Arj Barker
Mercury Cinema
10:00pm, Sat 18 Mar 2000
Score: 7
Short Review: Anh!
Sydney comedian Anh Do came out to warm the crowd up for Arj, and (to be frank) he was bloody brilliant. More punchlines than something with a large number of punchlines indeed. Alas, he was on for a mere 5 minutes; then out came Arj.
My first reaction was "oh no, this is going to suck" - Arj struggled for a few minutes. Soon after, however, he opened up and the laughs came thick and fast. Covering such topics as sex (the perennial favorite), smoking and dating, Barker's style was exceptional - no just-stand-up-and-tell-the-jokes stuff here. His use of volume and tone in delivering his gags was great.
Yet, at the end of the day, I would have happily traded 20 minutes of his act for another 20 minutes of Anh Do. Ah well... Arj was amusing enough to check him out next Fringe.
Symphony Under The Stars
Elder Park
8:00pm, Sat 18 Mar 2000
Score: -
Short Review: Symphonic
We arrived at Elder Park late, just before the second half of the program commenced. There were people everywhere. Anyway, the second half started with "Slava!", a neat piece, but something was not quite right... The second piece, Maurice Jarre's "Building the Barn" (from the movie "Witness") made the problem evident; the amplification system used to deliver the music to the masses seemed a bit bass heavy.
We moved from our original position (about 15 metres from the stage, to the left) and went behind the stage - and behind the speakers. Success!! The booming bass was gone, and we were able to enjoy "Finlandia" immensely. After the impressive opening to the classic "Sabre Dance", it was time to leave... no rest for the wicked!!
(Incidentally, we were late because we stopped and had a look at the Light/House exhibition, a display of a dozen innovative house designs. This was, without putting too fine a point on it, brilliant - some of the designs presented were nothing short of astonishing. Congrats to all involved!!)
Never Swim Alone
Bakehouse Theatre
6:30pm, Sat 18 Mar 2000
Score: 9
Short Review: Brutal
This was one meaty show. 50 minutes of brutal male truths, starting with giggles and ending with violence. Written by Canadian Daniel MacIvor (whose also wrote House Humans), it takes a no-holds-barred look at the current state of the modern male psyche.
Two men - Bill and Frank - stand facing each other, best of friends. In unison, they greet the audience... they speak in unison for much of the night. They face each other in thirteen rounds, referreed by a ghost of their past. The initial rounds are mostly friendly, jocular boasting and laughs at the other's expense, but as the play progresses the comments get more and more vicious, until both men get pushed too far...
This play had a lot to say about "winning", and what success really is in these times. Bill has a successful emotional life, whereas Frank has forgone his in pursuit of the almighty dollar, and is also the more physical of the two. Who is the real winner? The thirteenth round, happily, leaves this question unanswered.
Quite simply, this was a great bit of Fringe theatre. It was fantastic to see a small, local company like Bakehouse producing quality stuff like this! Matthew Bartsch and Erin Klein are fabulous as Bill and Frank, Marlo Grocke plays her small role well, and the direction is faultless. Kudos to all concerned!!
The Quiet Room
International Brigade (Cosmopolitan Centre)
4:00pm, Sat 18 Mar 2000
Score: 7
Short Review: Maniac!
A chronical of the mental exploits of a schizophrenic woman locked in a padded cell, The Quiet Room is a solo tour de force for Pam Levin (who both looked and sounded like a psychotic Jena Cane - Quixote, Mirette and Bellini). With just a mattress, a toothbrush and her mental hospital gown & slippers to keep her company on stage, Levin does a wonderful job with a patchy script.
Levin plays the many schizo personalities of Sissy, who has a self-acknowledged "aggression problem". Locked in the "quiet room" for attacking staff in her hospital, she invents a duck (one of her slippers) to inhabit the room with her, and cycles through many personalities (including the duck!) to fill the audience in on her history. Along the way, she details her descent into madness, her many issues with God, and does a great Flashdance to Michael Sembello's "Maniac".
However, at the end of the day, the script is a little too disjointed for my liking - sure Sissy was schizo, but at times the script seemed to skate all over the place. There were some great comedic moments, though - the word association games, and the duck having a hypoglycemic attack were brilliant. And Sissy's first steps into madness scared the shit out of me (and any other daydreamers!). If only the script were a little tighter...