“Plenty of Fish” is impeccably acted, it is an absolute gem of a play that would be enjoyed by people of all ages and a must see in this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival.….
“Betty” is a Butcher has depth and a quality that makes it unique and an absolute must in this year’s festival
“Blacklisted” : Who am I? Am I my ethnicity or am I just where I was born regardless of my ethnicity? Where do I fit in? If you have such questions, and I encourage you to, you should see this beautiful piece.
Daniel Alejandro
4.5/5 Stars
Dear Reader, it is with pleasure that I present to you a review of three pieces of theatre that were conceived and created in Sydney, specifically for the 2023 Sydney Fringe Festival. I am always proud of Australian made content and even more so in the world Fringe theatre.
The Sydney Fringe Festival is a unique type of performing arts festival that typically features a wide range of unconventional, experimental, and often edgy performances. Since 1954 the Sydney Fringe festivals have been characterized by their open and inclusive nature, allowing emerging artists, independent theatre groups, and performers of various genres to showcase their work skills to a diverse and often adventurous audience. It takes place all throughout Sydney through the entire month of September each year.
The Opening night of “Made in Sydney” was held at Sydney’s premier and iconic PACT Theatre in Erskineville. Your correspondent studied in PACT for two years as part of a scholarship program on contemporary theatre making so being back there was a true treat.
Each of the three plays that opened that night will be reviewed in presentation order.
- Plenty of Fish
The image that most struck me and that I most remember from “Plenty of Fish” happens at the beginning when we see a nun pulling a bed behind her with great effort and conviction. The piece is set in the fishing village of Saint Cotriade in France and it is largely presented in French, which is refreshing and funny.
As the main character, a Kafkaesque character, and her assistant (Bernadette) start fishing we are surprised by them fishing a full-grown English-speaking man. The language difference and the interactions are hilarious and very physical as all furniture on the set is used as part of the story. The two ladies instruct the man on how to fish and join them in their unpredictable and intoxicating culture of making the famous Saint-Cotriade fish soup. This soup has special powers that let the cast into a physical, highly entertaining, and unique path of sexual expression and a mysterious sense of addiction to fishing.
“Is there ever enough fish?” is a question that hunted your correspondent as he understood the similarities between this fable and the online dating scene of our time. This piece is wonderful, absurd, mesmerizing, physical and somehow catholic & sexually liberating at the same time, however contradicting that may sound.
“Plenty of Fish” is impeccably acted, it is an absolute gem of a play that would be enjoyed by people of all ages and a must see in this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival. The piece was conceived and directed by Emily Ayoub & Madeline Baghurst through their company, Clockfire Theatre.
Rating: 4.5/5
- Betty is Butcher
Betty is Butcher is a black comedy that captures the fragility of relationships, the need for love and the power of family. It explores what defines us and asks what power we have to shape our destiny.
Five characters, five reasons to live, all to do with relationships to significant others. A collage of memory, these characters all convey how relationships affect us, how much time we spend looking for them, nurturing them, losing them, missing them and eventually reminisce over them.
We start the journey with an English woman from the late 18th century perfectly depicting her love life reminiscing over Betty. We are then the moved to a man juggling lovers in online dating, to a man talking to a professional about his relationship and others. The wonderfully diverse and profound solo actor Thomas Campbell, throws you into the depth of romantic love, strangely familiar moments of discomfort, into the deep grief of losing a person you love due to the relationship not working out and the all-too-familiar emotional consequences of early childhood trauma. The acting is moving and personal.
The direction of the piece was impeccable, the moments were the right length and everything mixed well even though the scenes and topics were very different.
Betty is a Butcher has depth and a quality that makes it unique and an absolute must in this year’s festival.
4.5/5
- Blacklisted
Backlisted is a musical story about migration and the intrinsic system of generalisation and discrimination experienced by people that come from countries that are deemed to be “Dangerous” or just simply poor.
This musical is autobiographical and beautifully performed by Almitra Mavalvala, the writer, producer, and the performer of the piece.
We start the piece by being immersed in a set that invites the audience to live an experience of all the good of Pakistani hosting, beautiful subcontinental music playing, sumptuous and opulent furniture and floor rugs and, of course, Chai tea!
Being an ethnically Persian woman and a Zoroastrian (the ancient pre- Islamic religion of Iran) Almitra is part of an ethnic minority in Pakistan, hence not fitting the traits, description and western racial profiling assigned to Pakistan’s majority Muslim population. Soon in the story we learn that Pakistan is not the place for a minority girl to achieve her dreams of artistic success and Almitra’s mother decides that she needs to seek, like most people in her social circle, a “better future” in the western world, with a preference for Canada (where her brother lives), the United States and Australia. Here is where the ordeal starts as our charismatic heroine applies for seemingly endless visas to Canada only to be rejected repeatedly. We understand that for some unknown reason, she has been blacklisted. From here we see and go through all the hope, frustration, and embarrassment that Almitra feels as she tries to get a visa to study abroad. Through this rejection she finds herself re-discovering her love for Pakistan as she ponders a life there. Eventually Almitra reaches Australia, where she studies and finally starts her artistic life. After years in Australia, she still has her Canadian visa applications rejected and she is still kept from meeting her brother’s children in Canada. She is still not an Australian resident as artistic careers do not meet our point system migration criteria. In only a few months our heroine’s visa will expire and then what?
This is a tale of identity, belonging and confronting international migration policies. Regardless of your political view on migration, you will feel connected to Almitra’s story. Music is gracefully played by a live band, the score being all original songs which derive inspiration from Queen, The Eagles, Hamilton, South Asian orchestral music, Blues and Jazz. Almitra’s voice is simply beautiful and full of emotion!
We appreciate that Almitra goes above and beyond to bring the often-forgotten good side of Pakistan to the surface, concentrating only on the good of her country. Nevertheless, Sydney Fringe Festival audiences need to know more detail of the type of life Almitra’s family were trying to save her from by sending her overseas. She points out that socially the country is not as free as before, but your correspondent was left wanting more details of how it is to grow up to be a female artist of an ethnic minority in Pakistan. If this is left unsaid most people will either not fully understand her story or, most likely, imagine a much harsher reality in Pakistan than perhaps what Almitra experienced. Hence reinforcing the stereotype that she is clearly and rightfully trying to dissolve.
Who am I? Am I my ethnicity or am I just where I was born regardless of my ethnicity? Where do I fit in? If you have such questions, and I encourage you to, you should see this beautiful piece.
To our actress, regardless of the rules of our migration system, Sydney loves you!
Rating: 4.5/5
Daniel Alejandro, Theatre Now
