Tastings A Review (2)

Tastings Review

1. The first play was a dive into the whimsy of the child. It contained both beautiful language and structure that made the piece gradually unfurl as a very well crafted work. Having seen this both nights the effect of it was more immediate the first but the second one became more captivated by the method. It was quite delicate, a good choice as the opening number.

2. This play involved an evening encounter of a couple who have clearly grown out of love. We watch as the somewhat painful and inevitable tension snaps. The depth of the writing came through a little more on the second night with some exchanges fleshed out a little more during the exchange. There was a very realistic sense of moving towards an inevitable break-up.

3. This monologue was a lovely snapshot of a relationship between a boy and his mum and his nan. It was considered and again an example of highly crafted writing and structure. Key to this piece was its focus on quite a limited subject matter which gave it a deceptive simplicity ideally suited to the short form.

4. Dinner can be a trial at the best of times. When one of your children decides they are vampire then things become bigger, brighter and more extreme. Bring on the wine, bring on the hysterics, bring on the caped vampire who will never clean his lair. Very amusing and borderline farcical at points, this play was such fun to watch both times. It was delivered with much energy!

5. Love is always complicated but does one play it out on stage within a play? It does present the luxury of casting ones lovers and dressing a very pretty set! This work was delightfully metatheatrical and gorgeously floral suffused in a warm yellow light. One feels that with this optimism about love that eventually everything will turn out alright. 

6. This play was written by the reviewer but from a totally biased perspective everyone involved was amazing and an absolute privilege to work with. x

7. The closing play was a revelation. The character took you on a ride with her language and her voice. At times you were close to tears, at others dissolving in laughter, always struck by the truth of what was being said. A special point to make was the very good use of the second person voice throughout and a seamless transition between the ‘you’ and the ‘I’. Excellent performance as well as writing, this play was the well deserved winner of the Mudfest Fringe Award and Best Mudfest Show.  

As a whole the Tastings presentation was excellent and a truly variable menu. All of these works were impressive in consistency in structure and writing so points to all the artists and performers.

Wait Review

Wait begins quietly and ends quietly – it seems only fitting.

Essentially a poetic and obtuse conversation between two women waiting for their inevitable deaths Katie Founds Wait transfixes its audience in a strange captivating anticipation. To begin, Ruby Mathers faultless set design deserves high praise. Her transformation of what is usually a rehearsal space into a realistic hospital ward demonstrates an impressive understanding of space making it all look a lot easier and simpler than I am sure it was. Two curtained cubicles separate Madeline Ryan and Angelique Murray who with a silent nurse (Sweeney Young) guiding them along the way – traverse the words of Katie Found towards death.

Katie Found’s script presents no easy feat to any actor but Madeline and Angelique do not hold back. They attack the text with a ruthless intensity that brings life and levels to words that, due to their stylised and poetic nature risk falling flat if not presented from the right performer. For me, the most notable achievement of Madeline and Angelique was their ability to find comedy within the sombre text and mood of Wait – bringing a real human feel to the stylised script. Sweeney Young, the silent nurse offers a somewhat chilling cheerfulness to the whole image of death by remaining so visually impartial to the whole process – for me he came to symbolise the naturalness and uneventfulness of death.

Scene changes and technical elements of the performance also appeared to further emphases this idea of death as mundane, standing in direct contrast to the intensity of Katie’s words and Madeline and Angelique’s performances. The lights came on and off agonisingly slowly between scenes; the nurses went about tidying the ward leisurely, Sweeney munches on his M&M’s and no one pays much attention the patients at all.

Perhaps a minor flaw to the work is that the reinforcement of the mundane through repetition and long black outs nearing the end dragging on a little but this is only a minor point.
All in all Wait is a outstanding and brave piece of theatre making it clear that Katie Found, Ruby Mathers, Madeline Ryan & Angelique Murray faces to watch out for.

This review was contributed by Micheal Fee from the team at City Pigeons Theatre. Both Wait and Dead Funny will be touring up to the Festival of Australian Student Theatre (FAST) in Brisbane later this year.

The plan.

So the plan for this week is to post the stragglers and get all our reviews up onto the site. Then they will be collated into show posts for the mudfest site. Then we shall all be left with a very pretty archive and artist rescource for Mudfest 2011 and into the future!

x Lils

24 Hour Musical Review 3!

“The 24-Hour Musical” immediately leapt out to me the moment I saw Melbourne University’s MUDFEST program. Aside from my poorly hidden love for musical theatre, it intrigued me as something I know I could never do myself – write, direct and rehearse a musical, all in under 24 hrs.

From the start it promised to be an experience. As the show actively advertised, it was designed so that it could be “anything”, from a train wreck to a masterpiece. The way the cavernous Union Theatre contrasted perfectly with the utilitarian staging and light Jazz of the shows’ four-piece band reinforced this - providing an odd mix of conflicting messages for the shows audience. Nevertheless, this made me only more excited as I settled into my seat, eager to see what the writers had come up with in their tight timeframe.

As it turned out, the musical followed the final year of four high school girls growing up in the late 1960s, each with their own set of problems. Helmet, the musical’s love struck Juliet, dealt with heartbreak after falling pregnant and having an abortion. Meanwhile, two of the other girls explored their sexuality, breaking free of their Christian School’s beliefs and finding love. Lastly, the brightest of the group struggled with being an ambitious black woman, with the aim of being a doctor fixed firmly in her sights.

The performances from all of the actresses were impressive. Not once was I reminded that these were a group of people that haven’t slept in 24hrs, and the show’s show-stopping number “In Twenty Years” showcased the vocal talents of the actresses particularly well. Moreover, given the short rehearsal time, the show seemed unusually smooth, and it’s a credit to the performs that they retained their composure throughout.

Despite that, there were a few distinct areas where you could really see the way time constraints affected the overall show. While the premise was ambitious already, the decision to try to tackle such dense and intricate problems as abortion, civil rights and suicide was a truly astonishing act of bravery. In a structural sense this scattergun approach failed to make the story a really satisfying one, and I found myself wishing that they had just picked one issue and drilled down on it in more depth.

Still, Mudfest isn’t about Shakespeare and substance. It’s instead about giving people the opportunity to try something new and deliver a performance that is unique and enjoyable. The 24-hr musical fulfilled this brief to a tee, and, in my mind, showed exactly the kind of spirit and gumption that makes MUDfest something more than just another play.

The 24- Hour Musical review was by Bill Stephenson for You're Dripping Egg!

24 Hour Musical Review 2

Mudfest 2011 (Two of A Kind): The 24 Hour Musical - review by Matilda Dixon-Smith as seen on You're Dripping Egg.

Disclaimer: My lack of a program (part of Mudfest’s ‘no paper’ policy) might mean I make some small missteps (such as character names, cast/crew identities etc.). My apologies.

When I informed a colleague at work that I would spend my Sunday evening reviewing 24 Hour Musical (a musical written, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours), she rather aptly pointed out “Well, at least it’ll be interesting”.

Interesting, indeed, is exactly what it was. 24 Hour Musical was an appropriately ramshackle affair. The stage at Union Theatre was haphazardly set up with podium and chairs set in rows on one side of the stage, and a brightly-dressed bedroom on the other. The cast was all-female, and the band rocked it coolly at the back (setting the mood of ‘improvisational skill’ at the start with a jazzy jamming overture). The story was of four girls in their final year at a Catholic school in the 1960s. I am a little fuzzy on where exactly we were, since some of the girls had Australian accents, and others American. Starry-eyed Helmet spirals out of control when she discovers she is pregnant, and hasn’t studied for her up-coming exams. Muddy and Kaye (one a singer/fake soccer player, the other a recreational drug user and the story’s narrator) explore their sexuality by exploring, er, each other. The final performer (who’s character name escapes me), is an ambitious young black woman who struggles against gender and civil oppression to fulfil her dream of becoming a doctor. There was also the sober but wicked head teacher Sister Mary Catherine.

The music was the most impressive part of the show. A number of songs, similar in style yet each conveying the mood of the scene and serving to propel a plot or deepen the audience’s understanding of a character, were performed with great fervour. I do wish one of the actors (the one playing the doctor girl) had been less obvious about reading her lyrics off a prop textbook she carried. While I understand the necessity of having the lyric (in case you forget words written only 24 hours ago) it was a little distracting to see her always looking down. My favourite song was “Wouldn’t It Be Grand” a sweet love song first performed by Muddy and Donna (Muddy’s pink trench coat-wearing lover), then reprised by Muddy and Kaye at the end. The costumes were bright and exciting, the girls looked like a kind of acid trip version of a 60s Catholic school girl. Their voices were all quite fine (with a rocky vibe) and the acting was also good. These characters had a lot to deal with, and that was clearly conveyed by the four leads.

Herein lies the big problem with this experiment. The musical was short, only 40 minutes long, and those minutes were packed to bursting with women’s rights, civil rights, (implied) lapsed Catholicism, adolescence, abortion, gay rights and suicide. It was a little too much for one audience to handle. These important issues need to be dealt with using more time and a little less insensitivity (I found the jokes about abortion to be in pretty poor taste). Content over clarity is never a good call, especially in a work based around the practice of improvisation. However, despite this minor blunder, I enjoyed seeing the 24 Hour Musical experiment pan out. I really must commend the writing/directing/performing team (unfortunately uncredited on the Mudfest site) for their valiancy and their good sense of fun. It was certainly infectious in the theatre during their wild performance.

Review: iQuest: The Musical

Paul Keating and Shane Warne have musicals. So does marijuana, genetics, and Elle Woods. In an age where no taboo is musically untouched, you might ask where else the musical could possibly go? 'iQuest' answers that question with a ripe sense of the ridiculous: videogame and nerd culture.

Weedy, nerdy Larry sits alone in his basement playing World of Warcraft. His mother worries that he doesn't get out enough, but before this can turn into a serious study of cyber addiction, Larry disappears into cyberspace, meets his dominatrix guide Amy, and is transformed into his hunky avatar Cassius. Through a series of levels he must complete the Ultimate Quest and fight the evil siblings Dr. Z and Mr A and their USB of Doom (which will somehow trigger the formation of a supercontinent and the US taking over the world. Go figure). Along the way he picks up PJizzle (a 90s rapper), Ash (as in Pokemon) and Captain Planet who will aide him in quest.

Half the references sadly went straight over my head. But the ones I did get were well-placed and funny. The first act's Pokemon Battle, and the second's opening with a gone-to-seed Captain Planet are a hoot. 'iQuest' is like a comic-con, ranging from social networking to the vampire craze to Dungeons and Dragons. There's a message in there somewhere about growing up and facing real life, but for iQuest I was happy to indulge in sweet nostalgia for a more naive and innocent time.

There's some solid writing behind iQuest; plenty of good gags (although some overwritten) and a good story arc, told through well-thought and potentially great songs. The production lacked in places, particularly the balance, and there were some awkward timing issues, but this is a rock musical with potential. The finale showed the strength of the talent behind the show, congratulations to the cast and crew for developing this musical from scratch.

'iQuest' is an affectionate homage of nerdy goodness, with a surprising amount of heart.

'iQuest: The Musical' continues today at Union Theatre.

Poetry Anthology Launch

The second year creative writing students launched the anthology of their works in a relaxed manner that eased listeners into the thrum of their poetry.

It was clear to see from the diversity of themes and forms that these students have taken a wholly individualistic approach to their art, stewing up a vibrant mélange of scenes that ballooned with emotional dedications and representations, grasping the attention of listeners with their freshness.

The attention to details of language was ripe: an ensnaring use of lyrical vocabulary and phrasing teamed with a range of forms (it was fantastic to hear a haiku!), to produce a collection of poems captivatingly vast in their functions and effects.

From approaching gender roles to memorializing friendships, the recitation of each poem had it’s own distinct voice, ringing with the personality of the writers and holding an honesty that is only found when a poet reads their own work. The night celebrated the traditional act of poetry as a vocal art, a form that was there displayed with the warmth and humility it deserves.

This anthology grants a welcoming, entertaining, and appealing insight into the work of new writers, and the recitation was equally as tasteful as it was warm, highlighting the burgeoning talents of the University of Melbourne’s freshest poets.

Muddy Flicks

On Wednesday night the Rowden White Library undertook a transformation, it was still the same relaxed, cosy place it always has been, but those kicking back with a comic book, or blatantly ignoring the request to 'please do not study' were absent. The lights were dim and deep within the labyrinth of shelves, screens were flickering to life. And so began Muddy Flicks.

Featuring over 30 short films, screened over the course of three hours, Muddy Flicks invited visitors to move between screens and spaces, to view a series of different films at their own pace. It is perhaps not practical to mention every film in this review, and as it happened, I regrettably wasn't able to see them all.

My night started with a cosy armchair in the screening room, with a set of headphones that were a touch too big. Almost as soon as I had sat down, the film began. Opening with a violently red, yellow and orange landscape, we slowly focus on the pale face of a young boy. He looks lost, frightened, hopeless in a desolate world that burns behind him. The film that followed was a beautifully realised story of one man, perhaps the last on earth, living out his days in Bunker 14 after a massive nuclear explosion. It was, I think a good film to start with. The films I watched after snuggled in an equally cosy armchair in front of the projector followed similar themes. The filmmakers of Muddy Flicks explored the horrors and quieter moments of war, of grief, of frightening worlds where women are scarce and valuable commodities. Difference was pondered and celebrated, sometimes with humour and sometimes with poignancy. We travel the country with a young boy who learns that a well rounded education does not come from a tape, learn the adverse affects of smoking from a young sunflower, who once found her Dad's cigarette butt in her noodles. But by the end, like the man in Bunker 14, we find there is the possibility of a world with hope.

Muddy Flicks certainly celebrated the talent of some amazing filmmakers, talent that one day we shall hopefully see on the big screen.

Review: Tastings

Mudfest's 'Tastings', curated by Justin Nott, offered a seven course degustation of delicious morsels.

Hayley Jach in 'Dream Time' starts with a girl in a blonde wig and fairy wings telling a childhood monologue until... woops she's forgotten the words and she's actually drunk and accosting the audience. It's a disarming and unnerving beginning that paves the way for more treats.

Domini Marshall's 'Right Beside You' starts with 'He loves me, He loves me not, She loves me, She Loves me not." A couple spend a typical evening arguing over holidays and intimacy. It's a mundane tale with a refreshing twist. Small details take on larger meanings, such as that eternal question, pizza or thai?

Poet Darren Parker, seen previously on the Mudfest stage in 'Poetry Double Bill', gives a more restrained performance devoted to his grandmother Dulcie in 'Me Mum's Mum'. The tone ranges from childish sweetness to bitter adolescence, and reveals the quieter side of Darren's performance.

Hannah White's 'Dinner' provides a good ol' family meal but the characters who come to the table are far from meat and three veg. With a Hi-5 obsessed daughter, a son who thinks he's a vampire thanks to "that show all the kids are watching...'Truly Bloody'", and a mother hitting the bottle after a stressful day at work, it can only end in chaos. It's ridiculous and hilarious, with a whole heap of heart.

Hayley Bracken's 'Lovers' seems at first like the dessert that has come too early, with its sickly sweet romance. But like a trendy salted-caramel macaroon, this play within a play within a play quickly reveals its bite, and then leaves a genuinely sweet aftertaste.

Tilly Lunken and Dione Joseph offer the richest tasting of the night in 'Curtain Call'. It's Thursday wash-day at the nursing home. Gracie, an aging playwright suffering from dementia struggles to remember, and forget, her past. As the play of Gracie's life unfolds (the laundry becomes a stage, the nurses actresses, the clothes costumes), the women share their disappointments too. The plot is intricately layered and many-toned, from joyous to heartbreaking, brought to life by some very talented actresses. It's a play to be savoured.

As with Samantha Law's 'Just Peachy', a warm monologue from a shy girl that offers piercing observations and... a peach. Samantha has brilliant comic timing and manages to reach the heights of despair and humour in the same line. She has the audience hanging off every word, and wiping away tears of joy at the conclusion.

The shorts benefitted from work-shopping by industry professionals, and it shows. They were sharp, professional, and surprising in all the right ways, leaving a very satisfied audience at the end.

Review: Is this too framed?

My original plan for Tuesday night was to have a pleasant evening with friends seeing “The Masque of the Red Death.” About an hour before its scheduled start time I found out that it had been inexplicably cancelled. A grolsch at the Mudclub helped ease my disappointment a little. And I reflected that I was lucky that I had earlier been coerced into seeing the directed reading of “Is this too Framed?” which helped quench my thirst for theatre. I got in for free because I said I would write a review about it, so here I am.

‘Picasso, Escher and Dali walk into a bar….’

In the beginning, there was confusion. There were a myriad of characters that appeared to range from abstract objects to famous historical artists. These characters also tended to have fast jocular interchanges and/or emotional tantrums. The idea of a play reading as a performance was also a little foreign to me I must admit. Yet as time ‘dripped’ and water ‘ticked’ by the complex themes of the play unfolded before the audience and the story came to life.

Very near to the start, the curator of an art show is brusquely made to exit the premises, as ‘art is for art’ and he has been told that everything has been taken care of. This creates a grounding for the play as something that defies the constraints of ‘curating’ or ‘structure,’ and acknowledges that art has a mind of its own; that a story doesn’t belong to the creator, but to itself (a concept in which I have a strong belief).

“Is this too framed?” is set in the three rooms of an art exhibition/show, and the open bar (one thinks there needs to be some ‘common ground’). The rooms are soon filled with the rich dialogue of the characters including; Picasso’s seemingly simultaneous hate and love for women, the philosophical musings of Escher, and the mad mutterings of Dali. Not to mention the character who was actually a giant moustache.

Something the play made me increasingly (and embarrassingly) aware of is how little I know about art history. References to specific paintings and the wives/lovers of painters made a small “whoosh” sound as they passed over my head. However there were parts that even the uneducated groundlings of the audience could comprehend.

An interlude involving three stair monitors was a fun little piece which lay bare the woes and fantasies of those who guard the stairs of arts events, but never go inside. The piece was taken from a 24 hour play event in 2010. This was one of many such short plays by Tilly Lunken that were incorporated into “Is this too framed?” to create the entertaining conglomerate that exists today.

With just the right amount of seriousness and hilarity, (and occasional divergence from linearity), “Is this too framed?” captures the intense and whimsical nature of art itself, and plops it into the one performance. Writer, Tilly Lunken, Director, Sharon Flynn, Designer/Operator, David Haidon and really the entirety of the talented cast have done a superb job over such a short space of time and I’m looking forward to the performances yet to come.

‘Believe as if there is no one to care, weep as if there is no one to hear, eat as if there is no one to share.’

Review: A Fairy Tale in Miniature

Helen Nodding's Mudfest installation is a tiny world with a grand story, if you can find it.

I'd never really been inside the Architecture Building. On first entering, all that design work is intimidatingly practical. Except for the paper-chain-mailed staircase, which is perhaps Melbourne Uni's answer to RMIT's green blob.

The library, thankfully, is like all other libraries, with a notable absence of a gender/cultural/political studies section. I had to ask the librarian where the installation was. He led me down the bookshelves. Here it was, "Sandwiching the learning".

Helen Nodding's works are bookends. Her first creation supports 693.54 COLE, "Carpentry and Joinery". It is a steep mossy incline, a hut at the base, and a pebbly trail winding through a bare forest. At the top, a figure faces a red door into the hillside. It appears to be nothing, but on closer inspection, the figure is revealed to an elderly lady, less than half a centimetre high, hunched over her miniature walking stick.

The second bookend is up against 709.47 KIRI "Post-soviet Art and Architecture" (I'm learning my way around the architecture section). Perhaps appropriately, it depicts a city in ruins, a falling down highway, and a tower overgrown with moss. On the cliffside, a younger woman stands tall (perhaps seven millimetres), and gazes out.

I'd forgotten I was in a library. At first glance you might dismiss Nodding's organic creations, but spend a moment, seeing, and her Lilliputian world will come to life. Her creations are whimsical, and more than a little poignant.

A Fairy Tale in Miniature will be on display in the Architecture Library (4th Floor) until 28 August.

iQuest: The Creative Process

"Test-driving a new game takes a life-changing turn for Larry as his avatar, Cassius, goes on the Ultimate Quest, facing challenge after challenge, including that of Larry’s own life…"

iQuest is an original musical written by ROC'UM, the newest musical theatre company at the University of Melbourne. It will be performed at Union Theatre on Friday 26/8 9pm and Saturday 27/8 3pm & 6:30pm. I spoke with Eden Elliott (Director), Joshua Chang (Musical Director) and Tasha Irina (Book Writer) earlier this week – asking them about how the show was created and why you should go see it!

I’m curious about the creative process of iQuest — how did it start?
Eden: iQuest happened mostly by accident. The production team of the previous show already had ideas in the works, but we decided it would be more according to ROC'UM's principles to write something collectively. A little bit of brainstorming around the Mudfest 'kaleidoscopic' theme landed us instantly in the cyber-world. Anyone who volunteered helped write or compose.
Tasha: We wanted to do something that hasn't been done before. This is what we have :)

How did the collaboration start? Did it start with the script, or the music?
Eden: Collaboration worked mostly on a scene-by-scene basis. The writer produced the initial version of a scene; composers immediately got to work. Except in the case of the opening number, everything developed scene-first and was adapted in later versions. The composers also developed the over-arching themes of the musical using reprises and motifs, to help keep things cogent and really emphasise the satirical nature of the show.
Josh: Lyrics versus music varied. For example, in the avatar building song and P-Jizzle's rap, a writer produced the lyrics, which were then put to music by a composer. In other scenes, composers were given the characters, setting and dialoge around, and then wrote the song.

What inspired you when you were writing & developing iQuest?
Tasha: The Mudfest theme helped guide us but basically when it came down to it, it was a team effort. Characters and script were mainly my forte but everyone could bring their ideas in. Essentially it's like a trip down memory lane.
Eden: I will add that in almost every rehearsal, someone would make a joke or reference based on the script and we'd decide to include it.

How long did it take to write & develop iQuest?
Eden: The show has certainly taken its time – without the readily, instantly accessible internet, we couldn't have pulled this off. Despite the limitations of the Mudfest time frame, this show has been written and performed by amateurs all at once, remarkably. Some songs have been in place for months now – some for less than a week!
Josh: I'll add that I think that time pressure can force art to be good, or at least tight, without loose lazy bits.

How do you feel the collaborative process among cast members and the creative team has shaped the show?
Eden: For ROC'UM, the collaborative process is the show. The whole purpose of this theatre company is that everyone partake, and learn about any and all aspects of what it takes to put on a show. Some of the cast members have really grown a lot and everyone's skills have been put to good use.
Josh: And this is wonderful, because the marker of how good an experience is how much people grow – individually and in their bonds with others.

What are some of the things that you wish to achieve with iQuest?
Eden: for iQuest? I want everyone involved to be proud of what we've made, and for our audiences to understand exactly how difficult and wonderful ROC'UM is. For the company herself, we want more people involved who understand the ROC'UM spirit, and to establish ourselves so that in the future we can work with other, more experienced theatre companies to give our team just that little bit more knowledge.
Tasha: To let people discover skills they didn't know they had, to entertain and have fun... and possibly show that it's okay to be a geek :)

What has been the most challenging thing about writing, composing and developing the show – and realising it from page to stage?

Eden: I'm not afraid the show will fail to make money or entertain. I'm afraid the people involved won't feel good about it – and they deserve to! The most challenging part will be bringing the audience an understanding of where we come from and importantly why we exist.
Josh: I think the hardest thing was maintaining the momentum, development and flow of the show. I think the scriptwriters did and excellent job of this – I would've struggled in their places.
Tasha: The constant revision of the script but it was all worth it.

What do you enjoy most about being involved in iQuest?

Eden: Vocal direction is my passion. Being able to realise the harmonies in one's head, even in part, is always a great thing.

Josh: I love being able to perform good music as a group, and to see tremendous growth and improvement, which is clearly visible among the members of ROC'UM. Of course, entertaining an audience will be the funnest part of it all.
Tasha: Getting to work with passionate and great people. They're like family now.

Describe iQuest in three words!
Eden: I don't need three – wonderful, in the original sense of the word.
Josh: Hilarious Musical Satire / Majorly Unprecedented Awesomeness / Songs, Comedy, Collectibles / Questions e-Society Musically.
Tasha: Irrevocable Indescribable Awesomeness.

Why should people go & see iQuest?
Eden: ^see all above
Josh: People should see iQuest because it contains the best songs released in 2011. Seriously.
Tasha: Because it's fun, it's original, and a new experience for all.

Is there anything else you'd like to add about iQuest or ROC'UM?
Eden: Come and be welcomed!
Josh: I think that everyone should know that we in ROC'UM call ourselves the doughnuts. Do-nut make fun of this.
Tasha: All I can say is <3

photos by Adilah Ikram Shah

Review: Poetry Double Bill

More often than not, poetry is seen as a contrived convolutedness, written in strings of pretty words that made up nonsensical sentences. I’ve been to enough poetry readings and gone through painstaking poetry workshops to know that, unfortunately, there are a lot of poets out there who embrace these wholeheartedly. But then again, there are a few that make me believe that the heart of good poetry is in its honesty, and that words can be woven into meaningful experiences that stay with you long after you left the venue.

Bronwyn Lovell and Darren Parker’s Poetry Double Bill did exactly that for me.

Bronwyn’s ‘Poetic Delights’ and Darren’s ‘Mura Gadi Nengi Bamir Gindanha – Pathways for searching to see far laughing’ 
couldn’t have been more stylistically different if they tried. The readings were performed in the same room – in Mudclub, with pretty lights and colourful fabrics covering the ceiling – but they put the audience in completely different places.

Bronwyn’s performance was warm and welcoming. It was enhanced by the simple, yet beautiful hand-drawn illustration projected on the screen, as well as sounds that gave each piece another layer of context. Some pieces had a more naïve tone than others, which I found endearing. It felt as if we were sitting in her kitchen and having a cuppa while she retraced her memories and personal experiences and retold them to us in a her gorgeous storybook-like style.

Darren’s performance felt a lot more candid, in comparison. He started it by saying that he’s Aboriginal "I often get told, you don't look aboriginal, to which I reply yeah and you don't look like a fuckwit"  –  It set the tone for the rest of his performance – painstakingly honest, with lots of ‘fuck’ thrown in for good measure. Darren’s point of view of the subjects in his pieces was political and personal, and it was so refreshing and hilarious. At times, it made me feel uneasy, because he was so blatantly open about the things and the thoughts he chose to share with his audience – it was a confronting experience, but also a good one.

To me, the one and half hours that I spent in Mudclub felt more like one long conversation, rather than a watching of performances. It started with Bronwyn and Darren saying, “Hey, there’s something I need to share with you, can we talk?” They thanked the audience for being there and listening, but in all honesty, it was a privilege that we got to listen to their stories.

Review: 24 Hour Musical

I was waiting for someone else to post a review about this show, because I didn’t feel like I could write one. I’m still not quite sure what actually happened in Union Theatre that night, and I’m saying that in the best way possible.

It started with seven girls marching onto the stage, with a nun proceeding to stand behind a podium in front of them. Soon we found out that it was set in 1963, in some St Peter College something-or-other girls boarding school. Four of the girls were roommates — I’m not even going to try to type up their character names because I know I’ll just get them all mixed up.

Over the next forty minutes, these happened: a girl fell pregnant, had an abortion, got depressed, committed suicide; another girl realised that she couldn’t be with her singer girlfriend, sung about how she could never marry someone, got together with one of her roommate by the end of the show; the aforementioned roommate was constantly tripping on acid, and she was also our main narrator throughout the show; the last girl in the bunch was concerned about academia and was baffled that her friends didn’t bother studying for their test, but she tried helping her no-longer-pregnant friend by swapping their test papers. There were kisses. There were beautiful songs with gorgeous harmonies. There was a cloaked, dancing Death. Also there was an owl. And a pink rabbit. And the musicians wore masks – one of which was a shark fin.

If your reaction to that paragraph is, “Wait… what??” ­– let me just answer with: “Exactly.”

It’s not that there wasn’t a story in this musical. There was a very concrete and witty one, and if I were to describe it in musicals, I’d say that it’s a love child of Spring Awakening and Hair. This show made the most out of the resources that were available to them and, somehow, they crafted a story that was enjoyable and entertaining to watch.

It was sheer fun and excitement to see this musical performed on stage, when everyone in the theatre knew that it was written, rehearsed and performed within such limited time frame. Everyone involved did a fantastic job and they pulled it off tremendously well. I wish it had been longer, and I overheard some people wishing that it could be performed again. If you didn’t get to see it — man, you missed out on one hell of a ride.

photo by David Haidon

Poetry Double Bill Review

Wow….what can I say.. Nothing as eloquent as Bronwym Lovell or as hard hitting as Daran Peter Parker but somehow I am going to try and sum this kaleidoscope scope of words and emotions into a bite sized nugget for y’all to digest. Sitting in the chilly Mudclub birds-nest I needed warming, so got about firing myself up for my Friday nights entertainment with the special Mudfest punch in a dinky candy coloured welly (which makes one feel somewhat perverted, I’m not sure why….) however, although alcohol is well known for getting the cockles toasty, it was the Bronwym soft gentle voce and the beautiful words that did the trick. Bronwym Lovell put on quite a show involving sound effects and moving animations unique to each of her poem. She dazzled the crowd starting with a poem about her gift to the audience through words and emotions, and her gift was well received with all eyes focused and breaths held back. Bronwyms poems were delivered in a flowing and ebbing rhythm that matched the subject matter and over all tone of the experience; that of a journey through her life using her astute and often comical observations. Although very personal to Bronwym, each poem relayed sentiments and feelings that I for one could certainly relate to. This soft but deep experience was sharply contacted by act number two! Daran Peter Parker careered onto the stage and punched the punch out my welly and got going on my ears! Daran communicated to the audience like we were all old friends propping up the bar together and he had some serious sh** to get off his chest! I feel I can swear here as a reflection on his work as he used these forbidden words like they were going to pass their sell by date soon! This political and biting second half was a mightily interesting contrast to the first and got me alert and thinking to face the weekend. A thought provoking and inspiring few hours, I thank ya both!

This review is by flo devereux!

Review: The Zoo Story

Jerry has been to the zoo, but before he tells Peter why it will be on the news tonight, he wants to have a proper conversation.

I also went to the zoo on Sunday. The animals were fascinating, but as I followed the endless queues of strollers, some disturbing aspects became apparent. The orangutan gazed through the glass with a little too much recognition. The tiger paced relentlessly back and forth; perhaps lonely, perhaps hungry, perhaps for no reason whatsoever.

Melbourne City Dionysia's production of 'The Zoo Story', presented as part of Mudfest 2011, will take you to the zoo as well, but it's not a family weekend.

Peter (Henry Shaw), a "truly enviable innocent" or perhaps a "vegetable," is a New York publicist with a wife, two daughters, and two parakeets. Jerry (James Jackson) is a transient in a rooming house, with a coloured queen in a kimono next door. One afternoon they meet in a park and Peter's tidy world is turned upside down.

Edward Albee's 'The Zoo Story', directed by Shannon Loughnane and Clancy Moore, is a story of connection between humans (and animals). Their direction is subtle, allowing the creeping horror and tension to build. The set is two park benches that come to represent the vast distance (or perhaps not so vast) between Peter and Jerry. The play is structured around the conversation that they have. A highlight is an extended speech in which Jerry describes the flamboyant menagerie of characters in his rooming house. James Jackson and Henry Shaw bring all the nuances of Albee's play to life; the humour, the horror, and the connection. Their chemistry is spot on. What could have been a vicious satire of conservative values is a story of two men, searching for conversation and companionship, in the zoo that is the city they live in.

'The Zoo Story' continues Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th, and Friday 26th at Union Theatre

24 Hour Musical at 21 hours!

Tastings Artist Interview #2

Company name: lover lover

Artist name: Hayley Bracken

Show/artwork: Is it easier for Lovers?

Dates: 25th -26th August (Tastings*)

What was your initial motivation for joining the Mudfest Kaliedoscope in 2011?  The opportunity to see an idea be realized.

Is this your first mudfest show? Yes.

Are their future plans for this show?
 I do hope so! we want to make it longer and  stage it more imaginatively at another venue soon

Who is involved? Andrea Bergin and Tom Logan are the primary cast

What are your expectations for the show?  I hope it will surprise, delight and provoke thought and discussion

How do you think audiences will react? Only time will tell..

Room for an Interview?!

[Artist Ben Volchok gets some entertainment out of responding to our terribly straightly bowled questions!!]

Company name: I didn't even know whe had to have a company. And no, that's not the name.

Show/artwork: A Room with Revue

Dates: 19/8/11, 21/8/11, 24/8/11.

What was your initial motivation for joining the Mudfest Kaliedoscope in 2011?
Ambition/foolishness. That hasn't changed.

Is this your first mudfest show?
Participating, no. Being in charge of, yes.

Are their future plans for this show?
Are their future plans for this show what? And whose plans?

[Why yes, clearly writing questions for interviews at 2am is a bad idea when it comes to correct spelling and grammar, ahem!]

Who is involved?
I am, and so are some other people. Their names are Silvi Vann-Wall and Sam Rankin.

What is the most appropriate adjective about the show?
"Painful".

How do you think audiences will react?
Painfully.

[We actually loved it and laughed a lot. Please see under reviews section for not one but TWO reviews of Room with a Revue so far...]

Website/ blog?
Not that I know of.

Any info on the theatre company.
I haven't got one.

Anything else of interest?
Ozone smells faintly of geraniums.

[Yes, indeed we watch QI as well!]

Room with a Revue (Mudclub) Review

There were some very loud laughs that echoed in the Mudclub at certain points in the proceedings of Room with a Review - they were at seemingly odd points but were very heartfelt. You see cast and crew of Melbourne Model The Musical were in attendance and the skits involving University of Melbourne administration as well as being amusing were closely linked with other hilarity. This dynamic gave a real eclectic-ness to the audience response to this show - which actually corresponded really well to the content.

As with most sketch comedy this show was a mixed bag, fortunately most of it hit the spot! Some felt more developed than others (detective, yay!), some had latent potential that was crying out for nurturing (German recycling) and some were just about perfect (enrolling in a Bachelor of University). This show really feels like it is going somewhere. The Mudclub was really suited to performing it in front of an audience and getting a response to the humour. It is going to be totally worth investing further in this comedy and bringing it to other stages and platforms around the University!

Congratulations to the cast and crew of this show and really looking forward to seeing how it is reincarnated into the future

What 'Happened' Last Night....

I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect from The Happening. The 60s graphic of orange-hippy flowers on the Mudfest website told me nothing. The accompanying description (or lack thereof) excited my curiosity; “Colour. Music. Improvisation. Paint. Bodies. Art. Movement. Chaos. Calmness. Kinesis.”Was the audience going to be improvising? Were we even an audience? Maybe it would be some kind of paint party/orgy? The warnings of nudity, alcohol and coarse language certainly encouraged this line of thought. As did the advice: “Relax, respond and join The Happening…anything can happen.”

The website image for The Happening.

I was still confused. Also a little bit intimidated. So I decided to drag a friend along. We were greeted at the door with a glow stick wristband and assurances that it hadn’t started yet. The first room we walked into was decorated with big squares of yellow and orange fabric, gaffa taped to the ceiling.  The bar was made out of a door that was painted green and pink. The drinks had names like Kaleidoscope and Stained Glass Window. Best of all, punch was served out of tiny gumboots with squiggly straws. It felt a little bit like Bimbos, except more home-made and relaxed.

There were about 10 people total, sitting on crates in a circle having a quiet drink. We peeked into the adjoining room where it looked like some kind of arty thing (involving paint) was set up. We went on a quick trip to get cash and by the time we got back… something was definitely happening.

In the paint room, protected by Savers shirts and plastic footcovers, people were hurling, splashing, rubbing and dabbing paint on each other. There seemed to be a sudden influx of people because as we explored we found more and more rooms with more people in them. Fabric was hanging from every surface, making it look like the inside of a tent, or as if all the walls were cushioned. It was kind of like an Alice in Wonderland experience, walking past tiny coloured lights in bathtubs. There was a table set up with pipe cleaners, needles & thread, buttons and gauzy fabric in lurid colours with an unspoken invitation to decorate ourselves. I have just spent the last four weeks heavily involved in costuming for a college theatre production, so you would have thought I had seen the last of sewing, painting, cutting, working unusual materials into interesting shapes. But at some point that night I definitely found myself in the bathtub, sewing lace and buttons onto my friend’s sleeve.

It was at the point when someone said “I like your nose” that I looked in the mirror behind the bar. I had black paint smeared all over my nose and around my mouth, making me look like some kind of bear creature. The Happening had clearly happened all over my face. The shirt that I was wearing had been splattered and inscribed with various colours, words and textures. There were bits of lace, flowers, paint, buttons and even a fairy lights throughout my hair.  We chilled in the faux-beer garden set up outside, adding autumn leaves to the nest that was my hair and sipping more drinks.

Special mention has to go to the band for the improvised music. They created the mood, an ambience that made people want to ‘relax and respond’ through a seemingly fluid but harmonious melody. With the saxophone player weaving in and out of the party, the music seemed to weave together the randomness of all the different environments. The fact that there was always at least one shirtless guy dancing to them does not reflect the band’s talent.

It turned out to be one of those ‘adventure’ nights, a spontaneous decision to relax and go with whatever came across my path, that took me somewhere I wouldn’t have imagined. I wouldn’t really be sure that it had happened at all, if not for the paint stains I found on my hands in the morning.

Hilary Binks attended The Happening on the evening of Saturday 20th August (as part of the University of Melbourne’s biennial Arts festival, Mudfest 2011). The photos for this article were taken by Hilary and her friend using a mobile device and can be viewed at the Your Dripping Egg Website!

Review: Spilt Milk

It was a sunny Open Day Sunday with a lot of people and balloons at the University of Melbourne… and I stalked two clowns for half an hour.

I need to point out that I’ve become wary of the creepiness of clowns over the years, but these two were not creepy at all. Josh and Bek were refreshing to watch. I noticed their clown act near the Union House – they were standing next to a skinny, slightly creepy, unfathomably popular Panda mascot. (I still don’t understand why there was a Panda on campus.) Josh and Bek were holding daffodils and wearing normal clothes, only they were each wearing a clown nose. I was impressed by their capability of being acutely present and aware of everything that was happening around them. It was clear that the show was largely improvised, from the immediate and spontaneous ways that they reacted to the people around them and to each other.

I watched them taking four balloons with such giddy happiness on their faces. They soon lost three of the balloons and turned into sad, sulky clowns that were disappointed and angry at each other. It wasn’t until Josh tried to tie the string of the last balloon around Bek’s wrist that I realized that they hadn’t been talking to each other. They made noises, but not words – they communicated through their body language, gestures and facial expression. They did it pretty damn well, too. One of the highlights of the show, for me, was seeing Josh and Bek go inside Wilson Hall and not breaking character at all when people tried to ask them some directions.

Spilt Milk wasn’t only an excellent performance, but also a courageous one. It takes guts to be committed in being playful and trusting the audience to make meaning of . It takes talent to be able to show a story, without words. As an audience member, I could figure out their relationship and understand the story they were conveying to each other, and to the people who chose to watch them closely and pay attention to them.

Given that Spilt Milk is a roaming performance, I was not sure whether I should follow them when they walked to another part of Uni, or just let them be out of my sight. I find that it’s one of the great things about the show, though. We get to choose when we want to stop being involved in watching it, as much as we get to choose whether we want to notice these clowns. I got to see the end of it, where Josh and Bek took off their clown noses and went back into the crowd as if they hadn’t been performing in the past half an hour. It was fantastic.

The last performance of Spilt Milk will be on Monday, 22^nd August at 12pm in Parkville Campus. I don’t exactly know where, but keep an eye out when you walk around campus and start paying attention. You may stumble upon them, or they may find you – either way, it will definitely be delightful.

Review: Tastings Cabaret

Festival co-director and event curator, Dani Asciak, highlighted an important point in her introduction to the Tastings Cabaret event: cabaret is an integral part to Mudfest. An art form that is rarely seen on campus, Mudfest provides the perfect medium to exhibit these personal, musical stories. This makes Tastings Cabaret a welcome addition to the festival program, allowing new performers the chance to write and workshop a cabaret with industry professionals Karlis Zaid and Trevor Jones. It was also a successful event for audiences as well, allowing them to experience three diverse and entertaining performances.

A blurry Allie Sutherland on the Tastings stage

The first cabaret for the event was “I could have been an actress”, performed by the talented Allie Sutherland. Her very personal account of balancing the stress of completing a thesis with a love of theatre was a joy to watch. It was a very relatable view into the stress of study, and was performed honestly and with such passion. The use of musical theatre songs was also very effective.

The second performance, “Reading an erotic novel at a late age”, was a sharp contrast to the traditional cabaret format the audience was expecting. Written by Sharon Flyn, this piece used minimal music and focused on a more traditional, dramatic ‘back and forth’ between two elderly women. It was a refreshing change of pace, and the two performers, Alex Parke and Hannah Roe, were both extremely entertaining as the women.

Closing the night was Jessica Gulasekharam’s “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”, an exploration of the pursuit of fame. Featuring entirely original songs, the cabaret showcased Jessica’s many talents, with her flute and piano duet being a highlight. While she may not have become a “mega star”, she dazzled the audience with her account of her attempts.

Special mention must be made of the set-up of the evening. Using a combination of cabaret tables and traditional seating in the rear (reminiscent of UHT’s “Trans-mute”), the space in the Guild theatre was made more personal in order to match the performances. The simple staging of a rug and hanging fairy lights were also very effective and added warmth and definition to the small stage area.

This was the first Tasting Cabaret event to be run under Mudfest, and I hope it continues through future events. It is refreshing to see theatre’s shorter, more musical cousin performed on campus and by such enthusiastic, new performers. Here is to the triumphant return of Mudfest Cabaret!

Tram 3: A Review in Pictures