★★★
Adelaide Fringe. James Clark. Crack Café. 15 Mar 2023
Finding the Crack Café can be a challenge, since it’s tucked away behind Victoria Square in what seems a seedy locale, but find your way upstairs and there’s a perfectly presentable venue with a perfectly presentable host. James Clark hails from Sydney, where he works in a bank (‘Which bank?’ I have no idea). He has a luxurious spread of hair and a presentable manner, except perhaps when he begins describing nurses by their attributes rather than their skills. To be fair, he seemed to find most women offensive, from their weight (which affects his ability to get an erection while being nursed) to their skill sets (Serena Williams? Oh, yeah, she gets paid the same as men for playing three sets instead of five…).
He began his evening show with an observation; he’d recently seen SAPOL’s police greys, opining that he was taken aback to discover a police force who still used horses. ‘How did they perform an arrest?’ formed the basis of the next little sketch. In the same way as anyone else might, I suppose, since the NSW Police have horses, as do Victoria Police and many others, I’m sure.
That little warmup over, it was on with the show, James engaging audience members to help him flesh out his corporate ideals. This was confusing. We learned later that he had once been caught in flagrante delicto in the bank, but little else. This seemed odd for a show which billed itself about being for Corporates and the work/life balance, for James was most comfortable interrogating his audience and using their material rather than developing his own, or indeed delving into the corporate world.
He found an HR person from the Police (she quickly pointed out she was not uniform branch), a cagey man who ‘did things’ and ‘traded things’ and ‘procured things’ (who he labelled a drug dealer), and there was a teacher in the front row who wore red shoes and had been with his partner for 40 years. These are not corporate types. Lastly, through judicious questioning James unearthed a woman who confessed to having been sent penis pictures, and to having saved them on her phone. In a photo album. Why this became quite the cause celebre I cannot say, but it is clear James’ fancy was tickled.
Also, clearly, this had little to do with comedy for corporates. Now I know this review seems sour and confused, and the 55 minute show was in no way bad, but the lack of real direction, the fact that little of the show seemed to have anything to do with ‘work life balance’ and the fact that he seemed quite interested in pictures of penises made me wonder if a scripted show existed or if ‘seat of the pants she’ll be right’ was more the order of the night.
Perhaps he was here to practise a little social anthropology.
At one point he mentioned murder and barrels, so he’d done some research into the state’s finer points, although at several responses to questions he suggested South Australian ‘flexed’, which I assume to be a posturing display. And just like that – with a hastily thrown in ‘I’ve been James Clark. Goodnight’ it was over. I do wish they’d practise a wrap and an outro, at the very least. It would make all the difference.
Alex Wheaton
When: 15 to 18 Mar
Where: Crack Café
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Festival. The Space. 14 Mar 2023
What a charmer!
Quick sticks. Grab a ticket now. Staff only half-joked that they’d need a shoehorn to fit the full house into the Space for the opening night of Maureen: Harbinger of Death. Clearly that mysterious “word” had gone out. This is the 2023 Adelaide Festival “sleeper”, the show not to miss.
And such a simple offering it is. One performer seated on a chair against a voluminous backdrop of kitschy old-school velvet drapery.
Upon the chair is a Jonny Hawkins who, with Neil Ranney, has devised this confection of pure Australiana. Of all things, it is an homage to old ladies.
Maureen not only is purportedly a friend to Jonny and to all the gays of Kings Cross, she is a quintessential old gal of the Bohemian school. She is a student of the society around her, a nurturer with a sharp eye, a big heart, and an hilariously caustic tongue.
In his brief introduction, Hawkins says she is actually a composite of myriad wise and wicked nonagenarians of his acquaintance, maybe some right here in the audience. Perhaps not. Maureen is a product of Kings Cross. She is as Sydney as the harbour and all those stinky tiled front bars on The Rocks. She has “that accent” with the drawn-out vowels, an affectation which is so, so Sinny. She is both an ornament and a relic of The Cross.
She lives on the fourth floor of an old apartment block, smoking, reminiscing, and celebrating the joyful mythology awakened by people’s stories.
In lieu of the young gay male visitors she so adores, she adopts a member of the audience as her gentleman helper. A lady never lights her own cigarettes. Respectfully, he proffers the flame and helps by offering around Jatz crackers from a huge tin. If a hostess can’t offer sandwiches…
And, he shares her little black book whence, as it is passed through the audience, Maureen calls for names to be read out, each name being catalyst to sagas of people loved and lost in her life. They are funny, sweet, and sour stories. Each one arresting in its own right, together painting a vivid profile of an Australian cultural landmark in its heyday.
It is so tempting to give examples but, after meeting Maureen, one feels that she is a pearl in a special Sydney rock oyster shell which must be opened fresh and alive to each audience.
She is an experience to be savoured in person and never to be forgotten.
She is a Festival gem.
Samela Harris
When: 14 to 18 Mar
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au
★★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Live Witness Theatre. The Yurt, Migration Museum. 12 Mar 2023
String.
String theory (that physics theory thing).
This show is that, and more.
It’s all about the long/short reality of being a human. And that’s a lot of stuff and work to through and process - for both the audience and the performers - in an hour.
It works!!!
Seated in the round at The Yurt we are intrigued as a light box is unveiled. Strings of different sizes and thickness are taken from it. Ok. Show title, check, string.
It can and is made to do many things, including shapes defining and defying space and presence.
This play with string and the idea of string as stringing togetherness continues even though we haven’t worked it out yet.
The greatest gift of this piece of magic performance is rediscovering the sheer joy of meaning in disjointed syllables, blurted sad tales, life mistake stories, the invitation to warm remembrance. So much more is seen and experienced. It’s such a mind-awakening, socially and humanly conscious joy. Hold on to the string.
Director Keir Aitken delivers a wonderfully warm, engaging production which - in partnership with musician Max Garcia-Underwood - flows with brilliant, gentle and alive spirit. Aitken’s direction of his cast in physical work and space utilisation is utterly perfect.
This show is what you go to the Fringe for.
David O’Brien
When: 11 to 19 Mar
Where: The Yurt
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Festival. Australian Dance Theatre. Odeon Theatre. 11 Mar 2023
Words. So many words. So many words telling a story a century plus of being.
Co-Director/Choreographer Daniel Riley and Co-Director Rachael Maza, with writers Ursula Yovich and Amy Sole overloaded the plate of the creative storytelling challenge. This is not a fault per se. Far from it.
This work allows the subliminal truth of the land as a spirit, in the life story of Riley’s Great- Great-Uncle, Alec ‘Tracker’ Riley, to come through. Word and body in movement.
It is a tremendously difficult thing in performance effect. The effort is worthy. Here is a theme and moment in which words, while seemingly predominant as the vehicle of a work’s expression, need deeper subtext.
This is achieved by a trio of dancers melting in, around and through the performance space as the split role of nephew/Tracker plays out, performed by Ari Maza Long.
James Henry’s beguiling slide guitar based score and Jonathan Jones’ gentle, judiciously applied scrim bush scenes assist the work’s gentle, yet considered effect.
The story is in the fullest sense of the cliché, mind blowing.
History that has to be told.
In this one person, is a history of great gift, humanity and truth obliterated, until now.
David O’Brien
When: 10 to 18 Mar
Where: The Odeon
Bookings: adelaidefestival.com.au
★★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. Grace Emily Hotel. 9 Mar 2023
The Ukulele Death Squad is a moving feast; you can never be sure who will turn up on the night and what you’re going to get. On this night, first up were apologies for a missing player from stalwart and anchor Ben Roberts. The crowd, who mostly seemed familiar with the group, shrugged it off and got into it regardless.
UDS are a bit of a supergroup in the uke world; a few of their members now live interstate, so the gigs for the full band are few and far between, mostly at festivals such as this. Last time they played the Fringe it was at the sold out Regal Theatre in 2020, so watching them at the extremely intimate Grace Emily was quite the contrast. At that gig, the nucleus of the band was joined by ‘the gingerbread man aka Matthew Barker, and he’s now become their permanent ‘token ginger’. The new vocal lineup is completed with Alice Barker and Ash Randell, while Roberts, Julian Ferguson and Reuben Ferguson also contribute while maintaining the musical backline on tenor and baritone uke, with Ferguson blowing a very cool sax.
Straight into it with Paris on a Train and the tempo did not let up for the rest of the night. A delightful addition was Barker and Randell picking up the trumpet and trombone respectively, filling out a pretty cool brass section with Ferguson. Not the most proficient at this stage, but this will flesh out beautifully.
For the most part the UDS are on the aural attack, assaulting the senses with a fairly unrelenting barrage of up tempo songs. The slower Let’s Go to the Movies and Wayfaring allow for a catch of breath and a real exhibition of the stunning vocal lineup and we’re back into the musical melee again, with an energy reminiscent of the days of Roaring Jack.
Special mention of the song that lends itself to the title of the show. This R&B infused song is filled with addictive hooks, and had the audience grooving along (had to use that word). While the line “Daddy’s got a new body” forms part of the refrain – its title is Baby Don’t (F*** With Me) and it’s an absolute ripper. Listen to it on YouTube, recorded live at Penny’s Lane Winery.
UDS ended as they began, fast, high energy and above all, entertaining, leaving the audience almost as exhausted as the band.
This is skilled, inventive, creative and entertaining playing, and there are guitarists who would crawl over broken glass to play like this. One tires of saying that the uke is not what you think it is, but here it is again. It can be (thanks Scott) but actually, it doesn’t need to be, and in the hands of these guys, it just isn’t. Got it?
Arna Eyers-White
When: Closed
Where: Grace Emily Hotel
Bookings: Closed