Presented by Chaos Ensemble

The Parrott House

Review by Jessica Clausen

Through the mess of undeserved social stigmas and the turning of blind eyes on issues of mental illness and suicide, Perth actor and writer Daley King raises the curtain and turns on the lights in i’m not alright, managing to avoid isolating audiences while still addressing the topics head on.

Entering the Parrott House theatre, you are confronted with a man sitting at the front of the seats, wearing a t-shirt with a drearily painted smiling face and a blood-smeared bandage over his mouth with the word ‘smile’. The scene is highly unnerving, and as the lights dim and everyone settles, he stands up and walks slowly through the crowd, flashing a bright torch in the faces of his audiences, who now recognize the man to be their protagonist.

Daley starts off with a monologue, explaining his intention to commit suicide. Lyrically describing his fatal drink of choice (combining bleach and cough medicine as a few examples), he is then interrupted by another voice, calling him out on his ‘poetic bullshit’. The voice, an alter ego to Daley, is portrayed by a puppet. The felt doppelganger hides Daley’s self-criticism behind an American accent, a sarcastic tone and a light-hearted attitude, reflecting the hidden self-criticism of those suffering mental illness.

It is this snarky puppet and Daley’s self-deprecating humour that makes i’m not alright so affecting. Steering clear of stereotyping bipolar disorder by portraying it as messy, complicated and at times a little funny, Daley presents a genuine look of an issue ignored too often.

On paper, a soundtrack made up of upbeat jazz music sounds like it could be discomforting. Yet the startling juxtaposition between, for example, a proud confident voice speaking over soulful jazz and the reading of a suicide rather instead gave emphasis to the show’s confronting themes.

And then there is the storytelling. Daley goes from monologue, to conversing with his puppet, to re-enacting past memories, to speaking, to voice over. All this he does so with ease. There is not a dull moment through the 50-minute show, made all the more impressive by virtue of the fact King is facing the audience alone. Combining passionate vocals and descriptive monologue, the show is raw, charged and powered by an immense and underlying empathy.

I’m not alright is dark humour at its finest. The self-deprecating, self-aware humour layered over such an honest and serious topic creates an accessibility that is uncommon in the discussion of mental illness. King’s performance comes from an ultimately bleak place and that is what makes it so unique and admirable. This isn’t the type of show you will find yourself laughing about after with friends; but it is a show that will leave you with a more open mind and greater sense of understanding.

i’m not alright runs to February 21 at The Parrott House in Northbridge. Tickets available here. 

3 stars

Parrot House

Review by Jessica Clausen

Fr3e, by the Chrysalis Theatre Company, is one of those plays that leaves you feeling a little confused — psychological thrillers tend to do that. An unstable man wearing an orange jumpsuit and a fresh wound on his head wakes to find himself locked away and fighting for his freedom. After collapsing again, the man awakes to a terrifying creature that hisses and crawls all over him, pressing and prodding at his body before eventually scurrying away.

Later, the man, now referred to as #3, awakes once more to find a man in a suit, a judge and a doctor, who accused him of murdering a man named Walter Brown. He’s tortured, interrogated and visited by mysterious guests while the judge acts as a mediator, piecing together evidence as we slowly but eventually discover the truth, and the play reaches a chaotic, bloody resolution.

An interesting premise, Fr3e uses the conventions of the thriller to create an isolating psychological exploration of these unhinged characters. From the doctor, who seems to be speaking to an imaginary person, to Odious the frustrated interrogator, to #3, who has completely lost his memory, each character seems to be representing a particular form of mental instability.

Fr3e gives us a somewhat confronting representation of mental illness that left the audience a little uncertain. Perhaps it was the unsettling nature of the show, full of pain and agony (and blood). Or perhaps it was the venue – not entirely of its own fault – and difficult weather preventing complete immersion into the play.

The Parrot House lacked the necessary acoustics to bring off even a small show like Fr3e. With actor’s murmurs sparring with the blaring air-conditioner (due to a notoriously hot Perth evening) it became an unnecessarily struggle to even catch a snippet of the dialogue between characters. This unfortunate situation turned what could have been a tense, intriguing show into an awkward venture for sound bites that was ultimately a little disappointing.

Fr3e reels you in with an unsettling vibe that’s truly fascinating to experience. Unfortunately, the performers couldn’t burst through the heat and undesirable sound issues to make the play work, and it fell flat on an interesting premise but rather dull delivery.

Fr3e runs again from Feb 18-21 at The Parrot House in Maylands. Tickets available here.

Presented by Briefs Factory

The West Australian Spiegeltent

Review by Jessica Clausen

Leading out of the West Australian Spiegeltent on Saturday was a line curling through the Fringe World Pleasure Garden; audiences waiting outside for the best seat in the house, anticipating the open doors. The show causing the stir was Briefs – and by the end of the performance, it was no surprise why.

Briefs combines vaudeville theatrics with burlesque and circus. Having started in 2008 as a speakeasy, the Briefs Factory transformed into a performance group and since then have expanded to international tours and sell-out shows.

When the doors finally opened, the Spiegeltent had guests scrambling through the dimly lit tent for a prime spot, and an excited murmur fell through the room. As the show started the crowd cheered with excitement as a skimpy dance number opened the show, featuring giant feather fans and classic white briefs.

It’s clear why Briefs has such success in Perth over many other cities – there is nothing else like it. The show is a raunchy, overtly sexual creation that many viewers would find confronting (well, this is burlesque). But with the city’s sense of intrigue and the shock of such an eclectic, loud show, Perth simply can’t get enough of Briefs Factory.

The show was run through its paces by host Fez Fa’anana, an excitable, snappy performer dipping in and out of an aggressively masculine voice and a higher effeminate voice. Fez’s honest demeanour, filled with sarcastic comments and a snarky attitude, was refreshing and entertaining to watch; outspoken and hilarious, you don’t come by hosts like this often.

Other notable segments included burlesque performances from drag queen Dallas Dellaforce, acrobatic endeavours from Thomas Worrell and a rather outlandish act featuring three owners and their leashed-up boys or ‘dogs’. After performing a range of tricks for competition, these pets proceeded to get a little too frisky with their owners.

Of especial delight was our own WA representative, Louis Biggs. Specializing in yo-yo and impressive Rubiks cube skills, Louis’ zeal left many members of the audience lustful of the Briefs Factory’s youngest member.

Briefs is weird, flamboyant, outrageously sexual and blatant; but that’s what the genre asks for. Free from the static nature of single genres, the eclectic mix of circus, cabaret, burlesque and the show’s raw and self-aware humour makes a piece that doesn’t come by often. Loud and proud in its dramatically queer, you’re guaranteed to walk into the Spiegeltent and out of safe predictability of your everyday life.

Briefs will be running from February 8-14 at the The West Australian Spiegeltent in Northbridge. Tickets available here. 

Bastard Theatre Company

January 31 2016

Review by Jessica Clausen

Briefly put, Fish in the Sea is a fantastic show.

Written by and starring Daniel Buckle out of Perth’s own Bastard Theatre Company, with co-writer in Nick Pages-Oliver and composer Joe Powell behind the tunes, Fish in the Sea is a musical comedy about love, relationships and finding yourself.

The drama beings with Humphry – a hopeless character still moping about an old flame, who is forced to get out and live life again when his roommate threatens to kick him out.

In doing so he meets vibrant and lively hotdog seller Susanna, who has a peculiar surname and – to Humphry’s dismay – a boyfriend. The two develop a relationship, with Humphry convinced he’s found love again and Susanna’s relationship failures having left her sceptical.

As with a few Fringe venues, Hokkien House is surprisingly small, with only a few rows of chairs for audiences and the stage consisting of a tiny elevated area with a simple backdrop and just one prop. Two guitarists  play on stage right. When entering a theatre with such a minimal setting, your only hope is that the act itself will have to steal the show.

Happily, it did.

The three actors burst out of the wings, singing and skipping energetically, immediately breaking any awkwardness or tension in the room. They had no qualms with breaking the fourth wall either – remarking on latecomers and scene changes, and even going so far as to directly address audience members. While this can risk being a little jarring, rather than isolate audiences, the involvement and relaxed attitude kept the performance light-hearted, making a perfect complement to the outlandish humour.

Although all three actors were wholeheartedly impressive, it was the performance of Nick Pages-Oliver that left the audience laughing the most. Playing various supporting characters such as Susannah’s boyfriend, Humphry’s best friend, Ella and the ‘Spirit of Reggae’, Nick bounced through characters easily without once slipping up. The Lego block blonde wig for Ella was a personal favourite.

Among the farce, eccentricity, catchy songs, and a zeal impossible to fake, Fish in the Sea still gave insight into the trials and tribulations of relationships. It was refreshing to find a story that didn’t rely solely on the ‘boy meets girl’ romantic comedy, but that still concluded in the happy-go-lucky mood typical to this genre.

If you’re looking for a high-energy musical that will make you laugh, cringe and reminisce over the past lovers, Fish in the Sea is the way to go. The Bastard Theatre Company know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it well.

Fish in the Sea ran until January 30 at the Noodle Palace.

Nexus Theatre 

30 January 2016

Review by Jessica Clausen

Science fiction is a very particular genre which although appears in many artistic forms, tends to generate a select but dedicated fan-base. Dramatizing this genre’s otherworldliness as a theatre production was, I felt, bound to be interesting.

Thaw: A Science Fiction Play develops its plot around seven characters who wake up together in an empty science building. They have no direction, no knowledge of what year it is, and no one to help them. The group work together to find out what has happened, meanwhile discovering – and somewhat predictably – shocking truths about one another along the way.

It is rare to find science fiction in the realm of theatre. Perhaps because the genre is so typically dependent on story and setting, producing this through character and movement alone left a near-impossible task for a relatively low-budget show. The crew and creators of Thaw gave themselves the challenge; but their efforts were, ultimately, a little underwhelming.

To give due credit, the setting is impressive – a true-to-life imagination of a science building, featuring computer screens, machines with complicated buttons and switches, and an uncomfortably monochrome colour scheme that gives off a sterilized, distant feeling. Across the stage are large globes of dim fluorescent lighting, complimented with monotone music eerily falling in and out of scenes. This external mood is done well and prefaces the curious story perfectly.

For the most part too, the seven actors play their character parts impressively. James was a self-absorbed and insensitive brat, Christmas John’s worryingly jovial nature and brilliant laugh felt almost genuine, and the portrayal of the doctor as a well-mannered, proper individual with a self-inflicted sense of both responsibility and superiority was oh-so-reminiscent of the Dr Watson type.

Yet at times, and more often than once, there seemed to lack a certain energy in the room. It kept me distancing myself, losing my attention, and being unable to immerse myself fully. The interactions between each performer were dry, and the delivery of jokes felt particularly awkward and bland. For me, it felt as if each performer had spent a long time rehearsing and perfecting their lines, timing and blocking, but very little working on their emotional contact with their peers. The lasting awkwardness continually reminded me that I wasn’t seeing a story unfold, but watching actors play a story.

With a fairly traditional sci-fi premise, audiences were thrown into a world they knew nothing of, with dialogue and setting our only clues to figuring it out. But a rushed plot and a dry delivery left me feeling like this kind of science fiction, and this kind of theatre, just didn’t hit it off.

Thaw: A Science Fiction Play runs from January 27-30 at the Nexus Theatre in Murdoch University. Tickets available here.

Perth Town Hall

24th January 2016

Review by Jessica Clausen

No Lights No Lycra has at its heart a simple concept: come in, switch off the lights, and dance in a judgement-free zone to whatever’s on the playlist. Starting in Melbourne in 2009, the brand has made global success, and now allows willing members of any city to become its ambassadors and share with the community the joy of free dance. Although NLNL hosts regular events outside of the festival’s run, Perth was lucky enough to get an hour-and-a-half-long “Fringe special” session in the Perth Town Hall this weekend.

After first hearing about it, I was intrigued. A space to dance that wasn’t an alcohol-infused club or your private home? This was new for me. Free dancing is something hard to come by, and with professional dance classes being filled with all-too-talented individuals, NLNL sounds inviting for your everyman. Unfortunately, the ‘dance like no one is watching’ ideal doesn’t quite work in this context – at least not for everyone.

The venue was divided between enthusiastic and excited members and those nervous, unsure people waiting for some direction. It was clear many people were loving the idea, moving with careless abandon despite the packed space. The DJ was vibrant and energetic – hopping her way across the stage – and other event staff were just as excitable.

Yet despite the clear energy in the show, too many times it seemed I found myself enviously watching others who seemed completely at lax. My rigid movements became similar to those of the sober friend at a club. Perhaps it was the heat of the room, or that it wasn’t quite dark enough. Or perhaps some people just can’t quite remove that sense that they’re not alone. Whatever the reason, something was preventing a small minority to truly get involved.

I can’t give critique for an individual’s music taste, and there definitely was a fairly wide range of music, from oldies to hits of 2015, with a few alternative tracks in the mix too. Granted, it is difficult to please everyone and although some tracks I felt were just not the dancing type, the DJ did seem to please the majority at least once.

The NLNL Perth community put on a big show, and the idea seems a difficult one to perfect and it interests me still as a fun for of exercise. But a hyped-up concept seemed to blind the reality of this show: not everyone can dance amongst a squeezed-together group of people, no matter how dim the lights are. At the end of the day, No Lights No Lycra is a perfect way to have fun while sweating, but only with those comfortable and confident enough to free their inhibitions. If you’re up for the challenge, it’s definitely worth checking out.

No Lights No Lycra ran for one night on January 23 for Perth Fringe World. The community hosts regular events every Tuesday in Northbridge.