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December 01, 1994

The Red Shed Company- Still in the Pink

Murray Bramwell

There is much to admire about the Red Shed Company. You might start with its excellent production values. Or its increasingly confident and innovative writing. Or the distinctive clarity and precision of its acting styles. Or the range and intelligence of its themes. Wherever you want to begin the list, it is clear that in eight years of operation the company, which burst into being, waggishly announcing itself as the RSC, has earned the affection and respect of …

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Cafe Laughter

Filed under: Archive,Interstate,Theatre

Picasso at the Lapin Agile
by Steve Martin
Playbox Theatre
Playhouse

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

It is the beginning of the twentieth century, the Noughts, as Steve Martin waggishly calls them. Freddy’s place, the Lapin Agile in Montmartre, is hopping with activity. Here is Cafe Society- the chic, the famous, the brainy, the belle, and tous les hangers on. Robert Hughes compared European cafes to magazines- bright vortices of plumage and pleasure. The idea has persisted. We bourgeois have disinvented …

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Vile Bodies

Filed under: Archive,Interstate,Theatre

1994

Bodyslam
Rock’n’Roll Circus
Space, November, 1994.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

The Rock’n’Roll Circus follows a distinguished succession of new circus acts in Australia. Circus Oz has remained one of our most enduring and innovative stage companies and the taste for acrobatics, illusion, comedy and satire has been fuelled by acts as diverse as the Compagnie Philippe Genty, Archaos, Desoxy, the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and Ra Ra Zoo. The Rock’n’Roll show, Bodyslam, owes more than a little to all …

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November 01, 1994

Wings of Desire

Filed under: Archive,Interstate,Theatre

1994

Angels in America
Part I: Millennium Approaches
by Tony Kushner

State Theatre in Association with
the Melbourne Theatre Company
Playhouse, October, 1994.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

There are no spirits, no ghosts, no angels in America. So says one of the characters in Tony Kushner’s extraordinary play about sexual identity, politics, puritanism, AIDS and the millenium. In what he calls A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Kushner ambitiously intersects the wheels of American history and religion with the twin …

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October 27, 1994

Drama and Screen Studies I

Lecture: Sweetown: Silent Legacy

NB. It is essential that you first read the text of Sweetown- distributed in tutorials some weeks ago. If you don’t have a copy please collect one from the Drama Office. On Monday 31 October at our 2pm session members of the original Red Shed production of Sweetown will present a reading. Please make sure you attend, it is an ideal opportunity to get a sense of the comedy and theatrics of the play. The actors …

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October 20, 1994

Warsaw Tango

Warsaw Tango
by Alberto Felix Alberto

Teatro Del Sur
by arrangement with State Theatre
Amanda….Maria Alejandra Figueroa
The Diva…Marta Riveros
The Magnific…Eduardo Cappussi
The Pole ….Luis Tenewicki
Direction, Design and Lighting…Alberto Felix Alberto
The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre
Wednesday 2 November

Warsaw Tango is very much the creation of Alberto Felix Alberto. He has written, designed and directed this dream-like performance for quartet and the production has toured widely since its premiere seven years ago. This is the first tour …

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October 12, 1994

Adelaide Theatre – Warsaw Tango

Warsaw Tango
Written, Designed and Directed by Alberto Felix Alberto.
Teatro Del Sur, in association with State Theatre.
Technical Director: Ignacio Riveros.
With: Maria Alejandra Figueroa, Marta Riveros,
Eduardo Cappussi, Luis Tenewicki.
The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre.

Murray Bramwell

Argentinian company, Teatro Del Sur, touring for the first time to Australia, have opened their much-travelled piece, Warsaw Tango, in Adelaide. Pre-season detail about the work has been scarce. Even the program notes are opaque. Warsaw Tango is “meant to be …

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October 01, 1994

Fine Graney

Filed under: Archive,Music

Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes
The Synagogue

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Dave Graney’s second coming to the Synagogue is nothing less than revelation. Riding their current album, You Wanna be There But You Don’t Wanna Travel, Graney and his band the Coral Snakes are in supremely confident form. As well they might be, they are as good as anything you’ll find in current music.

Taking the stage in black suits the Coral Snakes are crisp and fluent – like …

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The War Within

1994

Because You Are Mine

by Daniel Keene

Red Shed Company

Space, September, 1994.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

In the Festival Centre Trust’s Brave New Works season there could be few works as brave and new as Daniel Keene’s Red Shed commission Because You Are Mine. The Shed has presented other works by Keene -Low, a taut two-hander of underclass crime and punishment and the densely poetic dream play, All Souls. They were strong productions – some of the Shed’s …

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Frida Kitsch

Filed under: Archive,Interstate,Theatre

1994

Viva la Vida
Frida Kahlo
Handspan Theatre
Space, September, 1994.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Maybe it was all those calendars of Frida. Those querulous looks from heavy brows and hooded eyes. Each month, the iconography of pain and gore, flesh perforated with thorns and nails, a few small nips and Diego on my mind. The rediscovery of Frida Kahlo has charted a steep curve from obscurity to greeting cards. Her works have been seen in festivals and her biography …

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