Nov 13

THEATRE – Orphans – Bakehouse Theatre – Til 23 November – 4K

SMA Kryztoff banner Nov 13 100dpiOrphans 1By Peter Maddern

A young couple, Helen (Anna Cheney) and Danny (Charles Mayer) prepare to sit down for dinner in their modest but neat apartment when a blood spattered youth, Liam (Sam Calleja), appears unannounced at the door. It is her brother full of a tale of the wanton, senseless beating of a street kid who he says he has then tended to. From there Orphans develops a confronting and at times harrowing investigation of the morality – noble and erratic – of those who have been bonded tightly by the adversity of their shared upbringing, as orphans, and those like Danny who have had a more blessed childhood.

Nowhere is this focus more fraught than over the merits of another’s well-being. The orphans have been raised, though not obviously with parental intent – around survival and manipulation; a selfish disposition that colours their view of all others. Danny sees another human being as one we should also care about should we be called upon or placed in circumstances where we may do something useful in their aid.

In the end self-interest and the sad realisation that sometimes you just can’t change or allow oneself to be caught up in the pathologies of others wins out but getting there is a tense business.

Orphans 3Fresh from Adam Carter’s polished performance in East of Berlin, Adelaide theatre goers have another chance to see an outstanding young actor in Sam Calleja in full flight. His mastery of the Liam persona – loving and frightening, unhinged but controlling but ultimately either oblivious or unpossessed of ways to handle his deepest flaws – is stunning.

Nowhere was this more evident than when late in the piece Danny and Helen’s six year old son, Shane, appears at the door to the living room having been awoken by the kerfuffle ensuing. One just felt an immediate shiver of deep apprehension for his safety that emotively portrayed how far from the preferably idyllic years of childhood as an orphan Liam (at least) had strayed.

Anna Cheney’s performance as the conflicted but also psychologically damaged wife, mother and sister is also of the highest calibre. As Helen, Cheney skilfully manages the degradation of the emotional control she has assiduously developed over the years as the big choices in her life loom.

Shona Benson’s set is curious with the stage proper surrounded by smashed up TVs, discarded shoes and all other detritus of the unruly and unsafe world that exists just outside the white and tidy but not perfect apartment they enjoy. The battle that then ensues is about preserving their oasis of humanity.

Benson’s direction is also excellent, extracting fine performances from all her cast.

This production has been coordinated with Time for Kids, a local charity that supports vulnerable children. Reflecting on their work with that of the characters in Orphans makes for a confronting chance for introspection about how we, in our nice worlds, would deal with the circumstances raised in the play.

This is excellent theatre and Callja’s performance alone warrants making a bee-line to the Bakehouse during this productions’ season.

Nov 07

PAGE HAMILTON (of HELMET) INTERVIEW

By Calen Vanstone

 

Not too many musicians can be credited for influencing numerous modern-day bands, or even be credited for the creation of a genre, and still be going strong with their own music to this day.

 

Page Hamilton, frontman and songwriter for alternative-metal band Helmet, is one of those few. Helmet began in 1989 when Grunge was gaining legs, and metal and all its sub-genres went decidedly underground in comparison to its mainstream days in the eighties. Hamilton and his trio weren’t concerned with “scenes” or “musical fashions” at the time. The group played to their strengths and found their own style, a sound Hamilton has never been able to label, nor enjoyed seen given one.

 

“I hate all those terms. I just felt like I was creating rock music. It was just about having a certain level of musical integrity. It was never about current trends.” 

SKS_2010_06_27__MG_0273-Edit

 

By the time group came to release their 1992 magnum-opus, Meantime, whatever it was they were doing had unwittingly inspired a league of musicians, and was credited with providing the building blocks for a genre that became known as Alternative Metal. Bands ranging from Tool, to Pantera, to System Of A Down, to Nine Inch Nails all give credit to Hamilton and his unique sound.

 

Coming up to twenty-five years since their formation, Hamilton has only one idea on what it takes to last as long as he has.

 

“Be good. We don’t have massive audiences, but we’ve stuck to our guns.”

 

Hamilton also understands the importance of keeping up a strong connection with his fans, and why Helmet fans are special.

 

“They are way smarter. They are great people! I’ve always had a great relationship with the fans. I’ve made good friends from fans before.”

 

For the upcoming Australian tour the band is undertaking, fellow legendary outfit, Melvins, will join them for the ride. The tour will run either side of the bands’ appearances at Meredith Music Festival on the 14th of December. Hamilton, no stranger to our shores, is excited to be coming back.

 

“I love Australia. I love touring here this time of the year. It’s way more fun to go to Bondi in summer. It’s great to tour with those guys (Melvins)! Its great to go to the other side of the world with good friends you’ve known for a long time. They’re a great band. It should be fun.”

 

As for what audiences can expect from the shows.

 

“We will be playing some new songs from our upcoming split with Melvins, but as far as setlists go, we just play what we feel like. We’ve always done that. We have no songs we feel we must play every show otherwise the audiences feels cheated. We just play what we enjoy playing.”

 

Nothing has been announced to celebrate the bands’ upcoming twenty-five year milestone, nor even how much longer the band will continue. However, Hamilton knows what to do when that time comes around.

 

“You never know day-to-day. I would play six nights a week for the next ten years if I could. You just don’t know. It won’t turn in to one of the bands that sticks around any longer than it needs to. If it’s done, it’s done, but for now I know there is more left in me.”

 

Helmet and Melvins play Adelaide on the 16th of December at The Governor Hindmarsh. Tickets at www.moshtix.com.au

Oct 30

ADEL FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2014 – Unsound Adelaide – 7-8 March

Fest imageUnsound Adelaide returns with a mind-blowing line-up of electronic and experimental music pioneers alongside new faces on the international scene. In 2013 the inaugural Unsound Adelaide sold-out to a captivated audience.

“The Adelaide Festival provided a showcase of cutting edge artists that, creatively, was a brave and progressive step for Australia’s arts and cultural festivals. The bar has now been raised.” – Resident Advisor 2013

Over two separate nights at the Queen’s Theatre and one unique evening at Adelaide Town Hall, festival goers will have the chance to experience emerging and established electronic music performances from Africa, Australia, Europe and the USA in another exclusive Adelaide Festival event.

The program includes the world premiere of Snowtown: Live with the Australian debut performance from Stars of the Lid (USA) and an exclusive line-up of new and legendary names in electronic music including: Morton Subotnick (USA), Nurse With Wound (UK), The Haxan Cloak (UK), Cut Hands (UK), Moritz von Oswald Trio featuring Tony Allen (GER/NGA), Emptyset (UK), Gardland (AUS) and James Ferraro (USA).

Adelaide Festival’s Artistic Director David Sefton said: “The First Unsound Adelaide in 2013 was a risky undertaking but people from all over Australia turned out in droves making it a sell-out success. It really tapped into Australia’s underground electronic music community. I never repeat anything when programming festivals but doing Unsound Adelaide again was a no-brainer”


Thursday, March 6 – Adelaide Town Hall

Snowtown: Live and Stars of the Lid (USA) with Zephyr Quartet and Friends

South Australian Jed Kurzel’s award-winning score for the controversial Australian film Snowtown was integral in creating the dark, claustrophobic mood. Now, the incredible composition and a selection of imagery from the film become a new work, performed live with a full band and string section in a world premiere event set to a backdrop of previously unreleased footage from his brother Justin Kurzel’s film.

Then in a rare live performance from one of the world’s most influential drone/ambient bands, Stars of the Lid make their Australian debut. Soundscapes composed from effect-treated guitars and hypnotic strings combine with video artist Luke Savisky’s mesmerising projections in this absorbing concert, performed with Zephyr Quartet and Friends.

Friday, March 7 – Queen’s Theatre

Morton Subotnick (USA), Nurse With Wound (UK), The Haxan Cloak (UK), Cut Hands (UK)

In his first ever Australian performance, pioneer of electronic music Morton Subotnick plays his iconic 1967 album Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work ever commissioned by a record label. The ground-breaking music used oscillators, filters and early sequencers, and here Subotnick, at age 80, revisits the album on his classic Buchla synthesizer.

This enormous evening also unleashes Steven Stapleton’s legendary Nurse With Wound project which has been conjuring otherworldly atmospherics for more than 30 years.

Following the celebrated release of sophomore album Excavation, The Haxan Cloak (Bobby Krlic) brings his dark, hallucinatory sound to Adelaide, navigating the line between dread, silence and sonic onslaught.

Founder of cult sound-experiment outfit Whitehouse, William Bennett showcases his new weapon of choice, afro noise project Cut Hands.

Saturday, March 8 – Queen’s Theatre

Moritz von Oswald Trio featuring Tony Allen (GER/NGA), Emptyset (UK), Gardland (AUS), James Ferraro (USA)

Dance music and experimentation rise from the atmospheric depths of Unsound’s Friday line-up, featuring Moritz von Oswald, one of the most influential figures in modern electronic music, known as well as for helping define minimal and dub techno. His trio belongs just as much to jazz and contemporary classical and includes musicians Max Loderbaur (Sun Electric) and Tony Allen (the legendary drummer for Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70).

Bristol’s Emptyset make abstract techno, a meeting of noise, bass and silence that culminates in a pulsating storm of distorted frequencies. Their recent release Medium was recorded in an abandoned Victorian mansion and translates architecture into sound. Here they perform their intense and unsettling live show.

Meanwhile, Australians Alex Murray and Mark Smith, aka Gardland, are stars on the rise as they present their hardware-based projects – a kind of warped dance music that feels both mechanical and organic. Soak in the bass as Unsound Adelaide maps the electronic spectrum from dub to disorder and beyond.

On the same night, prolific artist James Ferraro plays his hypnagogic pop, a strain of lo-fi, 1980s-centric psychedelia.


Artist Biographies: 

Morton Subotnick (USA)
Electronic music and multi-media performance pioneer Subotnick worked throughout the 1960s with Don Buchla on what may have been (along with Robert Moog’s Moog Synthesizer) the first analogue synthesizer the Buchla 100 series Modular Electronic Music System. Subotnick also co-founded the San Fransisco Tape Music Centre and in 1967 Subotnick completed his first major electronic work, Silver Apples Of The Moon.

Nurse With Wound (UK)
Originally formed in 1979 as a band; the experimental, dark surrealist drone project Nurse With Wound became a solo work by founder Steven Stapleton in 1981. The earlier work with the band was heavily influenced by improvisation and 1970s experimental krautrock. By the early 80s, Stapleton’s work started focusing less on industrialism and noise, becoming more and more focused on creating works of abstract sound.

The Haxan Cloak (UK)
Bobby Krlic’s ultra-black project The Haxan Cloak involves music that is beguiling, unsettling and deeply mysterious.  His lightless and intimate soundscapes are indebted to dark, filmic motifs. His mysterious processes produce ethereal drones and often shocking sounds, from the nerve-jangling, near-infrasonic sub-bass fluctuations to shrieking strings.

Cut Hands (UK)
A project heavily inspired by William Bennett’s fascination for Haitian vaudou, deploying Central African percussion in radical new ways, generating an intense sound unrivalled in its physical and emotional intensity. The name was derived from the song Cut Hands Has The Solution by his original Whitehouse project. 2011 marked the Cut Hands debut release, the critically acclaimed and best-selling Afro Noise album, since followed by Black Mamba on Blackest Ever Black in 2012, and 2013’s incredible Madwoman on Downwards. The distinctive Cut Hands art aesthetic and design is provided by vévé artist Mimsy DeBlois, whose amazing paintings feature on several Cut Hands covers and live posters. Cut Hands music has also featured in many films including Siberia: Krokodil Tears (2011), Inside Syria (2011), Kings Of Cannabis (2013), Snoop Dogg’s movie Reincarnated (2012), and Julien Temple’s Glastonbury (2012).

Moritz von Oswald Trio feat. Tony Allen (GER/NGA)
A member of pioneering minimal/dub/techno outfits Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound, Moritz Von Oswald has assembled an all-star collection of musicians to form the Moritz von Oswald Trio. A unique concept in the world of electronic music, a live band that performs minimalist dance music, MVOT consists of Moritz von Oswald conducting Max Loderbauer and the legendary Tony Allen, who perform synthesizer and percussion duties respectively. The improvised music is steeped in von Oswald’s Basic Channel brand of minimal techno, paired with Allen’s skilful and hypnotic afrobeat rhythms and Loderbauer’s expert knob-twiddling textures.

As drummer and musical director of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s band Africa 70 from 1968 to 1979, Tony Allen was one of the primary co-founders of the genre of Afrobeat music. He has also been described by Brian Eno as “…perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived.”

Gardland (AUS)
Gardland is the improvised techno project of Sydney sound-artists and founders of the label Hunter Gatherer: Alex Murray and Mark Smith. Recorded in the desert over an intensive ten day period, Gardland’s debut EP refines their elegantly wasted brand of live analogue techno. Their first full-length album, Syndrome Syndrome, which was released at the tail end of their first year together,  is full of off-kilter electronic music, deep sonic atmospheres and driving techno bass.

Emptyset (UK)
Emptyset is a bristol based project formed in 2005 by James Ginzburg, director of the Multiverse Studios and the curator and electronic artist Paul Purgas. The project explores the legacy of analogue media, integrating aspects of rhythm, signal processing and spatial recording within the framework of minimalist composition. Their work interrogates the perceptual boundaries between noise and music and the potential for both technology and architecture to embed and codify themselves within sound.

James Ferraro 
James Ferraro is an experimental musician, composer and electronic music producer born in Bronx, NY whose album Far Side Virtual was released by the label Hippos in Tanks in 2011. The album was chosen as Album of the Year by the UK’s Wire Magazine. Ferraro has released material under a wide array of aliases, and was a member of the Californian two-piece avant-garde project The Skaters.

Stars of the Lid (USA)
Formed in 1993, Texan cinematic drone duo Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride – Stars of the Lid – compose ambient soundscapes using effect-treated guitars, along with strings and horns. The result is highly introspective, and intimate soundtrack-to-a-fictional-world music which is difficult to pin down what it projects; the music could be crushingly sad, lightly melancholic, or even uplifting, depending on the state of mind of the hearer. Their music taps into the oceanic quality of shoegaze, dissolving boundaries between the listener and the listened-to.

Zephyr Quartet
Zephyr Quartet is a bold and adventurous Adelaide-based string quartet, delighting in the exploration of diverse music and forging dynamic collaborations. Since its inception in 1999 the quartet has shown a continued determination to expand the boundaries of art music and how it is received by audiences. A firm believer in the power of the string quartet as a medium to communicate and explore complex relationships between society and art, Zephyr has achieved an enviable reputation for artistic excellence, innovation and audience development.

About Unsound 
Since it began back in 2003 in Krakow, Unsound has become one of the world’s most praised avant-garde festivals, drawing together a wide range of international artists for a week of left-field and advanced music, often incorporating visual elements. Unsound New York began in 2009 missing only one year in that time: 2013, which is when Adelaide Festival exclusively presented the inaugural Unsound Adelaide. 2013 also marked the first year Unsound Festival headed to London.

With its HQ in Krakow, the festival has its origins in both Poland and Australia. Unsound was part of the Wagga Space Program from 2001 until 2006. Unsound is focused on international collaboration, using the festival as a tool for commissioning and fostering new work.

Presenting partner Adelaide City Council

 

Booking Details: 

Unsound Adelaide

VENUE:
Queen’s Theatre, Playhouse Lane

DATES:  
Fri 7 Mar 7:30pm
Sat 8 Mar 7:30pm

TICKETS:
$30 – $59
Unsound Adelaide season ticket to Queen’s Theatre shows only $100

BOOKINGS: 
adelaidefestival.com.au or BASS 131 246

Oct 28

Sex Drive – Adelaide Film Festival – Palace Nova Cinemas

Let’s face it – love (and sex) pretty much makes the world go round. Sex Drive, a compilation of short films about all aspects of the most important topic, examines themes as diverse as the universe of a prostitute who wants to get out of the game and risks everything to start a normal life (portrayed in the excellent short film The Last Night of Baby Gun) to the bizarre world of jilted single father Dirk who has given up on ‘real’ women and has shacked up with a silicon sex doll named Jenny in Dream Girl.

The key focus of the anthology, however, is on teenage love and lust, including lonely loser Jack whose heart is set on the girl of his dreams but realises quickly that he is simply not cool enough to capture her heart in Snowblind, but instead that he has been well and truly placed in the ‘friend zone’. Somewhat more suave is wannabe ladies’ man Wolfe, a 16 year old privileged Sydney-sider, who lusts after and – miraculously – seduces his extremely attractive stepmother right under his mother’s nose in the delightful and raunchy I’m the One. Finally, the dangerous combination of innocence and blatant sexuality combined in a young teenager is highlighted in the sweet but also menacing Good Night, which focusses on the blurred lines created by young girls not yet fully aware of the power of their seductiveness.

An entertaining compilation, although Sex Drive highlighted only some of the many facets of romance and sexual love (and completely avoided any themes of same sex relationships) it was nonetheless a truly pleasurable experience.

4K

Oct 28

Joy – Adelaide Film Festival – Palace Nova Cinema

In current times, Greece is – sadly – not known as a joyous, carefree country. The bleakness and despair of post-austerity measures is highlighted in Ilias Yannakakis’ 2012 film, Joy, which focusses on a desperate middle-aged woman who walks into a doctor’s clinic and kidnaps a baby. The moments of disturbing maternal affection showered on the stolen baby by the confused and slightly cracked Hara (played by a devastating Amalia Moutoussi) are over all too soon, with her inevitable capture and imprisonment, and the public of a hostile and joyless Greece judge Hara harshly as she is eventually brought to trial for her crime without ever defending herself.

The miserable and desolate nature of the film is highlighted by the stark black and white cinematography, particularly inside Hara’s lonely and joyless prison cell. A confronting film due to its subject matter, it is ultimately unsatisfying because there is never any real development of the characters. Further, it is never revealed exactly why Hara stole the baby or what caused her to become unhinged – meaning that there is never any real depth to the film despite its heavy themes.

This film is best left for true fans of Greek cinema.

3K

Oct 26

THEATRE – Orphans by Dennis Kelly – Bakehouse – From 7-23 Nov

ORPHANS_web-400x500px_bakehouseOrphans by Dennis Kelly

Presented by: Blue Fruit Theatre

Orphans is a psychological thriller which explores the conflict between family ties and moral responsibility.  It is a relentless, brilliant and horrific trip into nightmare territory.

Helen, Danny and their 6-year-old son Shane live in an urban environment fraught with random violence. They keep themselves to themselves but the outside world comes crashing in one evening when Helen’s brother Liam turns up, covered in somebody else’s blood.

Written by Dennis Kelly (Love and Money, Osama the Hero, Matilda) Orphans is an award-winning play which takes its audience on a chilling journey into a dark world just outside their front door, asking how far we would go to protect those closest to us.

“A play should be sort of like a person, you know, funny and kind but also capable of incredible cruelty…” Dennis Kelly

Helen and Liam 1Theatre:

Bakehouse Main Theatre

Pricing:

Adult $35; Concession $30; Students $20; Preview $20

VIP Blue Carpet event $65

 

Duration:

110 mins with no interval

 

Credits:

Presented by: Bluefruit Theatre

Playwright: Dennis Kelly

Director, Producer, Designer: Shona Benson

Lighting Designer: Alexander Ramsay

Sound Designer: Seam Ormsby

Composer: Callie Wood

Featuring: Alexander Benson, Sam Calleja, Anna Cheney, Albert Coussens, Charles Mayer

Preview:

07 November 2013 – 7:30pm

Charity VIP Blue Carpet Fundraising Event

08 November 2013 – 7:30pm

 

Main Season:

From 09 November 2013 – 23 November



Oct 26

VISUAL ARTS – Light Connections Art Exhibition 25 Oct – 15 Nov – Marion Cultural Centre

Shining a light on mental health recovery and personal growth through artistic expression!

‘Light connections’ is an exhibition of artists associated with Grow, who are celebrating their personal growth – their connection to light, through creativity.

Grow is a national community based organisation that provides a free peer supported program of mutual help for growth and personal development to people with a mental illness, and those experiencing difficulty in coping with life’s challenges.

South Australian Manager, from the organisation Grow, Darryl Ballestrin said many people who suffer from Mental Illness often isolate themselves from others and disconnect from society.

“The act of creative expression can have a positive effect on the artist – it can be both a forum and a catalyst to help break down barriers and isolation.

“An important aspect of the Grow Program, and a big part of recovery, is to promote self expression to help free up the creative spirit within.

“Many well known artists such as Picasso, Pollock and Van Gogh experienced mental illnesses, and they used art to personally expose their inner feelings in their moving, captivating and sometimes challenging creations.

“It’s inspiring to see such self expression, where often there emerges a personal description of the artist’s journey, in a form that is meaningful to its creator.”

The exhibition has been running since 2005, and this year it will feature the work of approximately 14 artists, ranging from semi professional to amateur, using a variety of mediums.

The exhibition officially opens on Friday 25 October, with guest speaker Vickie Chapman MP, Member for Bragg, Deputy State Liberal Leader.

Support your local artists and visit the ‘light connections’ exhibition at Gallery M, Marion Cultural Centre, South Australia between 25 October to 15 November.

 

Visit: www.gallerym.net.au

 

Grow is a non-profit organisation determined to make us all more aware of mental health issues, and to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness.

 

Grow – a proven program for mental wellbeing. Call 1800 558 268 www.grow.net.au

Oct 19

THEATRE – The Web – Bakehouse Theatre – 3K

Growing up in the country can be hard on so many levels. The social ramifications of living in a town where the potential pool of friends is very limited and everyone knows everyone’s business are immense.

Kate Mulvany’s The Web, centres on the relationship between Fred (Michael Lemmer) and Travis (Andrew Thomas), two sixteen year old boys who live in an isolated rural area and attend the local agricultural school together. While Fred is shy, socially awkward and struggling with his studies, Travis is the charismatic, academically superior, head prefect. This duo strike up an unlikely friendship when Travis offers to help Fred with a project designed to bump up his marks in Social Studies class. Travis, who is a big fan of social experiments, comes up with the idea that Fred will overcome his social isolation by engaging with people online and will keep a record of how well this strategy works. However, the opening scene leaves no doubt that all isn’t going to go well.

Lemmer is believably naïve and uncomfortable as Fred, while Thomas is a nice mixture of charming and unsettling. They have an amiable and natural chemistry, creating the required strange yet authentic relationship. As Fred’s mother Ivy, trying hard to keep life going following the death of her husband, Amy Victoria Brooks gives a strong portrayal of a woman who is putting her concern for her children paramount and subsequently neglecting herself, possibly as recompense for previous wrong-doings. Completing the cast, Nathan Porteus and Delia Taylor also do well as local policeman Sgt Tukovsky and the bubbly online presence of Susan.

At the most basic level there are several issues with the script. The plotline is rather predictable and fails to offer anything truly thought provoking. While only written four years ago, the online world presented already seemed rather out of date and unrealistic in terms of the interactions of contemporary teenagers in that zone. While this wouldn’t be a problem for older audience members who may not know the difference, the characters and their actions felt more akin to how adults see the world of teenagers, rather than what it actually is. The treatment of Fred while in custody, even taking into account the small-town mentality, as well as the general ineptitude of the police in terms of knowing what was going on with missing-persons cases, also failed to ring true.

The direction from Yasmin Gurreeboo is not entirely successful. The action jumps from past to present throughout and the transitions between scenes are staged with slow-motion, rewound and repeated movements. It appears that the idea behind this was to create a film-like feeling, however it doesn’t quite hit the mark. In other segments, Travis recounts some famous social experiments while the remaining actors jump around the set with jerky, disjointed movements. Again this staging seems to attempt to create the flickering effect of film without ultimate success, coming off simply seeming uncomfortable.

The set (Manda Webber) is made from an interesting combination of shipping containers and wooden pallets. It meets the requirements for the quick shifts of scene from police station to hospital room, bus stop to various parts of Fred and Ivy’s house. It does however seem a little cramped at times, with the action taking place in the settings staged inside the shipping containers being particularly awkward. Additional atmosphere was effectively created via the lighting of Alexander Ramsay and musical composition of Daniel Thorpe.

Despite the issues mentioned, the performances from the ensemble make this an enjoyable rendering of a somewhat clunky, and seemingly difficult to stage, play.

Kryztoff Rating: 3K

Note: this review relates to a preview performance of this production.

Oct 16

Vere – Playhouse – Til 2nd November – 4K

Photo by Matt NettheimBy Peter Maddern

Anyone familiar with John Doyle’s rantings on television and radio, especially This Sporting Life, will instantly recognise him as the playwright for this somewhat extraordinary play. Not for his views about events on the paddock but on the issues in physics – where obscure things like the Higgs Boson particle or the way the atmosphere works constantly percolate up in his musings.

Vere (or Faith) is ostensibly about the impact of rapid on-set dementia on a brilliant mind and man. But at its core, and the substance that makes the play ‘extraordinary’ is that that sadness gives rise to the forum for a debate about beliefs, about people’s faith. Where much theatre is based around family feuds and human weaknesses, this is a slugfest about what we hold to be true, not between religions as they are mostly known but of beliefs, between the spiritual God bothering world and those devoted to a staunch and sober examination of science.

Photo by Matt NettheimNone of that is to dissuade anyone thinking of attending. To be sure, Vere is not for air heads but the play, in two distinct scenes, also captures much of Doyle’s trademark humour and its delivery is supported by a wonderful cast.

Most challenged and most to be credited is Paul Blackwell as Vere himself. This is a masterful display that deals with grappling with a nasty demise and the various moments during which ‘clarity’ and confusion have the upper hand in his mind. Neither Doyle nor Blackwell allow much time for overt melancholy but the struggles Vere faces are known to many in the lives of people we know around us. His mood swings around his humanity are the work of a fine actor at his best.

All other players occupy the roles of alternate characters across the two scenes, a clever device to emphasise Vere’s problems. Geoff Morrell is a delight as both a lecherous Vice Chancellor and as a devout but self-deluding Anglican minister, soon to father –in-law to Vere’s grandson. He exudes an almost unsettling self confidence that seems detached from his more visible foibles. Rebecca Massey shines after the interval as Katherine, Morrell’s faithful wife and fellow believer while Matthew Gregan has moments of delicious grottiness as the brilliant but socially retarded geek who invades the space of the lecturers’ reverie in the opening stanza.

Sarah Goodes directs with confidence and never allows the intense debate of the second half, that perhaps like some of the characters exceeds its welcome, to drag and Steve Francis’ occasional descents into ethereal compositions remind us when necessary that at some level this portrayal of dementia is rooted in a reality many in the audience will be all too familiar with (as indeed Doyle himself is).

As mentioned, there are moments in the second half where things tended to get a bit wobbly, with perhaps too many tangents being played out (Michael’s conversion being one that just wasn’t much explained or challenged). But Vere will prove a wonderful challenge and joy for all regular theatre goersand judging by the demographic of those attending on opening night, it may well come to introduce the theatre and especially the State Theatre to a new and younger audience.

Have faith that this is one show worth attending.

Kryztoff Rating   4K

Oct 15

OzAsia – Extreme JUMP – Festival Theatre – 5K

Extreme JUMPJUMP is back and more Extreme. Produced by Yegam Theatre Company, Soul, Korea, it is a gravity defying show which since it’s inception has grown into a global production, touring more than 30 countries and during that time amassed plenty of well earned awards.

Having had it’s Australian Premiere at Adelaide’s OzAsia Festival in 2010 which was a huge success with the audience to raving reviews the crew says that they are really pleased to come back and looking forward to meeting the lovely audiences in Adelaide again. Which surely must be true as they sought out one of their biggest fans at home who had written them a moving letter.

Described as action scenes you see in a Jackie Chan movie but live. The fit and agile performers certainly brought an amazingly entertaining show mixed of comedy and martial arts. A few English words were thrown in this time but think Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin, no words required, the action tells the story.

One of OzAsia Festival’s best if not the best judging by the audiences reaction and appreciation as JUMP brought the house down.

Kryztoff Rating 5K