The performers were particularly strong in the comic scenes. The exuberant outward physicality of Hart and the more internal and reserved foil of Morrison combined perfectly and had the audience roaring with delight – I have never seen a show so enjoyed. These scenes included two Aboriginal teenage girls at a dance, a Kangaroo court charging Hart with being a ‘coconut’, cooking damper on a glitzy cooking show and a telemarketing advert for the ‘Mobulator’ – a coat hanger with lots of teabags tied to it.

Some of the comedy scenes were noticeably darker than others and concerned the horrible experience of living in a mission and the problems of skin colour for a contemporary Aboriginal. These scenes were very powerful and deftly evoked complex experiences that are not usually given voice.

Two of the tragic scenes stood out above the rest. They involved the recounting of what it was like to be a child of the stolen generation and a conversation between two sisters who had just been re-united. They evoked that deep empathy and acknowledgement that is the sign of great drama.

It is great to see stories like these being told, especially when they are done so with such strength, vitality and vigour.

Alex Wolman

The film event Poetry in Motion – The Films of Maya Deren showcased three of Deren’s most famous works: At Land, Ritual in Transfigured Time, and Meshes of the Afternoon. These three surreal semi-narrative films contain that quivering and strangeness of signs that is characteristic of profound poetry. Innovatively using cinematic techniques, Deren leads the viewer into a hazy world where familiar images are alienated from their usual existence and bestowed with a poetic potential to move past themselves and extend meaningfully. Memory, the subconscious, ritual and mortality are all touched upon in Deren’s films.

The music accompaniment performed by the improvisational trio Loudly Whispered was successful and greatly appreciated. It emphasised the tones of the films and often provided cues in mood that were appreciated when watching such complex and enigmatic works. Furthermore, the simple fact of filling in the silence was most certainly a pre-requisite for having the film event. Silent films screened in public suffer the fate of feet shuffling and coughing and consequently the audience becomes acutely aware of the people around them.

Despite the whole event only lasting fifty minutes it was the most moving artistic experience I have had in recent times. I do hope this type of event continues as it is a wonderful way to introduce people to powerful works that they might not otherwise be privy to – myself a case in point.

Alex Wolman

The performance began with Melissa Logan and Alex Murray-Leslie walking onto the stage in clothing that looked like it had been splattered with paint. Behind them was a semi-naked photo of Kate Moss and all around were strange fluorescent coloured objects. Logan and Murray-Leslie then proceeded to vigorously shout over each other, while at the same time playing pre-recorded video files. Occasionally they would drop in quotes by Michel Foucault and other fashionable intellectuals, and at one point, they very vaguely and pretentiously explained how they were “re-defining socio-cultural body centric relations”. On top of this, there were the long periods of, what can only be called, ‘avant-garde silence’, which seemed aimless and included for the sole purpose of alienating the audience.

A saving grace was the self-made “Objekt instruments” that Logan and Murray-Leslie played throughout the show. These included a cigar box synthesiser and what looked like a blanket with sewn on patches that produced harsh distortion sounds when touched. They were visually and technologically interesting, and their physical nature made them invigorating to watch. It would have been nice to have the significance and/or mechanics of the instruments expounded upon, as they did seem to be the only continuous element tying the show together.

Logan and Murray-Leslie’s determination defy traditional theatre and performance conventions was admirable, but I was continually puzzled as to what the underlying principle of the show was. What was the performance about? What were they dealing with? Why even put on the show?

And then it all ended. A mere thirty minutes and it was all over.

Alex Wolman

De Parade Teatro 2, Perth Cultural Centre

A pubescent male joke about penises continued into a career – how could this be anything but vulgar and offensive? In his one man show Pretending Things Are A Cock, and its associated blog, website and book, Jon Bennett has found a way to make endearing the act of…well…pretending things are a cock.

The performance consists solely of Bennett commenting on a slideshow of photos from his website in which he is pretending that something is his penis while at the same time pulling a scrunched-up self-satisfied face. How could this possibly work?

With this show he has taken the internet joke to a new level; it is the logical conclusion of comedy in the age of blogs and social media. By having a running commentary on humorous internet images, he is doing a behavior that many of us perform and enjoy – the group internet sojourn. As a result, we feel an immediate connection and community with Bennett, and we are made to feel as if we are all ‘insiders’.

But all of this wouldn’t have worked if he were not such a charismatic and natural storyteller. The yarns he tells, from unknowingly jumping on a cow until its stomach burst, to soiling himself in front of a gay Swedish man on his way to Machu Pichu, to losing a brown Haivana thong in Africa and then finding it months later in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, were so vividly and colourfully conjured that no film could have done them justice.

Bennett’s democratic and unpretentious show left me looking at the world in a completely new way. Walking out of the tent, potential cocks filled the streets; photo opportunities exploded in front of my eyes. Is not the purpose of art to change the way we look at the world?

Alex Wolman

The Bakery Main Space, January 26 2013

I have never walked into a gig in which there was only one person there. Add to this the fact this person was dancing determinedly to techno music with a cape on, and one can imagine the apprehension I felt when I entered the bakery to see Peter Van Hoesen and his support acts PJ Stokes, allstate and Craig Hollywood.

The doors opened at 8 and Van Hoesen came on at 11, as a result I was left to endure a three hour mixmash of tired and repetitive electro that, for the most part, solely involved changing a single music element every eigth beat. All three sets before Van Hoesen produced hollow and thin music that incorporated none of the thickening techniques developed by electronic musicians in recent years. These acts rarely moved beyond what was already around in the heyday of techno – the nineties.

But not with Van Hoesen’s set. He had taken the innovations of dubstep and beats and the recent advances in music technology and thrown them back into the somewhat marginal and dated genre of techno. His sound was dense and rich and the percussive beats flexible yet powerful. The music was not repetitive or predictable but still satisfying when techno conventions were met – a delicate balance.

Van Hoesen’s music doesn’t really stand up when you are listening to it by yourself – not a lot of electro does – but live, his direct control and organic creation of the music made it extremely compelling. The forty or fifty people who were dancing during his set were clearly loving what he was doing; tossing their heads backs, closing their eyes and throwing their hands in the air.

A restoration of faith in techno music by a young Belgian DJ: not the most typical Australia day, but one still greatly enjoyed.

Alex Wolman