Jurrungu Ngan-ga [Straight Talk] opened at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre last night with a powerful and soul-gazing performance.
The amalgamation of dance, music and drama created a haunting and devastatingly beautiful expression of culture and identity. The show was quite confronting, and despite the blurb of the performance, I had no idea what to expect. It was utterly confronting in the best way possible, and the raw talent that pushed the audience out of their comfort zone and check their privilege was deliciously intimidating.
The technical aspects of the performance were absolutely incredible. The persistent soundscape that shifted between beautiful natural sounds of animals and the outdoors, to harsh clanks of metal doors and voices that depicted life in a cell, heightened the senses and the emotions in each scene it transcended. The use of the chandeliers in scenes with more ballet-like movements was incredibly symbolic, especially when paired with others being stuck watching in cells.
There were a few mishaps in terms of quick costume changes not being entirely smooth, but the performers handled those so professionally that it could have almost been on purpose. Each individual performer was so captivating that even blinking for too long felt like I would miss something crucial.
In group scenes, there was so much to take in. Each of the dancers were incredible to watch and I am in complete awe of the strength and technique that they displayed throughout the show. Czack (Ses) Bero, Wimiya Woodley, Taj Pilgram, Luke Currie-Richardson, Mosatafa ‘Moz’ Azimitabar, Gusta Mara, Bhenji Ra, Feras Shaheen and Ashleigh Musk poured their hearts and souls into the performance, and it was such an honour to be invited into their space to have all of these important and heart-breaking stories told in such an engaging manner.
I really commend the seamless insertion of current events and the use of modern allusions like ‘This is Australia’ which I believe is a parody of the Childish Gambino song ‘This is America’, to show that this irrational fear of difference and ignorantly ‘unknown’ is still occurring in many parts of the world, and for some reason, hate and fear are still so prominent.
To the performers, and the entire creative team that have worked on Jurrungu Ngan-ga since its inception in 2016, thankyou for sharing your stories and the stories of those who came before that are not able to speak. It was an honour and a privilege to share a room with your heart, soul and unbreakable joy.
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
Hubby and I rode our scooter to our local theatre, The Arts Theatre on Angas Street, Adelaide, to see Nana’s Naughty Knickers.
What happens when Bridget and her lively grandmother become roommates?
Bridget saw a unique opportunity to stay with her favourite nana in New York for the summer. She found her running an illegal boutique from her rent-controlled apartment, selling handmade lingerie to all the senior citizens of the precinct.
Will Nana get arrested or, even worse, evicted?
Adelaide ‘theatre royalty’ Cast:-
Penni Hamilton Smith – Sylvia Chris Galipo – Vera, Sylvia’s side-kick Kayla Cranfield – Sylvia’s innocent grand-daughter, Bridget Clinton Nitschke – Tom, the lovelorn police officer Frank Cwiertniak – the owner of the apartment block, Mr Schmidt Monique Millar – dominatrix Heather Van Pree Therese Hornby – Mr Schmidt’s wife, Clair Marcus Catt – the UPS delivery guy
A Katherine DiSacino play directed by Barry Hill, this piece has enough silliness to make you laugh out loud (even when you don’t want to) and forget your own troubles for just a little while.
At first, the American accents might catch you off guard, but as you become familiar with the quirky characters, they quickly become an endearing part of the experience.
The standout performance for me was Chris Galipo’s performance as the deaf, mobility-impaired best friend Vera, who had some of the best lines and delivered them to perfection. Also, Marcus Catt’s performance as the delivery guy had only a small part but made a fabulous impact.
It is a silly, uncomplicated play with quite a few plot flaws and unlikely characters. All is soon forgiven, as you find yourself just enjoying the simple pleasure of watching the actors revelling in their roles, just to make you laugh. And laugh we did, many times, the crowd broke out into spontaneous, joyous and sometimes guilty giggles.
The set design is quite simple but contains some very clever moving parts to hide the secret stash of merchandise. I personally would have preferred the ‘naughty knickers’ to be sexier to match the title of the show, but that’s me, and I do think the cast could have pulled it off.
Get out when you can, support local artists, and you’ll definitely have some fun!!
Once a year… it’s time for ‘Stars and the Moon Theatre’ to celebrate the stage with their intoxicating Musical Inclusical.
This year it is Wednesday and her kooky family who gather at the Alexander Theatre telling a gripping adventure with swordfights, potions, explosions, and scarier still, family dinners.
Director Lauren McKinnon, Musical Director Charlotte Greenslade, and Choreographer Benjamin Curé, together with an award-winning creative team, have brought the iconic Addams Family to life and it’s WAY better than good.
Stars and the Moon (STaM) is a unique ALL-ABILITIES theatre company. Their castmate model pairs performers with and without disabilities to support each other to make moving and accessible theatre with, not despite, their diversity. It is absolutely AMAZING! At first I did wonder “how will this work”, being on stage together as two people playing one character for all the roles in the show, but IT WORKS and dare I say it as my daughter agreed; we thought it was better than just one person.
Joining the contagious double-clap engages us immediately in the music we know so well… BA DA DA DUM… ‘click click’ and then ‘When You’re an Addams’ kicks in, I almost want to jump up to bunny hop and twist with them all giving quite the spooktacular opening.
So fantastic how they introduced all the “Ancestors” who complete the show atmosphere in strange and deranged costume sets of themes like cavemen, sailors, prisoners, clowns, ballerinas etc etc etc. Such fun and clearly this cast ensemble were loving the experience too. And the make-up, oh the make-up!
The set, the lighting and the energy from everyone on stage is so enthusiastic and who wouldn’t want to shake it with Cousin ITT – my favourite costume of seemingly bodylength dreadlocks, but can the Addam’s family be ‘normal’ for one night?
I’ve always loved the Gomez and Morticia characters. Gomez’ expression on everything is spot on, he’s so entertaining and Morticia is impeccable in her mannerisms and her unique ‘blackness’. Sometimes loving each other to bits and sometimes having a few marital issues, all four bounce off each other as if the roles were made for four people instead of two. The concept is again, genius!
The one-liners keep coming…. I’m still laughing at the hilarious mention of Scomo to Covid 19 and Morticia in the bedroom…
Wednesday as we all know has come into her own fame these days and it must’ve been a thrill to be cast as her – she is everything she should be and might be getting married… or will she? The acting by these girls is very good and they will keep you enthralled.
Pugsley took me back to watching him on The Addams Family re-runs as a kid and his electric chair face, ‘eeeek’… all he wants is for his sister to continue the torture…
The startling appearance of THING at the dining table was timed well and FULL DISCLOSURE showed off overwhelmingly impressive vocal talents – Alice, the mother of Lucas who might marry Wednesday, belting it out and standing on the table (a surprising move for her character) got applause that would’ve woken the dead!
Lurch and Uncle Fester were brilliant and could have stepped straight out of the TV series … they really have got all of this right and everyone plays their parts so well to intertwine this story of family differences.
So, will Gomez’ daughter Wednesday and Mal’s son Lucas tie the knot? Scenes throughout the show are full of comic emotion and messages about how to work things out, but if it all fails, well death is just around the corner to look forward to anyway.
This show was nothing like I expected. Yes, I knew it would be good as I had heard the STaM shows were high standard, but this? I did not expect a show where they could easily play in any theatre in Melbourne and still get a no-hesitation full-standing ovation from even the toughest critics. These people on stage are incredible, they absolutely crush the meaning of ‘all-abilities’, every single one of them – and their abilities as a group, WOW WOW WOW!!
My final note therefore are words from Grandma Addams “stop tik tokking and pick up a book” or grab a script – whoever you are – get into Theatre!
When I wrote this review there were very few tickets left and now they are SOLD OUT, so don’t miss their next show and check out INSTAGRAM @starsandthemoon_theatre or website https://www.starsandthemoon.org/
Theatre notes: Sign language is provided on the side stage with this show and the theatre caters for wheelchair access of course. Performers in wheelchairs are on stage too – remember, this is an ALL abilities show like no other!
Even though I did not personally know anyone in the show, I felt an immense sense of proudness on what this special theatre company had accomplished as they took their bows. Supporting the arts is so important, but supporting all-abilities in the arts, let’s champion these efforts.
Congratulations to the ENTIRE CAST & TEAM:
WEDNESDAY – Ruby Alford & Thanh-Tuok Autran LUCAS – Alexander Gilbert & Dimitri Gosios GOMEZ – Gabe Harari & Max Nunes Cesar MORTICIA – Aisha Sivac & Lizzie Locke UNCLE FESTER – Mark J Rintoull & Zac Parkes PUGSLEY – Kade Groves & Meg Heathcote GRANDMA – Jodi Sanders & Nixy Antmann ALICE – Ashleigh Cole & Ellie Goldenberg MAL – Bailey & Tal Ellinson LURCH – Gilbert Esse & Joseph Folwell THING – Jaimie Chapman & Viv Kane COUSIN ITT – Zac Chester & Benji Arndt
ANCESTORS – Amy Tapp, Tamara Stanton, Asher Stanton, Brendan Saffer, Michaela Sacho, Michelle Gauci, Charli Cantoni-Bud, Lyndall Peachman, Ciara Wilson, Bille Ream, Daniel Kraus, Claudia Nanovich, Hope Challis, Monique Lustig, Uri Lowinger, Alice Johnson, Mia Penso, Adam Geller, Mark Polonsky, Conor Wilson, Theodora Tran, Cameron Miller, Kahli Anquetil-Kneale, Tahli McLean, Carlia Slade, Danni Miller, Dani Filip, Devin Goralsky, Ella Dunne Riseley, Netanel Morris, William Jasper, Lexi Kelsall, Zoe Better, Cheryl Plaut, Ebony May, Sally Elliott, Amit Shahar, Kate Skinner, Ryan Wilson. Stage Manager: Ari Mosberg, Cast Manager: Tyla Manager, Front of House: Netanel Morris, Set Designer: Harry Gill, Costume Designer: Jessamine Moffett, Lighting Designer: Sidney Younger.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY book is by Marshal Brickman and Rick Elice, MUSIC & LYRICS by Andrew Lippa, BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED by Charles Addams.
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
You’ve heard the story before, two star-crossed lovers forced to choose between love and family, only to meet a tragic end… Well, Romanoff and Juliet is not that story!
Romanoff & Juliet takes the premise from the original Shakespearean play and makes it its own concept. It is set in a mythical micronation somewhere in the northern hemisphere, with quirky characters and conversations that leave you halfway between chuckling and questioning the meaning of our world.
As always, my absolute favourite part of this production was the actors and actresses who pulled it into reality. With an obvious passion for the show and its characters, the cast gave their all to the performance and successfully brought us, as the audience, into their realm.
The only thing this wonderful cast really needed was more confidence and pride for their show, with minor teething issues like forgotten lines, shaky accents, and occasional projection and blocking issues to clue us into how nervous they were for their opening performance.
Alongside the cast, the stage crew did an outstanding job, with an impressive set design that perfectly captured the two sides of the story without becoming cluttered or overwhelming. The actors’ stage presence combined with the care shown for the performance from all sides made me love this show, even if I could not understand what was going on during every scene.
Romanoff and Juliet is a unique, short-run production by MRT’s Reamus Theatre concept, separate from their 2024 Season program. Reamus Theatre brings together community members aged 18 to 30, helping them cultivate various theatre skills. These passionate and talented young performers consistently deliver exceptional entertainment to the public.
Reamus meets weekly to enhance their theatre abilities through workshops, rehearsals, and shared enjoyment. Since 2002, they’ve regularly staged annual Shakespeare productions, as well as short play nights and one-day play events. You can discover more about Reamus Theatre’s initiatives at Maitland Repertory Theatre here: https://www.mrt.org.au/reamus-theatre/.
