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.