory of Nothing. Self-proclaimed physicist Dr Chris left the lab for the stage. Bringing along his white board and black pen, he attempts to explain a few of the big things in science but gets hopelessly sidetracked and accomplishes little more than I would expect from a dinner guest.
He's a sweet guy, a bit snobbish, but unschooled in voice and stagecraft. The best thing was a thought experiment of a cat in a box with two rolls of toilet paper to illustrate the perils of understanding quantum theory. And a string for string theory. Totally random thinking illustrated entropy including a plug for his next show, Manplosion, which I hope is better than this one.
David Grybowski
1 star and 2 black holes
When: 16 to 18 February
Where: Tuxedo Cat at Broadcast Bar - Gate 1
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Anya Anastasia. Spiegel Zelt at Gluttony. 17 Feb 2018
What a difference a year makes!
Anya Anastasia:Rogue Romantic is certainly not a redux production. In fact, it’s taken on an intensely rich, darker hue which contrasts the alluring sensuous comic madness this golden dressed chanteuse of love graces her audience with.
Her bitterness is deliciously manic, delivered with lusty femme fatale high notes of romance one wants more of. The coquettish play with the ‘special men’ in the audience she hones in on is as innocently wicked as it is curt and cruelly dismissive. Does the girl know what she wants? Is there something a little deeper here to consider as she seductively rails and weeps for that perfect lover? She intimates ever so subtlety that what makes things difficult is the things he said, the things she said, the things she felt, and the way she reacted.
With precision, Anastasia’s all female band glide from style to style as the mood shifts from svelte samba to romantic pop and more; what professionals they are - even psychoanalytically.
What a surprise to find the band head honcho and Anastasia engaged in a tremendous piano duo over the one keyboard, bouncing lyrics against each other as if a wee conscience was having its say about all this luuurve… maybe not luuurve business.
Here’s a magnificent example of an artist adding another level to a loved, popular work and pulling it off. If you loved it last year, you’ll love it more and believe me, think a little more.
David O’Brien
All the stars! (5)
When: 16 Feb to 13 Mar
Where: Gluttony, THE Spiegel Zelt
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Hannah Cryle. Happy Haps Productions. Cornucopia at Gluttony. 18 Feb 2018
One recalls with great fondness the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. It is a staple of student libraries, doctor’s offices, and probably every child’s home bookcase. My eldest loved having it read to her and knew the words by heart.
It is a clever creative then, who takes this well-worn tale and builds on it.
Hannah Cryle and Happy Haps Productions first created the show back in 2011, and have been touring the concept ever since.
Solo performer/dancer/contortionist/juggler and more, Cryle plays the hungry caterpillar dressed in a colourful lycra body suit. The twist: this caterpillar wants to join the circus.
With each passing day our caterpillar’s dinner is incorporated into the circus acts. Cryle contorts her body through two ‘ripe plum’ rings, juggles three ‘peas’, hula-hoops her way around four ‘strawberry’ hoops, spins five ‘grape’ plates, and eats her way through a huge ‘apple’ German Wheel all whilst showcasing some stunning tricks!
There is audience interaction for the kids, plenty of satire and self-deprecation to amuse the adults, and even an interpretative dance break!
The target audience is enthralled and the whole thing is cocooned and completed in just 45 minutes.
A lovely little childrens show that blossoms into a beautiful butterfly.
Paul Rodda
3.5 stars
When: 18 Feb to 18 Mar
Where: Cornucopia at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
George Glass Comedy. Gluttony - The Speakeasy. 16 Feb 2018
Falsely advertised as a musical, this workshopped idea has only reached the madcap band play-act stage for George Glass Comedy (GGC) to test on an unsuspecting Fringe audience.
Scientology The Musical is brought to you by the same folk who delivered that excellent and sad indictment, Abbott The Musical, to the Adelaide Festival in 2015, which did very much resemble a musical, in that instance, three-quarters of the way there.
Having said I feel I've been had, there is much to admire in this nascent comedy show. The cult of Scientology, and its enigmatic founder, L. Ron Hubbard, are ripe targets for satire. It's easy to ridicule Dianetics and pooh-pooh it as science fiction, until GGC do a word association game in comparative religion studies, "Q: Slavery and incest (Note: I think they meant paedophilia). A: Christianity." There is much to laugh at and some of the songs are witty in places.
Dressed in creased pseudo-Navy uniforms harking back to Hubbard's dubious career as a US Navy ship commander on the home front in the Pacific itching for action, GGC swung between banter, original satirical songs, and goofy physical comedy, and provided a metaphor for the secret knowledge of Dianetics with the rabbit of Alice in Wonderland.
Nicholas Conway, who played with aplomb the eponymous Tony Abbott in the aforementioned earlier work, played something like the eponymous Gilligan of the famous TV island. Drummer Henry Gazzola played nothing but drums, even refusing to don the requisite Navy duds; it was like he was in another show. Daniel Murnane showed up late for work and did what he had to do. Alister McMichael was less than fetching in a dress while Braden Hamilton was left with the task of explaining everything. They are all exceptionally ordinary musicians.
But wait, there's more. The stage area was too small, and the noise from even more boisterous shows in nearby tents was odiously overwhelming at times. Director Lisa Harper had a lot to answer for. The action was haphazard, the costumes were sloppy, and the sound was fuzzy and indistinct - I could not make out much from Conway's closing two songs. At least I think it was the equipment.
Maybe I got it wrong. Go see the show and audit it yourself; hook it up to the electropsychometer.
David Grybowski
2.5 stars
When: 16 Feb to 4 Mar
Where: Gluttony - The Speakeasy
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
a priori projects. Bakehouse Theatre. 17 Feb 2018
Writer, producer and performer Rowan McDonald could write another show about the near death experience of First Name Unknown. A few weeks before the opening, the other actor in his show bailed, leaving McDonald to re-cut the original 45-minute show to the 30-minute - and consequently overpriced - one-man show currently on offer.
Don't know about the missing fifteen minutes, but it's now nothing as advertised. No exposé of secret dossiers of the CIA, ASIO or [Australian] Border Force agencies, nothing too horrifying to believe, no strong sexual content nor any violence.
But what is on view at The Bakehouse is a little gem. McDonald, an average, white suburban Sydney-sider male, began the show with an imploring recognition of Aboriginal country, then started a total and unrelenting satire, send-up and biting critique of your average white Australian male in such a subtle way you have to laugh at yourself, if you're one of those.
This he did with great charm in three segments. Initially, we see your average male fluoro-vest worker getting ready for the day in silence with a soundtrack describing the behaviour and sexual practice of some species in the wilderness. This voiceover was performed by none other than McDonald himself in a voice and cadence of exacting verisimilitude to David Attenborough. It was priceless.
The soundtrack got suitably cacophonous and confused while our worker was interviewing arrivals at a detention centre. This was followed by a damning appraisal of the state of the arts in Australia due to its male dominance and Euro-centricity. Not hate, but exasperation. Accompanying the action was a fetching light show simply reflected off large plastic sheets hanging off a clothesline (Lexie Condon - lighting operator).
A curious and thoughtful piece of Fringe. One wonder’s what the original work was like?
David Grybowski
2.5 stars
When: 15 to 24 February
Where: Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au