The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow
Heaven
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
A Rose is a ruse is a total freakout -as the packed and ogling house in Newmarket Heaven discovered when the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow made its only- shall we say- appearance in Adelaide. Out of Seattle, the Weimar of the New World, and late of the Lollapalooza road show in the US, Mr Rose and his associates do their very best to keep their audiences entirely captivated. We are …
Continue Reading Back to topAin’t Misbehavin’
The Fats Waller Musical Show
Festival Theatre
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
While it is one of the great twentienth century art forms and an instance of American culture at its most inventive and vigorous, the blues sometimes gets the blues itself. With a shift to an African aesthetic many Black Americans no longer warm to the music of oppression, some would say defeat. And the shift in sexual politics in the past twenty years has left the blues …
Continue Reading Back to topAin’t Misbehavin’
The Fats Waller Musical Show
Festival Theatre
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
While it is one of the great twentienth century art forms and an instance of American culture at its most inventive and vigorous, the blues sometimes gets the blues itself. With a shift to an African aesthetic many Black Americans no longer warm to the music of oppression, some would say defeat. And the shift in sexual politics in the past twenty years has left the blues …
Continue Reading Back to topSummer Festival
Adelaide Festival Centre Trust
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
The Summer Season, our solace in the off-year between festivals continues to give comfort. In fact, combined with Womadelaide, we can hardly complain about the available fare in these early months when holidays are over, daylight saving fades and the tomato plants have died off. It began with Julian Clary, who has in short time won hearts and minds as the love-child of Kenneth Williams. And continued with John Waters.…
Continue Reading Back to topCome Out, the national biennial youth fest is about to sprout again. For the fortnight of 2-15 May the festival will overtake Adelaide with a variety of activities in all art forms. As always, the statistics are impressive- 1,690 performer, three hundred performances by fifty-six companies. But Come Out extends far beyond this as school and community programs plug in to activities that take place throughout South Australia. In its scope and vision Come Out is remarkable, unique in Australia …
Continue Reading Back to top1992
Ramaz’ Gala Performance
Rustaveli Company
Space
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
When the Rustaveli Company performed in Australia in 1986 they remained imprinted in the DNA of everyone who saw them. The most distinguished state company from the distinguished theatrical state of Georgia, the Rustavelis have toured extensively in Europe and North America presenting their unique readings of classic works – Shakespeare, a staple in Georgian theatre since last century, and Brecht, whose Threepenny Opera and Caucasian Chalk Circle are …
Continue Reading Back to topUncle Vanya
by Anton Chekhov
State Theatre of Lithuania
Scott Theatre
Reviewed by Murray Bramwell
Accustomed as we are to mixed styles and hybrid forms, their presence in the plays of Anton Chekhov can still surprise, even alarm us. Few playwrights have had their work subjected to such a variety of interpretations. There have been faithfully naturalistic readings of Chekhov, melancholy, languid ones, giddy comic ones, proto-revolutionary versions, even determinedly erotic ones. Chekhov himself was forever signalling that his intentions …
Continue Reading Back to topEnveloppes et Deballage
Cottage Theatre
Velot Theatre consists of director Tania Castaing and actor Charlot Lemoine and between them they construct tales of whimsy and imagination. In Enveloppes et Deballages- wrappings and unwrappings- they create what they call a `theatre of objects.’
Lemoine is a dreamy postman with a bicycle loaded with parcels. Amidst a hubbub of bird twitterings, cat yowls and what have you, he discovers smoke coming from a huge cardboard container. When he opens it he reveals …
Continue Reading Back to topThe action raced from musical soundscapes to didactic melodramas. From animalistic lycra to a japanese tale of love and ogres. Whilst Tiananmen Square rubbed shoulders with a local paper mill, Murray Bramwell was getting to know the nature of the beast itself.
Now that Come Out has gone back inside for another two year period of planning and preparation, it is a good time to take stock. This has been the ninth festival and with its theme, Designing Our Future. …
Continue Reading Back to top1991
The English Shakespeare Company spend most of their time travelling. Murray Bramwell talks with Michael Pennington, June Watson and Andrew Jarvis about touring, audiences and their current repertory season of Coriolanus and The Winter’s Tale.
It is something of paradox that because of their colourful, minimalist stagings, tuxedo toffs, punks and mod cons, the English Shakespeare Company are regarded as an experimental group. In fact, on the road since 1986 with The Henrys, and then the epic Wars of …
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