Should We Stay Or Should We Go?

I went to my first Fringe Festival show for 2012 last night. Should We Stay Or Should We Go? is the classic story of an intercontinental relationship (played by a real life couple who are engaged to be married in April) where each half of the couple is literally from half a world away. So where should they settle down? In her home country or his? How about somewhere halfway between the two? Either way, someone is going to be missing out and some serious compromising is called for.

The show was well conceived, funny and generally work well. There were varying levels of success in the parts requiring audience participation but the couple's warmth and humour were apparent throughout. All in all, a great night out.

I saw the show with a very old friend. [Hold on - that doesn't sound too good.] I saw the show with someone I have been friends with for a very long time. (I am in no way suggesting she is very old; she wouldn't be impressed!) It seems like only a short while ago that she and I asked ourselves this very question as the couple in the show. At the end of our student days, we had similar goals: spend two years getting established in our chosen career then move to the UK for the great kiwi OE.

And then both our circumstances changed. She wanted to leave earlier than planned while I wasn't sure whether even our original timing was right. (OK, that's code for "there was a guy involved".) She left; I never made it out of the country apart from a few short trips. (The guy is long gone.) She came back to visit her parents every few years and we'd catch up briefly. "When are you coming to join me?" she would ask. It never happened.

Now, thirteen years later, I'm thrilled to have my friend back in my life after she moved back 'home' permanently a few months ago. Did it matter that I stayed while she went? Not at all! Our lives have taken on drastically different paths and she is finding her feet back in a city that has changed so much since she left but I am really enjoying us getting to know each other again at a time in my life when good friends are worth more than gold. In the meantime, there are coffees to be drunk, shows to be seen, dinners to be shared and many more years of friendship to look forward to.

The Pragmatic

The Pragmatic is described as a wry comedy about the routines, or 'ruts', in people's lives. Initially set in a bar, we meet Paul, a smart-ass barman with an indeterminate accent, Steve, a less-than-successful briefcase salesman with a fondness for whiskey and gin, and Sarah, who ends up pulling Steve out of his rut and setting him on his path to global domination.

Cleverly scripted and well acted, The Pragmatic is about making changes, breaking rules, over-inflated egos, and the consequences of combining these things. My favourite quote was "quitting something you hate is almost as good as doing something you like". Very wise words; after all, we have to start somewhere!

Improv - The Secondary School Musical

We have just got back from another hilarious Fringe show. Improv - The Secondary School Musical was our second date with The Improvisors this month. This time, it's a take on Disney's High School Musical (2006). Our 'tour guides' from our walking tour of Jackson Street were back - back in their prime as school students, that is.

The audience were asked for four key components, around which the show would be built. We were asked for a group which exists in schools; librarians was the decision. The 'thing' became risoni, the ambition was to run the cross country, and the theme was world domination. The scene was set and the story, complete with unrequited love, mobile phone humour, and very recent current events, developed.

Accompanied by an improvising musical trio, the cast of seven gave their best impersonations of singing teenagers. A range of characters evolved, including the hapless 'Alessandro', son of an Italian diplomat (while his real students were sitting in the audience behind us). The head librarian, who harboured dreams of being a cross country runner, was ousted from his role by his doppelganger, another boy who became corrupted by his new found power and in turn schemed a sinister plot to dominate the [library] world while regaining the friendship of a certain girl. What a fantastic way to escape the world for an hour or so with laughter. We'll look forward to their next show.

Strike Soundsystem

I've seen Strike in action a few times now and really enjoyed each experience. When they're playing well, the group is on fire (sometimes literally!) with tight rhythms and a great creative flow. We enjoyed Strike Elemental last year and looked forward to Strike Soundsystem as part of the Fringe Festival.

The first half of tonight's show started really well, with some new takes on older Strike pieces. As always, it's great to experience the artistic brilliance of Murray Hickman, a founding member of Strike. You can see he not only loves what he does (and does it well), but he lives and breathes it in every beat. Tom Pierard has come a long way in his drumming, and has obviously developed a great rapport with Leni Sulusi, who creative flair is always enjoyable. Takumi Motokawa's quirkiness has developed into a reasonably solid sound, although I missed the dependable rhythms from Tim Whitta.

So, why the second half then? From the sloppy changes on stage in between pieces, to an unnecessary MC (where did she go to during the second half - and why was she replaced by that terrible rapper?), it went downhill quickly. Most of the guest performers were very talented in their own right and would normally be a pleasure to hear; give them their own shows, I say. If 'collaboration' involves random jamming with all and sundry, some appropriate and others definitely not, then keep it for a Sunday afternoon in your studio or a nightclub somewhere. I know the guy balancing on chairs was impressive; I just see don't see what he had to contribute to a Strike performance. A few people walked out; I just felt like the group had let themselves down. I caught up with a drummer friend on the way out, and I can say that he was also less than impressed.

Will I see Strike again? Yes, but I will be carefully checking what they're planning on performing; if it's another 'collaboration', then count me out.

Sorry, guys, but stick to what you do best: being yourself, by yourself. As my sweetie said (and even said I could use this line in my blog - lucky me!), "are they trying to be Strike or a cheap rap band?". Good point.

Lies and Other Stories Before Bed

"Oh, Fringe, lay thee Drama on with a trowel."

I love the Fringe Festival. As I have said before, what you get on the night is a mixed bag. Tonight's show, Lies and Other Stories Before Bed, featured a talented cast of six (plus one), a complex script, as well as a few head-scratching moments. The four-piece band provided great background atmosphere; it's great to hear live music and theatre come together so well.

So, what was the play about? Good question. Here's the bio from the website:

Long ago, in a land far away, Brian and Alice had once been happy. But for many months they had not made love. When Alice became enchanted by a American seductress, Brian started talking to the children he kept locked up in his head...
An uproarious, risky and rousing threesome of theatre, film and animation.

This is a clever show, mixing live theatre with small film snippets illustrating scenes which happen away from the main sets. I couldn't quite work out whether the children Brian hallucinated were supposed to be his, either in the future or kids who never came to be. (I don't think they were, but ... ) They had an intense love-hate big brother-little sister relationship and appeared at all the worst moments, which certainly didn't help Brian and Alice's ailing marriage. (Of course, she couldn't see them.) Or Brian's job, for that matter.

At 1 hour 45 mins, the play went on a bit and a few scenes could have been trimmed here and there. The American seductress who tempted dear Alice away from poor old Brian was drama laid on with a trowel, as were some of the scenes involving the kids. The ending was nothing short of bizarre, but I suppose that's what Fringe drama is all about. An enjoyable show, with just the right degree of unconvention. (Is that a word?)

Jackson Street - The Short and Incomplete History of a Very Long Street

We went to our first proper Fringe 09 event this morning. By 'proper', I should point out that we went to the Wellington Comedy Club on Thursday night. It's supported by the Fringe Festival (ie two-for-one tickets with a Fringe addict card), but Fringe officially started on Friday. The headline comedian, Benjamin Crellin, was funny; the other two comedians first up and the MC were average at best.

Jackson Street - The Short and Incomplete History of a Very Long Street is a walking tour taken by two members of The Improvisors, an improv comedy/theatresports group based in Wellington. Being literally around the corner from here and, even better, entry by donation, we would have been silly to miss it.

Nearly 50 people followed 'Ross' and 'Matthew', our walking tour guides, up and down Jackson Street, the main road in Petone. We were entertained and informed by little known facts about the area and various streets and landmarks along the way. The facts are little known because, largely, they have been completely made up, or the tiny bit of truth in them is has been somewhat stretched and therefore is hard to find. These were interspersed by various theatresport games, like Word at a Time, Emotional Rollercoaster, and Alphabet (using the Maori alphabet).

As always, The Improvisors put on an great show. Their type of improvised humour, interchanged among the cast and reacting to audience participation, always makes for hilarity and entertainment. We are looking forward to their next show in a couple of weeks' time, Improv - The Secondary School Musical.

Fringe 09

The Fringe Festival is about to start in Wellington. Until the end of February, I am going to be a Fringe addict, indulging in the mixed bag of music, the arts, theatre, drama, and comedy that Fringe offers each year. Almost anything goes at Fringe. Events and shows range from those performed by newcomers, recent drama school graduates, one person dramas, whole cast ensembles, amateurs, professionals, and everyone in between. This results in extremes; I have been to some embarrassingly bad performances, but also some of the best (and funniest) shows I've ever seen during previous Fringe Festivals.

There are about six shows I like the look of, so that makes a Fringe addict card ($15) incredibly worthwhile, as it brings the costs of most events down to $10-12. Even acts by The Improvisors are heavily discounted. I am really looking forward to their show Improv - Secondary School Musical, an improvised comedic take on High School Musical (2006). We also hope to join them on their walking tour, Jackson Street - The Short and Incomplete History of a Very Long Street. I'm also hoping to catch my third Strike Percussion show, Strike Soundsystem, a one-off performance. I'll keep you posted!

Wellington Comedy Club

Another night, another Fringe show. Tonight, it was the Wellington Comedy Club at the San Francisco Bathhouse. The old Indigo bar is a really cool venue in Cuba Street. The Comedy Club is now cashing in on being the former stamping ground of the Flight of the Conchords, Wellington's "local boys done well", and rightly so.

Unfortunately, names escape me tonight. The MC was absolutely hilarious. An Iraqi-American, he apparently picked up his Arabian accent from living in Newtown for just two weeks. He could have kept us entertained for ages and it was great to laugh along to his anecdotes in between acts. A ho-hum musical comedy duo got things started, followed by a rather bland, self-deprecating guy who strung together a whole lot of one liners and random jokes. The third guy was good. (Geez, why can't I remember his name? Nathan someone??)

The evening's main act was Andre King, "a Maori from South Auckland". Definitely not a show to bring the kids to (the poor 12-year-old in the front table looked like she wanted to shrivel up and die, and her parents and older sister looked equally uncomfortable), there is nowhere Andre did not go and no subject that was taboo. The difference between him and emerging comedians is that he pulled it all together with style. A tall, imposing figure on such a small stage, he had us in fits of laughter in the most politically incorrect manner. Bloody marvellous! Stand up comedy is alive and well in Wellington.

Jane Austen is Dead

Fringe is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get. Well, something like that. I've seen some great shows so far. Tonight, Jane Austen is Dead was a real mixed bag, with some ambitious character swapping by the actor and a few witty anecdotes thrown in for good measure. While she managed to pull some of them off really well, there were some truly ambiguous moments that I'm still wondering about even now.

Sadly, my friend and I could relate to so many of the dating and relationship experiences portrayed in this play. They got lots of nervous laughs from the mostly female audience, and perhaps a few smirks from the token males. We wondered if they were there to impress particular women, or maybe to get some tips for themselves about what not to do? Either way, this was definitely a show for the ladies and while it lacked the depth it tried to convey, it was a harmless night out.

Charlie

Prisons fascinate me and freak me out in equal measure. Visiting Alcatraz Island was a haunting experience that I will never forget. I've been enthralled by Dead Man Walking, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile in ways I can't explain. Putting the actual crime aside, the loss of one's freedom is one of the most horrifying scenarios I can imagine. Don't even get me started on the death penalty.

Tonight's Fringe show at Bats was called Charlie. It is the story of a 30 year old woman awaiting execution for murder. Anna develops a relationship with the new prison guard in her final days on death row. Predictably, Anna and the guard explore their own mortality and what it means to be alive, but with an unexpected outcome.

Hmm. The fact that I have an early morning meeting, yet am still sitting here at nearly midnight blogging about this show means that Charlie is probably one that will stay in my mind well after the Fringe Festival has finished. To me, that's the mark of good theatre.

Spooked

The Improvisors are a staple in Wellington's comedy/theatre diet and have been going for as long as I can remember. I've enjoyed lots of their shows in recent years and loved Camp during last year's Fringe Festival.

Spooked last night was pretty darn good. As the crew are fond of saying, "no matter what happens, you will get the show you deserve". In other words, if you feed in cr@ppy ideas, that's how the show will turn out. The same goes for the opposite. So, we ended up with an improvised comedy/horror involving a wedding party at the Indian Gardens in Hamilton (a scary place) and some freaky events involving popcorn.

I was really impressed with the crew's ability to slip into any time setting (1974 and 1892, from memory) and morph bits of New Zealand's history into the story. Lots of very 'NZ' jokes (and I wonder how much of these were actually picked up by our overseas friends) but they were also cleverly wound into the unfolding plot. Some great accents, too. Yup, I guess things did go 'bump' in the night.

Around the World on 80 Quid

I saw my first Fringe Festival show tonight. Around the World on 80 Quid is the story of an Irish gypsy fiddler and his adventures upon leaving Galway, Ireland, and travelling to Wellington. He just couldn't prevent himself from drinking, getting into trouble, and playing in Irish pubs all around the world. Each of these temptations were as appealing and deadly as they were in the country before, with similar consequences, yet ...

Aindrias captured the spirit of Italy, Greece, Romania, United Arab Emirates, India, Thailand, Australia, and finally New Zealand in music, accents, and mannerisms. I loved the way he fashioned a tea chest bass out of a box, a broom, and a length of rope and broke into a jazzy version of Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks - obviously something he wanted to play, and managed to include the song without it seeming contrived.

I'd happily see this show, or other works by Aindrias, again if he were to return to Wellington. Slan!

Fringe Festival

8 February - 2 March 2008

The Fringe Festival begins tomorrow. It is a delightful feast of music, dance, theatre, arts, and other events by both experienced and up-and-coming performers. Wellington knows how to put on a show, and with a Fringe Addict Card you can't beat the pricing ... there are also free outdoor events.

So, I'm going through my constantly-filling-up diary and the Fringe Festival book and trying to work out:

1. when I am in town (easy)
   
2. what I want to see (slightly tricky - so many appealing options)
   
3. whether what I want to see is on when I am in town (incredibly tricky - lots of organisation required here!)
   

Bring it on!!