Theatre Review: Iphigenia in Splott

 The Production: Iphigenia in Splott by Gary Owen

The Company/Theatre: The Red Stitch Actors Theatre, St Kilda

Stars: 5

Until 22 September. Tickets are hard to come by. 

FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKK. That was GOOD!

So, in my attempts to make the most of being in Melbourne while I'm here, and after being impressed with the Red Stitch Actor's Theatre's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and the desire to see some less commercial theatre, and being roped in by the advertising, I took myself off to see Iphiginia in Splott.

One of the best decisions I've made this year. 

This is an incredible piece of theatre. Indeed, it's an incredible play, which is carried off by one actor who is bound for greatness. Jessica Clarke is a name you should watch out for. 

Yes, I'm gasping over this, but in this 70-seater theatre, I got to witness a little bit of magic. One woman on a stage that was barely five metres square. 

On entering the stage, Effie (Jessica Clarke) is sitting on the stage scrolling through her phone. Once the audience was settled, off she went. 

Effie is the woman who makes you bob your head and cross the road when you see her in the street. She's a slag, a slapper, a chav. These are the names used for her type in England, and in Wales, where the play takes place. In Australia, she'd be classed as the worst kind of bogan (and not the cashed up ones). 

For the 90 minutes of the play, Effie takes us through her life - unabashedly unemployed, forever drunk, fond of her grandmother, and salt of the earth when you get to know here. The events of her life turn from comic to tragic at a rapid pace. The last fifteen minutes of the play are some of the most effective theatre I've seen in ages. 

Gary Owens play is a timeless indictment on what is wrong with our current culture. As Effie says, the lower class is the ones who feel the cuts in society. They cut and they cut, but what will happen when they can take no more? It's a fabulous tale. Funny, relatable, smart and indeed, tragic in places. 

Gary Abraham's direction has the pitch and toss of Effie's performance down pat. Jessica Clarke's performance is raw, at times visceral. This woman will get under your skin. You won't want to like her, but you'll end up loving her very quickly. In some ways, she is everywoman. That part of you that you won't want to admit to. She's plucky. She's a survivor, even if she needs some dusting off. 

I won't go into this anymore. On leaving the theatre, we were told there was a Q&A. For once, I didn't stay for it, instead choosing to decompress and wonder at the power of this small stage, this fabulous actor and this stunning play. 

Definitely worth getting a ticket to see this. Look out for Jessica Clarke in future. She's going to go places. And see this. You won't regret it. 

Today's song: 

Lazy Programming

 The new programme of plays came out on the Melbourne Theatre Company website tonight - and I'm feeling a little underwhelmed, as I was with the Sydney Theatre Company 2025 Season. 

The Sydney Theatre Company season underwhelmed me because of the fact that I've seen four of the eight plays, not that I will be dibbing into the whole of the season, but I don't need to see these play again, as excellent as they are. Bloom, a musical about an old folks' home is great, but once is enough. And yes, it's playing with a different cast, but I don't need to see that again. Joanna Murray-Smith's Julia is a tour de force, but once is enough, even if Justine Clarke is amazing in the role. And The Dictionary of Lost Words was good - very good. But once is enough. 

Suzie Millar's RBG: Of Many, One was in Melbourne a couple of months ago. Again, it's excellent, but I don't need to see it again. The same goes with Happy Days, this time with Pamela Rabe as Winnie, where here in Melbourne Judith Lucy took on the main role. 

So, if I want to go to Sydney, for whatever reason, and have a play to see over the weekend, I'm left with Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Talented Mr Ripley. Thankfully they're playing months apart.

The other highlight is at the end of the year is the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This is the same production that was on at the Red Stitch Actors Theatre, which transferred to the Comedy Theatre and is some of the best theatre I've seen in Australia in the last 25 years. It might be worth my time. It's worth a though. 

The Melbourne Theatre Company 2025 season hasn't grabbed me either - but maybe I need to have more of a thorough read of the program. 

It's starting out with a play called 37, which was performed this year. Again, it's excellent, but isn't this a bit of lazy programming. Other hand, it is an incredible play. 

They're also doing David Williamson's The Removalists. I think I did that play in my last year of high school. 

I'm curious to see how they go about adapting Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. The MTC are good at adapting classics onto the stage. I enjoyed their North by Northwest and Storm Boy. 

They're also going back to doing a Shakespeare - and Much Ado About Nothing is always good as a crowd pleaser. This is their Christmas play. (This year it's an adaption of My Brilliant Career). 

The rest of the season seems to be a lot of plays which have done well in London and on Broadway which have been brought over and will be given an Australian lease on life.

Normally, Jay and I get a season ticket. On first glance, this year I'm not so sure. 

Today's song:

Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

 Movie Number 24 of 2024

The Movie: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 4

Word of warning. I'm a big Tim Burton fan. I'm also a fan of cult films and Beetlejuice, the original is one of my favourites. It's a nuts film. But nuts in a good way. 

I'm in a number of minds about this sequel, which has come some 35 years after the original. Is it as good as the original - no - but it does a good job trying.

What happens here is Lydia (Winona Ryder) is not having a great time. She's widowed, her teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) is giving her grief, her mother Delia (Catherine O'Hara) is still a pain and her odious fiance (Justin Thoreaux) is somebody you'd like to run over. 

When her father dies, the family are forced to go back to Winter's Creek, the place where the first Beetlejuice movie takes place to settle up. 

When Astrid is kidnapped by a malevolent ghost who takes her into the underworld, Lydia is forced to call on her old enemy, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to provide some of his often-misguided help. 

Beetlejuice is having his own issues. His ex-wife (Monica Belluci) is back on the scene. 

Sound a bit convoluted. Well, it is. But not in a bad way. 

For lovers of the original film, there are enough references to keep you happy. That they had the Banana Boat Song sung by a girls' choir was pure genius. Little things, like Delia's artwork, the model of the town in the attic and the general look and feel of the film. 

There are also some wonderful cameos through then film. Willem Dafoe and Danny de Vito being two of them. 

And Tim Burton's direction is exactly what you think it's going to be - just a little bit bonkers. 

What I loved about this film most of all is that it is a lot of fun. Sure, it missed out on the freshness that the original film had in 1988, but it has just the right mix of nostalgia and new material. I also loved the small musical references to the original film - however Burton has changed tack here and the music is now classic 1970s disco standards. 

For the squeamish, there are some slightly off colour sections, but this is to be expected with this director. 

Do you have to see the original to enjoy this film - probably not, but it might help in understanding this strange and wonderful world in front of you. 

I think that this is probably best for those who love the original film. However, if you want to see a group of actors having a great time, this might be what you are looking for. 

Today's song:

Decision Made

 Today marks the second year of me using the Duolingo app. Every day. For about 15 minutes. Every day. 

My French is still crap, but not as crap as it would be if I hadn't been using it. At the moment, we're looking at the irregular formations of the subjunctive form. What fun!

Over the weekend, I was with a couple of French speakers, so I got the French out again. It was wonderful. I like speaking another language. Okay, I love being able to speak another language fairly well. I love that I speak French with a gentle Australian accent (unlike my compatriot over the weekend, who speaks very good French with a strong Australian accent - which is cute - but my accent is better... )

So today, on the second anniversary of me starting my Duolingo journey, and reconnecting with a language that I love, I've made the decision that next September, I'm returning to France, and Paris. I want to go along to another Gunnas International retreat. I might not opt in for the activities in Paris, but I want to return to the South of France, to Sommieres.

A plan is forming in my head. A week in England. We'll find some things to do over there. Then over to Paris - get to see some of the things I didn't see last time - St Denis, Chartres, wander around la Rive Gauche, maybe go for another mason's meeting at the mothership...I'd like to go wandering galleries and visiting cathedrals and sit at cafes with a coffee wishing that I still smoked. I want to ride the Metro and walk along the Seine...

This need is at a cellular level.

After that, I think a little trip to Rome or Florence might be in order. I haven't been to Italy in 25 years. 

So, on this, the second anniversary of my using the Duolingo app, doing my daily French lessons (my old French teacher would be pleased with my progress. I always hated the subjunctive) I'm making a pact with myself to return to Europe. 

It means staying employed, and keeping up with the lessons, and scrimping and saving. 

But I need this for me. 

I want my heart to sing again. 

And if I book by New Year's Eve, I get to choose my own room at L'Hotel de l'Orange. 

I have a goal.

Yay. 

Let's do this. 

Today's song:

Sunday Stealing: The Sunday Questions

 Finally, I'm home. It seemed to take longer to get back from Adelaide after a really good week. I have a hungry cat to deal with, seeing he has been sulking for the last three days at Blarney's place. 

Anyway, on with the questions, thanks to Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. What shows are you into?

I'm currently working my way through Bad Sisters on Apple+. It's darkly funny. I'm also watching Grey's Anatomy from the start again. It's easy television. 

2. What’s your claim to fame?

I'm very good at starting arguments from ten kilometres away and being a complete shit stirrer. 

3. How often do you play sports?

Actual sports, probably never. But I'm in the gym around three times a week and I love to walk and swim. 

4. Are you early or late?

I'm perpetually late. Time keeping is something I have to work at. I'm there for important things - everything else I'm about ten minutes late. 

5. What quirks do you have?

As somebody who identifies as neurodiverse, I have many quirks. I'm quirky. There are too many to mention. 

6. How often do you people watch?

Multiple times a day. It's one of my favourite things. 

7. What’s your favorite drink?

Gin and tonic. 

8. What do you hope never changes?

The greatness of 80s music. The smell of cat's and dog's paws in the morning. That you can still drive down onto Silver Sands Beach. 

9. What’s your dream car?

A decadent part of me would love a Mercedes sports car. An upgrade to the top of the range Mazda CX-3 or Nissan Juke would be nice. (I currently drive a mid-range Mazda CX-3 - it's just right for me. 

10.  Where would you rather be from?

In my heart, I am English. Although born and raised in Australia, and my family have been here, on Kaurna lands, for well over 160 years, I still feel English. Though I wouldn't mind being a Parisian either. As long as I had a great job that paid well. 

11. What songs have you competely memorized?

As a Gen X Australian, I can sing most of the Cold Chisel back catalogue under my belt. I can definitely sing Khe Sahn without prompting. Don't tell anybody. (It's like an unofficial Australian national anthem). The girls at Gunnas will tell you I can sing along to everything. I know the words to all sorts of obscure songs. 

Oh, I know the National Anthem and the Adelaide Crows song too. 

12. What would you rate 10/10

The movies Poor Things and Past Lives. 

13. What job would you be terrible at?

I'd be an awful engineer - bad at physics. I'd probably be a rotten nurse, and I could never work in a childcare centre. As much as I like kids, I could never work with them. I couldn't be a public servant either - I hate committees with a passion. 

14. What skill would you like to master?

Playing the piano. Time keeping. Focus. 

15. What movie title best describes your life?

Dazed and Confused.

Today's song: 

Spent

 I have just spent a day in a room full of people in one form or another. In a lodge room. In a restaurant. I'm staying with friends, but that is not a drag. 

Anyway, I'm completely people and noised out. 

And because of this, I can only manage a few sentences. 

Like Freemasonry is great. 

People are noisy. 

Adelaide has changed a bit, but not that much.

I could write a lot more, but I need to have my cup of tea and go to bed now, as we are due back in the lodge at 10 a.m. before I go back to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. 

Oh, and I have a new cat friend. This is Wink. 

Hi is a good substitute for Lucifer, who will be collected on the way back from the airport.

Night night.

Today's Song: 

The Welcome to Country

There is a tyranny that comes with age which is never more apparent when you're at a conference and people forget how to behave themselves. This is even more startling when you work out that the world has moved on and those people are left in a virtual wilderness of disdain, confusion and annoyance. 

Today I bore witness to this. 

It wasn't big. It wasn't clever. And if anything, it was offensive. 

As somebody who takes the acknowledgement of country seriously when it is presented at the start of any event, small or large, today's first session at our conference did not go as expected. 

"I'm told I have to give a welcome to country. This is my country. Australia. This is Adelaide."

There was a stony silence. 

The person delivering this looked smug. They went back to their seat to assorted mumbles. 

I don't want to go into a Julia Gillard "I was offended" rant. But I was offended. The Acknowledgement of Country has become an integral part of our public landscape, and it feels wrong to have this have happened. I'm the first person to say that people have a right to their opinions, however, with the Acknowledgement of Country, if you're not going to proffer it with a modicum of respect, then don't give it. Sit down, keep quiet and let the rest of the room get on with it. 

And I get that there are people who don't see the value of the Acknowledgement of Country. I don't share their sentiments. I'm willing to discuss personally, at an appropriate time - not air grievances at a public event. 

Later in the day, another speaker took the floor. The first thing they did was give another Acknowledgement of Country. This time, a short, respectful version.

As the speaker started to shuffle their notes, a comment from the previous speaker interjected. "Rubbish!"

The room went quiet. 

The speaker, a little stunned, bristled and stated, "People are allowed to have a difference of opinion."

They went back to looking at their notes, before straightening and looking the interjector in the eye.

"You disrespect me. You disrespect my family."

The room fell silent. 

If I'm honest, they disrespected the rest of the room with their remarks. 

From there, the speaker gathered themselves and gave an excellent talk. 

After the afternoon's talks, I approached the second speaker and gave them my support, checking in on them. They related that they have indigenous nieces and nephews. To have an acknowledgement of country to be disrespected in such a way is like urinating on his family. 

Considering the space in which we found ourselves, where we uniquely dwell on the power of ritual and words, these interactions left a chasm. 

I'm still ruminating over the overt disrespect. 

It hurt that at a gathering which promotes brotherhood, equality and freedom, that such jarring attitudes, even from one person, can be present. 

Today's song: