Catherine Fitzgerald is a Feast veteran.
Margie Fischer Live at the Lion, Adventures in Loveland, The Marigold Hour, LEND Exchange Readings, and Ben Dover and his Beautiful Boys are all past Feast acts she has helped produce or direct (or both!).
This year she is taking on the challenge of directing State Theatre Company of SA’s Feast show, The Give and Take.
The connection Tony McNamara’s biting satire about materialism and the corruption of family life in contemporary Australian society has to Feast is not immediately obvious.
“The play itself features much happy and gay humour,” said Catherine.
“The character of Julie is a lesbian and there is much camp humour in the play.
“There are quite a few lesbians working on it [the play], including myself.”
In Catherine’s experiences, comedies like The Give and Take are always a challenge.
“It is always fun on day one, with the first read.
“Then it requires enormous tenacity, technique and diligence from all concerned while never losing the sense of freshness and fun.
“Sometimes a pretty hard ask when you have heard the joke a thousand times.”
Catherine believes there is something every audience member will identify with in the play, whether it be the quintessential “Aussie” humour in the script or the family and work relationship dynamics acted out.
“I identify with the stupidity and silliness of the humour,” she said.
“I can also identify with questioning of: How much do we need? How greedy are we as a society and how does this affect our personal relationships?”
See The Give and Take on 29 October – 21 November 2010. For booking info visit the ShoGo The Give and Take page.
Feast Festival runs 13 – 28 November 2010. Visit the Feast Festival website for more information about the Feast program.
Restless Dance Theatre's Next of Kin is a family affair.
The show's intergenerational cast of six to 60-year-olds features Restless dancers and some of their family members, including mums, dad, cousins and even grandparents.
This is the first time many of these family members have performed.
Philip Channels said the unique cast has resulted in some unique experiences and challenges for his Restless directorial debut.
It's been an interesting process," Philip, the Restless Artistic Director, said.
"When you have non-professional performers on stage working with more experienced artists it brings a really unique quality to the work.
"I think what's been the biggest challenge is scheduling so many people for rehearsals.
"Dividing my headspace so that everyone is finding their voice and contributing to this work is equally challenging."
Set at a picnic, Next of Kin explores the family unit and its complex effect on kin relationships, personal decisions and individual responsibilities.
"When I think about what the modern family means to me, it has so many possibilities," Philip said.
"It might be people of diverse cultures living harmoniously under the one roof, with differences of opinions and life experiences.
"It might be that the nuclear family could be two mums or two dads with a variation of siblings, including step, half, adopted and foster.
"I think what's really coming through this work [Next of Kin] is we are far more accepting of difference than we might have been in the past."
See Next of Kin from 12 - 20 November 2010. For booking information visit the Next of Kin ShoGo page.
State Theatre Company of SA's Feast Festival show The Give and Take will be packed full of weird and wonderful sounds, according to composer Ian Moorhead.
"I've had great fun sourcing aural oddities for this work," he said.
“This has ranged from siphoning through old black and white TV footage to creating my own automated telephone hold messages.”
Ian is still in the process of writing music for the show, so doesn’t know how much will change by opening night.
“At this stage though, I’m just really enjoying writing music unlike any I’ve written before,” he said.
“The music is instrumental, featuring beats and keys, and is heavy with disparate sounds and vocal bites.
“It’s very fractured, layered and full … so listen up!”
For Ian, much of the joy of The Give and Take is in the comedic language, so it is important that the music does not intrude upon the text.
“The music, therefore, plays more a functional role in framing the scenes,“ he said.
“When the music is featured, I want it to be bold and let the music mirror the text and be fun, irreverent and provide a commentary of its own.”
Ian has a very distinctive process for composing music for theatre productions, but his approach was slightly different for The Give and Take.
“Usually it [the process] begins with conversations with the director to determine a musical concept and palette for the piece that sits suitably alongside the design of the show,” he said.
“On most productions I spend a fair bit of time early on in the rehearsal room to get a strong sense of the work, but with this piece [director] Catherine Fitzgerald and I agreed on an exciting musical concept almost immediately, so I jumped straight into writing.”
See The Give and Take on 29 October – 21 November 2010. For booking info visit the ShoGo The Give and Take page.
Feast Festival runs 13 – 28 November 2010. Visit the Feast Festival website for more information about the Feast program.
One half of Adelaide's very own burlesque duo, Peaches 'n' Gin, Luna Eclipse is no stranger to ShoGo Company Nexus Multicultural Arts' Cabaret stage.
As attention-grabbing as her namesake, Luna is fresh from competing at Miss Burlesque Australia, where the naughtiest female burlesque dancers of them all in the nation battled it out for various titles.
Luna was crowned “Miss Tassle Twirl” and said she came away with lots of great memories.
“It was just fantastic to meet so many amazing performers," she said.
“Everyone put so much thought and effort into their shows – I was blown away by the creativity shown!”
Peaches ‘n’ Gin were first featured on the Nexus Cabaret stage in April of this year and now regularly hold variety shows that blend burlesque, cabaret, vaudeville and comedy.
Their last Nexus show, Belles of Burlesque, was a sell-out smash.
Luna gave ShoGo an early Christmas present by giving us the scoop on her next Nexus show, Dear Santa.
Headlining the show are Luna and her Peaches ‘n’ Gin partner in crime, Sapphire Snow, as well as Cara Louise, Rohan Watts, and Joseph Buckett.
Rosy Rabbit, one of the organisers of Australian Burlesque Festival and an incredible performer from Melbourne, will make a special guest appearance, as will graduates of the Peaches ‘n’ Gin Burlesque Academy.
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2011 audiences will be able to get a taste of Peaches ‘n’ Gin, with Luna teasing that her show Burlesque Upon a Time will “take audiences on a fairytale journey”.
Luna's favourite burlesque experience on the Nexus stage so far has been the Peaches ‘n’ Gin Cabaret Fringe 2010 show, A Burlesque Cabaret.
“I performed my favourite act, ‘Lady Luck’ for the first time, and I pulled a very willing subject out of the audience,” she said.
“He even did a little striptease along with me! For me it just epitomises the great vibe our audience has and how they go along for the ride with us.”
Luna loves everything about the art of burlesque.
“I love the freedom to express myself in a huge array of ways. I love the history, and reading about the legends of burlesque and how they created the art form that is still on fire today.
“And I love the feeling on stage, when the audience holds its breath as you slowly peel a glove or lower a zip.
“There is something magic in it. I don’t care what some people think, striptease is pretty darn fabulous!”
Dear Santa will be held twice, on 10 & 12 December 2010, 7pm at Nexus Cabaret.
More information will be available soon on ShoGo and the Nexus Multicultural Arts website.
The Bakehouse Theatre continues its programme of Free Tickets for pensioners and unemployed offering free tickets to the Preview Night of The good doctor on Wednesday 27 October.If you have a Health Care Card or a Pension Card you are eligible for these free tickets. All you have to do is register on the Bakehouse website (if you are not registered already) and book your tickets by following the on-screen instructions and choosing "free tix for health care card holders" from the drop-down ticket menu.
The Bakehouse Theatre 255 Angas Street Adelaide, 5000
Five.point.one are holding a fundraising screening of Eat, pray, love, starring Julia Roberts, for their 2011 launch on Friday 29 October at The Capri Cinema.
Your support will ensure the award winning Five.point.one can continue to produce challenging, entertaining and inspiring theatre.
To reserve your tickets please contact Elleni Karagiannidis on 0431 042 438 or elleni_karas@hotmail.com All tickets $16 * includes 1 door raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase and prizes will be drawn on the night.
WHEN: Friday 29 October 2010, 6pm for a 6.30pm start
WHERE: The Capri Cinema (141 Goodwood Road, Goodwood)
State Theatre Company of SA is hosting a fundraiser/get well recovery party for Michaela Cantwell (affectionately known as Crackers).
There will be top-notch entertainment throughout the day featuring: Robyn Archer & Michael Morley, Patch Theatre Company, Emma Horwood, Australian Dance Theatre, Peter Michell & Simon Salangsang, Cam Goodall, The Flying Horses (Eileen Darley, Stuart Day, Jacqy Phillips and Cliff Stoddart), Patsy D’Cline,Terry Crawford, Southie (Tim Lucas & Emily Smart), Mondli Makhoba, Karaoke and DJ TR!P.
A BIG Auction will be held at 4pm, with stunning items such as original artwork, travel packages and much, much more on offer. Gourmet BBQ, pastries, Greek food, coffee and cake will be on sale.
This is a cross-theatre/arts industry, artist, audience, patron, and supporter event. Bring your family, generosity and heart. For more info, or if you would like to volunteer for the event, please ring Becky on 8415 5333.
Date: Sunday 7 November 2010
Time: 1pm to 6pm, Auction at 4pm
Where: STCSA workshop and Rehearsal Room One (enter through stage door)
RSVP: Please RSVP to rsvp@statetheatrecompany.com.au so catering can be organised
Cost: $20 or more ( - or much, much more)
DONATIONS WELCOME
If you can’t make it, STCSA would still appreciate donations via bank transfer. For bank detail information, please contact rsvp@statetheatrecompany.com
PUT 7 NOVEMBER IN YOUR DIARY NOW AND STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO COMING SOON...