Hay Fever at New Theater Sydney an Actor's Play

Last night's performance of Noël Coward's "Hay Fever" at New Theater, Newtown, Sydney confirm it as an actor's play. A crazy family in a 1920s country house drive their guests to distraction. Alice Livingstone has great fun in the lead part as a retired actor, Judith Bliss, reliving her stage triumphs. Tess Haubrich as Myra Arundel standard head and shoulders above the rest of the cast both literally and in performace.

Unfortunately while Hay Fever is fun for the actors, the play has less relevance for a modern audience. The set reflects the period of the 1920s well, but some aspects of the era are jarring for a modern audience. The director has cut down the amount of smoking the script demands, but even so the constant presence of cigarettes is difficult to understand for a modern audience.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Good Clean Fun

Last night I attended the opening of the musical comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (DRS) at Theater Royal in Sydney. The show doesn't break any new ground, being a standard Broadway musical (with some routines sounding very familiar). But you don't go to such a show for cutting edge social commentary, you go for a good time, which DRS provides. This would make a good night out for the bowls club.

Tony Sheldon as Lawrence Jameson provides a suitably sophisticated con-man, talking wealthy American women out of their fortunes on the French Riviera. Matt Hetherington (as young con-man Freddy Benson) can belt out a tune, but struggles with the acting. Anne Wood (as wealthy widow Muriel Eubanks) steals the show with her asides to the audience. Katrina Retallick and Amy Lehpamer do not appear to be able to break out of the confines of their stereotypical roles, but giving acceptable performances.

John Wood provides a familiar face, but struggles with his French accent as corrupt policemen Andre Thibault (even if it is meant to be an American interpretation of a French accent). Wood warmed up and provided a fine comedic performance later in the show, when he has more to do.

Michael Hankin's set design is a little sparse for a Broadway style musical, but makes imaginative use of the few props (such as a dance scene with the potted palms). The scene changes run smoothly, unlike some musicals which have complex machinery, more like an episode of "transformers".

David Yazbek's musical numbers are all good, but sound a little too familiar, as if every hit Musial ever made was run through a computer program and reassembled. Musical Director, Guy Simpson, gets the most out of the material with the small cast and band of musicians sounding much more numerous than they are.

Unlike many musicals, the show has a logical and intelligible plot, which helps.  But Jeffrey Lane's book is a little wordy (this is not My Fair Lady).

Jerusalem Here at New Theater Sydney

The play Jerusalem opened last night at the New Theater, Newtown, Sydney. This of this as the UK TV series Skins, on stage. It opens with Parry's music and Blake's words, sung by what appeared to be an angel (see the video trailer). In a remnant of English wood threatened by housing development. An outcast fights council orders for eviction, while providing a refuge for the young and those who simply want to escape suburban life. The kids come to his camp to party and the adults to buy drugs, but will any of them come to his aid when the authorities move in? As with life, the issues are not that clear cut and there are no easy answers.

Tom Bannerman has produced what at first looks like a solid rusted corrugated iron shack, but is slightly translucent, giving hints of a world beyond the camp. Nicholas Eadie as ‘Rooster’ gives a complex performance of a character who at first seems to be just a drug dealing drunk, but has connections to the ancient people of the land. The actors playing Pea and Tanya as two local "girls" have the most fun, without the cares and deeper concerns of others and just there to have a good time.

Jez Butterworth's play, first performed in London in 2009, at 2 hours and 40 minutes is a little long with two intermissions and is hard work for the audience. There are plenty of laughs at the expense of authority and the double standards of society. There is considerable bad language and some violence (plus Morris dancing). This is perhaps a play you don't take your church group to (despite the title), but then again perhaps you do. This might also make a good night out for council workers who have had to deal with the issues in real life.

 Jerusalem is on at the New Theater until
14 September 2013.I attended the opening courtesy of New Theater and the Pastizzis from the Pastizzi Pasta Cafe.
 

Cronulla Street Exhibition in Canberra

I dropped into the University of Canberra’s Inspire Centre today and had a tour of the "Cronulla Street Exhibition" by James Steele. The work is a series of photographs showing changes in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, as documented by photographs by the same photographer, at the same places, forty years apart. The work is on display until 28 September 2012. Also on display on the the large screen in the Inspire main space is a multimedia work, in collaboration with centre staff.

Sydney Writers’ Festival

The 2012 Sydney Writers’ Festival is being held at Piers 2/3 and 4/5, Walsh Bay, Sydney. The easiest way to get to the festival is to walk from Circular Quay along the foreshore, past The Rocks and under the south pylon of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

The two finger wharfs are joined by a link building with cafes and restaurants (there are more places to eat in the wharfs). The prime spot is a deck chair half way between the two piers, overlooking the "green room", where you can do some celebrity spotting.

There are volunteers roaming the area handing out programs. Many of the events are free. There is also a bookstore to browse and writers to talk to. I talked to Indira Naidoo about her book "The Edible Balcony", unlike other authors she was also handing out samples of the tasty pesto made with ingredients grown on her balcony (more in the Blog, "Saucy Onion").

The reason for visiting the writer festival today, apart from soaking up the atmosphere, was to attend "Old Scrags and Other Sheilas", featuring authors Susan Johnson, Kerry Greenwood and P.A. O’Reilly, with Kerryn Goldsworthy chairing. The authors discussed their female characters, particularly Loretta Boskovic in The Fine Colour of Rust (P.A. O’Reilly’s ) and Kerry Greenwood's Phyrne Fisher. They discussed the problem of being a female author who gets pushed into either having to write male characters or being pushed into "chick lit".

Kerry Greenwood mentioned that a new series of the TV adaption of Phyrne Fisher is to be made, that the actor selected for the role deliberately had an older appearance. She also commented that the Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST: a term from the X-Files), with Detective Inspector 'Jack' Robinson will be maintained. Kerry Greenwood will be appearing at the Sydney Writers’ Festival again, tomorrow, Sunday, May 20 2012 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM. As well as hare Phryne Fisher Series, Kerry Greenwood's Books include the Corinna Chapman Mysteries and Delphic Women.