Blowing Whistles by Matthew Todd
Downstairs Belvoir St Theatre
It’s Mardi Gras season and in case you weren’t aware, theatres, bars and galleries across the city are putting on celebratory events that culminate in the big Oxford St parade.
One of the big events is theatre production Blowing Whistles which is appropriately set on the night before the big Mardi Gras parade. Living in the inner city of Sydney, Jamie and Nigel are celebrating their tenth anniversary when the two decide to spice up the celebration and go online to entice young Mark to come over for the night. 
Like many long-term relationships, time has pulled Jamie and Nigel apart. Mark’s presence magnifies this great emotional distance which culminates in challenging their desire to repair the bridges.
Blowing Whistles by UK writer Matthew Todd was originally produced in London and has been adapted by Focus Theatre for Australian audiences. Adaptations of British plays in Australia often don’t work because of the stark social differences and attitudes. This play, however, breaks the mold and captures a spirit of Sydney that is unique.
Central to its success is the sharp and biting humour of the playwright whose jokes neatly translate with local references. Particularly in the first half of the production, wave upon wave of laughter will ensure that this play is a crowd favourite at this time of year.
Unfortunately, the production is bogged down by a script that could afford numerous cuts and some staging that needs to be a lot tighter. But with extremely charismatic performances, this production is a relief from often less than successful Mardi Gars festival fare.
Belvoir St Downstairs, 25 Belvoir St Surry Hills
$25-32
02 9699 3444 www.belvoir.com
Image credit: Bob Seary
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Review: Blowing Whistles
Saturday, 17 February 2007
Review: Littlest Britain
Littlest Britain Drag Show
Imperial Hotel
Friday 16 February 2007
It had been a night on the booze. Thai food, plenty of white wine and delicious conversation. The Friday night crowd petered out on King Street in Newtown and then the suggestion arrived - lets go to the Imperial.
It's this moment when the imperial loses its pronoun status and becomes a verb. A verb that means - you will be seeing a drag show and you won't escape the confines of this institution until 4am when you will emerge as a puff of smoke and booze. It's the mirrored windows, flashing lights and incessant flirtation that make it a time warp like no other.
We arrived accompanying a relatively sober, jet-lagged and newly arrived visitor - shoved a vodka-and-something in her hand and dragged her to the back room that hosts the 11pm, 12am, 1am and 2am shows.
Five dollars on the table and through the plastic butcher shop curtains entering a world transformed by gorgeous people, glitter balls and a simple stage no wider than an Oxford Street footpath.
The lights go down, squeals of delight go up and the overly dramatic sound announces the arrival of the performers like a flourish welcoming the Queen of Sheba. And they enter, the three drag performers with their gym junkie compadres.
It's not often I go to the imperial, but each time I am always amazed by the clever choreography, dour humour and energy of the performances. How they change from one scene to the next is still a mystery to me. It must be velcro, but it's so damn quick and the costumes so elaborate that it still has me stumped.
Not to mention their satire which is so politically and culturally aware, it reflects straight off their diamonte jeweled high heels in the most amazing colours. Tonight Little Britain is their target - a satire of a satire. But instead of paying over $100 like thousands of others to the real Little Britain show currently touring Sydney up the road, all the clever people have snuck into the imperial at only five bucks.
You have Vicky Pollard, Daffyd Thomas, Emily Howard and host of other characters from the popular BBC show. Sound grabs from the show are cut into glitzy techno songs, as the performers dance and mime to make the predictable humour of the TV show hilarious.
Hetero's just can't seem to pull off this relatively simple idea. Bar in the front, lots of booze, a theatre in the back and huge crowds piling in to see a show that is professional, entertaining and sharp.
I managed three installments of the show, shuffling in and out from the bar until it reached 4.36am, when it was far too late and everyone far too drunk to make head nor tail of the mirror, the chaos and the music. Time to go home, lie back and think of my own Little Britain.
Sunday, 11 February 2007
Review: Boston Marriage
Darlinghurst Theatre Company
Gaeity Theatre - 9 February 2007
Mardi Gras in Sydney is always celebrated as the Biggest, Best and most Beautiful gay and lesbian festival in the world. The inner city comes alive with pink and rainbow coloured flags and the event culminates in a huge parade with floats that proclaim proud messages about sexuality and political protest.
Despite the energy and huge local support for the parade in recent years, the festival aspect has always had trouble finding its niche in the entertainment and theatre arena. The drag shows are always popular year round, but when venues and theatre's start programming specific Mardi Gras events, it sits uncomfortably and smells of marketing opportunism - often with very little creative or entertainment payoff.
Darlinghurst Theatre Company has got it right this year, programming Boston Marriage, a play that is both entertaining and theatrically intelligent in its script and themes.
The production company, Gaiety Theatre, has transformed the intimate fridge-shelf theatre into a red curtained boudoir that is opulent and plush. Simple pink flats envelop the space creating an evening that lends itself to a Punch and Judy, as the two main characters go head to head over lesbian love, lust and invention.
As a Mardi Gras event, it captures the imagination of a target audience. It is a biting script, competently acted with a synopsis that engages.
But Gaiety have missed out on so much. There is so much more subtlety and sexuality in the script than they realise and a more intricate study of the characters and their wit would have made the evening even more satisfying.
The performers hesitation from moment to moment as the script swirled around the boudoir suggests a lack of connection between the characters from under-rehearsal and eye to detail. The pitch of the opening was too broad, and the director could have employed a more deft touch to honour the substance and subplot of the lines.
And it was such a shame that they missed out on the characters sophisticated relationships of dominance and submission to one another - something that would be completely appreciated at this time of year.
If they had engaged more with these elements, the evening would have really set a landmark for intelligent and entertaining Mardi Gras festival cuisine.
Postscript: The Sydney Theatre Company got in trouble for this, so why not the independent sector? The program notes for this production are lifted straight out of Wikipedia and the Guthrie Theatre website notes which include the biography, the history of the play as well as a glossary. Using information without credit is called plagiarism for both professional and non-professional theatre companies.
