As it was once some several years ago, one of the highlights of this Womad for me was the music of the Madagascar region - Mikidache from Mayotte, a small island near Madagascar. I love the music from this region. So joyous and melodic and eminently singable. Quite different from the mostly rhythm based music of neighbouring Africa. The other group that blew me away years ago was the Justin Vali Trio. I wonder if I lived in Madagascar in a former (musical) life!
Other musical highlights for me this year were Australia's own Geoffrey Yunupingu, and the wonderful sounds from the Balkans by Paprika Balkonicus.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
Rhino Room - Gordon Southern
Gordon Southern: The Unofficial Annual
Rhino Room Downstairs, Tue Mar 3
Gordon Southern is always going to deliver a value-for-money show. He’s sufficiently at ease to try gags that may or may not fly. There were a few curious moments when it felt like the audience was being auditioned for some of his newer material. But mostly he just cruised through entertaining routines that included stories, one-liners, jibes, jingles and a couple of ads. An obvious affection for Adelaide and Australia gives him license to target Australians, but everyone has fun while he assails airlines, Americans, Singapore and of course the hapless George W. Highlights include a wonderful send-up of Australian pollies and a hilarious take on eastern European immigrant workers in the UK. Great stuff!
Rhino Room Downstairs, Tue Mar 3
Gordon Southern is always going to deliver a value-for-money show. He’s sufficiently at ease to try gags that may or may not fly. There were a few curious moments when it felt like the audience was being auditioned for some of his newer material. But mostly he just cruised through entertaining routines that included stories, one-liners, jibes, jingles and a couple of ads. An obvious affection for Adelaide and Australia gives him license to target Australians, but everyone has fun while he assails airlines, Americans, Singapore and of course the hapless George W. Highlights include a wonderful send-up of Australian pollies and a hilarious take on eastern European immigrant workers in the UK. Great stuff!
Bakehouse Theatre - Bad Company
The Adventures Of Dead Jim/This Place
Bakehouse Theatre (Studio), Tue Mar 3
Two great short plays presented by local group Bad Company. Dead Jim is a black comedy that involves some superb physical manoeuvres with a corpse, while drawing attention to substance addiction and mental illness. Fake bravado, agitation and fragility are played out beautifully by the two ‘living’ actors. This Place is perhaps the stronger piece of the two. Its effective split set reinforces the thin line between madness and sanity as a psychiatrist watches the charade of a stable home life descend into confusion and paranoia at the same time that the patient he is treating at work recovers. Great performances by the cast of three. Decidedly good company for 90 minutes of excellent theatre.
Bakehouse Theatre (Studio), Tue Mar 3
Two great short plays presented by local group Bad Company. Dead Jim is a black comedy that involves some superb physical manoeuvres with a corpse, while drawing attention to substance addiction and mental illness. Fake bravado, agitation and fragility are played out beautifully by the two ‘living’ actors. This Place is perhaps the stronger piece of the two. Its effective split set reinforces the thin line between madness and sanity as a psychiatrist watches the charade of a stable home life descend into confusion and paranoia at the same time that the patient he is treating at work recovers. Great performances by the cast of three. Decidedly good company for 90 minutes of excellent theatre.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Music and Me
A friend asked me whether I'd ever told my friends about a song I wrote about a friend who got killed in a car accident. (See The Balla...
-
Today concluded 25 years of working with TAFE SA. Some reflections on that (mostly) wonderful part of my life... My first teaching app... -
On Thursday last week about 70 friends and colleagues gathered at the Port Adelaide TAFE campus to bid farewell to Marie Jasinski. Marie had...
