Sydney Theatre - Whats The Show

360 ALLSTARS Circle Back For Another Round

21 April 2024 Linda Lokhee

360 ALLSTARS Rating

★★★★★

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The 360 ALLSTARS are celebrating the anniversary of their first performance in 2013 by taking their phenomenal show on the road across a four-continent world tour. Their tour landed at The Riverside Theatre in Parramatta just in time for the school holidays. There were plenty of kids in the audience for this permission.

As 360 ALLSTARS suggests, the theme of this urban street circus is all about the 360 degrees of rotation. World Champion and World Record-holding artists were sourced from countries all over the world for their skills in this area. Director and producer Gene Peterson envisioned creating a contemporary urban circus, where the more traditional acts were updated with an urban performance style for a street, edgy feel.

The Ringmaster is now a live looping rap artist (Vida Sunshyne) whose original and fast-paced words accompany the artists on stage, musically narrating whilst they are performing their speciality act. Set alongside Vida Sunshyne was Jordan, the drummer, behind an impressively large drum kit set up, which he clearly knew how to make sing during the show and during his remarkable drum solo.

Instead of a unicyclist for their circus, the 360 ALLSTARS featured an extraordinary BMX Flatlander Pereira, who wows the audiences with his balance and absolute control of a spinning BMX bike. I could almost hear the kids in the audience thinking, “Tomorrow—I’m going to try that!”

The cast worked together to present a ‘video game’ to showcase the Breakdancing Freestyling duo, BBoy Jack and BBoy Alejandro, the show’s version of acrobats. This was done in such an original way, with the screen showing their strengths/ health in a bar format, much like in a video game, while they battled it out on stage, breakdancing. Both dancers had so much style and coolness in their breakdancing, which included spinning atop their heads, hands-free!

A juggler usually entertains the crowd at the circus, but in 360 ALLSTARS, they had Fume executing the most difficult tricks with his basketballs. He spun and moved them around his body with absolute ease. He involved the audience in a ‘game show’ where the audience chanted “Press it! Press it”, referring to a big red button with the words “Do Not Press” on the wall. As each red button was pressed, another basketball appeared for Fume to spin and balance. He made juggling four basketballs and balancing two spinning basketballs on top of each other look easy.

For me, Curtis’s Cyr Wheel was a firm favourite. He spun it rapidly and then hopped inside. This showcased a continuously spinning human who used his body to do many tricks while travelling around the stage. The audience was left wondering how, when he hopped off the Cyr Wheel, Curtis was able to walk in a straight line.

It may not be a traditional circus under the big top, but the energetic 360 ALLSTARS assure us that it’s time for a new tradition – it is time to flip the big top upside down and spin it around.

360 ALLSTARS is an hour-long play suitable for people of all ages. It will perform at The Riverside Theatre on April 20th and 22nd, 2024, before moving on to other theatres in Australia, New Zealand, and North America.

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.

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Tempo Tumbles into The Riverside!

17 April 202417 April 2024 Linda Lokhee

Tempo Rating

★★★★★

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Tempo opens with the Flying Fruit Fly Circus ensemble spilling out of the body of a grand piano and executing a precise and impressive flurry of floor acrobatic athleticism. Each tumble, jump, air, somersault and roll (to name a few) were set to music, and, thanks to Musical Director Ania Reynolds and Director Jake Silvestro, it was an impressive beginning to the show.

This story begins with a conductor ready to start a performance but quickly realising that the orchestra hasn’t turned up, so acrobats arrive to fill their place. The white grand piano is central to the show, and it encompasses not only the entertainers inside its belly but also acts as a stage where performers lift off from the closed lid to do acts such as aerial silk, aerial hoop, and hanging strap acrobatics.

These young Australians, aged twelve to eighteen, attend Australia’s National Youth Circus in Albury, NSW. Tempo showcased their skills in multiple areas – each person played instruments as well as performing in their act.

The ensemble sustained their energy and smiles onstage throughout. As well as acrobatics, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus rounded out their show with a touch of traditional stage magic of the most famous audience tricks, such as the shrinking and growing magic wand and the three overturned cups with disappearing balls. The children in the audience would have loved these magical illusions.

Other acts called for strength and balance, such as the upside-down handstand on pedestals and the tower of three people standing on each other’s shoulders. Juggling was one highlight for me, with as many as four from the ensemble tossing their juggling pins between them as they moved – a well-choreographed act.

In another scene, the performers used everyday home objects to create sound percussion, such as metal spoons clanking, an upside-down cooking pot as a drum, a filing tub lid and even a broom to hit the floor with. This type of percussion was a nod to the good ole days when toddlers used whatever they could to create sound. It was a clever trip down memory lane for me.

The performers always smoothly transitioned into the next act. They conveyed humour to the audience not verbally but through body language, such as raising eyebrows and miming at the right time. They were all multiskilled and cheeky performers with great showmanship.

As there was a lot of floor acrobatics, everyone’s movement around the stage was very well coordinated as they worked together to create a ‘chaotic’ dance with physical feats such as helping their performers launch off their hands to do several air somersaults, bouncing off the seesaw platform to fly through the air and other flowing movements.

True to its name, Tempo, this show was all about combining music and movement together, so they complemented each other. Whether it be using shaker eggs in time to an electric guitar or showcasing diabolo skills in time to the music or unicycling, the acrobatic athleticism of these kids showed why they study under the masterful tutelage of lead trainers Bec Neill and Ben Lewis.

Tempo is currently touring Australia. Performance time: 60 minutes. Tickets: $38- $44.50

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.

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Wild Dogs Under My Skirt

12 April 2024 Paige Jenkins

Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt has made its way across the ditch from New Zealand to the Illawarra. Adapted from Avia’s poetry collection of the same name, it invites the audience to take a peek into the life of Samoan women.

The five characters, played by the outstanding ensemble of Anapela Polata’ivao, Ilaisaane Green, Stacey Leilua, Joanna Mika-Toloa and Petmal Petelo, were raw and beautiful, exuding class and intensity.

As a poet myself, I was floored by the storytelling and the mix between the character’s native tongues and English. Seeing poetry come to life in such a creative and immersive way is incredibly special. These women have allowed the audience a glimpse into their culture, sharing their beautiful voices in both spoken word and song. Their harmonies were heavenly and incredibly moving, much like an Opera Aria that an audience understands purely by the crescendo of the orchestra and the emotion on the performer’s face. It was unnecessary to be fluent in their dialects, as their portrayal of emotions and accompanying moves were vivid and told a story in themselves.

Leki Jackson-Burke should be acknowledged and commended for his beautiful contribution to the performance. Watching someone make an impact with very few scene opportunities is always a treat. He may not have been a character or part of the story, but his musical contributions added an insurmountable degree of feeling. The drum beats and use of beautiful instruments maintained or raised the intensity of a scene, drawing the audience in and forcing them to listen.

Whilst Wild Dogs Under My Skirt can be classified as a comedy, much darker themes lie between the poetry. Split-second changes between young girls giggling and laughing about the story of the Virgin Mary to discussing horrific acts of sexual violence were staggering. The flow of the stories and the chosen sequence proved very powerful and took the audience on an emotional journey. The portrayal of the rollercoaster, which is life for Samoan and Pasifika women, was both lovely and uncomfortable. Years of dark colonial history, the sexualisation of Pasifika women, and the dastardly patriarchy in all its glory are all laid out on the stage.

This show was absolutely remarkable, and it’s not difficult to see why it has won its awards. It is such a privilege to have a production that has been performed in New York and provides a window into different countries and cultures right here in our backyard.

Wild Dogs Under My Skirt is performing at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong, from 10-13 April and Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, from 18-20 April.

Make sure to grab a ticket for yourself; you don’t want to miss this!!

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.

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RBG: Of Many, One

6 April 2024 Paige Jenkins

‘RBG; Of Many, One’, a play by Suzie Miller, has made its way to Wollongong. Originally a Sydney Theatre Company production, ‘RBG’ saw a sold-out opening night at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre. This incredible one-woman show stars the phenomenal Heather Mitchell, who has reprised her role and is a brilliant display of talent.

Ms Mitchell embodied the United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg through the decades, leading a decades-long tale of life, love, loss and societal change. Mitchell not only became Justice Ginsberg but constantly shifted between young and old, as well as each president and critical character that propelled Ruth to greatness. With her exactness of accent, speech patterns, and a variety of accents from across the States, Heather Mitchell captivated the audience from the moment the lights came on stage.

It’s easy to be sceptical when coming into a one-person show, particularly one with no intermission to break up the performance; however, Heather Mitchell’s immersive experience made it difficult to look away from it. She was funny and charming, making the storytelling completely disarming and inviting. It felt as though you were sitting in a room with Justice Ginsberg as if she were an old friend or a friend of your grandparents, recounting her glory days and telling us to continue the fight she dedicated her life to. Jokes and pointed comments about future hypotheses had the audience laughing with the beauty of hindsight.

The simplicity of the set and costuming forced the acting to maintain the show’s focal point. A single armchair repurposed over and over, a side table or a satchel bag are very simple props that, when paired with certain lighting or sound effects, transport the audience to each high and low of RBG’s life.

A seamless use of production elements invited the audience into Ruth’s recount of her most influential and moulding moments. Beautiful arias from her favourite operas, sound effects of the all-important telephone call, and real-life audio taken from critical events like Presidential debates and basketball games all assisted in the impressive immersive experience.

A screen above the stage helped keep track of the year or case being discussed. Small asides and lapses into memories weaved their way through the primary time or story being discussed. It felt like a stream-of-consciousness style of discussion rather than an hour and 40-minute monologue being spoken at you.

The play began in 1993 and ended with Ruth’s death in 2020, but recounted moments from her childhood and teenage years, as well as her time at Cornell University, Harvard Law, and Columbia Law School.

Playwright Suzie Miller, director Priscilla Jackman, and the entire creative team are to be commended for their dedication to history and ability to produce a version of the so-called “Notorious RBG” that felt simultaneously undiscovered and new while being the real recount of one of the most highly regarded influential legal figures of our time.

‘RBG; Of Many, One’ runs until the 6th of April with Merrigong Theatre Company at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre. Tickets can be purchased via the Merrigong Theatre Company website.

The show is recommended for ages 15+ as it does contain some adult themes, herbal cigarettes and a complete theatrical blackout.

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.

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