Blackie Blackie Brown, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company Production, Beckett Theatre, Saturday July 28th 2018

Blackie Blackie Brown, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company Production, Beckett Theatre, Saturday July 28th 2018

"Blackie Blackie Brown" was presented as a co-production by the Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company at the Beckett Theatre on Saturday July 28th 2018

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

"Blackie Blackie Brown" has a full title "Blackie Blackie Brown The Traditional Owner of Death" by Nakkiah Lui is a funny show that touches some taboo subjects to provide a hopeful future.  I have not laughed so hard for so long at such an entertaining and confronting piece of theatre.

The production is a sublime piece of co-operation between all of the theatrical departments.  Credit must be paid to Declan Greene who brought this piece to life with the wonderfully talented dynamic duo of Ash Flanders and Dalara Williams.

The video displays reminded me of David Atkins' production of "Hairspray" where they used multiple LED screens.  Here, we witness the incredible talents of Mike Greaney as the Animation and Video Director for the Animation trio of Jayden Dowler, Maira Primandari and James Neilson.

Lighting and Projection Design by Verity Hampson is an explosion of sensory delights that surprise and transport us between locations, themes and time.

Design by Elizabeth Gadsby with Concept Artist Emily Johnson is a sheer joy taking us from various locations to transporting us into dreamscapes.  Sound Realiser, Nate Edmondson excites and teases us with a soundscape of aural delights.

The staging made use of the raked stage made up of 11 x 5 = 55 squares and the vertical back drop was 11 x 4 = 44 squares. (Personally, I rose at 4.44 am to see the lunar eclipse then rose again to see it at 5.55 am.  This is of no relevance to the play, but is a personal note to remember the spiritual coincidences that we are presented with every day.)   The numbers mean nothing, other than making me think of the 400 people that Blackie Blackie Brown was pursuing.

The squares became doors, cupboards, a kitchen, hiding places, a police car, a television, a bar, and many other wonderful images.  The most impressive was the use of trapdoors.  A real surprise was the archaeological dig with the smashed square and what eventuates.  The use of the broken square reminded me of the 2017 play at the Melbourne Festival called "Germinal" at the Merlyn Theatre.  Here Declan Green has skillfully sucked us into his vision with unnerving surprise.

The use of the standing ESWING SEGWAY by Ash Flanders was sublime. He navigated this device with many options of forward and backward motion, and up and down the raked stage to absolutely delight the audience. 

Ash Flanders is a name I will not forget.  What a versatile talented young man to create so many different characters with individual mannerisms, vocal qualities and personalities.  I loved his opening camp interaction, and his policeman.  There were too many to list here.   But DO NOT forget his name!

Dalara Williams gave us a sensitive and powerful performance with honesty and vulnerability.  Her getting fit sequence playing off, and opposite. the video demonstrated superb timing.  Her interactions with Ash Flanders had a connection with another performer to keep us captivated.  Though, towards the end, vocally, I found a few lines hard to understand.

Declan Green is a force to be reckoned with, as he brought to life so many aspects of modern Australian life.  Yes, it is in your face and unrelenting.  Except the show lost pace and needed a second wind with about twenty minutes to go.  Here, the work needs some tightening to keep the momentum.  

Coincidentally some of the political comments were relevant as there were five by-elections on this very day.

The set and actors became a pin-ball machine.  They took us on a journey as they became a a dreamscape - via a conversation with a Great Grandmother.

There were news updates and interviews to see the antics of Blackie Blackie Brown from many perspectives.  This made the show less didactic and more credible as we were looking into the mirror of Australia.

The show paid homage to "Batman" and other cartoons with the captions.  At another time, an interaction paid homage to Dorothy and her chat to the Wizard from "The Wizard of Oz".  There were so many popular cultural references for different audience members to identify with.

With some fine tuning of the last twenty minutes, this production of "Blackie Blackie Brown" deserves to tour to festivals around the world as it showcases so many wonderful aspects of artistic collaboration.

So far, this is one of the best productions for 2018.

"Blackie Blackie Brown" obtained an 8.5/10.

Note:  I am finalising this review of "Blackie Blackie Brown" in late September 2018.  I am so happy that this production is being revised in 2019.  See it!

Blaque Showgirls, Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Thursday December 1st 2016

"Blaque Showgirls", Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Thursday December 1st 2016

"Blaque Showgirls", Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Thursday December 1st 2016

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

Who would believe that in one week you would see two show with cut out sets and props?  Let alone seeing two shows in a week with a cut out rickshaw crossing the stage?  "Blaque Showgirls" did as did "Reefer Madness" at Chapel Off Chapel.

"Blaque Showgirls" was a fun satirical show though it felt like a Year 12 Drama project at times.

The most compelling part of the show was the various aspects of racial discrimination, indigenous and identity issues.  It was less didactic than I expected as it provided various perspectives.  The core to me that was most revealing was Ginny Jones (Bessie Holland) yearning to find a place in the world and the extent at which she was prepared to go for her own gain.

The cast of four worked well together, though the Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager deserved to be a part of the final curtain call - as they were so much a part of the action.  To me this was discriminatory that they were not acknowledged.  For example the blank stare of Matilda Woodroofe, the Assistant Stage Manager when holding the hat with wig attached was one of the funniest moments in the show.  The pause was magic.

Guy Simon played the dual roles Kyle MacLachlan and True Love Interest.  He played his parts with sincerity that made it funnier.  His first scene at the beach as True Love Interest was very funny and he had a true connection with Ginny Jones.  It was not hammy but these actors found a truth within their characters to play the moment of connection with honesty.  He did not play a caricatures but larger than life characters and therefore made it funnier in setting up jokes.

In fact with all of the four actors they played with sincerity as larger than life characters.  This level of sincerity and connection with characters is what was missing with "Reefer Madness".

Elaine Crombie as Chandon Connors and Auntie differentiated between the two characters.

Emi Canavan as Molly the Japanese girl with a dream brought a realism to the humour and made her journey more poignant.

Each character was used in some way by Ginny for her own gain to find her sense of identity.  At one time it reminded me of "Go Set A Watchman" by Harper Lee when many readers were disappointed by some revelations about Atticus Finch.  Here we find Ginny was disappointed to find out her heritage.

Direction by Sarah Giles worked the script by Nakkiah Lui to maximise the humour and tell the story. The connection between Ginny and Auntie seemed real and made even funnier.  Sarah has made the actors find an inner truth to their larger than life characters.  The actors were also listening to, and being present for one another that made it funny.  There were a few holes in the production that could have been tightened to make the production slicker.  This was mainly to do with the transitions between scenes and some of the set changes.  The white balloons at the end looked re-used, deflated and tired, which gave it a sloppy look.

The show channels John Waters trash film genre.  I was waiting for the Egg Man to appear!

The script by Nakkiah Lui seemed to pose various points of view.  There was the predictable jab at Andrew Bolt but were also balanced with some inner soul searching from within.  I think this script could be tightened to make it even funnier and more poignant.

Set and Costume Design by Eugyeen Teh was terrific with his playful designs.  The cardboard cut outs were a highlight with the beach tent, surfboard, dressing room mirror etc.  The white stage had a surtitles board above which named locations or provided additional information.  This was another fun addition to the design.  The main proscenium arch moved upstage smoothly to open up the stage area.

The open wing area on each side was an interesting choice seeing where the Stage Managers would move signs etc.  This was distracting and took away our focus from the main stage.

The costumes were functional and also grossly tacky when appropriate.  The full body unitards with hand prints attached were explicit and fun. 

The burning "Sorry" sign alerted me to where the exits were located.  I worried about safety and knew that it would meet safety regulations.  This also raised a level of emotional connection to the sign - if a sorry is genuine and burns inside of the person giving the apology.

Lighting Design by Paul Jackson was sharp and created a sense of space and location.

There were some very funny moments with the boomerang thrown out one exit and returning via another exit.   The emu dance was well staged by Movement Director Ben Graetz.

The final dance sequence by Ginny Jones was interesting as the other characters were all cleaning up. I told my partner this afterwards and he agreed it was a subtle message of how certain races do the low paid jobs of cleaning, driving cabs etc.  This final trash message was as if the white man had caused all of this trash and here was a white girl dancing to claim not only her identity but her territory.

I thought overall the actors worked with a fair script to maximise its messages.

Overall I gave this production a 6.5/10.