Category: Reviews

Lysistrata: the disco vaudeville rock and roll musical

By Ron Bingham

OK, we all know the story of Lysistrata, don’t we? Come on. The famous Greek comedy by Aristophanes? No? Oh, the education system today, when I was young etc etc.

Here is a quick precis of the tale. Lysistrata is a noblewoman of Athens at a time when the Athenians and Spartans had been fighting a war for a decade. She is fed up with the menfolk all going off to fight and only coming home on leave for conjugal visits so she comes up with a novel plan to stop the war. Banding all the wives of the soldiers to an oath that they would not, ummm, ease their husbands tension, and sending a messenger to the Spartan women to do the same, as well as having the older ladies barricade themselves in the Acropolis (where the treasury is), she sets down to wait. After a long period of time, in which the wives are suffering as much as their husbands, a peace treaty is agreed to and everyone gets down to releasing their tension.

This is a rollicking version of that play, by an American University which impressively sticks quite closely to the story, with some songs and dances, a bit of puppetry, a LOT of crude genital based humour (which is nowhere near as rude as the song that was playing before the show, but that was probably what the kids are listening to these days). While the young ladies holding out against their soldier husbands was the main part of the story, I found the funniest sections were those that pitted the old ladies against the old men. Lots of accents (mostly US regions but the cops sounded like camp Germans for some reason). The songs and dances were performed well, but the sound was a bit too loud, as I think they had calibrated it for a full room – and for an 11.30am show, that was a little optimistic.

What this show needs is an excited enthusiastic crowd feeding back some of the energy from the stage. I’ll try and tempt you to come to one of the few remaining performances of this show (it finishes on Sunday). Would you be interested in seeing a show about the battle of the sexes which has a number of young women in short Greek skirts teasing their soldier husbands who are also wearing short skirts (kilts) and singlets. Do you enjoy loud and boisterous songs and dances? Very funny and sex based humour? How about a bit of culture, as you learn a very amusing famous little ancient Greek comedy? There are dick jokes and it’s a comfy, dry place to eat your Brunch. There’s no excuse for missing this (well, maybe I’ll accept a hangover).

It’s on at The Gilded Balloon Teviot at 11.30am with a short run ending on August 11

Bookings at the website: https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/musicals-and-operas/lysistrata-the-disco-vaudeville-rock-n-roll-musical

Mace and Burton – When I Grow Up

By Ron Bingham 

Last year I saw and enjoyed two shows by Juliette Burton and Lizzie Mace called RomComCon and Heartbreak Hotel. This year, Juliette has gone solo (Lizzie is still helping, but not on stage). The show is a personal journey for Juliette, who is attempting to find out whether what she does determines who she is or if there is more to life than one’s job description. I should admit here that I did contribute to the crowdfunding for Juliette earlier this year (to raise funds for the show), which meant I was receiving regular updates of the progress of the show…..oh hang on. You’re only supposed to declare an interest if THEY pay YOU. Curses! I’ll get the hang of this Cash for Comment thing one day…

I did refrain from watching most of the updates, so I could enjoy the finished product as a whole. The show starts with a multi-media look at the vocations Juliette wanted to be when she grew up, at different ages. There was princess, baker, popstar, ballerina, farmer, artist and others that I won’t mention for the surprise factor.  I do recommend interested people visit Juliette’s website to view the ballet school photo as Juliette, not the tallest of people, towers over her fellow pupils.

Juliette decided to see whether her younger selves had better insight by actually attempting each of these dream jobs, with varying amounts of success and some funny videos. She has also recorded a number of interviews with people about what they dreamed of and how their lives turned out and these are played on the screen throughout. Juliette meets some interesting specialists who give their opinion on how good she is at each attempt and there is a special guest from the Sammy J and Randy show who pops up on screen at one point. Not all of Juliette’s attempts were successful – she was escorted out of one or two venues during the filming. Note that if you have seen the show, there are extra bits of some of the filmed segments on the website (or DVD extras, if you like).

After most of the attempts are completed we delve a little deeper into Juliette’s psyche and the troubled teenage years (when she got caught up in eating disorders and mental health issues), where she lost sight of her dreams. But we do see her come through the other side to where she is today, questioning whether achieving ones dream is the answer or whether not letting go of the stuff of dreams will lead to fulfillment). The ending of the show is ultimately uplifting and worth the journey.

Juliette on stage is a cheerful and relaxed performer, who works well with the audience. The interaction with the filmed segments was faultless (good sign this early in the Fringe), the audience were boisterous and effusive in their praise and there was a big air conditioner at the side of the room to keep us cool. Pity that someone in a room next door spend half an hour scraping chairs or tables across a floor. If you are looking for a show that will make you want to give your dreams another go, pick up a musical instrument or some paintbrushes one more time, perform a pirouette or milk a cow, then this is the one for you. There is only the mildest of swearing but there are some adult concepts (anorexia), but it’s definitely one for the whole family to see.

When I Grow Up is on at The Gilded Balloon Teviot at 1.15pm

Bookings and further info from the Fringe website https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/when-i-grow-up

The Show Website is http://maceandburton.com/whenigrowup/

Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen (Volume Too)

By Ron Bingham

Arthur Smith is a fabulous deadpan comedian who, you may recall from TV appearances on QI and as the MC in the Backwards episode of Red Dwarf. He performed Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen (Volume One) quite a while ago (I first heard it on BBC Radio in about 2007 but according to Arthur’s website it was first performed in 2000). The first show is well worth hunting down if you like Leonard Cohen or comedy.

This show features Arthur telling some tales about Mr Cohen, talking about himself with a few stories about his mum, reading some poetry and singing some of Len’s songs with the help of his fabulous backing group (Kirsty Newton on keyboards and backing vocals, Carrie Marx on BV and various extra instruments and Allie Something on BV). Arthur is a master of self deprecating humour and the only person who really cops a serve during the show is one Leonary Nimoy, but that is a fair if you’ve ever read any of his poetry.

The entire show is a journey, with all of the little stories and songs helping develop the narrative of the tale and the point at which the surprise occurs is excellently timed (I can’t say what the surprise is but the entire audience were in fits of laughter). The room was full to bursting (on a Tuesday) and it will sell out. I advise fighting for a ticket as this is one of the shows that must not be missed. Sure, it’ll probably get recorded for the BBC but believe me when I say that will not come close to capturing the hilarity of the live show.

Oh yes, Arthur sings Leonard Cohen’s songs every bit as well as Leonard does (you can interpret that as you like).
PS Make Arthur a bit happier by buying his autobiography, My Name Is Daphne Fairfax. It’s excellent.

Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen (Volume Too) is having a short run and finishes on August 18th.

It’s playing at The Pleasance Courtyard at 2.30pm

Book via the website https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/arthur-smith

Gordon Southern – The Kerfuffle

By Ron Bingham 

Gordon Southern is from Scotland, married to an Australian and living in Brixton. Apparently kerfuffle is a Scottish word, which is a fun fact. The audience were mostly from Scotland today, the ‘two for one’ Monday on a bank holiday brings them out, (according to Gordon – I’m not the one doing the racial stereotyping). The room is full and rather steamy.

The show has Gordon talking about his parents, living in Brixton during the riots, last year’s Jubilee and being married to a girl from South Australia (by the way, the number of UK comedians to go to Australia for a wife…. is there some sort of website where this gets organised?). It was a very subdued audience for the show this evening and Gordon wasn’t getting the laughs he expected at some points during the show, which I think was putting him off (he did mention the lack of response a couple of times).

There is a lot of good material in the show and it should become more polished as the festival goes on. The only props Gordon uses are some small animals and a sound machine. There are a couple of rap songs to finish the show and a tiny smidgeon of Greek mythology. Gordon’s interaction with the audience is polished and his fake biographies of a couple of audience members is well worked into the routines that follow. The stories about his dad and wife are well told and funny, but some of the linking material is a bit more edgy and experimental.

You can see it now while it’s cheap and he is still experimenting with his new material or wait a week or so until it’s (hopefully) seamless. The Kerfuffle would also have benefited from a more boisterous audience, but it was only 5.45pm and they’d only just started drinking.

Gordon Southern – The Kerfuffle is on at The Gilded Balloon Teviot at 5.45pm
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/gordon-southern-the-kerfuffle

The Dragon

By Elyce Phillips

 

A knight in shining armour, a damsel in distress and a terrifying three-headed dragon – all the elements may be there, but this is no run-of-the-mill fairy tale. Based on the play by Russian writer Evgeny Shwarz, ‘The Dragon’ is a sharp-witted exploration of power and courage. Lancelot (Jimi Bani), sets out for Dufresne, hearing it is beset by a dragon. Once there, he decides to rescue the lovely Elsa (Nikki Shiels), however, she has no desire to be saved.

The original play may have been written in the 1940s, but its satirical lancing of totalitarianism remains painfully relevant today. Toby Schmitz’s adaptation is accomplished and hilarious, from the Aussified knight Lancelot’s quest for beer and chicks, to the strangely poetic doubletalk of the dragon. The story has a timeless quality. The small town of Dufresne could stand in for any number of stifling political regimes – the leaders taking away the rights of their constituents under the guise of protecting them from enemies abroad.

The performances are fantastic throughout. Kim Gyngell is gloriously unhinged as the town’s mayor and John Leary is a stand-out as his snivelling sidekick. However, Tripod (Scott Edgar, Steven Gates and Simon Hall) steal the show, appearing both as Lancelot’s animal guides and as the three heads of the titular dragon. The trio also created original music for the production.

The Dragon is a visually striking production. The use of a rotating set is effective and a clever use of the space. The drab Cold War aesthetics of the set and the costumes play well against the absurdities of the character and the story and are a nice nod to the original.

The Dragon is uproariously funny, thought-provoking and full of heart. It is the perfect play to lift your spirits from the mire of pre-election rhetoric.

The Dragon is showing at the Malthouse Theatre until July 26.

For bookings and more info:
http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au/show-listing/the-dragon/

Michael Burke in Cubehead

by Lisa Clark

Michael has thrown all his considerable skills at this show to keep the audience entertained for an hour, some standup, storytelling, an original take on ventriloquism, groaner puns, Shakespeare, and prop comedy. There is no chance for the audience to get bored – if a bit isn’t working too well for a particular audience they don’t have to wait too long for the next. Luckily most of it works pretty well and this is no surprise considering it comes from years of experience in standup, storytelling, theatresports, and performing as John Conway’s sidekick in 2012’s hilariously chaotic The New Conway Explosion

Although there is an overarching theme with a pair of parallel tales of self-discovery, it comes across as a series of sketches of different styles and tones. The main two stories were a sort of scifi fantasy satire starring the Cube Head and a more down to earth narrative by Michael. We are promised three surprises in his show and they are worth being excited by, but there are many more interesting surprises along the way. The strongest section, at its heart, is a tale about hitting rock-bottom with alcohol and health while living in London, and as no one is really thinking straight when at rock-bottom, he somehow found himself at a silence retreat, like the one Judith Lucy attended. Needless to say, it did not suit him.

There are several scene setups and costume changes that can be hard to manage in a low budget, travelling show that has to be flexible to suit various small venues. Rather than using curtains, backstage or complete blackouts Michael has a recording of a voice asking the audience for ‘Eyes Closed’ or ‘Eyes Open’. It’s a cute device that requires the audience to get into the spirit and he is smart enough to have recorded material for the audience to listen to while their eyes are closed.

Cube head was a solid festival show, it’s entertaining comedy with a creative, theatrical bent. The only thing missing for me was more material about The Rubic’s Cube. I also really wanted to see his cube head change colours and gradually come together (three headpieces?). If you’re going to pick a strong theme/image why not run with it all the way? It was probably also a bit too narration/exposition heavy with an unnecessary preamble that made the audience fidgity but I shouldn’t nit-pick, it was a heap of fun and an impressive solo debut by a talented performer with a lot of potential.

Cubehead is on at The Butterfly club until Sunday 19th May. See the Butterfly Club website for booking details.