MAY NEWSLETTER

MAY NEWSLETTER

A play you must see plus news on Short But Not So Sweet

HAMLET MACHINE

You don't often get to see plays like Hamlet Machine on our stages these days and theatre is all the more poor for it. Hamlet Machine assaults your senses in many ways leaving you to dare not understand it.
Hamlet Machine was written by Heiner Muller, a German dramatist who I believe has a lot more to offer the 21st century than Bertolt Brecht. The play has no plot line to speak of, but a simple message about violence and it delivers it in bucket loads.

The play is a Broken Mirror production directed by Doug Montgomery, this I believe is the second time he has directed this play and he has done a great job.

Rain Fuller and Adam Ward are standouts however the play has a very strong cast. Nicholas Bendall, Nicole Feiber, Kara Stacey Merrin and Daniel Rice all give very solid performances. And the multi media part of the show for once is not some tacked on bit of shit to say look how modern we are, but is in a lot of ways the 7th actor on stage with its own story to tell. The production design by Ryan Hodge also shines through.


If there are any criticisms of the show it would be this. I thought the piece in the foyer (won't ruin it and tell you what it is) was a bit of a waste and didn't add to the show, although the person I brought with me loved it. We both thought that the production could have been a bit more explicit, bringing the message home a bit harder. There was mention made during the show that men can also be victims of domestic violence but when stats were shown at the end of the show there was no mention made of it. Experts tell us that it is a crime that is hardly ever reported or taken seriously.

But all this is splitting hairs. I came away from this production impressed with all who were involved with it and it is the best production I have seen Broken Mirror put on. 8 1/2 out of 10.

Photos Sarah Walker

 

DETAILS OF PRODUCTION

26^th April – 12^th May 2012
@ Revolt Artspace Melbourne
12 Elizabeth St, Kensington

Opening night Thursday 26^th April 2012

Thursdays – Saturdays @8pm, Saturday Matinees @ 3pm,
Sundays @5pm, Wednesday 9^th May @ 6pm

For bookings go to the Broken Mirror website.

SHORT BUT NOT SO SWEET 2012

 

 This year Short But Not So Sweet will be on at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute in September for a two week run. We will be calling for actors soon, but at the moment we are looking for scripts or if you are a company we will consider you for an I.T.C. production.

Remember we follow all the Short And Sweet rules to the letter, also your script or production must be bent in some way. That means it can be about a topic not many people talk about or feel uncomfortable about or something very different. This is the home of plays that other people are too scared to put on. For further details or to submit a script please email frankotis@hotmail.com - Frank Otis is the artistic director.