The stage at Perth’s Winthrop Hall was adorned with blue curtains, and a very elegant black Steinways Grand Piano positioned center stage. Then a figure in black suit crossed to thunderous applause from the audience, and Mr Paul Lewis CBE bowed and took his place at the piano. What came next can only be described as breathtaking. Mr Lewis began his performance with a perfect and flawless rendition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Sonata 10 in C Major. A beautiful, mesmerizing piece of music presented skillfully.
Mr Lewis completed his first act with the equally beautiful L’isle Joyeuse (The Isle of Joy) composed by Claude Debussy, again performed with perfection. Debussy and Mozart were very different in their composition styles, however when both framed the delightful music of Francis Poulenc’s Improvisations Pour le Piano (Improvisations for Piano) the mélange, or fusion, of the three composers was perfect.
The second act of Mr Lewis’ performance was just as beautiful as the first. Mr Lewis opened with more selections from Poulenc’s Improvisation Pour le Piano. At the end of two of the pieces was a lone, solitary note, which on both occasions resulted in a giggle from the audience.
Mozart+ act 2 was concluded by Mozart’s Piano Sonata 14 in C Minor. Another beautiful, flawless performance.
Mr Lewis provided the audience with an encore of a piece from Chopin. Another delightful composition.
Throughout the performance one could not only hear but could also see the passion that Mr Lewis has for classical music as his facial expressions showed all. It is no wonder that he has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, et al. His renditions are simply the most beautiful and superb this author has ever witnessed in person.
In Mr Lewis’ own words he has, for many years, “wanted to spend some time focusing on Mozart’s piano sonatas and have long felt sceptical of the broadly held view that these remarkable works are the poor siblings of his piano concertos”. I must agree with Mr Lewis as the selected sonatas are just as beautiful as the composer’s full concertos.
I had the pleasure of attending the performance with my 6 year old son, who enjoys live theatre and classical music as much as I, and when asked for his thoughts on the performance he summed it up in one solitary word, “Amazing”.
The audience were completely captured by the extreme talent on the stage, and the beautiful music that filled the auditorium, and this author believes that each audience for the remainder of Paul Lewis: Mozart+ Australian tour will be equally bewitched by his talent and presentation.
We were warmed up and welcomed by “Jeremy” the twin of Celebrity Theatresports host Jeromaia Detto, at least that’s what Jeremy would have us believe. The theme of the day would be the circus. Jeremy had us practise our crowd hype including our circus animal noises. It was a very effective way to liven the excitement and energy in the room. The fun and passion was contagious and we were ready to be entertained, especially when Benny Davis from Axis of Awesome began to give the atmosphere a soundtrack, and we were introduced to our esteemed judges, hosts and the teams themselves.
I have a passion for Theatresports and I have done quite a few classes with our hosts, Impro Australia. It has been many years but I was excited to see, among the standout celebrities, were people that have celebrity status in my own heart and memories.
The six teams competing for the coveted Theatresports Celebrity Cup were:
The Greatest Show-Ponies (Adam Spencer, Rob Mills, James Galea and Jacqui Bramwell);
The Fairy Flossers (Steve Lynch, Kate Coates, Susan Prior and John Knowles);
Socceroo Sideshow (David Callan, Andrew Redmayne, Amy Tustian and Yarno Rohling);
The Big Top Guns (Ryan Atkins, Charlie Papps, Genevieve Hegney and Jack Scott);
Bunch of Clowns (Sophie Douglas, Daniel Cordeaux, Gary Eck, Felix Williamson and Sophea Op);
and Panda-monium (Linette Voller, Joji Malani, Murray Fahey and Scott Hall-Watson).
Round 1:
The first team was The Big Top Guns, who won my vote for best costumes (fully dressed to the theme). They also had the uber talented Genevieve Hegney, so they were at an advantage. The first game was Expert Double Figures where one player talks and the other lends their arms. The title they were given was “Teaching Tigers To Knit” and it was as hilarious as it sounds, especially Charlie Papps’ quick-thinking as their arms became the centre story.
Next up were The Greatest Show-Ponies taking on Genre Rollercoaster with audience suggestion of “Cleaning Out The Garage”: the genre having to be changed throughout. This team did a great job of keeping the story on track throughout the genre shifts. This was a standout in terms of technique.
Then the Fairy Flossers in all their dazzling pinkness had to take on the Animal Kingdom, which they all embodied well with the scene stealer being an exceptional meerkat played by John Knowles. Notable mention was the brilliant closing line at the end of all the mayhem from Kate Coates that the elephant (played comically by Steve Lynch) “Will never forget that!”
Number 4 was Panda-monium in all their Panda glory, including one Red Panda. They took on a fave of my own, Emotional Replay with the prompt of “Choosing a coffin”. This was a fun ride, culminating in “ecstasy” which was especially well embodied by Joji Malani’s impressive Vogue skills.
Number 5 was A Bunch of Clowns having to create a song entitled “Pickle Ball Is My Passion”, which hit the right notes with a catchy chorus. What some lacked in melody they made up for with hard-hitting lyrics, and Felix Williamson brought it all home with a brilliant finish.
Last, but not least was Socceroo Sideshow (with actual Socceroo Andrew Redmayne) who had the Sit, Stand, Kneel, Lie challenge at the airport. The characterisation with this physical challenge was impressive and it was chaotic fun watching them keep up with each other’s changing positions.
Round 2 was audio challenges from celebrities who were unable to be there.
Panda-monium had a request from Andrew Denton to see a scene with a lion and lion tamer who were afraid of each other. The team responded to this challenge by putting forward that they would do it with the team’s combined knowledge of High School French. It was tres impressive.
The Big Top Guns had a request from James O’Loghlin that they do a scene where someone can’t say the thing they desperately want to say. The team responded by having one character only able to speak in phrases from an audience member’s text message thread. Thus began a very clever family saga with a twist.
The Greatest Show-Ponies received their request from Rove McManus to see a scene in which somebody or something is being saved. The setting given was a Villain’s Lair. The team responded with Number Words, having host Jane Simmons shout out the number of words allowed in each line. With anything from 1 to 27, this was as hilariously challenging as you’d imagine.
Bunch of Clowns received their challenge from Kitty Flanagan, which was a scene where a farmer wants his son to take over, but his son wants to join the circus. The team responded with an American high school soap opera. This one showcased some wonderful teamwork as ideas were quickly thrown about and responded to.
Socceroo Sideshow got their challenge from the Umbilical Brothers which was an under the sea story called Raiders of The Last Air Bubble and they responded with Stunt Doubles, where two players enact the story and then have to swap over with their “stunt double” as dictated by the host and the stunt doubles play it out in slow motion. This was great fun with a special cameo from Millzy (Rob Mills) as the seahorse.
The Fairy Flossers got their challenge from Jonesy and Amanda in the form of two co-workers getting in trouble with a motorbike involved. They responded with a “Sing About It”. They came up with some catchy tunes, highlight being the Ballad of the Bike.
We then had some moving stories from the Canteen representatives, and we were all very emotional after learning more about how much this organisation means for cancer victims and their families.
Round 3 kicked off with The Hat Of Fate.
Fairy Flossers pulled out the prompt “In A Bank Vault” and were challenged to a Character Swap with a plot twist. Steve Lynch stole the show as a petulant teenage girl.
Big Top Guns pulled out “Taylor Swift Fan Club” and were challenged to an Off Broadway musical. It exposed the Swifties and those who drew a Blank Space when it came to her tunes.
Bunch of Clowns pulled “At A Fashion Show” and were challenged to a Shakespeare theme. They did doth handle that well.
The Greatest Show-Ponies pulled “At A Craft Brewery” and were challenged to an Opera, giving Millzy his real moment in the sun. It was a crafty little love story in song.
Panda-monium got “Top Deck on a Tour Bus” and were challenged to the audience providing the sound effects. This got the energy going and was a fun ride for all.
Socceroos got “Group Therapy” and were challenged to a ballet, which was actually rather beautiful.
The two teams revealed for the final round were Panda-monium and Socceroo Sideshow.
Panda-monium decided to use “Epic Quest” as their theme for the final round, and they were challenged to include a bum bag. They worked beautifully as a team and took us on a wonderful, wacky journey with other members of the other teams joining them along the way.
Socceroos decided to use “Film Noir with puppets” with the suggestion of a missing Pikachu. David Callan invited his students on stage to be the puppeteers and they did a fabulous job of following the prompts and uplifting the narrative.
Socceroo Sideshow were the winners overall and all the creatives were invited to the stage. John Knowles then delivered a moving tribute to Michael and Julie, the heart and soul of Impro Australia.
It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon of humour and heart. We all left with big smiles on our faces.
To find out more about Theatresports shows, classes and corporate events, visit www.improaustralia.com.au
The Man by James Graham
Old Fitz Hotel Theatre
Second run for Sydney Fringe Festival
It was an utter joy to a return viewing of this glorious play and masterful performance by Mike Howlett.
This is a much better space than better space than Lane Cove – Pottery Lane Performance Space, even with the remanence of set from the other play that’s showing in the same space, at the moment.
I would urge people from Griffin Theatre Company, Belvoir Street Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company to come and see this joyous work and make talks for it to be produced by them. This would also tour extremely well, so Arts on Tour should see this as well or any other funding/touring body out there.
Ben is an earnest, not so confident, neurodivergent, warm, funny and often lonely character who takes us on a journey through the challenges of doing his first ever tax return as a sole trader. The UK tax system is quite different to ours and follows many annoying British bureaucratic systems that don’t make sense, even when you’ve done it many times. Imagine how Ben feels. Through each receipt, that is given out to the audience on the way in, he tells the story of what they were from, what happened at the purchase and why they are important. We get reflection of a year in the life of Ben and what a year he had. No performance is the same as the order of collecting can to which audience member can never be planned. Which is why returning to the show was a joyful experience and felt like seeing a fresh show.
This performance was a lot more emotional than the last one that I saw in the first run in Lane Cove. Perhaps it was the order of the receipts or the weight of a sold out opening night in a more central venue. Mike Howlett is a master at naturalistic acting and storytelling and I still believe he deserves to win every single theatre award for his performance.
Claudia Leon is utterly charming as the voice of Lisa, who is Ben’s tax hotline operator.
I take my hat off to the creative team for uplifting this work and getting another run in. I hope it’s the start of many more to come. A little more light on the stage, particularly downstage right would be beneficial to not lose moments of Mike’s masterful performance.
I hope for the cast and creative team that this is a completely sold out run. I definitely plan on returning to see it again.
Run, don’t walk, to the Old Fitz Theatre to see The Man before the run ends on October 2nd!
The Elevator by Eloise Snape
At the Ensemble Theatre
“Margot’s back from mat leave — and she’s not messing around. Before nappies and sleepless nights, Eco Engines was spiralling through a PR meltdown, tanking faster than you can say “carbon footprint.” Now she’s back in the CEO chair, ready to rally her team of corporate eco-warriors and clean up the mess. But her comeback hits a snag when she gets stuck in the office lift. As tensions rise, Margot’s cool starts melting faster than the polar ice caps. THE ELEVATOR is a sharp, funny and fearless dark comedy that’s anything but clean. Green washing, corporate spin and tangled lies — playwright Eloise Snape delivers a whirlwind of laughs and truth bombs in this new Australian play.”
The Elevator by Eloise Snape is one of the best new plays I have seen in a long time. If you want to be in the arts you have to have something to say, and Eloise Snape has it in spades. This is a play that every emerging playwright should see and study. It is a perfect balance of situational circumstances, comedy, drama and emotional gravitas.
I don’t often say this, but this is a perfectly cast show.
Shirong Wu as Alison is a master of comic timing. At first, I thought her breathy, broken voice would be annoying throughout the play but quickly realised it was a planned out character choice that was masterful. She eats the scenery and makes the most of every amazing one liner that Eloise Snape has craftily given her. I would see her in anything she is in.
Di Adams as Ollie is so grounded and delivers the amazing twist at the end with so much passion and skill, you don’t see it coming. I have enjoyed everything I have seen that she has been in, so I knew I was in safe hands when she was in the cast.
Leeanna Walsman as Margot probably has the most challenging role in the show but pulls it off brilliantly. Playing a CEO of a company that she is trying to save from disaster, while being one day postpartum of her first born daughter and stuck in a lift with two people she clearly can’t stand. I think if this had been given to anyone else they might have fumbled but Leeanna delivers one of the best performances of career to date in this role.
You can tell this must have been a joyous play to create in the rehearsal room. You can tell that director, Anthea Williams, let the cast have a huge sense of play. Certain accepts would have had to have been set but it is joyous to watch actors being let to do what they do best.
The set, lighting and costumes were stunning. Both Kelsey Lee and Keerthi Subramanyam, deserved a standing ovation alone.
It is also joyous to see an almost entirely cast and creative team of women working at the highest standard. There should be more of this, and I hope this team creates more impactful work like this together in the future.
I felt honoured to be able to experience this shows opening night and world premiere. Any time that a project of Eloise Snape’s is on I will be there.
Bolt as fast as you can to this glorious production and experience its magic.
The Elevator runs at the Ensemble Theatre until October 18th.
