★★★★
Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Peacock at Gluttony. 19 Feb 2020
The Fringe typically presents scores of circus and physical theatre acts, but By A Thread is atypical and is a must-see!
By A Thread comprises seven artists – four women and three men, all slim, trim and terrific – and a single long white rope suspended between two large pulleys high above. There is a cushioned mat on the ground and no safety net. The setting is minimalist in the extreme, and the artists have only each other and the harshly illuminated rope to rely upon.
For nearly fifty minutes the artists have us in awe with what they can do with their bodies. There are dazzling displays of balance, strength, grace, poise and razor sharp precision in all of their aerial and ground routines. And there is emotion. The routines are performed against a sensitively designed and carefully constructed soundscape that begins and ends with some wistfully evocative solo piano music by Philip Glass, one of the greatest minimalist composers alive. But there is nothing minimalist in what the artists do. Each piece of music establishes the tone and ‘feel’ for each gymnastic vignette, and there is almost a sense of narrative that weaves through the entire performance.
Beginning and ending on the same piece of music is a nice touch. It’s as if the rope finally loops in on itself bringing everything to a close.
The one constant in the performance is the rope that the artists use to hoist themselves and each other through the air and to support them in their poetic, complex and dazzling choreographed manoeuvres.
The interplay between the artists is palpable. Of course they indicate to each other about their readiness to do particular things, but the communication is deeper than that. One senses trust and genuine affection (even romance!), tenderness and even joyful mischievousness!
In some sense, the whole event is like a visual symphony, a kinetic piece of art: there is structure and robustness; delicacy and gentleness; power and presence; intelligent interplay and counterpoint. Above all, it is passionate and visually exciting.
This is the last Adelaide Fringe festival this company will be participating in. So, do yourself a favour and experience their art before they leave. For the final time. This is no ordinary physical theatre.
Kym Clayton
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Peacock at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. The Peacock at Gluttony. 19 Feb 2020
The best stand-up comedians have a well-honed ability to see the minutiae in the mundane and then exaggerate and embellish them so that they become extraordinary. They are opportunists, and through quick thinking and slick language can make the inconsequential become exceptionally funny. They make incisive comparisons and easily think about opposites: if this, then why not that? They have a sense of narrative and can connect disparate ideas to produce a coherent whole. Above all, they have a sixth sense about people and know how far to push boundaries, and in what direction.
Tom Gleeson has all these skills in spades.
Undoubtedly Gleeson’s show – aptly entitled Lighten Up – has a ‘play list’, but when a woman in the front row easily reaches and unties one of his shoelaces, Gleeson seizes the opportunity to make something of it. Within thirty seconds the near capacity audience (in a very large venue!) is dissolving in laughter as the act of re-tying his shoelace quickly becomes an entrée into discussing the audience member’s fertility and taxation status! No one laughed harder than the woman herself! Instant celebrity!
From then on one gag follows another, and his barbed comments about some of the unfortunate outcomes of the recent bush fire crisis lead to comparisons that are nothing less than comedic gold.
He gently mocks his own family, and himself, as sort of antidote for mercilessly lampooning others. A feature of his show is how he cleverly relates the tag line of one gag to another: every joke is enjoyed again, and again.
The highlight of the show is Gleeson’s comments about him winning his Gold Logie, and the audience all but falls off their chairs with gut wrenching laughter as he outlines the whole sorry saga. But a good gag always keeps on giving, and Gleeson takes the audience into his confidence about future possibilities, but to say anymore would be a spoiler. Suffice to say, “shoosh”! Too obscure? Well, you’ll just need to ‘lighten up’, go to his show and hear for yourself!
Kym Clayton
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: The Peacock at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★
Motley & Mac. Gluttony, Rymill Park. 18 Feb 2020
Motley & Mac is an Australian performing arts company created by American Tim Motley and Irishman Patrick McCullagh. Over the last six years they have hosted Prohibition, Best of Kids’ Fringe, and this revue, Best of Fringe Variety at the Adelaide Fringe.
Even with introductions but without a program or even a running sheet, it’s difficult to record who each of the entertainers are – certainly a handout would serve as a reference for attendees to look up and book those performers whom they want to see more of.
The show began with American Tymisha Harris’s channeling of black American Josephine Baker, an international cabaret superstar whose star had faded until Harris and company conceived of Josephine, on offer in the Fringe. Harris is a compelling chanteuse and her two numbers were an exciting exposition. The magician and master of ceremonies showed some wizardry with playing cards, and later he managed to pick which extended hand of an audience member held a coin - four times in a row - just like he said he would. He even tells us how he does it. I did the math – there is only a 6.25% chance of doing so. His comic and relaxed manner makes me want to see more of him. The acrobatic acts ranged from “When am I supposed to clap?” to “OMG, that’s amazing!” A balancing act involving a precariously placed dozen martini glasses took the breathe away. What goes through my mind is how much time must be spent rehearsing to earn a few shekels. High-energy hoopologist Anna Fisher passed Public Relations 101 and handed out flyers after the show for her Phat Cab Club circus cabaret in this year’s Fringe.
Best of Fringe Variety is on every night except Mondays until 15 March, and every show is different, depending on which Fringe artists want to entertain and/or promote their full-length shows, so it’s not necessarily the best, as advertised, but hopefully some of the best. And you can’t possibly have the full mix of lollies every night; the burlesque acts, comedians, illusionists, tap dancers, strong men, bubble sculptors and puppeteers cited in the blurb were absent in the show I saw on opening night. So life is like a box of chocolates.
David Grybowski
When: 19 Feb to 15 Mar
Where: Gluttony, Rymill Park
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★★
The Chaser Quarterly and The Shovel Present. Gluttony, Rymill Park. 18 Feb 2020
Fresh from their national tour of War on 2019 – Live!, James Schloeffel and Charles Firth team up again, this time, to lambast the anti-scientific community. Opening Tuesday night was a near-full house of hundreds of anticipating fans familiar with Schloeffel’s political satire news headline website, www.theshovel.com.au and Firth’s all-media and politically merciless hit, The Chaser. A formidable team, indeed!
First in their sights is Swisse Vitamins who recently lost energy because of their unsubstantiated and vague claims about the efficacy of their supplement products. Next was Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop.com, a veritable treasure trove of anti-science with its overpriced and useless products. The anti-vaccination movement took a direct hit. Schoeffel and Firth trade ironies and barbs in a stand-up didactic format aided by slides and some video (when are we going to get new names for these things that don’t exist anymore?) that sees the humour in the stupor. The ringleaders are the blond mopheads, Trump and Johnson, and following up the rear, PM Scomo. The Chaser is famous for faking reality and the revelation of their bogus info website and the surfers caught in their web was amazing for its audacity and extraordinary results. Even theshovel was cited as a source for news when it’s entirely a well-known set up. Go figure. The team explains the modus operandi - you sidestep the well-educated and target the most dupable with fake graphs – even obviously fake ones, and you can do some real mischief – like the relationship between sultanas and car accidents. The most hilarious segment was requests for behavioural guidance based on the Bible directed to Israel Folau, that lightning rod of religious freedom. I’m not surprised they repeated it from the War on 2019 – Live! show. Homeopathy is not unscathed.
Opening night had its drop-out moments that you probably won’t see in subsequent performances. While the dynamic duo commands the audience, the appearance of guests or a funny song would be welcome. And yet, I laughed and laughed and laughed again. The subtext is frightening, so laugh while you can.
Book soon. Friday’s and Saturday’s 8 pm shows are sold out.
David Grybowski
When: 19 to 23 Feb
Where: Gluttony – Rymill Park
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Bakehouse Theatre. 18 Feb 2020
Horrendous is written and performed by Adelaide born / Manchester based Harry Tobias. It is a poignant story of a young gay man whose life appears to be running out of control: is he a victim of the behaviour of others, or is he the maker of his own ‘horrendous’ situation? The narrative would suggest both with perhaps underlying mental health issues as an explanation for some of the young man’s behaviours and responses.
Tobias is a courageous performer and writer. At times his script is confronting, with its ‘no holds barred’ approach to describing the young man’s sexual behaviours and his turbulent attitudes to his family, friends and lover. Much of the impetus of the play is achieved through a sequence of dialogues between the young man and the people in his life, who are heard (through numerous voiceovers) but not seen. Tobias injects adequate nuance into his responses to these people, and the sections that involve rapid verbal exchanges are particularly well handled, more so than those where he reacts to extended statements from the other person (such as by the young man’s lover).
The quality of the voice overs is variable, and that of his potential employer is the most engaging. This is perhaps the high point of the performance and Tobias gives us a better glimpse into what he is capable of as an actor. Disappointingly, the text and voice over of his lover towards the end of the play lacks the emotion and gravitas that is needed. If Horrendous is to be further workshopped, and it deserves to be, this is a vital area to work on: the voiceovers – both text and execution – are crucial to the success of the whole piece. Kudos to Lucy Mitchell for her sound design and operation.
In an epilogue to the performance, Tobias suggests audience members who are confronted by the themes in the play might choose to discuss their fears and concerns with support services, such as Beyond Blue and Lifeline. However, the text of the play is not sufficiently robust or authentic to ensure that such thoughts are overwhelmingly brought to the front of one’s mind to warrant such a foreboding post script from the stage.
Tobias uses an open black box set with a few strategically placed properties, which he uses effectively and seamlessly. No clunkiness here. Stephen Dean’s sensitive lighting plot assists the mood of the production, and its execution is precise.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 to 22 Feb
Where: Bakehouse Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au