Ms Chamberlain. Holden Street Theatres. 2 Mar 2016
Anne Chamberlain of New Zealand found in Eglantyne Jebb of Shropshire a soulmate and fellow traveller. And Jebb lead a life so inspiring as to prompt Chamberlain to research and write this one-person biographical play. You may not have heard of Eglantyne but you are likely familiar with her legacy - Save The Children. Those three words have made the difference between comfort and misery, even life and death, since Jebb and her sister, Dorothy Buxton, founded the charity in 1919 to support the children of Europe in the aftermath of World War I and the Spanish Flu.
Playwright and performer Anne Chamberlain takes us back to Anne's beginnings and pioneering presence in Oxford, where she realised a well lived life is a life of action and not words. Anne poignantly portrays the parallels in their lives - in relationships lost and perseverance. Jebb strives for meaning in her life and finds it in the children she never had. We share with Eglantyne and Dorothy their fundraising triumph at Albert Hall and their push for funds and awareness, up to and beyond Eglantyne's authorship of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
In a big life, there is a lot of ground to cover. Chamberlain's script is chockers with accurate historical information and while key emotional moments are noted, they could benefit from additional dramatic illustration. The whole thing is rather straightforward. Nonetheless, the roles of herself and the sisters are vividly portrayed. I imagine now that I saw Eglantyne and Dorothy discussing some aspect of boosting the fund, yet there was only one performer. The show's main objective was achieved - Eglantyne is now forever mapped on my consciousness, and I better get my wallet out because a good life is a life in action.
PS A proportion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Save The Children.
David Grybowski
When: 1 to 6 Mar
Where: Holden Street Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Briefs Factory & Royal Croquet Club. Royal Croquet Club - The Panama Club. 1 Mar 2016
The buzz on opening night was huge. I think I was the only person who didn't quite know what they were in for. The opening act in black light and feathers really was Vegas quality drag as the guys got the gear off, proving they weren't chicken feathers. The talent was well introduced and beautiful - the crowd loved it. Director and ringleader Fez Faannana usually took too long to say what he had to say and slowed the pace, in contrast to the effervescent entertainments by the boy crew. First of the features was a fine upstanding young man in shorts and a tie who seemed able to solve a Rubik's Cube in seconds. Out came the yo-yo, off came the pants and little man got roped into a few tricks. Shocking show of skill! The usual physical circus fare was interspersed with more hilarious antics, like the speedy monkey man and the show dogmen going through the hoops. I also was shocked again by a gross-out fetish I'm too polite to describe.
Faannana passed the hat around with an opportunity to purchase a lottery ticket, and the prize was lapped up by the shy winner. Extravagant lights and costumes helped make the boys blossom except for the black light arch act which was too dark to see. The show ended with some incredible acrobatics on a steel ring (similarly amazing work on the cloth straps preceded) followed by a grand finale that had the audience on their feet clapping for more, as they were asked to do, but only too glad to oblige. This show won the 2015 Fringe award for best circus and has travelled the world.A great night out.
PS The Briefs Factory is also putting on Club Briefs for two nights only - 4 and 11 March. This cabaret includes guests from other Fringe shows.
David Grybowski
When: 4 & 11 Mar
Where: The Croquet Club - The Panama Club
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Georgie Carroll. Gluttony – The Speakeasy. 2 Mar 2016
My wife works in a busy Adelaide hospital, and while she’s not a nurse, most of her friends are. And in addition to being able to put away copious amounts of adult beverages, nurses seem to make fantastic story tellers. Probably because they have so many strange-yet-true stories that unravel as a part of their daily grind! So, it’s not really too surprising that a nurse has decided to collate a few said stories from her experience and wind them together into a riotous session of tales of poo, pus, vomit, frequent-flyer patients and nurse politics.
Laden with wry humour typical of Georgie’s UK heritage, the now-Aussie nurse has some real crackers to tell. With a decent contingent of nurses present in the audience, no doubt drawn in through morbid curiosity of what they know will be discussed, there’s plenty of banter and involvement. Even for those of us who are not nurses, Georgie does a great job weaving things together beautifully enough that you’ll never watch an episode of ER or Grey’s Anatomy the same way again!
It’s clever comedy, and I like it…
Luke Balzan
When: 2 to 14 Mar
Where: Gluttony – The Speakeasy
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Presented by Anvil Creek Theatre. The GC. 2 Mar 2016
What a strange and haunting little show. Frederic Chopin's last tour was in Scotland, of all places. He was consumptive and miserable in the foggy air. He was well cared-for but he resented being seen as a showpiece. He did not like to perform. He thought his music could speak for itself without being performed by him. He missed his true love Georges Sand. There was really nothing which made him happy, except perhaps that he had given Poland something of which to be proud.
This is the story that Phil Aughey tells us, wild-haired and dressed in formal red satin shirt, cravat and white gloves. He bears more than a passing resemblance to the real Chopin in his last years.
He sits on the little German Club chair and talks directly to the audience in a vaguely Eastern European accent.
From time to time, the gloves come off, the reading glasses go on and he plays a piece at the piano.
He's not the greatest pianist in the world, but he gives feeling to the music, seeming to relax more as the show progresses. It is a short show and it breathes life into a sadness behind some of the world's most beautiful music.
Samela Harris
When: 2 to 5 Mar
Where: The GC
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Davine Interventions. Star Theatre. 1 Mar 2016
It is splendid that we have producers ready to stick their necks out and put on modern musicals with lots of Broadway cachet but not the sort of commercial clout the big guns are seeking. Here's to David Gauci who seems to be a rising force in the musicals business, and here's to his shows realising the sorts of keen audiences they deserve.
This time, with Hayley Horton directing, it is the US-acclaimed The Light in the Piazza which began its road to popularity as a novel by Elizabeth Spencer which was quickly picked up by Hollywood and made into a 1960s film featuring Gloria Dehavilland and Rossano Brazzi and glorious Florence locations. The Craig Lucas/Adam Guettei musical emerged some 40 years later, the twist of the romantic story having arrived at new topicality. Basically, it is the story of a girl living with brain injury.
The word resounding around the Star Theatre foyer at interval was "sweet". It is a really sweet musical.
Gauci has designed a very effective set, big white art frames which slide smoothly on and off a stage cleverly framed in faux marble to give a strong impression of Italian architecture. Otherwise it's all basic black, allowing for projections, an astute lighting plot, and a simply wonderful array of 1950s costumes.
Yes, the frocks are lovely, as are many other things, not the least of them the quintet conducted by Peter Johns. The musicians sit in the front corner of the auditorium beneath the stage, their mellow tones perfectly balanced against the singers and just beautiful in their own right. It is heavenly to hear a harp in there. The musical itself is of the neoclassical Broadway ilk, hard to play, hard to sing, sometimes lyrical and sometimes in-your-face.
The show opens with a beautiful musical reverie from Clara who is expressing the sheer joy of being in beautiful Florence amid the world's great works of art.
An accident on her 12th birthday has left her somewhat naive and very carefully sheltered by her tobacco-rich parents in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
With her mother, she is now on holiday in Florence where she falls in love with a young Italian shop assistant. Faced with the boy's wonderful Italian family and the joy of her daughter, the mother, Margaret, has to gauge just how far to let the relationship go. It is an emotionally complex part and it needs a particularly potent performer to evoke its roller coaster emotions. Katie Packer is this player, not only with her pure, rich mezzo voice but with the stagecraft to deliver a character for whom the audience is to establish a very close and sympathetic relationship. It's a bravura performance.
Kristin Stefanoff is not far behind as Clara. She glows with innocence. She is exquisitely expressive. She sings beautifully, a crystal soprano.
These two leads could carry the show but they don't have to. The support cast is terrific while for much of the time speaking Italian. Although Lindsay Prodea pushes his voice a bit too far for comfort in a couple of songs, he plays the smitten young Fabrizzio adorably.
David Visentin brings more romantic appeal to the stage as Fabrizzio's sleek father with Irene Castrechini-Sutton charming as his more retiring wife. They both are strong singers and so is everyone else, especially contralto Lisa Simonetti who triumphs with a passionate solo.
Andy Trimmings as sleazy brother-in-law completes the lead cast supported by Joshua Barkley, Megan Langford, Trish Hendricks, Verity Colyer, Matt Redmond, and Eloise Quinn-Valentine; everyone working through character and costume changes as smoothly as a well-oiled clock.
Altogether it is a classy production of an interesting American musical - highly recommended.
Samela Harris
When: 1 to 5 Mar
Where: Star Theatres
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au