Mark Hobgood🆕

Author badges: 🆕 Fresh Face (1 reviews) Author, director, performers with a combined 75+ years in theatre, story and film. Two people that have between them written books and screenplays, directed shows, coached A-list actors, created massive festivals and pyro shows.

The Comedy Of Errors

The Comedy Of Errors

The Comedy Of Errors Rating

★★★★★

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1

Is comedy tragedy reversed? Do we know it’s a comedy because it ends happily?

Sport for Jove’s “The Comedy of Errors” starts with an extra Shakespeare speech – the “stranger’s case” from a play called “Sir Thomas More”, making an appeal for displaced persons. A fitting prologue to the opening where the merchant, Aegeon (Nicholas Papademetriou), is sentenced to death for washing ashore in the wrong country.

Aegeon’s story told to Duke Solinus (Lani Tupu) is a beautifully demonstrated piece of theatre magic by the ensemble.

It is after this that the play becomes farcical with double the fun: two sets of twins causing confusion and mayhem throughout Ephesus.

Be prepared for some pretty violent text supported slapstick between the Dromios and the Antipholuses, or was that Antipholii?

A famous line from Hamlet: “let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them” is unheeded and ‘Errors’ is all the better for it. These additions add energy and atmosphere, giving those in the audience unused to the verse a hook back into the action.

 

The Comedy Of Errors
The Comedy Of Errors
The Comedy Of Errors

 

One such standout was Luciana’s (Tamara Lee Bailey) online Shakespeare workout for her followers: “please like and subscribe” integrating the modern world of selfies and influencers into the narrative.

Naomi Belet dazzles in two original songs as the directors wisely lean into the multitalented casts’ varied strengths.

The two Dromios (Gabriel Fancourt and Diego Retamales) might be in danger of stealing any other show but are surrounded by brilliant performances from the dashing Antipholus of Syracuse (Kaya Byrne) and the faithless Antipholus of Ephesus (John Panayiotis Tsakiris) to the fiery Adriana (Imogen Sage) and her Muay Thai and kickboxing sister Luciana (Tamara Lee Bailey).

Dr Pinch’s (Lani Tupu) subliminal presence throughout the play pays off in the exorcism scene. The lost lovers Aegeon (Nicholas Papademetriou) and Aemelia (Inga Romantsova) bring emotional depth amid the madcap antics.

Direction (Damien Ryan and George Banders) is well crafted.

The text is justified, a difficult task considering some Elizabethan comic references are truly dated, however imaginative settings grounds these to the present.

A visual treat is the dance at “The Mermaid”, with choreography (Shannon Burns), the costumes (Bernadette Ryan) luminous under lighting by Lisa Benham.

“The Comedy of Errors” is an enjoyable lark full of vibrant energy.

Unlike real life we know it is a theatrical comedy as Aegeon is forgiven his trespass by the Duke and no one dies in the end. Would that life were so forgiving.

To book tickets to The Comedy Of Errors, please visit https://www.sportforjove.com.au/the-comedy-of-errors-2025.

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Bach Akademie Australia: The Brandenburg Concertos

The Brandenburg Concertos

The Brandenburg Concertos Rating

★★★★★

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About 25.3 billion kilometres from Earth, travelling at 61,000 km per hour, Voyager 1 contains a gold record that includes recordings of Barnumbirr (Morning Star) and Moikoi Song played by Tom Djäwa, Mudpo, and Waliparu, Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry, and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major.

When asked what message humans should send to alien civilisations, the biologist Lewis Thomas replied: “I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach… but that would be boasting.”

The Brandenburg Concertos are exquisite, like gems, cut precisely and polished so they sparkle.

Imagine you are 36 years old. Your wife had died, you have four children and you need a better paying job. In 1721, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote six concertos in an attempt to convince the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt to hire him. It didn’t work. The manuscript was discovered, tucked away in a library cupboard, in 1849. It appears that the Margrave never saw them.

Miraculously, the original manuscript survived the bombing of the train they were being carried on during World War II. A librarian, transporting the manuscript, fled the train, running out into a forest with Bach’s concertos hidden under his coat.

Madeleine Easton, the artistic director of Bach Akademie Australia, was captivated by the concertos when she first heard them as a child. The music “bubbled” joyfully. She was transfixed and determined that one day she would learn to play them herself.

Easton has more than realised that artistic dream. She is one of Australia’s most celebrated violinists, performing to acclaim internationally, and leading the Bach Akademie Australia.

 

The Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos

 

Bach Akademie Australia are a remarkable group. The promo spoke of “unbridled joy”, a promise kept in the performance of the Brandenburg Concertos tonight. Technical skill is present in abundance in this group of accomplished musicians, but it is the balance of that skill with the dynamic interpretations and the sheer joy of performing that makes Bach Akademie’s music memorable.

It is delightful to see the communication between the musicians as they play: a glance here, the synchronised breathing, the physical uplift of the body to initialise the tempo, or a call and response between instruments in the concerto. The travelling solo in Brandenburg Concerto number three was a pleasurable highlight.

I found odd moments of real magic, not just during the performances but during the interval, when Nathan Cox tuned the harpsichord.

To a certain extent recordings have spoiled us. There is an unspoked expectation of perfection that can only be achieved by editing and the best of hi-fi equipment. With this in mind, there is a wonderment in hearing original and acoustic instruments without amplification, especially in a chamber music setting.

Madeleine Easton plays a 1682 Giovanni Grancino violin, an instrument with a wealth of experience in its wood. Her colleagues are similarly equipped, and we the audience benefit greatly from the wood, the breath, the brass, the experience and the joy.

To book tickets to The Brandenburg Concertos, please visit https://www.bachakademieaustralia.com.au/events.

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So Young by Outhouse Theatre Co

So Young

So Young Rating

★★★★★

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Douglas Maxwell has built a strong reputation as one of Scotland’s most successful playwrights.

Now, Ainslie McGlynn, Jeremy Waters, Henry Nixon and Aisha Aidara bring Maxwell’s comedic four hander ‘So Young’ to the Old Fitz for its Australian premiere for Outhouse Theatre Co.

‘So Young’ won the Best New Play at the annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland with its funny and heartfelt portrayal of facing the future while the scars of the covid pandemic are still healing.

Sydney’s a long way from Glasgow. The four actors performing So Young had no way of knowing there was a Scots native that lived for years in Glasgow hiding at the back of the audience. I’m happy to report that Outhouse Theatre Co’s new production wouldn’t be out of place in the Tron, the Traverse or Oran Mor’s a Play, a Pie and a Pint.

Sam O’Sullivan’s clean and realistic direction wastes nothing. The text is timed exquisitely, making great use of Maxwell’s pauses for comic effect. Lighting design by Aron Murry supports the realism using changes and specials to assist the settings of place and time. Set by Kate Beere is detailed and homely, with a warmth created by an autumnal colour palette. Lamps, books and records adorn and enhance the ‘lived in’ feel.

Greta: “This is my world – it’s mine for the taking and I’m taking it!”

 

So Young
So Young
So Young

 

The acting walks the line of heightened drama and comedy with precision. Aisha Aidara is warm, vibrant and kind as “Greta”. Ainslie McGlynn shows great range as “Liane” battling change and grief, as does Henry Nixon as Milo – but with stoicism and Vesuvian anger. Jeremy Waters is thoroughly watchable as “Davie” – working the text with aplomb.

It’s a risky endeavour to take on a Glasgow accent. For a comparatively wee city there’s a wide variety of accents and throw in some Scots words and you’re playing with fireworks. Hats off to Linda Nicholls-Gidley for coaching the cast to succeed in sounding Glaswegian, while keeping it easily accessible for a Sydney audience, and only occasionally stray west toward Ireland.

At one point Maxwell namechecks Scots authors Iain Banks and Irvine Welsh. So Young’s comedy is not nearly as dark as Banks or Welsh. This is a Glasgow of middle-aged teachers and graphic artists. They drink white wine instead of Buckfast and Irn Bru.

The audience clearly loved it, laughing happily throughout, with a few tears shed in the final act.

To book tickets to So Young, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/so-young.

Photographer: Richard Farland

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Serpent’s Path: Japanese Cult Movie to Taut French Thriller

Serpent's Path

Serpent’s Path Rating

★★★★★

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Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa takes a second shot at ‘Hebi no michi,’ his 1998 Japanese V-Cinema movie. Here, Kurosawa steps away from Japan’s criminal underbelly, remaking his film in Paris, as a predominately French-language thriller.

Back in 1998, Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa) made V-Cinema movies as quickly as Roger Corman used to make horror films. Most were straight-to-video, some had a limited theatrical release. V-Cinema usually meant low-budget action: bullets, explosions, crime stories and thrill rides.

‘Hebi no michi’ was dark and contemplative. Two men, Miyashita and Nijima, were hellbent on revenge. Carving a bloody swathe through everyone Miyashita held responsible for the brutal murder of his daughter.

The original 1998 Japanese movie, starring Teruyuki Kagawa as Miyashita and V-Cinema legend Show Aikawa as Nijima, rapidly gained cult status.

French cinemagoers have developed a taste for director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s movies. He has twice won the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard prize, for ‘Tokyo Sonata’ in 2008, and for ‘Journey to the Shore’ in 2015.

His international reputation was cemented in 2020 when his film, ‘Wife of a Spy,’ won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice International Film Festival.

Given the opportunity to remake one of his earlier movies in France, Kurosawa jumped at the chance, immediately choosing ‘Hebi no michi,’ ‘Serpent’s Path.’

‘Serpent’s Path,’ ‘La Voie du serpent,’ 2024, updates and makes a number of subtle but effective changes.

Kô Shibasaki (Battle Royale; 47 Ronin; The Boy and the Heron) and Damien Bonnard (Les Misérables; Poor Things; The French Dispatch) star in this taut and brilliant thriller.

 

Serpent's Path

 

Damien Bonnard takes the role of Albert Bacheret. The original’s Miyashita was ex-Yakuza. Part of Japan’s criminal underworld. Here, Bacheret is a bumbling, grieving father. He shambles, broken and hurting but unstoppable.

Kô Shibasaki as Sayoko Mijima holds every frame she appears in. Mijima’s stillness is in marked contrast to the stumbling Bacheret. Mijima is a psychiatrist rather than the original’s schoolteacher. As the movie’s mysteries are revealed one by one, Mijima keeps her secrets.

Shibasaki and Bonnard are ably supported by a cast of French character actors including Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; The Grand Budapest Hotel; Quantum of Solace) and Grégoire Colin (The Dreamlife of Angels; The Vourdalak).

Kurosawa shifts the story from Japan’s criminal underworld to the dark side of European charitable organisations. Anonymous foundations, with secretive inner circles. Wider conspiracies that hide unspeakable crimes.

‘Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves’ was originally a Japanese proverb.

In Serpent’s Path, you need to dig half a graveyard to bury the dead. The first act of abduction, dehumanisation and revenge rapidly spirals as deeper secrets are uncovered and the body count rises.

Is anyone telling the truth? Are they lying and pointing fingers to shift blame and save their own skin?

Serpent’s Path winds left and right, zigzagging as you follow the clues, the confessions and the trail of the dead.

Avoid spoilers, buy tickets and immerse yourself in this razor-sharp thriller.

To book tickets to Serpent’s Path, please visit https://japanesefilmfestival.net/film/serpents-path/.

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