2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival; Oleanna by David Mamet review

David Mamet's play Oleanna returns to the Adelaide Fringe Festival for a limited season, starring Guy Masterson and Joanne Hartstone. Image: C.I.T.

Power Play by Linh

Playwright David Mamet's powerful and thought-provoking drama Oleanna returns to the Adelaide Fringe Festival after its sell-out season in 2009. Director, writer, actor Guy Masterson's Centre for International Theatre (C.I.T) presents four shows only this year and Adelaide actress Joanne Hartstone co-stars with Masterson in this gripping and critically acclaimed masterpiece concerning gender politics, exploitation and freedom of expression. Carol is a struggling and frustrated university student who seeks assistance from her unconventional Professor and he invites her into his office to discuss her assignment. Her Professor is on the brink of tenure and their sessions are constantly interrupted by phone calls from his wife. Beginning with opposing ideas and differences of opinions, their meeting results in very subtle touching and physical embracing from her Professor.

Oleanna presents both sides of the arguments regarding a young woman's right to feel, think and act freely without being under the patriarchal power of a male, whereas the Professor feels he is being unfairly implicated as a "rapist" and allegedly abused his power and position to sexually exploit her. The issues are somewhat context-driven and each side of the argument is presented through the strong characterisation and solid performances from Joanne Hartstone as Carol and Guy Masterson's portrayal of the Professor. The minimalist setting of the play keeps the focus on the characters' interaction and is brilliantly staged to keep the audience engaged through the use of ambiguity in dialogue and explosive emotionally-charged outbursts from both characters.


Hartstone is superb as the seemingly naive yet strong-willed student Carol with an enquiring mind whose eagerness to learn, lands her in an epic power struggle with her Professor. Interestingly, Carol's clothing reflects her growing confidence and defiance against her Professor, starting off with a singlet top and skirt in the First Act and by the Third Act, she is in pants and cardigan/jacket as though transgressing from a feminine appearance to a masculine countenance. Guy Masterson is equally powerful as the Professor and his character straddles between adhering to the professional conduct as an educator and being a friend to his student.

Oleanna demonstrates how easily words and actions can be misconstrued and misunderstood. Throughout the play, the phrase "I don't understand" is repeated by both characters at various stages, perhaps to reveal a disconnect between them, or as a subconscious rejection of the other's viewpoint and an attempt to impose their own views upon the other as a form of power or influence. This is one of Mamet's most controversial and divisive plays and definitely one of his best.

DRAMATIC DIVIDE: Guy Masterson and Joanne Hartstone star in David Mamet's play Oleanna at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: C.I.T.



Follow Guy Masterson's C.I.T. Theatre Tours International on Twitter:
@TheatreToursInt

Visit Guy Masterson's C.I.T websites:
Theatre Tours International Official Page

Centre for International Theatre Official Page


WHO: Oleanna by David Mamet

WHAT: Theatre, Drama play

WHERE: Higher Ground (Main Theatre), 9 Light Square, Adelaide

WHEN:
All shows begin at 2:30pm.
6, 12 and 13 March

PRICE: (no concession):
All tickets $23.00

RUNNING TIME: 2 hours including two (15 minutes and 5 minutes) intervals

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Peter Helliar’s World of Balls (preview)

Peter Helliar's World of Balls bounces into the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Roger Cummins.


Ballsy Banter by Linh

Peter Helliar’s comedy show at last year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, The Dreamboat Tour, dealt with personal topics and family matters. This year, Helliar returns with more things that stir up passion, frustration, and laughter – sport. It would be familiar territory for Helliar, as he recently completed a season of the sports-based comedy television quiz show The Trophy Room for ABC1, which received strong support from viewers. Peter Helliar’s World of Balls allows him to combine two of his loves in life, sport and comedy. Australians love their sport and Peter Helliar’s World of Balls is guaranteed to attract attention, even without the help of Helliar’s alter-ego Bryan ‘Strauchanie’ Strauchan.

Everything about Peter Helliar’s World of Balls is sporty, from the music playing while the audience streams into the venue (Pat Benatar’s All Fired Up and Chariots of Fire by Vangelis), to Helliar’s energetic and funny delivery of sports stars and their follies. Helliar kicks goals from start to finish in this show and keeps the audience enthralled with hilarious observations of past and present sporting scandals, controversies, triumphs and tragedies. There is no need to be an armchair expert on sport as Helliar provides quick explanations behind the stories and finds the humour embedded in the seriousness of some of the incidents. From gender and racial issues to politics, Helliar covers the extent of how sport can just as easily divide a nation as it can unite its people.

Helliar muses about the sporting dreams and devastation of Australian champions such as hurdler Sally Pearson, super-swimmer Geoff Huegill, rugby league’s John Hopoate, and freestyle skier Jacqui Cooper. Not all the sports mentioned in Helliar’s comedy show involves balls on the court/field/stadium or between men’s legs. Sometimes the balls represent an athlete’s courage/battle against the odds (he/she’s got balls), or figuratively represents a fantastic and exciting experience (we had a ball). Whichever way it’s interpreted, there is no doubt Peter Helliar’s World of Balls will leave you in stitches, particularly as he amusingly evokes the passion shared among many around the world who love their sport. Helliar carries the entire hour of stand up comedy with his usual panache and comedic creativity that clearly resonates with the audience, making Peter Helliar’s World of Balls a must-see.


Follow Peter Helliar on Twitter:
@pjhelliar

Like Peter Helliar on Facebook:
Peter Helliar Official Page




WHO: Peter Helliar’s World of Balls

WHAT: Stand up comedy performance, audience interaction

WHERE: The Umbrella Revolution in the Garden of Unearthly Delights

WHEN: Previews have concluded.
All shows begin at 8:15pm.

PRICE: Ticket prices vary according to dates (no concession):
$32: 22,23, 24 and 27 February
$35: 25 and 26 February

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Ali McGregor-Something Old, Something New

Ali McGregor brings her show Something Old, Something New to the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: www.alimcgregor.com


Something Scintillating by Linh

Operatic soprano, cabaret/jazz/burlesque performer Ali McGregor is a frequent visitor to Adelaide, bringing her shows to the Adelaide Cabaret and Fringe Festivals in the past. After her critically-acclaimed show Jazz Cigarettes, Ali McGregor returns to Adelaide with her latest concoction of Something Old, Something New. McGregor could only squeeze in a weekend of two matinee performances due to her hectic schedule being a mum to her baby girl and currently is in the middle of rehearsals for the operetta The Merry Widow.

In McGregor’s sold-out show Jazz Cigarettes she was smoking hot, but in Something Old, Something New she is scintillating. Her show brings together some popular jazz standards with mash-ups of contemporary pop songs and blues. Between songs, Ali would engage with the audience in her current frustrations about being unprepared for the unusual wet weather in Adelaide, her love of blues singers such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and her childhood interpretations of songs which now, as an adult, still has a long-lasting effect on her.

McGregor’s opening number The Man I Love, is delivered with titillating sensuousness and could be a heartfelt dedication to her husband and comedian/presenter Adam Hills (who is stuck inside a hotel room nursing a dreadful cold), while her next song is a jazzed-up homage to Soft Cell’s hit Tainted Love. McGregor dedicated Little Girl Blues by Nina Simone, to her little girl, delivering the song with soothingly smooth vocals and tenderness.

Other highlights of her show include a Santana-inspired rendition of Madonna’s single La Isla Bonita; a wildly outrageous and sexed-up rendition of Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again; I Was Made For Loving You by Kiss gets the blues treatment, and a fantastic mash-up combining Fly Me To The Moon with Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

McGregor was superbly supported by a trio of masterful musicians, with Matthew Carey on the piano, lovely Alana Dawes keeping the harmonies flowing on the double bass and Barnabas Smith held the rhythm and beats on percussion/drums. Although this was a matinee show, there were still some younger audience members who enjoyed most of the eclectic range of songs. Something Old, Something New is another showcase for the wonderful vocals of the talented and gorgeous Ali McGregor who will soon be completing her album Jazz Cigarettes in the next few months.

The season for Something Old, Something New has concluded.




Visit Ali Mcgregor’s website:
Ali McGregor

Follow Ali McGregor on Twitter:
@thealimcgregor

Like Ali McGregor on Facebook:
Ali McGregor on Facebook

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Emma Horwood – Songs of Middle-Earth

Middle-Earth Melodies by Linh

Emma Horwood performs Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: emmahorwood.com.au



Local soprano and harpist Emma Horwood’s Songs of Middle-Earth is one of two shows inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Lord Of The Rings being performed at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival. The other is the theatre comedy One Man Lord Of The Rings starring Charles Ross (One Man Star Wars Trilogy).


In Horwood’s show, she seamlessly blends her singing with harp and short readings from specific chapters in Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings and sets her songs to the poetry in Tolkien’s book. Horwood selects poems in the order they appear in The Fellowship of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return Of The King, and links each reading with a song.
With the exception of the first and last songs in the programme, all the words in the songs are from Tolkien’s book. Founder and director of The Adelaide Chamber Singers,Carl Crossin, arranged and set the music for the poem Elbereth. The other songs are composed by Australians Helen Cartridge, Judith Clingan and Andrew Close, with music by English composers Donald Swann and Stephen Oliver. Horwood transcribed Oliver’s music and arranged any music not written for the harp to create an aural journey, enabling the audience to experience the wonders in Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-Earth.

Emma Horwood sings and plays the harp during her show Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.


Horwood’s dark forest green dress represents the luscious greenery and beauty of the hills, dales and forests depicted in Tolkien’s book and the earthiness of the many characters from hobbits to elves. Her harp and music stand are entwined with green vines to create the sight and sounds of being in a forest glade where Tolkien’s elves would sing, dance, eat and drink in merriment.

Horwood holds the audience in silent hypnotic awe with her angelic voice and harp-playing in the intimate Radford Auditorium. The music seems to transport the listener to the magical world of Tolkien’s fictional Middle-Earth as inhabited by characters that were depicted in director Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Lord of The Rings. Songs Of Middle-Earth is for fans of Tolkien’s books as well as those who love classical music, and for anyone who enjoys the talents of a sublime performer such as Emma Horwood.

Emma Horwood reads passages from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings during her show Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.


Visit Emma Horwood's website:
Emma Horwood: Harpist and Soprano

WHO: Emma Horwood- Songs Of Middle-Earth

WHAT: Solo performance, classical singing, harp playing, book reading

WHERE: Radford Auditorium at the Art Gallery of South Australia

WHEN: 3pm show – 20 February
7pm show – 27 February

PRICE: Adults - $22
Concession - $18

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour and 15 minutes

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Felicity Ward – Honestly (preview)

Hilariously Honest by Linh

Felicity Ward opens up and bares her soul in her new comedy show Honestly. Image: laughingstock.com.au

You may have been to Felicity Ward’s (The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, Good News Week) previous shows like Ugly As A Child or Felicity Ward Reads From The Book Of Moron, but in her latest comedy show, Honestly, Ward opens up her personal treasure chest of emotions and insecurities for laughs. Honestly, as her show title, possibly sums up her approach to life, love and laughter.
Ward’s show is a blend of stand-up comedy, characterisations, impersonations, music, singing and audience participation. Metaphorically stripping herself of all inhibitions, Ward shows she has all the self-confidence and comic ability to deliver laughs with plenty of flair and great comic timing. No story is too private to share and no-one is safe from her eagle eyes scanning the audience during her show.


Honestly is riotous fun and is as entertaining for the audience as it is cathartic for Ward about her personal moments of humiliation and rejection by a teenage crush, her skin-peeling experience, some handy advice from her family members, and the reason behind her skinny figure.
The highlights are when Ward tackles technology in creative and engaging ways with the audience. Expect some form of participation (a volunteer from the audience is required) in her anti-synthesised vocals segment in a backlash against the weird synthesised voice pioneered by Cher in her hit song Believe. The use of an iTunes app plus crazy lyrics by Ward as she duets with a willing participant is a fabulous spectacle.

Mostly during her show Honestly, we discover why Ward is the way she is and how she has come to accept her flaws and weaknesses. Honesty is the best policy and Ward shows it’s also a sure-fire method to generate laughter and not to take yourself too seriously. Your adventures at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival would be incomplete unless you include Felicity Ward’s Honestly on your itinerary.


Follow Felicity Ward on Twitter:
@felicityward



Be Felicity Ward’s fan/friend on Facebook:
Felicity Ward on Facebook


Buy Fringe Tickets:
Adelaide Fringe Ticketing




WHO: Felicity Ward - Honestly

WHAT: Comedy, music, interactive segments/audience participation

WHERE: Le Cascadeur in the Garden of Unearthly Delights

WHEN: All shows start at 7:30pm
Previews – 16, 17 February
Cheap Tuesdays: 22 February and 1, 8 March
Regular price shows: 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 February and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 March

PRICE: Cheap Tuesdays – All Shows $20
Regular Prices - Adults: $25
Concession: $20

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival; Sammy J and Randy in ‘Bin Night’ (preview)

Guarding Garbage By Linh

Sammy J and Randy present their latest comedy musical Bin Night at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: laughingstock.com.au

Comedian, writer, musician Sammy J and his puppet partner Randy (with special appearances by puppeteer Heath McIvor) return to Adelaide to bring an extravaganza of original songs, clever quips and a story filled with intrigue, shocks and laughs in Bin Night.
Bin Night is a comedy musical where Sammy and Randy suspect someone has been dumping rubbish into their wheelie bin and they both hold an all night stake-out to catch the culprits they call bin bandits. Suspects include the little granny who lives down the street, the loner and Scientologist Mr Vincent and a possum. They have sophisticated technology (walkie talkies) to communicate with each other and even a hi-tech security system (very temperamental) to protect their household goods, but their surveillance plans go awry when Sammy and Randy are accidentally locked outside their house. While Sammy is put on hold by the security company, we discover some truths and lies they each keep from each other. It eventually becomes apparent that perhaps Sammy and Randy are hiding things from each other by dumping it in the bin. Randy’s love and yearning for a Peruvian lady, Sammy J’s passion for Belinda Carlisle and his suspicion of possums and the identity of the garbage dumper are revealed in spectacular fashion.



Sammy and Randy complement each other superbly and work together effectively as they smoothly weave in running jokes, visual and audio gags, and excellent segues from one incident to the next, along with Belinda Carlisle references, and Father Time and his life juice. They are quick to recover from verbal blunders, prop problems and technical failures using funny adlibs and improvisation. Preview shows can sometimes bring out the worst in some, but this comedy duo are at their funniest when things go wrong. There are special appearances from Heath McIvor in many different guises and the Creepy Shovel makes a cameo appearance.

Bin Night consists of a well-structured narrative with witty, fast-paced dialogue peppered with fun wordplay and even a segment of tongue-twisting exchanges between Sammy and Randy. Sammy even shows off some culinary skills that evoke laughter as the food flies off the plate and into the audience. Deliberate or not, it was a classy theatrical moment. The songs are not all random, but do relate to the characters’ situations and the plot, and Sammy and Randy’s duets are always humourous and brilliant.
Bin Night is another must-see show directed by Spicks And Specks team captain Alan Brough, and is worth more than one attendance.


Be Sammy J's fan/friend on Facebook:
Sammy J

Be Randy's fan/friend on Facebook:
Randy




WHO: Sammy J and Randy in Bin Night

WHAT: Puppetry, comedy, music, theatre

WHERE: Le Cascadeur in the Garden of Unearthly Delights

WHEN: All shows start at 8:45pm

Preview – (Cheap Tuesdays) 15 February
Cheap Tuesdays: 22 February and 1, 8 March
Regular price shows: 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 February and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 March

PRICE: Cheap Tuesdays – All Shows $20
Regular Prices - Adults: $25
Concession: $20

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour

Buy Fringe Tickets:
Adelaide Fringe Ticketing

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; The Amazing Drumming Monkeys-Love The Planet (preview)

Puppet Palace at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Image: Linh Chameleon.



Eco-friendly Entertainment by Linh

The Amazing Drumming Monkeys are a family favourite and have a family-friendly theme for every show. This year, the monkeys named Bongo (white monkey) and Congo (black monkey) take an environmental theme and incorporate it into their show through the stage setting and design, the fun tricks and interactive songs and dancing.

Tree planting, rainwater tanks, recycling and solar energy are part of the show’s environmentally friendly theme but the real appeal comes from the drumming monkeys’ enthusiasm and excitement about helping Mother Nature and fighting climate change.
One particular trick (catapulting a frog into a little pond) was indeed very tricky to perform and a mother/audience member named Michelle was happy to help re-load the frog several times. Bongo jokingly declared the same trick took 23 attempts in a show performed in Western Australia. Michelle again came to the rescue for Bongo and Congo in another trick involving a parachute. It’s moments such as these that make the show much more entertaining and the improvisations and adlibs from the monkeys are wonderfully delivered to keep the children interested and the adults in suspense.

DRUMMING DUO: Congo and Bongo drum up support for the environment in their show The Amazing Drumming Monkeys - Love The Planet at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.


The audience were sweating in the hot tent of the Puppet Palace, but Bongo and Congo’s drumming, singing and playful banter were enough to make everyone forget about the heat and enjoy themselves. However, perhaps some electric fans or air-conditioning would make some of the children less restless and fidgety between the singing, dancing and clapping segments.
The Amazing Drumming Monkeys - Love The Planet is an excellent show that’s affordable and entertaining for families and for anyone who loves to get in on the action and be part of the fun.


TRICKY TASK: Congo and Bongo prepare for the next trick in their show The Amazing Drumming Monkeys - Love The Planet at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.



WHO: The Amazing Drumming Monkeys-Love The Planet

WHAT: Puppetry, comedy, interactive song and dance

WHERE: The Puppet Palace at the Garden of Unearthly Delights

WHEN: Previews have concluded.
1pm shows: 19,26,27 February and 5,6 March.
4pm shows: 19 February and 5, 6 March.
6pm shows: 22,23,24,25,26,27 February and 5,6 March.

PRICE: Adults: $12
Concession: $10

RUNNING TIME: 30 minutes.

Buy Fringe Tickets:
Adelaide Fringe Ticketing

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival; Comedy Orphans Live At The Orphanage (charity show)

Cast of The Comedy Orphans Live At The Orphanage: (front row) Fletcher Jones (Smart Casual), Felicity Ward, Roger David (Smart Casual), (back row)Heath Franklin (Chopper Read), David Quirk, Sammy J and Randy the puppet with Heath McIvor. Image: laughingstock.com.au

Charitable Chuckles by Linh

What’s your taste in comedy? In the first week of previews for the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival, not only does new comedy agency Buxstock serve up some palatable performers, but money raised from the show goes to an orphanage in Thailand. While you chortle or guffaw at the smorgasbord of Australian comedians, orphaned children in Thailand get a bit more of life’s necessities such as food and clothing.
The Comedy Orphans Live At The Orphanage is to provide performers an opportunity to showcase some of their work in their upcoming shows.

The line-up of performers is impressive and include some favourites from previous Fringe appearances such as Felicity Ward, Heath Franklin’s Chooper and Sammy J and puppet-pal Randy. However, these comedy orphans do more than pick-pocketing you for charity; there is funny bone tickling, rib-cage cracking and side-splitting observational jokes. You’ll laugh till it hurts, but the unconventional comedy with some fruity language may not suit everyone’s taste.

Opening the show are musician/writer and comedian Sammy J and his purple puppet partner Randy who show off in a showdown of speedy quips and quirks from their upcoming show Bin Night. The two gel well and complement each other’s personalities without overshadowing the other.

Comedian David Quirk is the nice-guy of comedy (not as nice as Adam Hills though) with a darker side who muses about Thin Lizzie’s hit song Jailbreak, ponders the disadvantages of missing limbs and draws similarities between relationships and bushfire warnings. Quirk is a charmer whose comedy leaves you still laughing at the previous joke while he begins the next.

Well-known as the inquisitive little girl with ponytails from The Ronnie Johns Half Hour comedy show, Felicity Ward returns to Adelaide with a small sample from her new show Honestly. Throughout her fifteen minutes, Ward sometimes has the audience too entranced to even clap or speak (“I can’t hear a nod or a smile” she would say), but when finally let loose from her enchantment, the audience would let the laughter out. Ward incorporates, singing, music, audience participation and encounters with junkies of all kinds. Definitely a show to catch at this year’s Fringe Festival.

The boys from Smart Casual are also back in Adelaide for the Fringe after their sell-out show Same Mother, Different Fathers in 2010. They are smart men in casual wear or maybe casual men in smart wear, but their comedy is a blend of both – smart jokes delivered in a casual manner or vice versa. Fletcher Jones (with the beard) and Roger David (with the guitar) perform the popular ‘Hawk Song’, and some pieces from their new show The Story of Captain Entrée. They are a very funny and affable duo with the Aussie laconic humour that continues to win over audiences.

Writer/producer/comedian Heath Franklin has a cast of comedic characters in his repertoire but his most popular is the impersonation of controversial criminal Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. Chopper is back with more things that p*** him off and gives him the s***s, and is funnier when he picks on an unsuspecting audience member. He’ll be in Adelaide for his latest offering called Chopper’s Big F***en Late Night Show.
The performance was one night only and was 35 minutes late (scheduled to start at 11.15pm), but the wait was worth it as the comedy orphans did not disappoint.

2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival

Fringe Frivolities by Linh

The 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival officially opens on Friday 18 February following an exciting and spectacular Fringe Opening Night Parade through the city streets. However, previews of various shows begin this week and continue next week, with some favourites, some regulars and some new performers testing the discerning taste of audiences.

The Garden of Unearthly Delights is already open for business with food and drink stalls aplenty, the side shows are revved up and the eclectic array of talent performing are streaming through the gates and all over the Garden, into venues such as the Spiegeltent, the Umbrella Revolution and Le Cascadeur.
Get along early to the Garden and stay late into the night while the weather is cool and comfortable for some Fringe-ing.