A Gloriously Kooky Stay with Trinity College’s ‘The Addams Family’

Reviewed by: Sophie King Editor: Oscar Lidgerwood Let me introduce you to the Addams Family.  One loves to be tortured, one solely converses in grunts, one’s in love with the moon, and all are a strange assortment of people who embrace the macabre and the eerie.  An absurd, chaotic bunch of people, who are family.  A very weird family.   But I suppose, aren’t all?  I knew very … Continue reading A Gloriously Kooky Stay with Trinity College’s ‘The Addams Family’

UMMTA Gets Political

In the running history of UMMTA shows, The Hatpin stands alone, quite unique for being both Australian and somewhat contemporary (written in 2008, with revisions as recent as 2011). It is distinctive for its predominantly female lead-cast, and its deliberate focus on the experiences of these women. Written by James Millar and Peter Rutherford, The Hatpin follows the story of Amber Murray, played by Eleanor Davey. Set … Continue reading UMMTA Gets Political

Hats Off

First-time director Jordan Peters has hit the ground running with UMMTA’s The Hatpin, a story surrounding motherhood and friendship in the midst of a terrible tragedy. With a powerful ensemble, succinct direction and the perfect balance of comedy and poignancy, the production exceeded my expectations, and delivered what is surely one of the most impressive productions of the year. The performances in The Hatpin were … Continue reading Hats Off

The Law Reviewed

《回家》是一部由Melbourne Uni Law Revue出品,学生导演的喜剧,于7月28日至30日,八月5日至6日在Union House Theatre公演。除了开场的说唱部分,剧本的编写、设计以及演员的表演,其实并没有很好地体现“回家”这一概念。我原本以为故事会围绕着80年代舞会的主题来设计,但相反整场戏更像由不相干的的元素串联而成。与预期虽有所不同,但实际效果却比想象中好得多。观众们在时光、主题、梦幻与现实中穿梭,这样的设计毫无疑问打破了一些现实世界里的常规与逻辑,也更能让观众们轻松大笑。 戏里的喜剧元素十分多元,有闹剧,一些故意而为的笑话,乐曲还有讽刺式的幽默。整场表演大部分的设计很有亮点:每一句台词都精雕细琢,有争议性的问题不会令人心生厌恶,将社会政治类的问题用微妙却又明确的方式传递给观众。更为精妙的是,这些设计又恰好可以让演员的长处得以发挥。特别是其中一个设计的灵感来源于披头士的John Lennon和Paul McCartney,他们戒掉自己的利物浦口音,而剧中,演员Michael Marinelli和Toby Woolley也做了同样的事。6个月的努力与磨合使得台上的演出更加默契,也增进了演员之间的情谊。台词与台词间的衔接也恰到好处,几乎是脱口而出。演员Toby Woolley和Ella Lawry尤为突出,两位在台上的一举一动都恰如其分,同时也将场上的气氛推至高潮,使得人物形象更加丰满。 现场表演的两小时中,也穿插了一些短视频。这样的设计让观众的注意力得以集中,又打破了喜剧仅仅依靠舞台的表演形式。尽管如此,仍有一些地方,让我有些出戏:有一首乐曲很棒,但播放的时间有些过长;一个关于鞋拔子的设计在我眼前一晃而过;关于驾校的剪辑本该是很有爆点的一处,但最后并没有发挥其作用。有一些本该是让观众可以联系自身的场景,被大笑声盖过。不过也有一些场景设计让整部戏填补了时下市场上的一些空白。这样一部由墨尔本大学年轻的学生出品的戏剧,可以在这样一个晚上,既参考当前的流行文化,又指向一些政治、宗教和社会问题。然而有一部分观众并不是学生群体,对于这些观众来说,他们对这些幽默的设计点在理解上有一定困难。就像中途有一场戏,一位坐在我前面的中年女士问我:“Pokemon是什么?”,同时她对频繁提及的“Bae”一词也相当困惑。 “回家”这一元素对于演员们在Union House Theatre作回归演出显得尤为重要,但我个人认为或许一个稍小一点的剧场可以达到更好的演出效果。当观众跳出剧院这样一层设定时,他们就能更专注于戏剧所创造出来的世界,也更能尽情地笑出声来。 剧评家:Lauren Bennett Melbourne Uni Law Revue出品,于7月28至30日和8月5日至6日在Union House Theatre上演。 Translated by Shan Huang, from Theatreshow.Melb. 翻译员:Shan Huang(墨尔本好戏连台翻译员) Continue reading The Law Reviewed

A Play to be Remembered

Remember Ronald Ryan. This phrase is a powerful conceit, and that’s not just because of the convenient alliteration. Those three words aren’t just there to provide the absolute shortest summary of a play possible, but to make a promise: that after two emotional acts, you will remember Ronald Ryan, the last man to be hanged in Australia. Queen’s College Music and Drama Society kept this … Continue reading A Play to be Remembered

High Energy

The audience’s excitement, their trepidation, their desperate prayers for “please, God, no audience participation” – from the first monologue, The Drowsy Chaperone knew what its audience was thinking, and liked to remind us of that fact. St Hilda’s rose to the challenge of this unusually self-referential play, producing a show that was lively and enjoyable, and often subverted our expectations. While there were some rough … Continue reading High Energy

No Day But Today

Loosely based on Puccini’s opera La Boheme, RENT follows the life of a group of creative friends fighting to overcome poverty in New York City’s East Village in the early 90s. Written and composed by Jonathan Larson in 1993, RENT opened on Broadway in 1996. Larson tragically passed away the night before the first preview of the show, explaining the lack of rewrites and the … Continue reading No Day But Today

The Law Reviewed

Homecoming, the Melbourne Uni Law Revue’s 2016 edition, saw the student devised sketch comedy back on the stage where it first started, at the Union House Theatre. Written, devised, and performed by the cast, Homecoming’s sketches didn’t really have anything to do with the idea of a homecoming, apart from the opening rap. I expected the 80s prom theme to be something that all the … Continue reading The Law Reviewed