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KINDER Surprises: Where Drag Show Meets Storytime

KINDER

KINDER Rating

★★★★★

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1

‘The library is open. So sit down, be quiet, and listen up.’

Just around the corner from Melbourne’s Fringe hotspot, Trades Hall, producer and actor Ryan Stewart presents their debut show ‘KINDER’ – and between you and me, I’m all in for Goody Prostate’s message.

When an unexpected phone call turns drag clown Goody Prostate’s evening upside down, they’re left with just a single night to whip up the perfect act for a local library. Amid frantic costume changes and a rising tide of existential dread, Goody faces more than just pressure to perform – they juggle protests and politics, history and herstory, fruit loops and family. What begins as a whirlwind of colour, music, and fashion soon unravels to reveal a long-overdue reconnection with their inner child.

‘KINDER’ serves up a provocative response to the rise in reactionary politics surrounding children’s exposure to queerness. It’s a bold, high-wire act of queer history and social commentary, wrapped up in what can only be described as a drag-show-turned-revelation. The show explores themes of conformity, the complexities of the queer experience, and the importance of community care as Goody grapples with a deep sense of responsibility to nurture that in the next generation.

Ryan Stewart is a force to be reckoned with as the kooky, lovable, delightfully unhinged Goody Prostate. From slapstick one-liners to disarming bursts of vulnerability, Stewart navigates each of Goody’s highs and lows with a well-timed flick of their fan. Watching Goody’s mask slip, transforming from performer to person, is as poignant as it is wonderfully human. The intimacy of the space only intensifies the feeling – when Goody locks eyes with you from the centre of the room, you’re no longer part of the audience; you’re part of the story.

And Goody’s story resonated throughout the room that night. There was laughter, there were tears – it was a shared journey, with Goody reflecting emotions we all knew well: joy, pain, estrangement, liberation. This is what really struck me most about ‘KINDER’, this sense of community. There was no better place to be than right there in that chaotic, messy apartment, where both performer and audience shared complete understanding. This is the true power of theatre: to strip away the pretence and lay bare the raw, glittering heart of the human condition.

That’s not to say it wasn’t oodles of fun, too! Armed with a bubble gun and bedazzled lederhosen, Goody Prostate is unstoppable. Stewart strikes a perfect balance between introspection and laugh-out-loud hilarity – clowning around, bursting into song, and tearing through costumes like a kid let loose in a dress-up shop. It was a bedroom-floor fashion riot, and I loved every second of it.

Parenthood, childhood, the inner child – ‘KINDER’ explores it all. It’s about being a child, knowing a child, and nourishing the child you once were (or never got to be). It’s a celebration of never fully growing up while trying to be the grown-up you always needed. ‘KINDER’ isn’t just a performance; it’s a love letter to the self.

And what a way to kick off this year’s Melbourne Fringe! You can catch ‘KINDER’ at Trades Hall until October 6th, and if you can’t make it this weekend, no worries – Goody will be taking the stage next weekend at Upstairs @ Floridia in Flemington.

Check out ‘KINDER’ here: melbournefringe.com.au/event/kinder

Remaining Sessions:-
Sunday, 06 October 2024 – 8:00pm – Festival Hub: Trades Hall – The Square
Sunday, 13 October 2024 – 6:45pm – Upstairs @ Floridia
Sunday, 20 October 2024 – 6:45pm – Upstairs @ Floridia

For more information about the artist, please follow https://linktr.ee/arypresentation

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Welcome to Yiddishland: Reviving A Dying Language

Welcome to Yiddishland

Welcome to Yiddishland Rating

★★★★★

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Ros Horin’s Welcome to Yiddishland is a charming and lighthearted exploration of modern art and the Yiddish language. We are introduced to a host of characters who are exploring the Yiddish language through forms of music, performance and art. The characters originate from all corners of the globe. And the film features performances from events held in Australia, Germany, the States and beyond.

As they recount their personal experience with the language, the audience is walked through the complicated history of Yiddish, from its inception to its current classification as a dying language. One thing is made clear. It is a language of a people, not of a land.

Documentaries are meant to introduce the audience to worlds previously unknown. As someone with no prior knowledge of the origins and history of the language, this documentary does a great job of educating the audience, while maintaining an upbeat musical tone. It’s a message of joy and perseverance in the face of multi-generational hardship.

The film wonderfully highlights the almost magical connection between music, art and culture. The joy and life that speaking Yiddish brings to the featured characters illustrate the crucial role a language plays in sustaining a culture.

Many characters echo the sentiment, “The culture is here to stay”.

It is tough to make a documentary these days. You have to strike the right balance between informational, entertainment and emotional beats. And today’s audience is well versed in the short-term attention-grabbing buzzy titles regularly featured on streamers.

 

Welcome to Yiddishland
Welcome to Yiddishland

Don’t expect sleek panning shots or game-changing twists in this film. It has a more personal feel, often the performances feel more like a home video than something that would dominate the top ten page of the streamers. This film would be at home on the traditional TV channels.

As the documentary follows a large cast of characters, the audience doesn’t spend a lot of time with a small group of key players. Instead, we meet featured characters for an introduction beat and sometimes revisit them sporadically throughout.

This leads the film at times to have a general lack of focus. We follow too many people to be genuinely connected to any of them. And those that we are introduced to, we don’t spend enough time with to fully connect with their personal arc.

Though not lacking in joy, the uneven structure and general broad scope of the story limit chances for deeper emotional beats to be experienced. Telling the whole story of the Yiddish language is hard to do in 93 minutes. It means that interesting sub-stories are skipped over in the pursuit of a more general story.

There is also a slightly obvious attempt to address the current complication that might arise from featuring stories told in Israel. While the documentary does its best to remain neutral and promote unity over hate, it’s a complicated line. One that can easily be interpreted as flippant by certain parties.

One thing is clear, the director wants you to know. Yiddish has not said its last word.

To book tickets to this or other films click https://www.jiff.com.au/

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Kid Sister Film Review

JIFF

Kid Sister Rating

★★★★★

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Kid Sister: What a masterfully funny and refreshing television series.

Created and written by Simone Nathan, who also brilliantly portrayed the lead role of ‘Lulu’ in the series; ‘Kid Sister’ is the kind of comedy I love to watch.

Lulu is a young woman living with her family, who are all strongly connected to a small Jewish community in New Zealand. We soon discover the dilemma she faces between tradition and modern life issues and the drama and comedy of navigating relationships along the way.

There were such strong performances across the entire cast, with each actor portraying their characters honestly but with so much comedic heart.

The comedy was tied in with a strong focus on Jewish traditions. For people like myself who have extensive Jewish ancestry but who are not actually Jewish ourselves, this really kept me captivated not only by the human stories but also by all of the Jewish traditions highlighted. Let’s just say I learned a lot!

 

Kid Sister
Kid Sister

The overall storyline was somewhat predictable, but Nathan really made the show her own by leaning into the strong focus on the Jewish traditions and family values. That, alongside the tremendously witty humour and extremely strong writing created a unique and enjoyable series.

Having Lulu’s inner thoughts pop in at times as a voiceover truly lent to strengthening the show’s comedic aspect.

Like all good binge-worthy shows, I was left hanging on for each new episode. It really is the kind of show that makes you want to keep watching and learn more about each of the characters and their lives outside of the main storyline.

‘Kid Sister’ really is a brilliant television series. Look no further if you are looking for a comedy that will entertain and keep you engaged. I would watch more of this in a heartbeat.

‘Kid Sister’ is screening in the 2024 Jewish International Film Festival across Australia between October and December. To find out when and where it will be screening in your state, go to: https://www.jiff.com.au/resources/jiff-2024-web-program.pdf

To book tickets to this or other films, click https://www.jiff.com.au/

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There’s Still Tomorrow Film Review

Maria Montessori

There’s Still Tomorrow Rating

★★★★★

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1

Let me set the scene for you.

Italy, post WWII. We are being introduced to what one assumes to be another black-and-white, a run-of-the-mill black-and-white post-war movie to doze off to on a rainy Sunday afternoon, panning into a bedroom with a husband and wife waking up to the promise of a new day. “Good morning, Ivano.” And then…SLAP!

Not metaphorically! A big old slap across the face from a husband, Ivano, to his wife, Delia, and whoa! Now we are off!

We’ve just witnessed something horrible; a man slaps a woman across the face, but the reaction it warrants is to burst out laughing. An embarrassed laugh, an unsure laugh, a shocked laugh. The comical, slapstick timing is so perfectly timed and pitched, as the whole film will pan out. Hooray! This film suddenly got interesting.

Directed and starring Paola Cortellesi, a well-respected and much loved Italian actress and comedienne as the main protagonist of Delia along with a perfectly pitched ensemble cast, including Valerio Mastandrea as the horrible husband, and fantastic young actors as their gorgeous teenage daughter and young sons, and her best friend and ally, Marissa.
One almost forgets this is Italy in the second half of the 1940’s. Delia cannot go to a refuge with her children or book an uber out of there.

Delia remains, constantly insulted and belittled, working multiple odd jobs to contribute to the household income, raising the children, running the household, looking after her handsy father-in-law. And then, a mysterious letter arrives, intriguingly addressed only to Delia. What is written in this letter? Who sent the letter? Such a mysterious piece of paper which Delia lets herself smile about and is excited enough about that feels the urgent need to hide away from Ivano.

Then, more good news. Her teenage daughter has the promise of marriage to a well-off son of a local café owner. Exciting new that will make Ivano happy. So happy to shout out to the other tenants in their building from their barely furnished ground floor flat that his daughter will be marrying into a respectable household. Are things finally looking up?

 

There's Still Tomorrow
There's Still Tomorrow

Not to be. We soon come to realise through Delia’s eyes that sadly, old habits are often inherited from generation to generation. Is this young man really a new beginning for the younger generation, or just a younger version of the repressive and threatening husband Delia chose instead of her old flame at the local mechanics who is a gentleman and lets her eat chocolate with him that an American soldier gifted to Delia for her kindness to him.

There’s still tomorrow is a story of repression, domesticity, abuse, survival, love, adversity, and finally, female empowerment. Delicious moments are peppered throughout, when you start to look away as Ivano raises his hand to his Delia, assuming the scene is going one way and then, out of nowehere, a perfectly choreagraphed dance sequence is playing out, like a memory being told that is just so painful that the storyteller is making it more pallatable for the audience. The echoes of West Side Story. And my goodnes, it works a treat.

It is easy to understand how There’s Still Tomorrow was the highest grossing film in Italy in 2023, outperforming Barbie and Oppenheimer.

This is the story of Italian women coming together and having the chance to finally stand up and be counted.

I have already reccommended to all my frfiends in Sydney to go to the Palace Cinma in Broadway tonight at 8.30pm and see for themselves this amazing piece of Italian film.

POTERE DELLE RAGAZZE! Tranlation…GIRL POWER!

To book tickets to this or other films click https://italianfilmfestival.com.au/

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