Reviews:
2010
               
          

Aida

Antigone

Bugfest: A Festival of Short Plays

Don Quixote

The Elixir of Love

Fonteyn Remembered

Furious Angels

An Ideal Husband

Macbeth

The Marriage of Figaro

The Merry Widow

The Nutcracker

Richard III

Romeo and Juliet (Queensland Ballet)

Romeo and Juliet Student ballet production

The Silver Rose

The Secret Love Life of Ophelia

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco

Under Milk Wood

Vis-a-Vis: Moving Stories

Where the Heart Is

www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Earlier reviews

Under Milk Wood  
Fractal Theatre (Old Museum)

This is a superb presentation of Dylan Thomas’ portrayal of love, hate, sex, death and life in a small Welsh village.

The play begins in a large hall at the Old Museum in Bowen Hills. The two principal narrators, First Voice (Norman Doyle) and Second Voice (Niki-J Price) gather the audience to stand around them for the first brief introductory verses of the play, then lead the audience outside, down a long cloister, and into the main stage. Six raised platforms with silent, still actors surround the the straw-covered floor, where some audience members stand, while others sit on the seats around the edge. The sound of water lapping against a shore plays and the ceiling is filled with a pattern of blue light, while the Voices begin to tell us about the dreams of the people of Llareggub.

As we hear about those dreams, the characters from them move among the audience. By this stage it’s already clear this is an ambitious technical production, and not just for the sake of clever tricks, but to barrage the audience from all sides with visions and voices. The effect is to show the people of Llareggub as bursting with hopes and hatreds.

This continues throughout the play. To give one example, as Mog Edwards (Kashmir Sinnamon) hears a love letter from Myfanwy Price (Siobahn Kissel) read aloud by postman Willy Nilly (Daniel Eden), Edwards stands on one platform with Willy Nilly in front of it, while Price stands on another platform a good five metres away, miming what is being read out. It's impossible to see both platforms at once, and if Under Milk Wood were an ordinary narrative play, this would be frustrating. But for a play that’s not so much about a story, but a mess of people and the chaotic striving of their lives, it works perfectly.

Two small parts of the play that stood out for me were Mr Pugh (Samuel Green), who is emotionally brutalised by his wife (Emily Hingst) and wants to poison her, while the ghosts of Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard’s (Jane Barry) two husbands (Finn Gilfedder-Cooney and Fletcher Thompson) are so afraid of her they argue with each other about who is to enter her dream first.

There are no props used in the play; the actors mime all their actions. That's not the end of the physicality of the performance either. Actors are carried around the stage, and jump and run, and in one spectacular scene where Lord Cut-Glass (Fletcher Thompson) listens to his “sixty-six clocks” in his kitchen, groups of actors stand on four of the raised platforms and pretend to be clocks. One actor has her legs around the neck of another who swings her from side to side, two actors form doors for a third to cuckoo out of, another two spin around each other, and yet another swivels at the waist while two more shoulder-stand on either side of him, legs raised in the air and bent at the knees. Mime and movement coach Eugene Gilfedder has trained his cast very well.

The two main songs in the play are gorgeous. Men sing a song in the Sailors Arms pub about being chimney-sweeps as boys, and earlier Polly Garter (Imogen Gilfedder-Cooney) mourns her lost love Wee Willie.

The actors playing the two Voices are professionals, while the rest of the cast are amateurs. Director Brenna-Lee Cooney has done a magnificent job lifting the standards of the young amateurs, almost all of whom must play several parts, while the voice coaches (Niki-J Price and Helen Howard) have taught them Welsh accents well. And a word must go to the sound and light operators, who were behind a black partly see-through curtain, with at least two of the raised platforms out of their view and with audience members directly in front of them on the same level. This must have meant a great deal of working from sound alone, which makes their job trickier.

Everyone involved with Under Milk Wood has done a great job bringing it to life. See it, to be washed away for an hour or two into the lives of people who lust, laugh, mourn, cry and aspire just like we do.

[Until 23 December]

— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 14th December 2010)
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Comment from Fractal Theatre: Thanks for sending along David to review the production. It is generally a lovely review — but there are unfortunately a few major inaccuracies.

Firstly — the cast are not 'amateurs' — Zoe Deplevitz, Jane Barry, Samuel Green and Sarah Wilson are all recent acting/drama graduates from USQ or QUT. Zoe in fact has also studied overseas. Kashmir Sinnamon is currently in full-time acting/drama degree at QUT. Finn and Imogen Gilfedder-Cooney have worked for Grin and Tonic. Siobhan Kissel is a former Harvest Rain performer. Only Elena Floyd-Smith and Fletcher Thompson have no former professional experience — but both have been members of Fractal Youth Theatre for nearly 10 years.

Also — Eugene Gilfedder trained the cast in Mime — but all the movement sequences and choreography were by Brenna Lee-Cooney.

We would really appreciate a correction as it is unfortunate to call actors amateurs when they have undergone extensive professional training and have worked as professional actors.

Thanks so much.

— Eugene Gilfedder & Brenna Lee-Cooney


Reviewer's response: I've been informed by Fractal that some of the actors I called amateurs are in fact professionals.

Finn Gilfedder-Cooney and Imogen Gilfedder-Cooney have worked for the Grin and Tonic theatre company, and Siobhan Kissel has performed with Harvest Rain theatre company.

Additionally, Zoe Deplevitz, Jane Barry, Samuel Green and Sarah Wilson have recently graduated from tertiary acting or drama courses, and Kashmir Sinnamon is currently studying in such a course full-time.

Fractal Theatre also advises that the choreography was by Brenna Lee-Cooney.

I apologise for the error.



Editor's comment: A pity amateur is seen as a put-down. The word's French (and Latin) origin denotes one who loves what they do.


www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
The Nutcracker  
Queensland Ballet (Lyric Theatre)


Consider the characters from that Christmastime favourite tale The Nutcracker — The Rats, a King, a Prince and a Princess. No, this is not an allegory for 2010 politics in Australia. It is a charming children's tale fit to delight.

It is a night of triumph for Teri Crilly, who dances the lead role of Clara with youthful joy and exuberance. She leads us with vigour through a willing suspension of disbelief into a world of dreams and magic.

Ballet lovers used to seeing Rachael Walsh in the lead female role may take comfort from her magnificent performance as Clara's older sister Sophia and as the majestic Snow Queen. Her dancing is a study in grace and beauty.

At a Christmas party Clara, the youngest child, is particularly fascinated by Drosselmeyer danced by Nathan Scicluna. His present to her is a nutcracker doll of her own. After the Christmas party the family retires to bed. Clara, still excited, comes back downstairs to play with the puppet theatre.

At the stroke midnight magic is let loose — the room changes shape and enormous rats invade. The toy soldiers grow and, led by the nutcracker, fight and defeat the rats.

In the second act, Drosselmeyer's magic leads Clara to be transported to the corners of the world. It is impossible not to love the clowns, the Chinese Dance and the famous Waltz of the Flowers. The climax of the second act is the Grand Pas de Deux Adagio danced masterfully by Clare Morehen and Christian Tatchev.

This is not a ballet of highly original, innovative choreography. It is a good old favourite for yuletide.

Tchaikovsky's music remains as spellbinding as ever. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra plays beautifully under Andrew MogreliaÕs conducting. He returns next year for a ballet gala in April and for Swan Lake in December.

The gifted dancers in the corps de ballet demonstrate an admirable depth of talent in this company.

The original ballet story of The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman was considered too morbid for children, but Alexandre Dumas's rewriting gives it optimism and happiness. In this story, unlike so often in life, the Rats do not win.


Choreography and Direction by Francois Klaus
Conductor: Andrew Mogrelia
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Set Designer: Graham Maclean
Costume Designer: Noelene Hill
Lighting Designer: David Walters
Music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choir: St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly
Running time: 2 hours with a 20 minute interval
Performances from 11 to 18 December 2010


— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 11th December 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Furious Angels  
The Independents 2010 (Metro Arts Theatre)

David Burton's play Furious Angels uses the words of others far too much to be satisfying, but the challenge it presents to the single actor who must play its five different parts is well met by Daniel Mulvihill at the Metro Arts production.

The play is set in a mental hospital in the 1930s, where its chief, Dr Aintel, is in danger of losing his dominance, and maybe even his job as new methods of treating the mentally ill overtake his old-fashioned ideas. A new machine is about to arrive, and Dizzy, a patient who can see all of history and space, ponders if it will change everything, or be a tool for "keeping everything the same, evermore".

Lenore, a kind nurse, falls in love with a new patient, Will, who becomes Dizzy's cellmate. She tries to help Will escape, but the insanely jealous Dr Aintel discovers the plot and imposes a terrible punishment on both Will and Lenore. Meanwhile a narrator explains the action to the audience.

The plot seems secondary to Burton's ideas on life and sanity. This in itself doesn't mean the play has to fail, but far too much of the play comes from elsewhere. Shakespeare is liberally quoted, including lines that were already used in the musical Hair, and near the end of the play Dizzy recites several verses of Poe's The Raven. This seems like a fairly stale device, which obscures the author's original insights.

To me the biggest problem with Furious Angels is that I donÕt know what the author actually thinks, or wanted me to think about. Some of the ideas I think Burton might be provoking are "The insane are really the sane ones", "We all have a dual nature" or "There is just as much evil in you as in a villain". As someone who's been hospitalised with severe depression several times I reject the first, and the other two seem unoriginal enough to not really justify an hour-long play.

Despite my criticism of the play itself, Daniel Mulvihill does a very good job working with difficult material. He plays all five parts so they are easy to tell apart, but without mere caricature. He has very little to help him; the stage is bare except for a chair, the only other prop is a letter and his plain white costume puts all the attention on his skills. For just over an hour it's him alone on stage, and if the watchers find the play as unsatisfying as I do, then they may be sure they have at least seen an actor who has put all his heart into making it as good as it can be.


— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 4th November 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
BUGfest: A Festival of Short Plays  
Underground Productions (Schonell Theatre)

A workplace comedy about fairies, dwarves and wizards, a psychological piece about a young man dealing with his relationships, and a short look at two interstellar heroes as death approaches are the standouts at BUGfest, a season of seven short plays presented by Brisbane Underground Productions.

Lizzy King's Magic Inc. neatly ties together the woes of the workplace; even this workplace, employing fairies, a dwarf, and a pothead wizard has all the problems of a mundane job. Rachael the fairy (Jamila Hall) is about to get fired, which seems odd as Blossom, another, overly-happy fairy, played by Rosie Fundar, has just been hired and spends a suspicious amount of time with the boss. Grumpy the dwarf (Alex Smith) is a pleasant soul indeed; the only thing that makes him very angry is the suggestion that dwarves' names must match their dispositions. Ned the wizard (Guy Brunel) spends the whole day stoned while Maxwell (Tom Walter), a fairy who explains he is in fact a fairy, explains the way of this workplace to Blossom. King takes what could be a preachy, boring topic, the oppressive and unfair nature of work, and makes it funny with absurd commentary and over-the-top characters.

Jeremy Wood's Break at the Bend is a little confusing in parts, but has some genuinely touching moments between Chris (Tom Galloway) and his girlfriend Grace (Sophie McBean). The action jumps between Chris and Grace swinging from tenderness to anger as they deal with a gradually-revealed tension and Chris at a session with an analyst (uncredited). ItÕs the way the analystsÕ sessions are dealt with that leads to some confusion; the author may need to rethink this way of presenting inner psychological conflict, although clearly some effort had gone into making it as clear as possible. On the other hand, maybe the author wanted people to feel confused; by the end of the play things were clear, so maybe this was a message that we just have to work at understanding what is presented to us.

Tail of The Tale: Saviours of the World and Destroyers of Stars by Tim Hutton sees two heroes, Jean (Meg McKimmie) and Scott (Christos Mourtzakis) face death at the end of an adventure in which they've saved the world in two different time-streams. There are some technical problems; the actors simply could not be heard over the sound effects in the first minute or so, although it was obvious they were in a ship that was having a big crisis. McKimmie doesn't seem commanding enough to captain a spaceship to me, and the literary references towards the end felt tacked-on. But these problems are put in their place by the sparks of affection and clear friendship the two characters have for each other, the anger and fear that increases as it looks less and less likely they will be re-rescued from their crippled spaceship, and the message that life is worth living, no matter how we die.

Two other actors who deserve a mention are Jeremy Wood and Cecelia Devlin as the appalling Mr and Mrs Sturling in Clive McAlpine's The Luggage. Wood perfectly plays an arrogant, loud bully with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. I loathed him from the first words he spoke. Devlin plays Mrs Sturling well, as a woman who takes the emotional bullying she gets from her husband and turns it into brittle, politely-expressed hatred for him and anyone else her nervy personality can aim it at.

BUGfest is playing until 31 October.


— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 28th October 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Aida  
Opera Queensland (Lyric Theatre)

An absolutely sumptuous production, Graeme Murphy's Aida is a feast for the senses, with the vivid colour and movement of the show complementing Verdi's richly textured music.

This is opera on a grand scale, with all sorts of amazing devices giving an original take on how to achieve the grandeur that audiences have come to expect.

The Nile flows before us, mirroring those who sail or swim or wash in it. Parallel with the river, two moving beltways allow characters and armies to glide on and off the stage from both directions.

Vast sets with mixtures of ancient and almost comic book design appear from above while whole groups of people emerge and then vanish into the depths. The grand march features a combination of human and cut-out characters with similar stylised chariots and horses, evoking temple friezes.

Projected images give us anything from hieroglyphs to Hubble-type images of the galaxies, apparent mirroring of dancers, blazing suns and fireworks aplenty.

Never has an opera looked more like a ballet, helped along of course by Verdi's inclusion of a great deal of dance, but bursting into previously unimagined areas with Murphy at the helm.

Indeed, at one point the ambience of graceful movement is such that it is almost a disappointment when Radames walks onto the stage, rather than pirouetting on and doing a few leaps.

As to the costumes -- there's gold and glitter aplenty, shimmering gowns and headdresses, everything that a fantasy of the court of the pharaohs would conjure up. Dancers with falcon heads represent the sky god Horus while others fly about with beautiful wings.

So, thanks to the talents of the production team, it would be a great night out, even with the sound on mute! But of course everything visual in an opera is ultimately icing on the cake (which is why recordings of opera have outlasted silent movie versions!), and Opera Queensland's singers and musicians have produced a rich cake indeed.

The principals, most of whom are new to Opera Queensland audiences, are a well-matched group of singers. As the doomed princess, Zara Barrett gives a well-controlled and vocally pleasing performance. In particular she shows her mettle in the challenging duets with her father and her lover in the second half.

As Radames, Julian Gavin gives a confident and beautifully rounded performance, hitting his straps right from the start in "Celeste Aida". Perhaps a little wooden in his acting, yet he accomplishes the range of challenges presented to him with consistency.

Serbian mezzo Milijana Nikolic is a fiery princess Amneris, her richly mellow voice complementing Barrett's soprano. Baritone Ian Vayne gives the role of the Ethiopian king and Aida's father Amonasro the correct level of authority and political cunning, with fine vocal quality. James Clayton is a commanding pharaoh, while fellow bass Alexey Tikhomirov brings his resonant Russian voice to the role of high priest Ramfis. Bradley Dailey does his usual fine job as messenger, while Lecia Robertson contributes from the wings as the high priestess.

The 56-voice chorus sing their multi-line music with great robustness. What a great job Narelle French assisted by Jillianne Stoll have done in preparing them vocally, while revival director Shane Placentino and his colleagues have succeeded in marshalling the troops effectively.

Under Peter Robinson's direction the Queensland Orchestra give a wonderful interpretation of Verdi's challenging orchestration. Given the immediate response to think brass when we think Aida, it is nice to be reminded of the beauteous and complex string score, particularly in early scenes. And special mention must go to the on-stage trumpeters who on their long instruments belted out the triumphal music while togged up as Egyptians with great confidence and style.

Of course the greater part of Aida is "chamber opera" in style, and the segues from grand to small work very well.

What's negative about Aida? Well, whether it's the remoteness of ancient Egypt, or, more likely, the lack of dramatic skills on the part of writers du Locle and Ghislanzoni, Aida isn't as emotionally engaging as such other great Verdi operas as Traviata or Rigoletto. The characters are rather one-dimensional, and one can observe but not especially feel their torments.

Still, there's little that any production can do to remedy this, and it's very grand indeed that we can have the opportunity to see such a splendid production with such visual and auditory riches.



— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 23rd October 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Richard III  
Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble (Roma Street Parklands)

Creative staging, live music, actors who seem to live their characters and good background info in the program make Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble's Richard III a wonderful look into the psychology of lies and brutal power politics, wrapped up by one of history's greatest flatterers into a morality tale serving the interests of his current masters.

The play is staged at the amphitheatre at the Roma Street Parklands. Instead of the audience sitting on the amphitheatre seats, rows of chairs are placed on what is usually the back of the stage. This means the actors are on the same level as the audience, and the action is right up close; you can lean in and almost be a part of the conversations. The sparse stage begins with only a table on the left and a throne on the right, and battlements at the back.

As the audience enters, a violinist plays vaguely folky-pop tunes on the far right of the stage. Other live music during the play is provided by two guitars, drums and a keyboard. The music was very effective. At the opening of the play, the entire cast enters and walks around the stage singing Shakespeare's sonnet "My Mistress' Eyes", and in the murder scenes the tension is raised by a slow drum beat, increasing its speed as the moment of mortal danger approaches.

Pensalfini did not overplay the grotesque looks Shakespeare claimed the title character posessed, rather playing him with his left arm tucked behind his back to represent its withered state, and walking with a limp. He plays to the audience beautifully, barely a metre away at times as he confides his true nature after successfully fooling other characters. I laughed out loud as Richard was discovered pretending to be at prayer so he would seem like someone who should be crowned King. He stands between two priests with a grin on his face like a cat who has been at the cream. As his ally Buckingham (Ben Prindable) pretends to beg him to take the throne for the good of the country, Richards fake innocence and surprise are delightful to watch.

Rhys Ward plays a smug and self-assured Catesby, dripping contempt for the other characters with subtle expressions, while Louise Brehmer as Queen Elizabeth is convincing as the middle-class woman on the rise whose new position is devastated by the deadly twists and turns of a mediaeval palace. All these three have clearly not just memorised their lines, but entered the hearts of their characters, so that the meaning of the potentially confusing and archaic language is perfectly clear as they snarl at each other and manoeuvre for position and advantage. Jane Cameron as Queen Margaret and Walter Sofronoff as both King Edward IV and James Tyrell also stood out with superb performances.

The guide to the characters in the program is extremely useful. There are as many characters as a modern soap opera, and their reasons for hating each other are just as varied and complex. The brief historical background to each character lets you understand who is allied to whom, who has wronged each other in the past and why. As I have never seen the play before, and don't know the history of the Wars of the Roses very well, I was constantly checking the guide to help me keep the story straight.

Of course, Shakespeare's version of the rise and fall of Richard III has about as much resemblance to reality as, say, a book about a modern prime minister written by his lover. But even given that Shakespeare was serving the interests of the Tudor dynasty by defaming the king whom the first Tudor had deposed, this production bursts with life, death, power and ambition. An excellent job by the cast and director Tom McSweeny.


Richard III is at the Roma Street Parklands Amphitheatre until October 31.


— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 7th October 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Fonteyn Remembered  
Queensland Ballet (Playhouse, QPAC)

The Queensland Ballet's tribute to Dame Margot Fonteyn takes us on a nostalgic journey through twentieth century ballet.

Beauty, high art, stardom — that is the stuff of this remarkable story.

We are introduced to little Peggy Hookham (danced finely by Jessica Brown) as a girl growing up in Shanghai in the late 1920s amidst an exotic street scene of fan dancers, acrobats and a lion. Who could guess that this young girl would later become the international superstar that was Dame Margot Fonteyn? We join the young ballerina in China taking ballet lessons from the Russian George Goncharov (Keian Langdon).

The audience is then whisked across the world with the precocious fourteen year old to London in 1933 where she starts taking lessons with Princess Serafina Astafieva (Tamara Zurvas) and later with Vera Volkova of Sadler's Wells Ballet School.

Dame Margot's story is told by celebrated Queensland actors Bille Brown, Carol Burns and Eugene Gilfedder. The Queensland Ballet earlier this year combined acting and ballet in Vis a Vis: Moving Stories?. The drama-dance chemistry works well and brings the narrative to life.

These actors display a mastery of a number of characters throughout the production — particularly the artistic trio of choreographer Frederick Ashton (Eugene Gilfedder), Saddler's Wells' ballet director Ninette de Valois (Carol Burns) and composer Constant Lambert (Bille Brown). We are indeed fortunate to have these three greats of Queensland theatre bring dramatic zest to this story. There can be few more daunting roles in ballet that of Dame Margot Fonteyn, named by the Royal Ballet in England upon her retirement in 1979 as "prima ballerina assoluta". Rachael Walsh rises to the occasion with a sublime performance. She dances exquisitely the role of Giselle, protecting her beloved betrayer, Albrecht (Alex Wagner) against the vengeful power of the Queen of the Willis (danced with strength by Clare Morehen).

Rachael Walsh shows her versatility throughout, not least in the beautiful pas de deux from Lady of the Camellias with Rudoph Nureyev (Christian Tatchev). Fonteyn, the mature English belle, and Nureyev, the young Russian defector, stunned the ballet world in the 1960s and '70s — the celebrity duo of the age.

This story of Fonteyn's life does not gloss over the dark phase of her life, including gun-running and arrest as part of her then husband Tito's involvement in fomenting revolt against the President of Panama in 1959. Indeed, the production engages in some black comedy by treating the scene as a farcical interlude between pirates and ballerinas, led by Teri Crilly who displays a genuine comedic talent.

It is good to see the traditions of ballet being honoured. One hopes that in due course we can see a similar celebration of the work of great Queensland ballerinas such as Michelle Giamichele and Rosetta Cook.

This production is entertaining and rewarding on a number of levels. The initial idea came from Des Power. His background in film and television has undoubtedly encouraged experimentation with the use of projected scenery. As Francois Klaus has noted this can sometimes overpower performers, making them appear minuscule in front of a large screen, but on this occasion the actors and dancers are larger than life and revel in the grand scale of the backdrop images.

Margot Fonteyn once observed: "Life forms illogical patterns. It is haphazard and full of beauties which I try to catch as they fly by, for who knows whether any of them will ever return."

This story told by the Queensland Ballet, particularly through the exquisite performance of Rachael Walsh, returns us fleetingly into Fonteyn's world — a life "haphazard and full of beauties".


Choreography and direction by Francois Klaus based on an idea originated by Des Power
Music director and arranger: Craig Allister Young
Synopsis development: David Walters, Francois Klaus and Robyn White
Writers: Sue Rider (Dialogue), Des Power, Francois Klaus
Set and imagery Design: Grahame Maclean
Costume design: Noelene Hill
Lighting and projection design: David Waters
Digital images: Phil Donahue
Projection programming: Dan Cook
Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes with a 20 minute interval

Performances from 2 to 16 October 2010

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 2nd October 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
Don Quixote  
Ballet Nacional de Cuba / Brisbane Festival (Lyric Theatre)

Fidel Castro — the ballet? No, that would be about a crazy old idealist tilting at windmills whereas this production is about ... well, it's about love!

A standing ovation from the opening night Brisbane audience greeted this exuberant triumph of young love over oppression.

In 1615 Miguel de Cervantes published his story of the retired country gentleman Alonso Quixano nearing 50 years of age, obsessed with chivalry, who dons a suit of armour and sets out as a knight-errant "Don Quixote of La Mancha" in a quest for adventure and besotted by the image of his beautiful, beloved Dulcinea. As Cervantes wrote,"the order of knight-errantry was instituted to defend maidens, to protect widows, and to rescue orphans and distressed persons".

The Cuban National Ballet make this theme pulse in the spring of contemporary Brisbane just as it did in the Iberian peninsula four centuries ago. The Cuban theme is taken up throughout QPAC with Cuban singers outside, Latin late night dancing, Cuban drinks at the bar and Cuban specials on the restaurant menu. Ole!

This production is set in early 19th century Spain which has been invaded by the French (remember the Bay of Pigs?). The noble knight reponds to the pleas of the townspeople to defend love, freedom and justice (Fidel reconstructed?). A Frenchified nobleman Camacho has come to ask Lorenzo, the innkeeper for the hand of his daughter, Kitri the Beautiful (danced exquisitely by Viengsay Valdez) but she loves a humble barber, Basilio. Don Quixote defends the cause of true love despite the power and money of the nobleman (sanctions?).

A rich sense of colour pervades the performance. The first act starts with the pastels of village life and is later charged with the red and gold of the bullfighters. The second act abounds in fluoro colours amidst the mysterious world of gypsies and Dryads, the nymphs who preside over the groves and forests. The third act dazzles with a glittering white.

The night really belongs to Viengsay Valdez who makes the role of Kitri the Beautiful come alive with sheer virtuosity. She brings an infectious vigour, glee and self-confidence to her first act pas de deux with her barber boyfriend Basilio (danced ably by Elier Bouzac). In the second act her pas de deux with Don Quixote (Leandro Perez) is the epitome of floating grace. In her third act pas de deux with Basilio she achieves spectacular stillness unsupported en pointe which leaves the audience gasping then roaring with admiration.

Leandro Perez dances the title role well, particularly in the second act pas de deux. He takes us back to the quesion, "What do men see?", as he dances with Kitri (Viengsay Valdez) but sees Dulcinea his Loving Ideal (Carolina Garcia) who dances a mirror image back-to-back with Kitri. Like many men Quixote sees what he wishes to see. His chubby squire Sancho Panza (Javier Sanchez) is a faithful offsider and brings an earthiness to this idealistic journey, helping Don Quixote after his unfortunate brush with a windmill in the second act.

The choreography is by the Cuban National Ballet director Alicia Alonso after the original by Marius Petipa and the version by Alexander Gorsky. Alonso is a revered figure in Cuban ballet celebrating her 90th birthday this year. A video tribute to her precedes the performance.

The corps be ballet took a little while to get into the swing of things in the first act but their roles as gypsies and Dryads in the second act brought out the Latin flair which this company brings to the world of dance.

The Queensland Orchestra plays Ludwig Minkus' score with passion under conductor Giovanni Duarte and Concert Master Warwick Adeney.

This ballet is well known to Australian audiences. In 1970 Sir Robert Helpmann danced the title role and persuaded Rudolf Nureyev to dance the role of Basilio in the Australian Ballet production. In 1972 they made the acclaimed film version in Melbourne's Essendon Airport hangar over 25 days in sweltering 40 degree heat. That film helped to establish the Australian Ballet's reputation among the world's great ballet companies.

Who can explain the paradox that is Don Quixote and why this story still fascinates us four centuries on? We have a desperate need for old folk not to "go gentle into that good night". But what good reason could there be for going crazy? Cervantes answers en pointe in this love-charged ballet:

"'That's exactly it,' replied Don Quixote, 'that's just how beautifully I've worked it all out -- because for a knight errant to go crazy for good reason, how much is that worth? My idea is to become a lunatic for no good reason at all.'"


Choreography by Alicia Alonso after the original by Marius Petipa and the version by Alexander Gorsky.

Music by Ludwig Minkus performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with conductor Giovanni Duarte and Concertmaster Warwick Adeney.

Set and Costume Design by Salvador Fernandez

Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes with two intervals of 20 minutes

24th September until 3rd October 2010 at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 24th September 2010)
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www.STAGEDIARY.com: Queensland's Online Stage Magazine
The Marriage of Figaro  
Brisbane Festival (Opera Queensland/Queensland Orchestra) / Eagle Farm

To the west a smiling moon and a shining Venus looked down approvingly, as did Jupiter, a "bringer of jollity", in the east. In the distance tiny illuminated aircraft glided in to land at Eagle Farm airport. The stage was set for the Brisbane Festival's "opera under the stars", a free open-air performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at Eagle Farm racecourse.

Baffled punters heading home late from having their fortunes made or lost by the gallopers may have been perplexed by the sounds emanating from the track, while an audience of thousands filled the venerable St Leger stand and formed a human blanket on the spacious grass, with picnics and wines to hand.

Initial auguries were not good. Recorded music of a distinctly non-Mozartian flavour filled the air in the run-up to the performance, even pulsating relentlessly as the musicians tuned their instruments. Perhaps this was the explanation for a less than distinguished rendition of the famous overture, little helped and indeed more likely caused by amplification which favoured the bass and distorted the brass.

Even the most charitable observer could not describe the production as flawless, but fortunately the most noticeable lapses were earlier in the piece and quickly forgotten. At times several performers had different ideas from conductor Nicholas Braithwaite as to pace, and it was clear the production would have benefited from more rehearsal time. But all in all the audience was treated to a feast of Opera Queensland talent, with many fine performances, together with good backing from the Queensland Orchestra.

In the role of Figaro, Andrew Collis gave his usual reliable and assured performance throughout. So too did Sarah Crane as Suzanna. Douglas McNicol was a very solid and convincing Count, and Gaynor Morgan splendid as his Countess, with a particularly lovely "Dove sono" aria. Veteran bass baritone Donald Shanks as Dr Bartolo sang a disappointing "revenge" aria, with imperfect intonation, although he later provided a firm anchor in ensembles.

Hayley Sugars gave us a very good Cherubino, with lovely depth of tone in her beautiful "Voi che sapete". I also liked Roxane Hislop's Marcellina. Bradley Daley was a beautifully sonorous and mischief-making Don Basilio, while Virgilio Marino added nicely to the tenor team as Don Curzio. Guy Booth, complete with flowerpot (one of the few props in this concert performance) was a fitting Antonio.

Meanwhile, one of the great discoveries of the night was the comely Milica Ilic as Barbarina, singing with great confidence and making her small part very memorable.

Mozart asks them to do little, but the Opera Queensland chorus did that little very well.

It was also a nice change to hear the opera sung in English, with a good translation of the libretto which the singers enunciated well.

Joining the dots was the ABC's Christopher Lawrence as narrator, and I must say this was the best linking narration to a musical performance I've heard. With the recitatives stripped out of the production, Lawrence as MC eschewed the usual ponderous plot descriptions and with wit and irreverence introduced arias with as much as was needed to tell the audience what was happening.

And he raised quite a few laughs. The upstairs-downstairs shenanigans of the opera were linked to the current woes of David Jones' former chief executive, while the Mexican Lawrence had even boned up on local knowledge. The count's garden, he declared, was far too small — he had seen bigger ones in Kenmore. This one, he opined, was only as big as an Ascot ensuite!

It was all good fun, with a production that could be greatly enjoyed and appreciated by opera tragics as well as novices to the great art.


— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 11th September 2010)
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Macbeth  
New Farm Nash Theatre

From the moment I opened the program for Nash Theatre's production of Macbeth, it was obvious a lot of thought had gone into the play.

A brief analysis of the contradictions between the play and historical reality, a quick mention of the way Shakespeare servilely boosted the family myth of the new King James I of England, and a discussion of the way accusations of "witch" were used to kill off unwanted women graced the inside cover. It was clear I was in the presence of a knowledgeable, passionate director.

Director Brenda White had a clear vision from the very opening scene with the three witches. Clad in purple cloaks which matched the colours of the scenery, they were deliberately eroticised, making clear the fear of female sexuality which drove much anti-witch hysteria in Shakespeare's time. Their accents and characterisations were over the top for my taste, but I'm a fan of the matter-of-fact witches in Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, so you might think differently.

Soon we met Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth's arrogant yet nervy nature was well brought out by Dan Lane as he met the witches who prophesied he would would soon be raised to the titles of Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. When the first prophecy is fulfilled immediately, we see the fear that will eventually bring about Macbeth's demise.

Rebecca Roebuck-Malone, as Lady Macbeth, dresses in a cloak of the same stuff as the witches' cloaks, visually linking her ambition to the evil of the witches' feminine wiles. And as Macbeth tells her of the witches' prophecy she's excited, kissing and nuzzling her husband passionately. Even though she famously begs that her feminine weakness be taken from her so that her ambition can be fulfilled, the hatred and fear of women common in Shakespeare's time spills over, wonderfully drawn out by the director.

The relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband dominates the play. He's almost too cowardly to murder King Duncan and seize the crown, but he wants to be king. She holds him together with emotional blackmail, while behind his back she is just as afraid as he is of the consequences of their king-killing. And he knows, when he starts to hallucinate daggers in the air, that he'll have to hide his fear from his wife forever, if he wants to avoid her scorn.

The other actor who really conquers his part is David Law as Macduff. He, along with Lane and Roebuck-Malone seem to have buried themselves in their parts long enough and well enough to feel their characters from the inside. In a play with language so unnatural to our modern ears, this is crucial if the actors are not going to sound like they are merely reciting their lines.

It also means that they are able to be their characters, to adjust their personalities so that they project the impression of a coward who wants it all, an ambitious "unnatural" woman, and a not-very-bright noble, full of righteous rage at the overturning of the natural order of authority.

— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 4th September 2010)
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Romeo and Juliet  
Queensland National Ballet (Old Museum)

There were plenty of pirouettes, plies and pointes in the Queensland National Ballet's student performance of Romeo and Juliet at the concert hall in the Old Museum building in Brisbane.

Director and choreographer Martyn Fleming's interpretation of William Shakespeare's play and its most recent film version brought together the old and the new, the classic and contemporary.

Most of the ballet was danced to music from the 1996 Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet movie soundtrack, which lent a modern feel to the performance.

In the opening scene Everclear's song "Local God" blasted out as dancers leapt around the stage, depicting the fights between the Montagues and the Capulets. Fast-paced and rebellious, it was a great way to start the performance and get the attention of the audience.

The dancing was of a very high quality, most notably that of the principals. Both Juliet, danced by Saraphina Irvin, and Romeo, Jacob Robinson, were outstanding. They moved together as one and the emotion their characters felt for one another was clearly expressed in their moves. Their dances involved many lifts, which they executed with grace and poise.

Anita Brittingham and Zachary Horvat performed in the roles of JulietÂ’s parents, Lady and Lord Capulet. Their anger and despair at seeing their daughter with Romeo, a Montague, was portrayed with conviction. They both commanded the stage, with dramatic turns, leaps and lifts.

There were a couple of outstanding scenes during the performance, one being the dancing at the masquerade ball. Rows of dancers in ball gowns moved together in unison, masks covering their faces, to Sergei Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights" music.

Prokofiev's music was written for the classic Romeo and Juliet ballet in the 1930s. Its strong horns and bass and melodic line created a dark and emotionally charged atmosphere.

Another dramatic scene was the sword fight between Romeo and Tybalt (Caleb Irvin), Juliet's cousin. Music with a heavy beat and frenetic energy played as the two men fought to the death.

Fleming choreographed this scene to perfection. The sword fight became part of the dance, with both characters jumping and leaping out of the way of the other's sword. The audience sat, tense in their seats, waiting for the outcome.

The costumes of the dancers were varied and colourful. In place of the traditional tutu there were sequinned mini-dresses, ball gowns, jeans and singlet, with the simple leotard also making an appearance.

While the set was very basic and gave the production an amateurish feel it didn't detract from the professional performance of the dancers. Each one gave their utmost and it was easy to forget that they were students, and not professional ballet dancers.

Queensland National Ballet's production was a great success and one of which all the students and their teachers should feel very proud.


— Natalie Hart

(Performance seen: 14th August 2010)
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The Secret Love Life of Ophelia  
Fractal Theatre (Metro Arts Theatre Studio)

Reading between the lines of Shakespeare's Hamlet there is little doubt that the prince of Denmark had his way with the daughter of the king's minister, Polonius — or at least tried to.

Steven Berkoff speculates about the possibilities in this clever parallelquel* to Hamlet, reminiscent of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

The lovelorn couple communicate via letters, penning their thoughts which are whisked away like emails. (Imogen Gilfedder-Cooney supplies suitable sound effects on the violin.)

The "16 plus" warning relates to the rather raunchy poetry that emerges from each of the lover's pens. The none-too-subtle metaphors for erotic bliss are piled on relentlessly, as if plundering the text of Eric Partridge's Shakespeare's Bawdy. In essence, the quill-wielding couple engage in a prolonged burst of 16th Century cyber-sex.

The acting, in this challenging two-hander, is invariably of a high quality. Mary Eggleston convincingly portrays Opehlia's vulnerability and secret yearnings, with kaleidoscopic mood changes.

Veteran actor Eugene Gilfedder is a mature Hamlet (after all, he played the prince's father and uncle the last time he acted in Hamlet), but this in no sense is a distraction. Indeed, he presents as rather a juvenile love-sick fool. (On this reading it is easy to see why Hamlet was passed over for the crown when his father died unexpectedly.) Gilfedder acts with passion and a crazed frenzy.

Berkoff's blank verse is effective in communicating the lovers' passion in poetic cadences. Berkoff is steeped in Shakespeare's words, having put together and acted in Shakespeare's Villains, which toured Australia five years ago.

Yet, even good dramatists like Berkoff pale in the glow of the Bard's brilliance — and this is never more clear than when occasional snatches of Shakespeare interpolate — it would be a little like including some passages by Mozart in a Salieri concerto.

Sequels, prequels, paraquels are rather a good idea, for in addition to their own artistic merit, they give us cause to reflect on the classic they are embellishing.

In this particular parallel universe, Hamlet apologises for his conduct during the "get thee to a nunnery" exchange in Shakespeare's play. Ophelia, meanwhile, gives vent to her resentment at the control and interference of her father.

She also shows her anger and regret that Hamlet is probably destined to marry a woman of royal blood, and hence that their affair is doomed — a conviction (in Shakespeare's play) held by her father and brother, who warn her off Hamlet. (It is sadly ironic that Queen Gertrude had in fact expected Ophelia to wed her son — "I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife; I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, and not have strew'd thy grave.")

Berkoff explores, too briefly, the agony Ophelia feels at the fatal stabbing of her father by her lover, suggesting this excruciating cognitive dissonance as the source of her madness. Her anguish evokes Juliet's torment when Romeo slays a member of her family — "beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical! dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb!" (Juliet, more grounded than Ophelia, resolves the tension by siding with her husband.)

But while thought-provoking, I find it difficult to accept that Hamlet would have been feverishly writing letters to Ophelia in the midst of all the other things he was up to after the Ghost's revelation. Moreover, Shakespeare's Hamlet betrays little evidence that he gave poor Ophelia much thought at all.

Credit must go to director Brenna Lee-Cooney for a disciplined production. Freddy Komp's visuals (stills and video projected onto a small screen above the stage) add to the surreal and dream-like effect, and the soundscape (adapted from George Crumb's "Black Angels") is excellent in its eeriness and performance.

— John Henningham


* I congratulated myself for having coined this word, but my research student, a Dr G. Oogle, corrected me on this point.

(Performance seen: 6th August 2010)
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The Merry Widow  
Opera Queensland (Conservatorium Theatre)

A nostalgic journey for rusted-on light opera fans while offering much to attract younger theatre-goers, Opera Queensland's new production of The Merry Widow is an evening full of charm.

Anna Sweeny's direction succeeds in commununicating the dazzling world of the late Austro-Hungarian empire, or at least the aristocratic part of it, while emphasising eternal human themes. The various naughty wives and their admirers entertain us with their indiscretions. At the same time, in what is basically a light comedy, there are some genuinely touching moments in the interplay between Antoinette Halloran's merry widow (die lustige Witwe!) and Jason Barry-Smith's Count Danilo as they strive to understand each other's feelings as well as their own.

Antoinette Halloran and Jason Barry-Smith make an ideal pairing as the lovelorn couple, well balanced in their performances overall, and sumptuously attired.

While some performers are fairly wooden in the first act, things liven up considerably as the show warms up. Geoffrey Harris as the baron develops his comedic talents, while Bradley Daley's confidence as Camille really blossoms. Sarah Crane as Valencienne is quite dazzling throughout.

The operetta features a whole bevy of smaller principal roles, many of them filled with familiar members of the Opera Queensland company. They work well together, especially in their singing, although in the extended passages of dialogue some perform less well as straight actors. However the ensemble singing involving chorus and the large number of principals produces a very robust and well-harmonised sound.

One Opera Queensland singer who is an acting natural is talented tenor Virgilio Marino in the non-singing role of embassy secretary Njegus. He can radiate a wealth of meaning with a single raised eyebrow.

Ballroom and dance routines are carried off well, with the highlight the gentlemen's can-can. Barry-Smith impresses with his controlled singing after the vigorous carry-on.

Simone Romaniuk's design is fitting for this production, especially as it is to tour, with uncluttered but visually appealing sets and vibrant costumes, especially the Pontevedrian ethnic attire. Donn Byrnes' lighting adds to the effect, including minor pyrotechnics at the garden party.

The Queensland Orchestra under Kellie Dickerson produces Lehar's dreamy melodies as if they'd been doing it all their lives, bringing out many dimensions of the music that can only be appreciated in a live performance. Indeed, for those of a "certain age" it's great to hear Lehar's luscious waltz music evoking grand balls in Vienna and Budapest in those last days of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Much of it was well known to the general public through to the post World War II years (for example, getting a regular airing on Russ Tyson's mainstream ABC breakfast program), but I fear it has disappeared from the canon of mainstream Australia — even "Vilja" and "Chez Maxime".

The Merry Widow includes a theme of how a cultural group in exile strives to maintain its identity and to protect its future (tilting not so much at Paris as at Vienna). A splendid part of the show is the communal singing of a Slavonic dance song at the ducal birthday knees-up in the lead-up to "Vilja". Such music was no doubt deep in the soul of Lehar, was born in what is now Slovakia and whose music for this operetta incorporates folk melodies and musical styles from all over eastern regions of Europe.

For some interesting commentary on this point, see Raymond Knapp's chapter on Viennese opera in his recent book The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity.

The Merry Widow plays at the Conservatorium Theatre, Southbank, until 31st July then tours in Queensland throughout August for a series of one-night shows: Gold Coast (8th August), Toowoomba (10th), Maryborough (12th), Gladstone (14th), Rockhampton (17th), Mackay (19th) and Townsville (21st).
— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 10th July 2010)
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An Ideal Husband  
New Farm Nash Theatre

Director Nigel Munro-Wallis says it is Oscar Wilde's capacity to remain perennially relevant that make his work attractive.

An Ideal Husband involves the attempt by the wicked Mrs Cheveley (June Balfour) to blackmail the well-established bureaucrat (and ideal husband) Sir Robert Chiltern (John Ashton) in return for political favour.

Sadly, this topic is still as pertinent and caustic now as it was when Wilde wrote it more than a hundred years ago.

While the cunning wickedness is instantly recognisable, simple antique furniture on the mainly black stage reminds us that we are in another time.

And in a similar vein, the cast are clad in refreshingly simple black clothes adorned with vivid scarves, folding fans, aprons and socks to set them apart.

The sight of flamboyant slacker, Arthur Goring's (Peter Crees) shocking-pink socks is momentarily distracting but Wilde's wit soon grasps the fleeting minds. The audience laughs at all the right places.

Wilde ensured the dialogue was sharper than a sashimi-chef's blade and the plot had more twists than a barrister's wig.

An Ideal Husband reminds the young that Hollywood is not the sacred ground that conceived the comedy of never-ending disasters.

For those not familiar with the play, the Munro-Wallis makes it worthwhile to resist the temptation to read it before seeing it.

It is healthy to suffer with angst as Chiltern's situation becomes more and more tortuous.

While the theatre is modest and the set relatively simple, the performers have enough passion and conviction to take the audience away to another place.

And that's why theatre exists.

Sure, there were some small gaffes, but even Homer Simpson could count, on one hand, the number of times that the cast fumbled their lines.

Those purists should take a page from Arthur Goring's book, who shocked Lady Chiltern when he was uncharacteristically serious. “You must excuse me, Lady Chiltern. It won't occur again, if I can help it.”


An Ideal Husband plays at the New Farm Nash Theatre through to July 31.

— David Stuart

(Performance seen: 10th July 2010)
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Where the Heart Is  
Expressions Dance Company (Playhouse Theatre)



This production is a searing exposition of what it means to explore one’s home “where the heart is”.

Universal in its meaning, it is also exquisitely local in its Brisbane-based experience. The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh observed that all great art is parochial; so it is with this journey into the emotions of childhood and young adulthood.

This is Natalie WeirÂ’s first full-length work as artistic director of Expressions Dance Company. It builds significantly on her pilot work performed in August 2009 at the Judith Wright Centre.

Weir’s work draws on David Malouf’s celebrated Brisbane-based novel 12 Edmonstone Street. Weir captures in dance the mystery articulated by Malouf: “Except that memory, in leading us back, has turned us about. Memory is deeper than we are and has longer views.”

The audience goes on a journey with a young man (danced passionately by Richard Causer) as he re-visits his childhood home and relives challenging conflict with his father (Ryan Males) and the tender joys of interaction with his sweetheart (Samantha Mitchell).

Central to the emotional richness of the drama is his mother (Riannon McLean). In a commanding performance she holds together the storm and tempest of this fraught family. McLean demonstrates not only virtuosity in dance but also deep warmth and strength in her roles as wife and mother in moments when it seems that “the centre cannot hold”.

Just as MaloufÂ’s novel Johnno has come to be a Brisbane literary classic, so this work will become a classic of modern Brisbane dance.

The music of John Rodgers is performed live by Mark Hannaford (piano), Erkkie Veltheim (strings) and Pearly Black (vocals). There is an earthiness and an immediacy to their music.

Weir has a knack of expressing in dance the ideas and emotions of literature, just as she did in her earlier work Glass Heart based on Emily BronteÂ’s Wuthering Heights.

This conversation between the world of letters and the world of dance can only be good for the arts in Brisbane.

Choreography by Natalie Weir
Music by John Rodgers
Design by Bruce McKinven
Lighting Design by Matt Scott
Text – Excerpts from 12 Edmonstone Street by David Malouf
Duration: 70 minutes (no interval)
Playing from Friday 28 May 2010 to Saturday 5 June 2010

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 3rd June 2010)
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The Elixir of Love  
Opera Queensland (Lyric Theatre)

You've heard of date movies — this is a good "date opera". It's a frothy, entertaining piece about love unrequited but of course eventually requited, with lots of laughs on top of great musical performance. A work never staged before in Brisbane, this is a real charmer and a great start to Opera Queensland's 2010 season.

Director Simon Phillips' original production for Opera Australia (rehearsed for OQ by Christopher Dawes) is set on a pre-World War I outback farm, with lots of bucolic references and C.J. Denis-era Australianisms. The rural idyll is interrupted by the arrival of the cavalry, in the shape of the Australian Light Horse.

Elixir of Love tells of love-sick farm labourer Nemorino's desperate attempt to win the affections of the lovely Adina against the rivalry of cavalry officer Belcore. Nemorino invests a fortune in a love potion peddled to him by the conniving Dr Dulcamara — and surprisingly, it seems to do the trick.

Michael Scott-Mitchell's comic sets evoke an Aussie bush landscape, themed to an apparent outback fascination with corrugated iron — the hills, the sky, and even the horses and sheep appear to be constructed of this essential material. Galahs populate the telegraph wires, ducks are on the wing, a windmill sits on the hill, while sheep baa and cows moo from the sidelines.

Gabriela Tylesova's costume design gives us check-shirted farm labourers and beautifully-garbed straw-hatted and plaited maidens who might have stepped off the set of Oklahoma, together with the bold cavaliers in full rig complete with emu plumes. Nick Schlieper's lighting creates evocative moods for the shifts from sunny outdoors to twilight and shearing shed wedding scenes.

Natalie Jones, a comely Adina, sings with great sweetness and charm, while as Nemorino, Virgilio Marino's lovely light tenor voice is perfect in intonation, although outgunned by the two baritone voices. He does a lovely job with the show's big hit, "Una furtiva lagrima", an aria which Donizetti no doubt never imagined being sung from inside a chook house!

Jose Carbo sings and acts with military precision and strength as Belcore, while Andrew Collis is at his resonant and comic best as Dr Dulcamara. As village girl Giannetta, Emily Burke also sings and performs well, together with the large and lusty chorus, ably prepared by Narelle French.

The orchestra under Graham Abbott's direction gives an assured and full-bodied sound, if sometimes struggling to dampen their enthusiasm beneath some soloists.

There are some great ensemble performances, with my favourite duet that between Collis and Jones towards the end of the second act — superbly acted and sung by both, with lots of tricky embellishments.

The whole opera is rich in comic moments, such as the arrival from the distance of the cavalry and of the quack doctor's old van, each appearing to loom larger as they come up and down the background hills. And there's Virgilio Marino's demonstration of sheep shearing — and while he's no Jackie Howe, it is certain that Jackie never had to shear corrugated iron sheep! And there's Natalie Jones arduously wire brushing her metallic horse.

In another hilariously original touch, Marino's character dashes downstage to lean up and read the production's surtitles so that he can make out what Andrew Collis is actually singing about — with Collis making incomprehensible (but still very musical) noises while greedily and perhaps even dangerously devouring a banana.

In addition, actors Paul Geoghegan as the driver and Jim Coady as the notary give wonderfully quirky character performances.

Brian FitzGerald's surtitles provoke many a chuckle — "she's a real corker!" is Nemorino's first impression of the lovely "sheila" Adina — and indeed it would have been nice to have heard the piece sung in Aussie English rather than the original Italian.


— John Henningham

(Performance seen: 15th May 2010)
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Antigone  
Nash Theatre

New Farm Nash Theatre's production of Sophocles' great classic comes close to setting a high standard, but doesn't quite reach it. The production's main shortcoming is that it does not inspire any gut feelings in the audience in response to the bravery, arrogance and fear of the characters.

In her first scene, Antigone (Jessica Radvan) discusses with her sister Ismane (Carolyn Wagner) whether or not to defy the king's ban on burying the body of her brother Polyneices, killed in rebellion against Thebes. Antigone faces a horrible dilemma: If she obeys her king, her brother's ghost will not be admitted to the afterlife. From the very beginning she knows her will is to defy the order, risking harsh punishment. Yet the scene seemed to be more about reciting lines on a page rather than forcing the audience to feel Antigone's fierce will, Ismane's fear of death, or Antigone's contempt for Ismane's fear.

Radvan improved during the night's performance. By the time of her speech grieving that she would die unmarried, and regretting the curse that falls upon her as Oedipus' child, she seemed to feel comfortable with her words and feel them as something her character would say.

Creon (Damian Danaher) brings more meaning to his words. Creon was played in an unusual way. Rather than a physically imposing warrior, he is played as though he is a sensualist. If you take the character of King Herod from the movie of Jesus Christ Superstar, and remove the campy over-the-top parts of the performance to leave just the core of that character, you have Danaher's Creon.

Even Creon, however, didn't seem to be either angry or menacing enough to be convincing when he found his orders to not bury Polyneices' body had been defied. Creon threatens to kill the guard (Josh Tregenza) who brings him the news of Polyneices' burial unless the guard finds out who performed the burial. Tregenza's comic asides in this scene worked well, but his fear and Creon's anger stayed on the stage rather than reaching into the audience members' hearts and forcing them to react emotionally.

Sets and costumes are stark and simple. In front of a backdrop of the famous mask of Agamemnon flanked by two Greek soldiers, Creon's plain throne sits on a raised platform at the back of the stage. Two columns stand forward of the throne, and two more are on the floor at the very edge of the stage. Costumes are plain white tunics except for the addition of a plain purple robe for Creon and Eurydice (Wagner), and a red robe for Teiresias (Tregenza), the prophet who warns Creon not to ban the burial of Polyneices' body.

Chorus members also have painted white faces with triangular black markings over their eyes. The chorus, each whom play more than one part, switch roles by wearing masks in their secondary roles, and this has a genuinely eerie effect when a messenger (Melissa Russo) informs Eurydice of the death of her son Haemon (Nick Piper), Antigones' fiance, who kills himself in grief at Antigone's own death. The one other eerie aspect of the play is the original music by Sam Grey.

One interesting aspect of the play to look for is the constantly-expressed fear of women. Many times Creon declares that he will not be defied or ruled by a woman, and at one stage the idea of the anarchy that will overtake Thebes if Creon allows defiance of is orders to stand is called "she". While this can be seen as expressing the sexist attitudes of ancient Greece, it's interesting that the attitudes had to be constantly re-stated. If Creon in particular felt secure in his position, he wouldn't have to keep talking about the danger of a female disobeying him.

Antigone is a hugely ambitious play for an amateur theatre group to attempt, especially when the actors have to learn the pseudo-Shakesperean language of Storr's 1912 translation. Director Jeff Zayer hasn't quite led the actors to success in evoking the emotions of the audience, possibly a sign of the limited time any amateur group has to rehearse and get the feel of their characters. Despite this, the dilemmas posed by Sophocles are clearly shown: should we obey the State, the gods or our own wills? Who shall rule? And Sophocles' words at a time when humans were beginning to reach out with their own power still ring out from New Farm Nash Theatre's stage:

Many wonders there be, but the most wondrous is man.

Antigone runs at New Farm Nash Theatre until 29th May.

— David Jackmanson

(Performance seen: 8th May 2010)
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Vis-a-Vis: Moving Stories  
Queensland Ballet and Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble(QPAC Playhouse)


How does a story become a dance? Queensland Ballet artistic director, Francois Klaus gives us an insight through this singular study into the world of the choreographer.

Klaus takes four classic stories and demonstrates how they are converted into ballet. The evening starts with Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream followed by the tragedy Othello. After interval the audience is treated to the amusing antics of Peer Gynt and the three Cowherds or Trolls followed by excerpts from Tennessee Williams' challenging piece A Streetcar named Desire.

There is nothing like a good fight between the gods to get the action moving. The goddess, Titania (Liz Verbraak) is at odds with the god Oberon (Rob Pensalfini). These actors from the locally based Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble immerse us into the merry chaos of divine conflict ushered in by Oberon's line, "ill met by moonlight, proud Titania". They dispute over Oberon's desire to have "a little changeling boy to be my henchman". This conflict is then portrayed in dance by the gifted Clare Morehen (Titania) and Christian Tatchev (Oberon) ably assisted by Yu Hui (Puck) and brilliantly clad fairies (the Corp de Ballet).

This simple but original device of following drama with ballet is most revealing. It is a credit to the Queensland Ballet and artistic director Klaus. It helps the audience understand the way dance tells a story. Drama gives the detail but dance gives the music and the emotional force.

The great poet Ezra Pound observed that "music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance....poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music". The truth of this proposition is revealed when the audience has the benefit of seeing drama and ballet cheek by jowl.

Two scenes from Othello illustrate the compulsive power of deceit and jealousy. Iago manipulates Othello by sowing the seeds of doubt about the virtue of Othello's wife, Desdemona, and offers the famously deceptive advice:
"Oh! Beware, my lord of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on."

This scene is ably performed by the actors Colin Smith (Iago) and the versatile Rob Pensalfini (Othello). Then follows the dreadful scene when Othello strangles Desdemona (played emphathetically by Liz Verbraak).

The elemental power of music and dance is driven home by a stunning performance by Rachael Walsh (Desdemona) and newcomer Alexander Koszarycz (Othello). This fatal pas de deux is set poignantly to the music of Samuel Barber, Agnus Dei: Adagio for Strings performed a cappella. This searingly sad, grand music accompanies Desdemona's tragic demise. Rachael Walsh (Desdemona) is not only a great dancer but also a great actor. Her death at the hands of a crazed Othello is a triumph of innocence and beauty over the "green-ey'd monster".

After interval a little light relief comes in the form of the three trolls leading Peer Gynt astray. This is followed by the melancholy encounter of Peer Gynt with his long lost beloved Solveig who has become blind. This story illustrates the difficulties facing the choreographer. As Blanch (Rachael Walsh) is starting to lose her mind she recalls events of the past when out dancing in the casino. The spectacular red satin of the costumes designed by Noeline Hall exude sensuality.

This collaboration between the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble and the Queensland Ballet brings out the best of both companies. The innovative format draws the audience into the creative process in a way which helps both drama and ballet come to life. This event has been designed for only one performance. This is a shame for it will be of great interest to all who love theatre and dance. The theatregoer will learn the importance of movement, timing and bodily grace. The ballet lover will grow in understanding of the dramatic purpose behind each leap or gesture. There is a freshness and originality about this dialogue between the two art forms. One hopes that this will not be the only occasion when this scintillating synthesis is performed.


Choreography by Francois Klaus
Music by John Metcalf, Henry Purcell, Samuel Barber, Edvard Grieg and Astor Piazzolla
Costume Design by Noelene Hill
Lighting Designed by David Walters
Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes (including interval)


— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 21st April 2010)
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Romeo and Juliet  
Queensland Ballet (QPAC Playhouse)

These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die like fire and powder which as they kiss consume.

ShakespeareÂ’s classic words are recounted in the visceral language of dance in a vibrant, passionate performance of Romeo & Juliet.

Queensland BalletÂ’s principal dancer, Rachael Walsh, is again brilliant in the role of Juliet, just as she was in the 2006 production. Her emotional range is wondrous. She expresses the giggly delight of the young girl in the opening scenes yet commands a womanly authority as love and death clash in the closing scenes.

A strong chemistry is apparent in the pas de deux of Walsh and Christian Tatchev, who dances strongly in the role of Romeo. His sword fight with the fiery Tybalt (Kelan Langdon) is convincing and tragic. He is prompted to take up the sword following TybaltÂ’s slaying of RomeoÂ’s dear friend Mercutio but this results in his killing Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet whom he has just secretly married. Star-crossed lovers indeed!

The Queensland Ballet has a strong tradition with this piece. Who can forget the outstanding performance of Michelle Giammichele as Juliet in the 1995 production of Romeo & Juliet with the music of Tchaikovsky?

Prokofiev’s music in this ballet includes the haunting menace of the “Dance of the Knights” performed at the grand ball of the Capulets. The dark, martial power of this piece sets the scene for the bloodshed that is to follow.

The Corps de Ballet dance with accomplishment. This company has real depth. They play out the tensions that divide the ancient town of Verona between the House of Capulet (JulietÂ’s family) and the House of Montague (RomeoÂ’s family). At one point the two camps are pelting fruit at each other in an affray.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is well suited to the physicality of dance. The youth and fitness of the dancers bring the bloody swordplay to life and express the obsessive power of love. The action is enlivened by the spirited dance of the Gypsies (Iona Marques and Kathleen Doody) whose charm and vivacity bring colour to the drama.

This ballet tells a story of great sadness yet great beauty. When in the final scene Juliet (Rachael Walsh) takes her own life after seeing her young husband dead beside her, one is reminded of the perils of love and the dangers of youth, “for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo”.


Choreography by Francois Klaus

Music by Sergei Prokofiev

Set Design by Graham Maclean

Costume Design by Noelene Hill

Lighting Designed by David Walters

Playing from 10 to 24 April 2010

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes (including interval)

— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 10th April 2010)
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The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco  
Brisbane Arts Theatre

When the most normal scene in a play is a bunch of stoned housemates breaking into a house to steal back their own possessions, you know it's not going to be a run-of-the-mill offering.

Sequel to He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is also originally a book by John Birmingham, and both have been adapted for the stage by Simon Bedak.

Natalie Bochenski, who directed Felafel in 2009, has returned for the sequel, a production as rip-snorting, psychedelic and chaotic as the original.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around a group of housemates in a typically grungy sharehouse in suburban Brisbane. It is the only house left in a block marked for development, and the developers, a couple of megalomaniacal fetishists, have concocted a suitably villainous plan to evict the unwitting tenants, whereby they employ a gay narcissist to rob the house so the housemates will default on their rent.

Of course, the plot doesn't really matter other than as a vehicle to cram as many jokes about sex, drugs and abject living conditions as possible into two hours. The result is a free-wheeling, often surreal romp that brings to mind an episode of The Young Ones cranked up to eleven.

The characters run the gamut of Generation X stereotypes, with the dazzling constellation of hippies, slackers, bogans, militant lesbians and anarchists grounded somewhat by the main character, JB, who acts as a sort of constantly stoned observer to the weirdness surrounding him.

But one of the great charms of The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is that despite its schizophrenic nature, its heart lies firmly in Brisbane. The script makes extensive references to south-east Queensland landmarks and institutions, as well as making fun of our southern neighbours.

In addition, Bedak has updated the 1997 book for the new millennium, and the play references cultural touchstones as fresh as the Apple iPad and Beyoncé's Single Ladies.

Whether this works or not in a setting which is so quintessentially nineties and with characters who are so clearly 20-something Generation Xers is debatable, but it does provide some accessibility for younger audiences who might well be lost with more out-of-date references.

At times it is an incredibly ambitious production, with its large cast, frenetic music and lighting cues, and fantastically varied costuming, including sailor suits, bear costumes, and a fine selection of op-shop glam.

Nevertheless, most of the time the centre holds due to the cast's enthusiasm and the sheer energy of the production, and despite its shortfalls in the plot department, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is so chock full of gags, familiar references and ribald humour that it is utterly impossible to dislike.


(Playing until 9th May.)


— Anthony Gough

(Performance seen: 8th April 2010)
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The Silver Rose  
Australian Ballet (Lyric Theatre< QPAC)


Lavish, sensual, evocative! If you like Lady Gaga music video clips you'll love The Silver Rose by the Australian Ballet choreographed by Graeme Murphy.

Famous actress the Marschallin (Lucinda Dunn) is having a fling with young Octavian (Ty King-Wall). Their love-making is interrupted by the arrival of her impresario Baron Ochs (Andrew Killian) with his over-the-top camp entourage and bringing a silver rose intended for his fiancee Sophie. Octavian hides by dressing up as a maid. Baron Ochs takes a shine to the young man dressed as a woman and chases her/him around the stage and through the bed. Thus begins this gender-bending, saucy bit of nonsense.

Lucinda Dunn is magnificent. She dances with the grace and presence of the superstar she is. The curtain opens with her twirling backwards through time with young men writhing about her holding mirrors to prevent escape. Is this choreographer Graeme Murphy holding the mirror up to nature? Or just a theatrical flourish? Hard to tell at times.

Amidst the froth and bubble there are moments of transcendental beauty. In an early pas de deux between the Marschallin (Lucinda Dunn) and Octavian (Ty King-Wall) the delicates tones of flute and cello melt even the hardest heart. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra in full complement play out of their skins, led by concertmaster Warwick Adeney and conductor Nicolette Fraillon. Carl Vine's music, to borrow a phrase from artistic director David McAllister, reminds us that it is not only Tchaikovsky who can compose great ballet scores. If you are one of those sad, visually challenged folk who find ballet dull come along, close your eyes and be transported by the music. Who knows? You may even open your heart and your eyes!

Octavian is given the tricky job of presenting the silver rose to Sophie (Juliet Burnett) on behalf of her betrothed Baron Ochs. The proposed union is much encouraged by Sophie's father Faninal (Damien Welsh) but Sophie has eyes not for the boring Baron but for the muscular messenger Octavian (now sought after by three different characters). Well, I shan't spell it all out but if you can't make a comic farce from this you're not really trying.

Damien Welsh dances masterfully as the grey-haired father, a guest appearance following his retirement as Principal Artist last November. A touch of irony struck your reviewer upon recalling a quarter century ago Damien's father Garth Welsh dancing brilliantly with the Australian Ballet. Tempus fugit!

Brisbane is hosting the first Australian performances of this work commissioned by the Bavarian State Ballet and premiered 10 December 2005 at the Munich National Theatre. To add to the pressure of opening night and an Australian premiere two young dancers Juliet Burnett (Sophie) and Ty King-Wall (Octavian) were given the opportunity of principal roles. Their debut was triumphant. The depth of this company is breathtaking.

The corps de ballet dance beautifully in prodigious number with sumptuous costumes amidst splendid sets. This production is not an exercise in the subtly understated.

In true Lady Gaga mode the paparazzi feature heavily. Journalist (Gina Brescianini) and photographer (Rudy Hawkes) give us the intrusive, scheming, scandal-creating fourth estate we love to hate. Costume and set designer Roger Kirk observes, "I saw a guy walking along the street in King's Cross in Sydney in all black leather and thought,'a version of that would be great for the photographer!'".

It's not all black and white. In the final Act (plot spoiler!) the Marschallin (Lucinda Dunn) realises she has lost her beloved Octavian to the arms of Sophie and lets the young lovers go with her blessing in a morally generous, restoring pas de trois. A cello gently lets slip the fading demons of unrequited love. It is a moment of which only a great artist such as Lucinda Dunn would be capable.


Choreography by Graeme Murphy

Music by Carl Vine

Set and costume design by Roger Kirk

Lighting designer: Damien Cooper

Playing from 26 February to 3 March 2010

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes (including interval)



— Matt Foley

(Performance seen: 26th February 2010)
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Earlier reviews