Presented by Michael Burgos. Tuxedo Cat. 25 Feb 2016.
As an alumni of the prestigious French clown school École Philippe Gaulier, Michael Burgos is in the same company as Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is therefore no surprise that Burgos can make you laugh heartily with a gesture, a look, a word.
His one man show, The Eulogy, is set in a funeral home at which the funeral of his friend Thomas is underway. Thomas was morbidly obese and died from the diseases of excess that come from a lifetime of absolute gluttony. Thomas was the object of ridicule and snide remarks, and at his funeral there is a veritable zoo of weird and diverse ‘friends’ and acquaintances who clamor to offer eulogies. Burgos plays them all and successfully gives them all highly individual personas that scream out for attention and likely rival Thomas’s ability to draw attention to himself.
Burgos is captivating as he plays everything from a pall bearer to a child whose first experience of death was the demise of his goldfish, to a guilty cake-stealing child caught with his mouth stuffed full of chocolate, to a fire-and-brimstone evangelical preacher from the deep South, to a ballerina with an unhealthy penchant for fire, and others I can no longer remember.
Each characterisation is compelling, and at times quite touching despite the grotesqueness of many of the characters.
At the end of his opening night, which was sold out, he offered each member of the audience a delicious cupcake – chocolate of course! – on their way out of the almost-stiflingly hot venue (get some air conditioners!).
Funerals are often solemn affairs, but not this one. It was a hoot!
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Feb to 14 Mar
Where: The Tuxedo Cat
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Presented by Martin Dockery. Tuxedo Cat. 25 Feb 2016.
Martin Dockery is possibly the most mesmerising story teller that I have ever seen or am likely to ever see. From the moment he first assumes the stage and flashes his piercing eyes in your direction you are hostage to his wit, comedic flair and magnetic personality. Above all, you are spellbound by his consummate writing – a model lesson in the use of adverbs and adjectives – and by his exquisite and athletic body language where he uses every muscle and sinew to proclaim a message and embroider every word.
He is singular. He is an artist and his paint is a lavish palate of words.
The Bike Trip is Dockery’s re-telling of a story by Albert Hoffman, who was the accidental discoverer of LSD. On the day Hoffman ‘invented’ LSD he first tested it on laboratory rats and and observed they became more energetic but appeared to suffer no ill-effect. He then tested it on himself and took what he thought was a small amount which turned out to be a HUGE dose; his bike ride home that afternoon was more exciting than usual to say the least! Hoffman wrote an account of his journey home and Dockery has used it as the basis of his one man show in which he also describes his own experiences on psychotropic drugs.
Through the telling of the story you really want to believe Dockery’s idea that mind altering drugs can have the impact of reawakening in us all the yearning to connect with each other ‘minus the bullshit’.
I have never known an hour to pass so quickly and for a smile to be etched so deeply on my face.
The Bike Trip is a must see show.
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Feb to 14 Mar
Where: Tuxedo Cat
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Studio Flamenco. La Boheme. 24 Feb 2016
Peña Flamenca is small club in Andalusia where one sits with a drink and enjoys flamenco dance up close. Studio Flamenco’s choice of French style club La Boheme perfectly highlighted the distinctive spirit and character of Flamenco dance chosen for an evening to relax at a table with a beverage.
Five dance forms and a song filled the hour. Dance styles from Extremeños, Galicia, Jerez and Cádiz are featured, some being solo pieces.
Be it the exciting ensemble opening piece Tangos Extremeños, or solos such as Susi Masi’s Siguiriyas, filled with the darkness of unrequited love or Emma Fernee’s Farruca, a rich, fantastically intense ‘chair dance’ normally performed by a male, there isn’t really a sense the production’s tempo breaks as such, or has an ‘off’ switch to it anywhere.
While obviously lost in their work, giving their all to faithfully serve a culture’s passion condensed so tightly in such rigorous, demanding forms of physical expression, the ensemble do not forget to have fun. There is great colour and joy in the production, first explosively expressed in the opening dance and reaffirmed in the closing piece, Fin de Fiesta (Bulerias), from burlar, meaning to mock or make fun of.
Each dancer whips off a solo moment as form of physical jest about a pose or turn of the flamenco form. You could rightly call it ‘showing off’.
David O’Brien
When: 24 to 26 Feb
Where: La Boheme
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (Italy) et al. Dunstan Playhouse. 25 Feb 2016
This show is what the Adelaide Festival is all about. Artistic Director David Sefton says that Romeo Castellucci is one of the best and most important theatre directors in the world today. "It's a big statement, but I see a lot of theatre, and almost all of it cannot hold a candle to Castellucci." Zowee! Don't bother reading the review, rush out for a ticket!
Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, of Cesena (near Bologna), was founded by Romeo, his sister, and another pair of siblings way back in 1981, due to their dislike of museum-like theatre that lacked movement. Ironically, their brand of theatre - and this work is exemplary - "is conceived in tableaux and fragments; like psychic vibrations that ripple across space and time," says Romeo. You got to love the Italians.
Romeo calls the show a transfiguration of various moments in the life of Moses, and if you can see more than 10% of anything Moses, you are a better man than I am, Gunga Din. But it doesn't matter because you already know the story of Moses and your ticket is for Romeo's transfiguration. The work comprises a series of disparately formatted and mostly wordless and often enigmatic scenes, and you have the fun of joining the dots. One scene is one of the most harrowing experiences I have had in theatre. The shear creativity and inventive use of theatre space and devices, performance, light and sound is extraordinary. You will be blown away.
Nonetheless, I was reminded of several early scenes from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyessy. Otherwise, you're unlikely to have seen anything like this. Unless you've been to Cesena (near Bologna). Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 25 to 28 Feb
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au
Lost in Translation. Turi Bar E Caffe. 25 Feb 2016
A singular test of great direction and performance is how text is managed in a bare space. Lost in Translation’s A Steady Rain is very much a masterclass in excellence for such a challenge.
Keith Huff’s two hander is a gripping blow by blow narrative between childhood friends, now partners in the Chicago Police Force, Denny (Nick Fagan) and Joey (Rohan Watts) who find themselves caught up unawares in the consequences of returning a young boy to his guardian in frightening circumstances.
Suddenly the underworld is making its presence known to the two men, Denny in particular. Suddenly, career choices, family survival, professional honour and respect are on the line as things become highly political as result of that one good deed. A sacrifice to make things ‘right’ is being called for.
The audience and performance space of Turi Bar E Caffe is extremely small and intimate. Barely a foot separates the front row and the two actors facing them, each sitting on a chair, with a take away coffee cup.
Fagan’s Denny is a down to earth, loud; pull no punches, world weary, worn realist in a leather jacket and pinkie ring. Watts’ Joey is a suit and tie man, a warmly spoken, thoughtful cut above type made for better things.
Ben Todd’s direction is a magnificent study in how to ‘phrase’ text and performance in a manner developing with precise sophistication, character, and dramatic impulse.
Todd manages Huff’s text in such a way Denny and Joey are at times, talking directly to each other, or addressing the other as if they were not there. This adds an incredibly rich inner psychological layer to each character and their relationship from its early days to the incident that could destroy it. Fagan and Watts are profoundly on song in connection with each other on stage. They fill the air with unspoken words of tension, of regret and anger.
The sense of Denny descending into destructive depths he cannot control, let alone protect his family from, while Joey seems to manage to keep his head personally and professionally above water is so very powerful, so heart breaking, so chilling.
Each rise from their chairs, each turn of a shirt cuff, placement of a jacket perfectly accentuates moments of submission, rebellion, moral reflection and finality of choice to be made.
David O’Brien
When: 25 Feb to 5 March
Where: Turi Bar E Caffe
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au