The Velveteen Rabbit

Saturday, 30 January 2010

Walking into Fremantle’s Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, I realised with a wonder that I have never seen any shows here before. Surprising, considering puppetry is one of the earliest forms of story telling, and Perth had not too long ago hosted the 20th UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette) Congress & World Puppetry Festival.

The lobby and theatre was filled with chatty tykes and their corralling parents and/or grandparents, and the small stride shuffle eventually brought the audience full into the reasonably sized theatre facing a dark sectionally blocked stage.

Despite the large, human-sized puppets that had awed us earlier on display in the lobby, when the play opened (various panels were revealed and redressed throughout to progress the story), you realised that on the whole, puppets are small, and as this tale was particularly dealing with toys, the producers had chosen to give us proportionate as opposed to exaggerated.

SPPT’s retelling of Margery Williams’ beloved tale had a distinctly contemporary, casual feel as the ubiquitous Damon Lockwood and fellow actor Ben Russell, expressively and with comedy duo finesse voiced two introductory characters (an action figure and a night light glow worm, not mentioned in the book) who told of Christmas, the threat of new toys displacing them and ultimately, questioning each other on what it means to be Real.

The Velveteen Rabbit (voiced by Michelle Robin Anderson) a cuddly soft toy with a shortened base to replace his back legs and an inquisitive innocence, was a Christmas present delightfully realised, and had there been versions of him on sale as part of the theatre merchandise, I would have no doubt that just about every parent would have been badgered incessantly to please, please please! get one.

The narrative played around with sections of the plot and dialogue (the original story looks to be set around the turn of the 20th century, when the threat of scarlet fever was much more prevalent) but overall, its embellishments were more for humour and characterisation. I was reminded of Pixar’s Toy Story on a number of occasions, which no doubt owes a debt to some of this story’s themes.

With a running time of under an hour (before there would be too much seat squirming by those with a short attention span) it nonetheless captivated its chosen audience and was a cute piece of fun theatre for the grown ups too.

An oft-spoken child’s wish brought to life.

The Sapphires

Saturday, 25 January 2010

Having been delayed from it’s October 2009 premiere to accommodate a more collaborative move and be part of the 2010 line-up of the Perth International Arts Festival, I was expecting big things from Company B Belvoir’s The Sapphires, an amalgam retelling of an indigenous forgotten girl group from the 1960s.

I will say right of the bat that I was disappointed with the preview I attended. While an avuncular introduction by director Wesley Enoch was at first charming, it was soon shaped as an apology as he detailed delays that the production had come up against and then stated that this performance was going to have to accommodate a few stops and starts (for safety purposes) and that for all intents and purposes it was going to be treated as a final dress rehearsal.

The director even went so far as to jokingly call the audience cheap for having chosen to attend a preview. Oh really?

Live theatre is fraught with the unexpected, and while the stage, setting and music were something to sing about, the transitions were at times clunky and laboured and there were more than a few delays while the leading ladies zipped through the multitudes of quick changes the script called for.

Though the fourth wall was broken by occasional asides from a miked Enoch, I will admit that at times the show could really hit it’s stride. Jimi Bani was infectious and charismatic as Cynthia’s (Casey Donovan) erstwhile lover-on-the-run and he did a mean impression of James Brown that had the audience ready to get on up! And there was no doubting the singing talent on offer with Christina Anu and Casey Donovan deliciously deadly and diva ready.

In the end, despite all the trails and tribulations The Sapphires impressed, and the show will probably go on to be the hot ticket at this year’s festival. It’s just a pity that it decided to be fashionably late about it.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Thursday, 21 January 2010

A step back into an innocent, more nostalgic time, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, is a curious musical - made up of vignettes reminiscent of the classic newspaper comic which American baby boomers grew up with, and populated by actors who are probably more familiar with Ginger Meggs, our own popular larrikin version, rather that this neurotic lovable loser.

Mesh Theatre has done their best with the slight premise, and the obvious lack of plot, to instead showcase some of the more familiar Peanuts characters in this production. The result is an appealing kick that could almost serve as an alternative to the high gloss of kid-specific juggernauts The Wiggles, or more comparatively, Hi-5.

When this comic strip by Charles M Schulz first appeared over 50 years ago, the general ages of the children (postulated to be around 5 - 6 years old) was an irony to the more mature middle school dialogue they were spouting; but in 2010 I wouldn’t say those concepts have been fast forwarded, but rather superceded – with the iGeneration now more immersed than ever in a screen life of mobiles, internet and video, this show emerges as a charmer; happiness is…chasing butterflies and rabbits with your pet dog, playing a toy piano with the seriousness of a maestro, making up kissing/ advice booths – this is a world of imagination and play, where adults sound muffled and don’t make any sense, everything and everyone is usually bigger than you, and your pet is both an ace flyer and a high kicking singing sensation.

Standouts in the uniformly well voiced cast were Amberly Cull as Charlie’s little sister Sally, button cute with a Betty Boop voice to match, bringing winsome determination and joy to “My New Philosophy”; and Bri Williams as the indefatigable Snoopy, fearless and free, living the perennial childhood that an entitled pet has the luxury to know nothing else of. Her “Suppertime” dance number was a crowd roaring showstopper, and her appealing characterization and top-of-doghouse musings were exactly how you’d expect Snoopy to think and sound like.

A snack tasty skip down memory lane.

An Evening with David Sedaris

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

A friend had a spare ticket to what turned out to be a packed house at His Majesty’s Theatre, as the literati of Perth - with gleaming smart spectacles and an air of blameless sophistication - welcomed best-selling author David Sedaris to the Wild West.

The three-time Grammy Award nominee, probably best known for his books, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, which had won the author the 2001 Thurber Prize for American Humour; and “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” of which the audio book read by Sedaris had been nominated for Best Spoken Word album in 2004; was touring Australia’s far flung shores as part of a general itinerary that had included one of his favourite countries, Japan.

He had wryly observed that getting on a plane to fly over 22 hours to a destination should reveal the traveller to another, almost otherworldly locale, like possibly, Mercury, but that Australia in general seemed to be a mixture of the surreal and familiar, America lite as it were.

Well lived and well travelled, the evening opened up on stage with an introduction in German by his Australian manager (!) which was soon translated to be along the lines of “We have David Sedaris and will trade him for all your flamboyant homosexuals”; a rather humorous and unconventional way to start a show!

But I guess this was more of a book reading event which just happened to be showcased at the theatre. It was a testament to the author’s popularity, and while he decries being described as a performer, time spent on National Public Radio in the 1990s and numerous appearances on the talk show circuit have honed his voice to be to an expressive reflection of his interior monologue and autobiographical works.

While he seemed initially dwarfed on stage by a background of large red curtains and a lectern he admitted he happily hid behind, his voice soon overtook the physical and the nuance, sly humour, sarcasm and deft timing brought his essays, elaborations and allegories to life.

A story about a gated forest was politely received, but given more ironic resonance when he commented that our airport security measures appear to be from the 1970s - Homeland Security in the States is obviously becoming a bane to not only visitors but citizens alike; however his droll and entertaining observational humour (with just a touch of verklempt) skewed well with the audience, well primed in the foyer earlier as Sedaris patiently signed copies of his books and CDs.

Some of the funniest tales of course, involved his tourist eye view of Australia, it’s people, animals and language; and the ‘kook’ aburra featured as a star attraction, sporting the “buzz cut of a high school gym teacher”, a slightly feared creature lashed in browns from “beige to walnut”.

He recounted that along with his sister Amy (now well known from her cult comedy series, Strangers with Candy) they had sung the classic Australian nursery rhyme “Kookaburra (sits in the old gumtree)” practically non-stop one night, almost driving their not-quite-fearsome, underwear relaxing father to distraction. How startling to hear this sing-song come out with an American accent! I confess I sang it happily on the way home.

An amusing evening unexpected, enjoyed and well spent.