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.

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: 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.’

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!

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

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!

Interview?

-         So hello

-         Hello

-         What do you think you’re doing?

-         What do I think I am doing?

-         Yes, why in all that is good and proper are you mucking about with form and silliness when you should be uploading OTHER ARTISTS to Muddy Leaks.

-         I am an artist too!

-         Yes but not ANOTHER ARTIST

-         I am an artist three!

-         You should be blogging about the festival

-         This is about the festival!

-         And how awesome Mudfest is and how hard everyone is working

-         How hard I am working?

-         You?

-         You?

-         You are playing games with interviewing me, myself and I. Clearly you have too much time on your hands.

-         […]

-         What?

-         […]

-         Where have you gone?

-         […]

-         Where have you been?

-         Oh sorry I had to go and re-upload everything from muddyleaks onto the mufest site blog. As well as email photos to someone that I have been promising for ages for concept art that I drew for one of my shows as well as writing and editing other artist interviews and thinking and planning on sorting out comps for people that need to be sorted. Oh and also I am filling out forms for leaving the country and starting Uni overseas in just over two weeks whilst constantly thinking about packing up this house and if everything will end up working out and being ok in the end – which it probably will – but still time, time, time, TIME! And instead what I really should have been doing is sitting here typing bugger all into this document and asking where I have been and gone.

-         I said you should be doing something else.

Tastings Artist Interview #1

 Image credit: http://leloveimage.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-just-dont-feel-anything.html

Artist name: Domini Marshall
Show/artwork: Right Beside You, part of the Tastings showcase
Dates: 25th and 26th August

What was your initial motivation for joining the Mudfest Kaliedoscope in 2011? The Tastings program sounded like an amazing opportunity to work with an established playwright in developing a script. It's the first play I've written and the process has been fun and a great learning experience.

Is this your first mudfest show? Yes!

Are their future plans for this show? Not at the moment...but maybe..

[Lilly's note - there TOTALLY SHOULD BE!]

Who is involved? Nadia Fragnito is the amazing director on board. Declan Greene is the fabulous playwright mentoring me. Sarah Hall and Sean O'Donoghue are the lovely actors.

What is the most scary thing about the show? The scariest element is also the most exciting and is yet to come - the audience's reaction!  I hope they'll laugh at the irony but recognise the tragedy.  Mudfest has been a really fantastic and supportive space to develop and produce creative ideas. I've had next to none experience in playwrighting but Mudfest was the perfect platform to begin.

Scratch a Little with Joshua Lynzaat!

Company name: Scratch and Sniff
Artist name: Joshua Lynzaat
Show/artwork: Spilt Milk
Dates: August 19-22, 12pm-2pm.

What was your initial motivation for joining the Mudfest Kaliedoscope in 2011?
Bek and I met at the start of the year and decided pretty quickly that we needed to work together. Mudfest was the perfect oppurtunity to test a new creative relationship, with clowning our shtick.

Is this your first mudfest show?
No. I was in a couple of devised theatre works during Mudfest 2009 and also installed a sound installation in the Rowden White with Max Piantoni. Bek, however, is a Muddy Virgin.

Are their future plans for this show?
Yes. Having 'tested a new creative relationship' the results are reading POSITIVE... We want this relationship to continue into the future.

Who is involved?
... Me and Bek. And Bek's mum Helen who learnt from Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Can you imagine how excited I was when Bek told me this? Madness. Helen's been a well of knowledge and an incredible mentor.

What is the most exciting thing about the show?
It's a fun show! It's a cute show. It's often a hilarious show, and if rehearsals are anything to go by: a MESSY show. Yes!

How do you think audiences will react?
Spilt Milk is a roaming performance that is largely improvised. I think the show's quite lovely, because the audience gets to be part of the performance as it is created. I'm excited about the inclusive and spontaneous nature of the piece. Hopefully audiences are excited by this too, otherwise we might have a problem...

About Scratch and Sniff:
Scratch and Sniff was formed to create and perform new work. Their first show- a devised physical theatre piece called 'The Goods'- was performed in the Guild Theatre in October of last year. Since then the company has been slowly growing. This year Scratch and Sniff created a movement piece with The Occasional String quartet and Forest Collective in a performance of Ravel's String Quartet in F. For Mudfest 2011 Scratch and Sniff is presenting a clowning piece, 'Spilt Milk', and is also hosting the special event 'Everything Speaks'- a sound installation using human bodies.

Check out details on Spilt Milk on the Mudfest Program.

A Rocking Interview for iQuest

Company name: Rock Opera Company ,University of Melbourne
Show/artwork: iQuest: the musical
Dates: 26/8 9pm, 27/8 3pm & 6:30pm

What was your initial motivation for joining the Mudfest Kaliedoscope in 2011?
When we first started brainstorming for the show, we went straight to the world of internet and gaming, because in this day and age, technology is everywhere. (It's hard not to find EVERYONE staring at their little screens on PT these days) It influences us so much that sometimes we feel that little bits of humanity is slipping away, that's why when we developed the show more we added more warmth to the storyline. Hopefully people are reminded that there is still a world around us, there are still people around us that we should love and care about.

Is this your first mudfest show?
Y. And we would like to use Muddyleaks to thank MUDFEST for giving us this amazing opportunity and UHT for helping us out in preparation for the show.

Are there future plans for this show?
We'll see :P

Who is involved?
ROC 'UM? We are one!Seeing these amazing people putting this amazing thing
together has been simply mind-blowing.

How do you think audiences will react?
Hopefully people would singalong and find bits of their childhood from iQuest.

Website/ blog?
rocum.tumblr.com
Facebook Fan Page
Facebook event Page.
ROC'UM is the newest musical theatre company at the University of Melbourne specialising in rock musicals. ROC'UM aims to produce classic and original rock musicals in a variety of styles and settings on campus every year. We provide opportunities for University of Melbourne students/staff of ALL abilities to get involved with musical theatre – we don't look at CVs. Gain skills and experience; learn to sing, dance and act; make new friends and take hold of creative and technical opportunities – the only limit is your imagination! We pride ourselves on our diversity and inclusiveness – whatever your background, you're welcomed at ROC'UM.

Anything else of interest?
Spring Awakening coming in October!

Musical of Musicals - the Musical! Review

‘The Musical of Musicals: The Musical’

I didn’t want to review a show on Friday evening. Instead, I’d been hoping to attend my friends’ “N”-themed housewarming. Lucky for me, I take my reviewing duties very seriously. As the first Mudfest 2011 show I’ve seen, The Musical of Musicals: The Musical certainly did not disappoint. In fact it entirely exceeded my expectations.

TMOM:TM is basically a piece of musical theatre written to (affectionately) rag on musical theatre. The show is five short pieces (satirising/paying tribute to different musical styles from the past century) with the same basic plot: “I cannot pay the rent”. These are driven by five archetypal characters: the ingénue (Emma Hoy), the hero (Jack Brown), the villain (Josiah Lulham), the confidante (Bianca Bruce) and the ensemble (Michael Leaver). Each piece respectively parodies the work of Rogers and Hammerstein (in Corn!), Stephen Sondheim (A Little Bit Complex), Jerry Herman (Dear Abby), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Aspects of Junita) and Kander and Ebb (Speakeasy).

Directors and co-producers Scott Dunsdon and Emma Leaver did a fantastic job of transforming the sometimes vacuous Union Theatre, giving it a more intimate—sort-of cabaret—vibe. I was struck, upon entering the space, by the simplistic set (all black, with a piano stage right and a small rostrum stage left) and the cool instrumental jazz cooing over the speakers. My only criticism of the show is that it might thrive in a smaller space.

As a lover of snark, I was surprised to find there was nothing to snark about in TMOM:TM. The show itself is wonderful, filled with broad humour and sharp insider jokes (yet never losing its wit and cool). Leaver and Dunsdon have opted for a simple vision. This ultimately enhances the show as it allows the concept, and the fabulous actors, to shine. The aforementioned set design is clean and effective. Dunsdon and Leaver are clearly great directors who know how to construct sharp, aesthetically-pleasing blocking. Some scenes (most of A Little Bit Complex and Speakeasy, for example) are concomitantly inspired and referential, giving the show that magical mixture of familiarity and freshness.

The lighting design was one of my favourite aspects. For something that looks so easy to pull off, it’s perfectly obvious when a lighting designer doesn’t know what they’re doing. TMOM:TM’s lighting captured the essence of the show perfectly, while also lifting it from its simple surrounds. It was just totally classy. The simple costume design matched that class, predominately blacks and whites. Another outstanding aspect was the exceptional effort from Simon Bruckard, the show’s sole instrumentalist. Bruckard (on piano) held the show together with an emphatic and impudent performance.

Now, to the actors, who undeniably made the show. Brown, Bruce, Hoy, Leaver and Lulham are clearly all accomplished performers – there wasn’t a botched line or bung voice between them. However, there was so much more than ‘accomplished’ in their performances. Each actor had impeccable comic timing, an extensive vocal range (and appealing, commanding voices), and a wonderful affinity with the stage. Jack Brown made an interesting, engaging ‘hero’. He has a fabulous rich vocal timbre and an easy physicality onstage. Michael Leaver (who voiced the ‘ensemble’) was a stand-out; he shone in Dear Abby and Speakeasy and his comfortable manner (and sweet physical comedy) held the five pieces together. Emma Hoy, whose comedic style has impressed me before, was predictably spectacular. She melds sweetness and maturity brilliantly and makes a complex, charming damsel. She also has some wonderful facial expressions.

Bianca Bruce was an absolute knockout. It’s worth attending the show just to see her performance. She is a gracious, hysterical comedienne with a truly magnificent voice. Her Merman/Lansbury/Channing was particularly on-the-nose. Josiah Lulham was fabulous. He is just totally smooth (and has wonderful physicality) onstage. He made an excellent faux-Emcee in Speakeasy, an absolutely outstanding villain in Corn!, and was just a complete joy to watch. I found that my eye always wandered to him, as he was always doing something fascinating. Another joy was the ingenious Leslie (the “talking program”). As Mudfest is a ‘paper-free’ event, the TMOM:TM team keep you informed during the show via a lucid voice-over (I’m assuming, an un-credited Scott Dunsdon). A couple of stand-out Leslie moments were a soliloquy on apples, and a wonderful crack about Rent.

TMOM:TM holds appeal for musical theatre-lovers (like me) and the general public alike. There are jokes for the masses, and some for those who know the genre inside and out. I attended TMOM:TM on opening night with some 25 other enthusiastic audience-members. TMOM:TM has 4 more performances during the Mudfest period, and I would highly recommend attending one of them. This show is a treasure, and deserves a much larger audience than the one it had on opening night!

The Musical of Musicals: The Musicals is showing at the Union House Theatre at the University of Melbourne from 19-25^th August (as part of the University of Melbourne’s biennial Arts Festival, Mudfest 2011). Dates, times and prices for the performances can be found here. Don’t miss out on this one folks; it’s truly a fab experience!

This review by by Matilda Dixon-Smith (part of Mudfest 2011) can also be read on Your Dripping Egg.