Sex with Strangers reviewed by Danielle Wood

Imagine the person you lost your virginity with ended up being not the one you married, but the one with whom you have an ongoing, if intermittent, affair – sometimes exhilarating, sometimes disappointing. Well, that’s how it is for me and the theatre.

I’m talking about real theatre, live theatre, the sort that I fell in love with as a teenager, back in that phase of life when too much was never enough. Although we’ve drifted apart, the theatre and me, still there are moments when we reconnect. We sometimes see each other here in Hobart, but not as often as I’d like. Mostly it’s when I’m off the leash and travelling that I make the effort to get in touch. Sometimes, I worry that we’ve permanently lost the magic, but then I’ll see a play good enough to set off a bunch of well-rehearsed chemical reactions in the brain and there it is: love all over again.

I’m guessing no-one at the Tasmanian Theatre Company knew that when they asked me along to their show Sex With Strangers, and to write something about it, the invitation was, for me, a little like getting a phone call from an old flame.

So, Sex with Strangers. The title alone is a come-on, and it’s worked for Ethan (Samuel Johnson), who’s made the New York Times bestseller list with a blog-turned-book that chronicles the outcome of his boast that for a whole year he could, each week, pick up a girl in a bar and get her to have sex with him. Ethan’s now rich and successful, with a powerful internet reach. But his dirty secret is that even he holds the vehicle of his success in contempt, and would rather be a literary novelist, like Olivia (Tottie Goldsmith).

Tell Tales

by Thomas Connelly

So on a beautiful full moon night, one of those nights when the stars hide away and the moon swollen and full makes the world glow silver; I drove into town to see Tell Tails, a new performance piece by Bridget Bridget Nicklason-King.

The sort of night that is the power of the woman.

Tell Tails was a show inspired by Bridget’s granny. One can imagine the performer as a child listening intently as her grandmother told wild stories of adventure, danger and love. All completely true…and then some.

The Call of Aurora

By Kylie Eastley

When it seems that the whole of Hobart is at the beach, I am amongst a small audience in the Peacock Theatre to experience an intriguing show inspired by Douglas Mawson's expedition to Antarctica.

Let's just get it out there from the beginning; opera can be hard to both stage and watch. While The Call of Aurora had some definite highlights I found it difficult to enjoy.

Sir Douglas Mawson (photo courtesy of abc.net.au)

My foray into opera includes a strange and painful experience watching and reviewing Beijing opera a few years ago, a more recent trip to MONA cinema to watch Maria Stuarda by the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the many years listening to Maria Callas, Pavarotti and other popular opera performers.

That's my experience of opera; aside to say...that I really like it. Even in my brief encounters I have felt the human voice hit my heart, wrap itself around me and make me feel extraordinary.

The Call of Aurora is the story of Sir Douglas Mawson; his fellow explorers, his fiance and the extreme conditions the men endured in Antarctica. December 2013 is the 100 year anniversary of Mawson boarding the Aurora and returning to Hobart after 2 years stranded.

The show is made up of 4 parts; a prologue and three scenes, with an interval after Act One. On a relatively bare stage the quintet is positioned front of stage with conductor and music director, Gary Wain. Joining the musicians are Philip Joughin playing Mawson, Jamie Scott as Sydney Jeffryes, Jennifer O'Halloran playing Paquita Delprat and Auror (the spirit of the south) and Nick Monk is cast as Mertz, Madigan and the ghost of Robert Falcon Scott.

The champion of this production is the musical composition and the performance by the quintet. It is exquisite. Many times I closed my eyes just to listen to the music. Written by Joe Bugden, the music and libretto is superb; cleverly incorporating the whimsical with the more intense arrangements. It encapsulates the sense of insanity that must swim through the minds of those explorers who find themselves in such an alien and unforgiving environment.

This show would have benefited enormously from improved design. Still and moving images were projected onto screens at the rear of the stage, however, I found the positioning of these as well as the selection and quality of the moving images a distraction from the performers, rather than adding to it. At other times, particularly later in the production, the images worked to create atmosphere and narrative, but it was inconsistent and needed more direction. Similarly the lighting design did not give justice to the performers or story. Perhaps this was due to limitations at the Peacock Theatre, but whatever reason, it was disappointing, especially as the subject matter would lend itself to some fantastic imagery.

Nick Monk was the stand out in this production. His voice was rich, full of expression and he characterised his 3 roles extremely well. He engaged with the audience and provided variation and movement in his performance.

Alternatively, I found Philip Joughin's depiction of Mawson very static and passionless. As the lead character, this was disappointing and I was confused as to whether the standoffish and unemotional portrayal was intentional. Jennifer O'Halloran's voice was beautiful. I feel that her performance would have benefited from improved design and direction of movement on stage to better represent her roles.

Jamie Scott was at his best in the final scene. Portraying the wireless operator, Sydney Jeffryes, Scott brought reality to this role. It was earthy, gritty and slightly uncomfortable. All vital ingredients for the portrayal of a man slowly going mad.

There were lots of moments in this production that I enjoyed. It was beautiful when Joe Bugden, as one of the explorers in the hut, was gathered with the other men. They were playing cards, writing, listening to the wireless and he picked up an acoustic guitar and started playing. It was simple, emotive, and just right. After a few minutes, the quintet joined in and it made for one of the more successful scenes.

It is a priority for opera performers to keep time with the orchestra. However, there were times throughout the last scene particularly where the constant glancing towards to the conductor, for timing cues, was very noticeable and distracting and broke the required tension in the narrative.

The conductor, Gary Wain did an amazing job and he and his musicians; Jill Norton, Derek Grice, Nara Denis, Magnus Turner and Calvin McClay should all be congratulated.

Mawson's story deserves to be told and opera could be the medium, but The Call of Aurora requires more refinement as a production to do this successfully.

www.thecallofaurora.com

The Call of Aurora was performed for a brief season at The Peacock Theatre, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart.

Pin Drop - Created & Performed by Tamara Saulwick

Threat is compelling. Your heartbeat sharpens and your ears stand up like a dog’s, while something in your guts churn. Completely unexpected situations in life can do it. Film does it. Yet in theatre I’ve never experienced it quite so convincingly as in Pin Drop created and performed by Tamara Saulwick.

The sensation of threat is rarely put under the spotlight, as an isolated and specific focus. As the stories rolled out and wove between each other, I wondered what inspired and drove Tamara, consciously and unconsciously, to record interviews with people since 2008 about their experiences of threat and terror, and follow it through with the skill and commitment to make such a polished show.

I sat deep in my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen next, both in the unfolding of the stories being told, and in the way they were being told.

This is a solo show and the interviews become the performance: sometimes literally, sometimes being retold in character, sometimes both overlapping. It’s a beautiful mix.

Every element of the show was measured and mixed for the audience to be pricked by a threatening pin drop. The collaboration between Tamara and Composition Sound Designer Peter Knight wove a stunning aural landscape, and Harriet Oxley’s Costume Design was simple, stylish and suitable.

Tamara’s performance was anchored. She didn’t overdo it or under do it; she came from a point of strength.

I hope I don’t freak out when I’m next alone at home...

This is a Mobile States and Salamanca Arts Centre presentation. There are four shows offer, so go get a Season Pass if you still can. 

The Cauliflower Homicide: A Love Story

Mainstage Theatre Company
Peacock Theatre
February 9-12

Ever wondered what would happen if you took a giant cauliflower, a confessional, a CWA band, feet that kiss, a rooftop gift of love, and a selectively handicapped electro-funk keyboardist, and tossed them all together with a dash of funny and a pinch of poignant?

First-time writer Sarah Hodgetts manages to pack an awful lot into this script – it is consistently funny, frequently sweet, and enthusiastically wacky – and in this production for Mainstage, she also takes on the roles of actor and director. While her performance is amusing, sincere, and poised, and the direction sound, it is in the text that Hodgetts excels.

The script is well-structured and paced; for a first work, plot twists and complexities, comic timing, and dialogue are all handled with unexpected grace and confidence.

The Golden Age

The Golden Age
Old Nick
The Peacock Theatre
15 – 30 October

This production is disturbing on a number of levels – many of them just as they should be, but some the fault of an imperfect script.

On one hand, I wholeheartedly recommend that you get along to the show. It deserves support: it is challenging and worthwhile, and performed with strength and commitment. Set primarily in Tasmania during the Second World War, the play has at its heart the fate of an isolated, perhaps genetically compromised, tribe discovered in the wilderness by two young men struggling with their own place in Australia at this point in history; Louis Nowra’s preoccupation with ‘otherness’ is evident.

Despite its powerful choices and intentions, I find the script profoundly problematic.

The Company I Keep

Performed by The Second Echo Ensemble

Peacock Theatre, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart

Thursday 20^th May 2010

By Anneliese Milk

She loves me. She likes me. He is my son. She is my sister. He is my enemy. He catches the same bus as me. She has our mother’s eyes. She is our mother.- Finegan Kruckemeyer

Despite our many differences we all experience the same breadth of emotion and nurse the same desire to be loved. Although our relationships may be unique, complex and varied, we each form the nucleus of the ever-evolving company we keep. At the same time, we all experience times when we have no company at all.

The Company I Keep

Performed by the Second Echo Ensemble
Tasmanian Theatre Company and Cosmos
Thursday May 20, Friday May 21, Saturday May 22
Peacock Theatre

by Stephenie Cahalan

Eleven actors on stage and many more on a screen, minimalist lighting, movement, soliloquies on love, nervousness, wanting to look and be our best. The need for approval. The need for love.

This is essentially what The Company I Keep explores, and does so artfully and engagingly. The story stands alone and would work for any cast, be they professionals or amateurs, from any background. This cast happens to include five people who might be considered intellectually disabled, yet are clearly emotionally intelligent performers and highly competent actors. Creator and director Finegan Krukemeyer has made a piece of theatre that makes the stage a level playing field for every person that occupies it; a liberating experience for performer and audience alike.