Theatre Shenanigans

Being late for theatre could possibly the worst thing that I could imagine to happen. I hate it. I also hate being late for a movie or for a game of soccer or something but being late for theatre is that much worse.

Last week, my housemates and I went to see Midsummer (a play with songs) presented by the La Boite theatre company. It's a play fresh from Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

We had good intentions. We decided to drive and we also decided on a time that we would be out of the house and in the car to allow to find a park and to be just that little bit early to find a good seat. Then we had to cook dinner and get dressed and so instead of being out of the house at 6:45pm (for a 7:30 show), we left at 7:05, Already not a good start. Then, trying to follow the directions on the iphone (which tries to tell you to turn right in a street where there is no right turn) we got lost and of course I was driving so it was way stressful. This trip to Kelvin Grove should probably only take us about 10-15 minutes max. from our house but it took us sooooo much longer. Then we finally got to Kelvin Grove and I found a park but the others told me to keep driving to try to get a closer park, all the while one of my housemates decided that it would be really helpful to keep repeating the time "It's 7:24!" and "Guys, it's 7:27!" Wow was that helpful. So after driving past that perfectly okay parking spot, there were no others and we had to get out onto the main road and then come all the way back in again. But just as we drive out, the road work people cut off all the turns into the complex. We had to keep driving for over a kilometre down the road just to turn around and come all the way back. And they had cut down a three lane road to one lane so it was very slow going. Finally we were able to turn back into the Kelvin Grove area. The park I had wanted to take was still there so I took it and we all ran. Puffing we got to the place where you collect your tickets. They searched around and I almost thought they weren't going to find them but after a search, there they were. Thank goodness. But the show had already started and we had to wait about 6 minutes before we could go in. 6minutes is a long time to miss out on.

Many other people were late too. The theatre guy told everyone to be quiet and turn off their phones. So what do the other people do? Keep talking. He told them again and they hushed at least and he led us in. Then about 5 minutes after being seated, what do you hear? Someone's phone going off. How rude! It is the height of rudeness when that happens. There are these people on stage, bearing their sould almost to give us a good show and deliver this raw emotion that the show asks them to bear and here are these annoying, rude people disrespecting that by not doing the simple thing of turning their phones at least to silent. Ridiculous.

The show was really good though. The two actors were great. They played all the parts and all the music, either on acoustic guitar, electric guitar or ukulele and vocals. The singing worked really well within the dynamic of the play and whilst this play was essentially a comedy, it was really sad. When you think about the themes they were examining, there was this deep, profound sadness beneath the jokes. Definitely a show to see if you can.

Our hectic night really just mirrored the hectic night that the characters in the play had. Okay so ours was much more tame than theirs was but still, never want to be late for the theatre ever again. I was so embarrassed but lesson learnt.

Annie

Little Annie the red headed orphan girl. 

 Annie is the story of a young girl who was left on the steps of the New York Girls orphanage by her parents when she was a baby, leaving her with a locket and a note. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, Annie (Chloe Theil) and the other orphan girls are forced to spend their days scrubbing, washing and sowing. Annie constantly tries to escape the orphanage and the bitter spinster, Miss Hannigan (Nancye Hayes) in charge of the place in order to search for her parents only to be brought back each time. Grace Farrell (Julie Goodwin), secretary to the billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Anthony Warlow), comes to the orpanage as Mr Warbucks has requested an orphan to spend the Christmas holidays at his home. Farrell chooses Annie to the disgust of Miss Hannigan. Warbucks and Annie turn into unlikely friends and so ensues a search for Annie's parents with Roosevelt and J. Edgar and generally just a lot of fun.
Now I might not have ever seen a production of Annie before, live or the movie, but this one was brilliant and had me enraptured. Many people might think "oh no, little children singing and dancing for a whole two hours, how can that be enjoyable?" But it really was. The entire child cast did really well. For young children, I was amazed. Annie (Chole Theil) had a great voice and her performance was really enjoyable.
The orphans did a great job, there was some over-acting but on a whole you couldn't ask for more from young kids, especially for their first professional performance.
Todd McKenney owned the stage. He is a natural and really good in the role of Rooster (Miss Hannigan's brother). Easy Street is such a good song. Anthony Warlow also shines and you can really see why he has had such an amazing career. Also a highlight was Julie Goodwin as Grace. She is relatively new to the musical world but steadily making herself known. She has an amazing voice that shines through the ensemble.
The only real let down was Alan Jones as F.D.R. He may be good at sport and good at talking on the radio but in a musical. I don't really know why he is in this production. He can't hold down the accent and accents can be hard but when all the little 11-year-old kids can do it...And his singing is anything to boast about. I think they could have found someone else for this role. He let the production down a bit, especially when he is playing such an iconic role, usch an iconic figure.
This is just a very fun and very cute musical. I loved it.
One thing that I do love about QPAC is the fact that each time they have a musical playing there, they change the colours of the light that light it up at night. It's brilliant. When Wicked was here, they had it lit up all green and now for Annie it's all red. It makes it that much more exciting.

Nerd Fest

The SupaNova. The closest thing Australia has to Comicon in the States.
This weekend, the Gold Coast held its first Supa Nova, this was also my first Supa Nova. My brother has been going for years and loves it. He loves it so much that it is now to the point where he dresses up for it and for some reason I agreed to dress up as the character he wanted me to. But who am I kidding, sounding like I hated it and that I was forced to do it. I loved it. I don't think I would have had the same experience if I hadn't of dressed up. It was brilliant. I dressed up as one of the characters from the computer game Team Fortress called Pyro. To be honest, I don't play computer games and didn't really know the character at all. My Nerd speciality is more things like, Dr Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Serenity, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and that sort of thing. My brother just had the costume and really wanted someone to wear it so I stepped up and agreed. He had even gone so far as to make the (not a working model) flame thrower that the character has.

When I got there, there wasn't even time to feel silly because almost everyone is dressed up and you almost feel like the odd one out if you don't dress up. Everyone kept stopping us and taking photos and every other person kept yelling out "Spy check!". I didn't have a clue what that meant. I was so confused. I had to get my brother to give me a run down so that I could stop giving these 'yelling out people' weird, confused looks. He told me that in the game, Pyro is only able to set fire to enemies and not team mates, so if there is a spy dressed up as a blue when he is a red or vise versa, then he can catch on fire and that is what the spy check thing meant. That helped a lot. I even got to be filmed for someone's video blog. I felt so special.
Some of the costumes are amazing and you can just tell that so much work has gone into them. The attention to detail and the length that some people go to is just astounding. i couldn't believe it. And there are also little kids whose parents have dressed them up like little Chewies or little Bobba Fetts or the like and its just so cute! The whole place is so crowded though. There are so many people and so much to look at that you can occaisionally feel a little like a sardine in a sardine can but it's all worth it.

This year that had quite a good line up of guests. They had Richard Horvitz the voice of Zim from Invader Zim and Daggett from Angry Beavers. He was hilarious. He kept slipping in and out of the voices and then started singing musicals like Wicked (my favourite) in the characters' voices. Hilarious. If you don't believe me then watch this.



And they also had the actress from my favourite show Firefly, Summer Glau who plays River (they also had Morena Baccarin who plays Inara from Firefly but she didn't talk the day I was there). Summer was great. She seems like such a lovely person and has a real respect from her fans (one lady even bought her Tim Tams...). I even got to ask her a question (I was freaking out quite a bit and my hands were shaking a little) "What was it like working with two of the greatest men ever, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion?"
They really are great, I mean have you seen the new Avengers movie?

Factual Story Telling: Bending it Like Beckham

ANZAC

Last year my older sister and I travelled Europe and we ended up in Istanbul, Turkey. Since we were there we decided that we had to go to Gallipoli because if you think about it, how many times does one find themself in Turkey? We decided to go on a day trip because our time in Turkey was short. We got up at 5am and boarded the bus that would take us to the renowned landing place of our country’s heroes. It was a 5 hour trip and the air conditioning was freezing. After a quick stop for some lunch we met our tour guide (a Turkish man who is one of the best historians when it comes to Gallipoli) and continued to Anzac Cove and the memorial sites.

It is such a beautiful, peaceful and respectful place. I didn’t expect it to, but it really got to me emotionally. There is a quote from the President of Turkey in 1934, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who also fought in Gallipoli, that has been put on a memorial for all to see.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

It’s very beautiful. Looking at all the graves that line the coast is really quite hard. Reading all the quotes and what relatives have chosen to put on their loved one’s grave is again really hard. One of the graves just reads “Thank You” That’s it. Tears were welling up in my eyes at that point and I could barely bring myself to read anymore. What a beautiful thing to say and so simple. This is now what Anzac Day means for me, just the chance to look back, reflect and say thank you. Thank you for all that you did.

Each year on Anzac Day, I would always be a part of the march, representing my school and would always be playing in the band for the school Anzac Day Ceremony but it never really got to me emotionally. That all changed this year. My family and I walked to our local parade where we dropped my sister off so that she could walk with her school. I clapped as all the veterans, war widows and school children walked by as you do. Then we walked up to where the ceremony was being held. It was being held at the Buderim Mountain Primary School under the massive pine trees that they have there. It was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing through. The chairs were set out for all the special guests, the public crowded around in whatever space they could, the small stage was elevated set with the microphone and the community band was positioned next to the stage. The speeches began and then it was time to sing Abide with me. As I was singing, my eyes brimmed up with tears. I took a moment to steady myself and continued watching. When the wreaths were being laid and the war widows went up to lay their wreaths, I again could not contain my emotion and had tears threatening to surge down my face. Then a boy from one of the local schools read a poem about an old digger who sits on a bench and a boy approaches him and asks what the medals are for and whether he has them because he is a hero. To this the digger replies that he is not a hero but all those that lost their lives are. He then gives the boy the medals and tells him to treasure them and not to forget the heroes that died in the war. At this I could barely see through the tears and the fact that Last Post and the Reverie didn’t leave me in a good state. Never has Anzac Day affected me this much. This year for some reason it finally hit home and I could not keep the tears from flowing. I don’t know if was because I have been to Gallipoli and have seen where these men (and women) fought and heard about the conditions they were living in just to fight for their country and the freedom of their country or not but this year was beautiful and really emotional. Maybe I finally understand what Anzac Day is all about.

 I have a lot of respect for those serving whether I agree with the war they are fighting or not. When I went back and joined my family I was again in tears to the point where I hid under my hoodie until I had composed myself enough to attempt to look respectable (and all this emotion when I was just talking about how I have a lack of emotional response to many things). It was very emotional service for me and I think that it’s the best service I have been to yet.

Tri - whywouldyoueverwanttodothisbychoice - athlons

Triathlons are really tiring. Why does one put themselves in that type of physical pain out of choice? And why would you do that type of exercise for enjoyment? At what point do you say to yourself, doing three types of really long and really tiring exercises is what I want to do with my life? Why would that be your choice of sport out of all the sports the world has to offer? And why would you want your kid doing that?
These are all the questions that I asked myself when I turned up to the Gold Coast Triathlon (very) early on Sunday morning. My friend was really interested in doing a triathlon and somehow convinced me it was an awesome idea and for some unknown reason I had agreed to do the swim leg as part of a team competition. I got really excited and started going to the pool every now and then, training up as you do (although my training didn't start until about a week before the actual event). Then it came to Sunday morning and gettting up at 5.30am. I looked outside and it was still dark and sitting on the bed in the hotel room all I could think of was, "How did I get into this situation?" I got up, put on my togs and packed my towel and goggles. I was set, although I had forgotten to bring sporty clothing. All I had was denim shorts, and my campers for shoes. I didn't even remember to bring my runners.
So walking down to the event was pretty hilarious. All I could think of was that I completely did not fit in and that I stuck out like a sore thumb "People must be looking at me and they can tell that I don't fit in here. They can tell that beneath this hoodie I am not as fit as they as. Its like how animals can smell fear. These people can smell that I don't do triathalons. They can tell that I don't take it seriously, them in their professional looking gear, with their million dollar bikes and shoes and all their muscles."
Really I was just being a drama queen. No one cared. They weren't interested in me, why would they be?
There were quite a few people that hadn't done them before and a few people that were in it just to complete it. So with my cap and my goggles, I got into that water and swam my heart out. Only to find out that I had swam in the wrong race and my race wasn't for another hour. Also this race was only 300m no the 700m I actually had to do. No wonder it had seemed so easy and so fast. No wonder I was leaving people behind. It was only the enticers race which was half of what my friend and I were doing. We looked at each other and we knew we were thinking the exact same thing. Why hadn't we entered into the enticers race? Well I had had a nice little warm up regardless.
So an hour later, with a different coloured cap, I entered the water again, this time for real. My arms hurt, my lungs were buring a little from sucking in the air, my legs had a mind of their own, whether they were kicking or not I can't even remember, but swim I did. And not only did I make it but I didn't come last. I had actually taken over a few people after I had found my rhythm and settled into a good steady (for me) pace. Not only that, I had taken over a few people from the races before mine (the races left every few minutes so it maybe wasn't that much a big deal but still). So I was out of the water and running toward where my friend was standing with the bike. I got there and had to take the time band thing off (its a thing they give you to record the time you complete the triathlon in) to give it to my friend. My hands were shaking but I managed to put it around her ankle and velcro it on properly. Then off she went. She did both the bike leg (20km) and the running leg (5km). I don't knokw how she did it after only doing training for it twice but we completed it. It was actually quite a good feeling completing it. (I think next time -if there is ever a next time- I would like to try to do all three but definitely at an enticer level.)

And we didn't come last so that is a win for me. On the way home we treated ourselves to a bit of S-Club 7 in the car. A well deserved treat.

Roar Final

 The Roar final the other night was great. The game might not have been to the higest quality (it especailly wasn't the Roar's best game this season) but it was still a good game to witness. Also the amount of people that turned up to see a soccer game in Australia is awesome to see. There were something like 50 334, if I rememeber correctly. I bet that there wouldn't even have been half that a few years ago. But why are there only this many people at the final? Don't people know that the more support the teams get, essentially meaning the more people that turn up to their games, the better the entire competition will get? I know many people say that the A-League is absolute rubbish and there is no point in watching it or going to their games but I believe there is. The only way that it will get better is through funding and as the government will not help much with that, then it is up to fans and attendance. Once their is enough attendance and support then maybe the government will put more money into the sport (which would be really nice cause then they might be able to get a proper women's league going). We have no Premier League here so how are we going to get to see live games? Soccer is the best sport so we have to support it in our own country. 

I do have a few bones to pick though. Firstly, most of our players are imported. Don't get me wrong, its awesome, it helps with different playing techniques and experiences but I thought this was supposed to be an Australian competition. Instead of beefing up the teams with players fresh off the plane, focus on developing players in your own country, its cheaper and  it leads to better skills and knowledge of the game. Secondly,we have no songs. That is one of the best parts of going to games overseas, all the teams have songs that are iconic to that team. They are distinguishable and all the fans know them. We lack that. Our songs are unoriginal and not everyone knows them. Also we don't have an iconic song that is just for Brisbane Roar. There is one thing where the crowd spells out Brisbane but it is far too slow to the point where I didn't realise what they were spelling. There is just a serious lack in the song department. 

The other things I have to pick are for the entire soccer world and not specific to Australia or the Roar, the diving. I mean seriously, this is ridiculous. Diving at every tackle and lying there clutching your leg only to get up and continue playing has given soccer players and the game a reputation of being weak. This is not a weak sport so stop taking the dive people and just play the game. Berisha took a dive in the injury time and it resulted in a penalty which gave us the win. It was pretty controversial especially when the big screens in the stadium kept replaying all the camera angles of the tackle. You could clearly see that Berisha didn't get touched by the Perth defender when he goes crashing to the ground. I bet the Perth fans were/are not happy about that.

But then there are also the situations were the player goes down and stays down and causes the game to be stopped when they could clearly keep playing without all the fuss. For example Shane Smeltz went down and had a blood nose. They didn't continue the game for like 5 minutes. I know you can add this to injury time and it doesn't really matter, but its your nose, not your legs. Like my friend said at the time "I hurt my nose, I can't use my legs." Its ridiculous. Man up. (it may have been more serious than just a sore nose but really, either get off the field or keep playing.)

Then not only that but the Australian Football Federation handed the Joe Marston Medal for the A-League grand final's best player to Thomas Broitch from Roar when it was supposed to go to Perth Glory captain Jacob Burns. Oh that is embarrassing. Well I bet that made Perth fans even more upset.

Oh and the man sitting behind me. Wow did you not shut up the entire game. I was surprised that you didn't lose your voice. The amount of swear words that were coming out of your mouth was ridiculous and also repetitive. I felt like you needed a thesaurus so that you could have more variety. Also your comments were a little, how should I term this... ludicrous! "To win, you have to get the ball!" Oh really? You need the ball to win? The game makes so much more sense now, I am glad that you told (yelled really loudly into my ear from behind) me.

In the end its all part of the game. These things are annoying but its still a beautiful game. I know we have technology now where we could indeed have video referees and check the replays multiple times before a decision is made like they now do in rubgy and tennis but I think that would ruin it. Its so traditional in this way and if there weren't all the controversies, like the ending of this game (or even Maradona's Hand of God goal in the World Cup) then it wouldn't be half as exciting.

Kony follow up...

I don't know about anyone else but I certainly didn't see many, if any, posters, stickers or murals in relation to the Make Kony Famous Campaign by the group Invisible Children. When I was down on the Gold Cost I saw two posters, one on a street sign and the other, I think, was on a lamp post. That was the extent that Kony reached out in that part of town as far as I can tell. I don't know about other places or about other parts of the world but as far as I can tell, it flopped. People failed to take action from the internet to the streets.
I read this article from the Guardian (Kony 2012 Cover the Night fails to move from internet to the streets) where few people were found supporting the cause and there was even a silence over facebook and twitter about the subject. People seemed to avoid it altogether.
So the unity that this video was trying to coordinate on a global scale has largely flopped, severely damaging the credibility of the campaign. The video may have failed to attract the size of reaction that it was hoping for but they still got some sort of reaction.
They told their audience to never give up but after this underwhelming reaction, what will they do now?

Bombshells

http://www.queenslandtheatre.com.au/what-is-on/mainstage/bomb-shells/

The newest show on the list of productions by the Queensland Theatre Company, Bombshells written by Joanna Murray-Smith, is a view into the thoughts, feelings and lives of a variety of modern day women. It explores the life of a mother (Meryl) and the hectic goings on of a life with young children, the heart break and saddness of an enthusiastic succulent (cactus) grower whose husband has left her (Tiggy), the worries of a young, confident and talented girl (Mary) performing in her school talent show, the wedding day of a woman (Theresa) who takes a look at her life and realises that marriage isn't really what she wants, the life and adventures of a widow (Winsome) who meets with her widows' club almost everyday of the week and reads to the blind and the sad, lonely life of a performer (Zoe). Each story has unique, quirky moments that shed light on a variety of modern day women. And its hilarious.
Christen O'Leary did a brillinat job of portraying each character. Its amazing how much just the slightest change of clothes or of accent can change a person completely. There was never a time during the performance that I said to myslef that this is just the same person being all these different women. To me she completely changed each character. Her northern english accent may not have been the best accent I have ever heard but it also wasn't the worst, not by a long shot. Being all those women certainly must have been exhausting but the performance was great.
I have seen Caroline O'Connor on youtube do this play and her set was insanely detailed and elaborate. Director Wesley Enoch went for a minimalist approach and it really worked. Its such a small stage and it was utilised really well. A small amount of props and and simple costumes meant that you could use your imagination to fill in the rest which really worked for this play.
And the people in the audience were certainly entertained, especially the woman seated in front of us who sounded like a seal when she laughed. It all added to the atmosphere of the performance. Now my brother wasn't a real fan of this play. It is very woman orientated (obviously) but there were many men in the audience and many of those men loved it so I would still recommend it for the male population.

Week 7: Public Media

Now quality is what I like for my TV programs. Now I am very biased in this view, I can admit it, but I really like the things that the ABC and SBS have to offer. Q&A and Insight are brilliant shows (and I know many people agree), all the period drama pieces and the remakes of classic literature are brilliant too. All I have to say is Pride and Prejudice (the BBC production obviously, not the movie). Also I was brought up on the Friday night murder shows that play on the ABC as its about the only time my mother watched TV. That was always a big thing in our family, sitting down with our nachos and watching the Friday night murders as a family.
And who is better than Margaret and David for movie reviews (except maybe Mark Fennell on Triple J which is still counted as public media and part of the ABC). And The Chasers and Hungry Beast, those shows are so great, especially for people of our generation. And what channel is best for news? SBS, of course!
When I lived on the Coast (the Sunshine one), one of the highlights of coming to Brisbane was going to the ABC shop in Queen St. That shop always has cool stuff.
One of the subjects that was brought up in the lecture was that some people view the ABC as elitist and boring, of limited interest, poorly presented and out of touch. Now I strongly disagree with most of these. As you may have been able to gather from this post and others, I clearly don't find the ABC boring, but that isn't to say that it can't be. There are many programs that are played that I wouldn't watch and if it is still playing the bowls then obviously that is one of the most boring things I have ever seen (yes I have watched it...). But most of the time it has really interesting programs and it doesn't have adds. That is one of the ABC's best qualities. I could possibly cry if it follows SBS and gets add breaks. I can see how people view it as elitist but in my opinion it has something for everyone. I don't think I have met many young people who have seen at least some of Chris Lilley's shows and there are shows like Q&A and it has inventing shows and things like Spicks and Specks and The Gruen Transfer. How can all this be out of touch? As for poorly presented, well, it looks fine to me.
Bias on TV is like a game of soccer or any sport really. Whatever the referee calls, there will always be one side that doesn't agree. The referee can hardly ever make anyone happy. Its just his or her job to call what he or she sees and try to keep it fair. I think many shows on the ABC and SBS are like this. One political party is always not going to be happy and say that the show is biassed, and if both sides keep saying or thinking this then the show is doing a good job (probably). Like on Q&A the other night, the religion debate, the crowd seemed to be mostly siding with the Cardinal but then most of the tweets were in favour of Dawkins.
If you don't have something like Austar then how are you possibly going to see the latest Premier League games and highlights? SBS of course (and you have to love the soccer. Messi is a god). And there ain't no one out there that knows soccer as well as Craig Foster and Les Murray.
Oh and the ABC plays Dr Who, therefore it beats every other channel.

LNP staffer quits after anti-feminist rant

I found this article (LNP staffer quits after anti-feminist rant) on the Brisbane Times website this morning and I could not believe what I was reading. Now, my political knowledge may be limited, but all I can say is that I knew I didn't like the coalition. If this is what the members of their party are like then Queensland is screwed. If the Federal election in the all too near future has the same results as the Queensland election, as it looks like it is going to, then I think I will have to get out of Australia, study abroad or something until the Australian public comes to their senses and sees that the Liberal National Party is not the way to go.
I cannot believe that this Max Tomlinson can possibly, in this day and age, view women like this, especailly seeing as we have a female Prime Minister at the moment. Such disrespect for women is ridiculous. I just couldn't believe it. LNP didn't have my vote before and they definitely don't have it now.

Kristen Bell and Ellen

If you haven't seen this video then I highly recommend it. It's HILARIOUS. And just for fun you should check out the autotuned version. Man does that song get stuck in your head.

SUGAR!

Sugar could be the single greatest thing ever to exist in the entire world. I'm just saying, it could be.
I mean it's in EVERYTHING. You can't avoid it, so why try? Just embrace it. There is natural sugar in fruits and vegetables and then there is sugar in bread and added sugar in awful white bread. Soft drinks and juices consist purely of sugar. Sugar in dried fruit, sugar in jams and spreads. Sugar in water these days and sugar in...LIFE. Chocolate and lollies turn sugar into a better consistency and better flavour. Caramel is the best and its burnt sugar. And then you have books like Roald Dahl's Charlie and Chocolate factory which is brilliant in your imagination and then you bring it out in two different films and its even better.
It might kill you in the end, it might cause obesity in our society and health problems but that is no reason to stop eating sugar just a reason to limit our sugar intake and if you are eating awful processed foods then this could be hard to do. Eat as naturally as possible with fresh fruit and veggies. Don't buy frozen or premade meals and you will be able to control the amount of sugar intake into your diet and it will also taste a million times better. 
You can't not eat sugar. Its almost impossible and let's face it, life would be so bland.
What would Easter be without chocolate? I mean really, that holiday is all about sugar these days. Jesus, you died on the cross to...allow us an entire day dedicated to eating chocolate. For that alone, you are a brilliant man.

As I Like It

A few weeks ago now I saw As You Like It by the La Boite Theatre Company at The Roundhouse. And it was brilliant. I haven't ever seen a Shakespearean comedy nor have I ever studied one but I was taken with this one.

The story is a quest for love by Rosalind (Helen Howard) who is the daughter of the banished Duke. She is also banished by the new Duke (Hayden Spencer). When she leaves she takes with her her cousin, Celia (Helen Cassidy) and the court's fool, Touchstone (Bryan Probets). In their desperation not to be persecuted, Rosalind disguises herself as a man and they venture into the Forest of Arden to find her father (Kate Wilson). Enter Orlando (Thomas Larkin). He is forced to flee the court after being rejected by his older brother, Oliver (Luke Caddin) and for challenging and defeating the Duke's wrestler (Thomas Carney). After the match and before Rosalind is banished, Rosalind and Orlando fall in love. They are reunited once again in the Forest of Arden but with Rosalind disguised as a man.

The cast was incredible. All actors worked reallly well together and each performance complimented the other and although all performances were superb, Bryan Probets stole the show as the fool, Touchstone. He has crazy manic energy that he brings to the character. At times he delivers his lines at a hundred miles an hour and almost never breaks rhythm. His comic timing is great and his use of the audience and the stage is spell-binding. Helen Howard was brilliant and was the definition of feminity as Rosalind. Her transformation into her disguise as a man is hilarious as she gets herself into all sorts of situations. And Thomas Larkin is not just good to look at but he is also a stunning performer. His character's mad determination to defeat his brother is almost completely forgotten by his love of Rosalindand Larkin handles the journey very well. I very much look forward to seeing Larkin in Romeo and Juliet later this year with the Queensland Theatre Company. One of the student interns, Alec Snow, was fantastic and his appearance as the God of Marriage at the end of the play is truely dazzling. Helen Cassidy also gave a fantastic performance as Celia.

Bryan Probets as Touchstone

The choreography of the wrestling match, by Justin Palazzo-Orr, was enthralling and really intense to watch. At some points the audience was nearly knocked out of their seats, literally. This raw testosterone fuelled scene showed off the physicality of the both Larkin and Carney.

Thomas Larkin (Orlando) and Thomas Carney (Charles)

Director, David Berthold, created a great but minimal set. It is dark, ominous and dull when in the castle and then, pulling on the Woodford Folk Festival for inspiration, made the set of the Forest of Arden a magical and mystical place. I swear they pumped up the air conditioning to make it colder when it was night (it may have been because I didn't have a cardigan or jacket but I don't think so) so that you were drawn to the fire that they lit in the middle of the set and into the characters that were settled around the fire. At no point was an actor awkwardly positioned so that he had his back to the audience beacuse the audience was all around and you were always in the thick of it. It was theatre like Shakespeare intended it. The actors broke through the parameters of the normal stage as they hid at the audiences feet, threw pieces of paper professing love for Rosalind across the seats and incite the crowd to participate.
Their use of song was very good too. One of the student interns had an amazing voice and the use of the live guitar also created that more intimate feel.

This is such an uplifting and warm production that has you in stitches. You can't help leaving feeling enlightened and dancing along to the music. And this gender-bending comedy reminds us that Love is a many gendered thing.

Week 5: Sound

The radio is a medium that I use mainly to listen to music. Occaisionly the odd program like Tripple J's Hack is great to listen to but I never seem to be listening to any type of talk back radio at all. I don't know if this is my generation or just how I have grown up but I really only use radio for music. I know there are stations out there that offer so much more but I don't take advantage of it. Nor have I ever been tempted to call up to talk or to request a song, even when Rosie Beaton was hosting Super Request. But this doesn't mean that I wouldn't listen to what other people have to say. It would really depend on the topic and on the person being interviewed. And I can't even listen to commercial radio as there are far too many adds and not enough music and then the music they play I can't stand listening to. Pop music is awful (unless it's Lady Gaga. for some reason I have a soft spot for her).
But, instead of going on a rant about how I don't enjoy commercial radio and their music (or on any more of a rant than I  have just gone on) I shall say that the two men, Richard Fidler and Steve Austin, that Carmel interviewed had very nice voices to listen to.

Week 6: Commercial Media

Commercial Media is awful.
I cannot stand watching any type of morning show and they are completely taking over the television. You used to be able to escape them on the weekends but now that is all that is on TV on a Saturday or a Sunday morning. You used to be able to turn the TV on to some ridiculously awful kids show (which although they are awful can be a lot of fun) as part of something like Saturday Disney but now it's just a bunch of fake people with a heap of make-up, talking to other people with a heap of make-up, smiling with their white teeth and botox at the camera and talking about a whole bunch of nothing. They fail to look like real human beings and their fake conversation does nothing to help, with their corny jokes and puns that they chuckle to themselves about. After talking about something for about a minute they decide that it's time to throw some really crap product at you and for the next half hour you have to watch some poor person promote the latest vacumm cleaner or facial product. It's awful.

And evening television is even worse. The shows like A Current Affair and Today Tonight. It's mind-numbingly boring to watch not to mention that you feel like you are losing brain cells watching it.And if that's not bad enough, the show is half advertising. SO after sitting through about 5-10mins of the most boring story about women who didn't think that breast implants would effect their children whilst breast feeding or a story about a new bra or a conspiracy to do with some idiot being scammed, then you have to sit through the add-break which is normally longer than the story itself. And all the adds have such annoying voices and sometimes you can even see that they have changed the voice of the person on the add as the dubbing is either really bad or you can just tell something is not right. Why do people suffer watching TV at all? If you aren't watching a morning show or a today tonight show then you are watching adds, or an awful reality TV show like Big Brother or Border Security or something about a vet, a life saver or an emergency room. Scripted television can sometimes be even worse. You either get repeats of some badly written drama or comedy (Friends excepted), normally always American or a series that has been running far too long and is now long past it's expiry date (Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives). I don't have pay TV but I have friends that do and it's exactly the same story. There is never anything decent on to watch and there are hundreds of channels (My friend is a huge fan of Jersy Shore which I believe is the worst show that has ever made it on to our screens and called entertainment. Why would you want to watch those people?).

And then all the good shows that are made; like Joss Whedon's Firefly, or Bryan Fuller's Pushing Daisies, are cancelled after one or two seasons because apparently good writing and great characters can't last in the commercial world (although Buffy the Vampire Slayer got a very decent run). It's so disappointing. Scripted shows barely get a chance in this world of reality TV. Unique shows are wiped off the face of the earth before they can ever reach their full potential and before people even get a chance to see how great they are. I do hope that shows like Community, and Game of Thrones survive this world where Bones gets a million seasons but not Firefly is cancelled before it gets a proper first season. Commercial media, what have you done to this world?