Theatre: D.I.Y. Disaster Movie

Blue Room Theatre and Longwood Productions

Featuring Damon Lockwood, Sam Longley and Aaron McCann

Blue Room Theatre

November 30 – December 11, 2010

There's Lava Coming Down the Hill, Mommy!

As the Moon, adrift from its orbit, plummets toward the helpless Earth, the discredited scientist Derwent Silverman and his nemesis Sheldon Monsanto are holed up in the magnetic crater. The bodies of Silverman's high school sweetheart Chardonnay, his old friend Brett Baguette, the ominous Colonel Ivan Nokabolokov, little Alice and the Mexican amigos Pablo and Lupé lie broken around them.

Only they, and the faithful mutt Rufus, can save the world, and then only if Silverman can hurl a block of parmesan cheese at the approaching satellite. He swings a giant kitchen spoon, the cheese crashes into the lunar surface and the gigantic threat is averted.

We are saved! Rufus barks happily.

Sadly, you’ll never see this story told again, but Sam Longley and Damon Lockwood, who concocted it, contend you’ve seen it all before – every time you watch that most mongrel of Hollywood genres, the disaster movie.

And they go about proving their point cleverly, first improvising a story based on a disaster movie theme selected by the spin of a chocolate wheel from 20 published in the program. Ours – you guessed it – was “Falling Moon”; not so lucky audiences might get “Dugong v Panda” or that hoary old staple “Thinking, Flying, Heat Resistant Hail”.

The story unfolds, with characters named by the audience and consistent with what Longley and Lockwood claim are the Seven Rules of a Disaster Movie, which range from “everything can be fixed with dodgy science” to “the dog never dies” (good boy, Rufus).

While this is happening, the third member of the crew, director of photography Aaron McCann, is filming the scenes and inserting cut-aways and close ups of action on improbable miniature sets. The purpose of all this activity becomes clear when we return after interval and watch the movie we’ve just seen made. It’s a clever and original touch, and ticks a lot of good comedic boxes without overstaying its welcome.

Both Longley and Lockwood are charismatic and engaging comedians very much in the Chaser mould, and the tiny Blue Room space is perfect for a show that’s not far removed from a party piece.

It is, after all, summer in Perth and this sort of neo-panto is well suited to nights when you’re probably more inclined to be thinking of the bar than the Bard.

I’m not for a minute suggesting that D.I.Y. Disaster Movie is either great art or even great comedy; like a lot of full-length improv, it’s too scratchy and adolescent for that. And I’m certainly not suggesting it’s going to change the world.

Unless, of course, Derwent Silverman’s piece of cheese misses the Moon!

An edited version of this review appeared in The West Australian 3.12.10    

From the Red Carpet: Perth Equity Guild Awards 2010

Wardle Room, Perth Concert Hall
Monday 29 November, 2010


Young, Gifted and Black Tie
FTT is honoured to have been asked to announce the winner of my favourite category, Best Actor (Female), at this year's Equity Guild Awards. Just the thought that for one, electric moment, Adriane Daff, Vivienne Garrett, Arielle Grey, Jo Morris, Melanie Munt and Samantha Murray will be oblivious to their dashing spouses, partners and escorts and, instead, be glued to my every word (probably six of them, starting with "And the winner is...") is almost too thrilling to contemplate. Only six more sleeps...
My friend and mentor (oh, okay, boss) at The West, Stephen Bevis, has already weighed in on the future of the awards here and I want to add only two words to his erudite spray on the matter. Black tie.
I've worn black tie off stage only once in my life, and that was to another well-known and glitzy award ceremony, in Hollywood (see pic). I've got to say I've never felt better (or, I suspect, looked better) in a set of clothes. After weighing up the pros and cons of hire or purchase, I bought the thing, confident that on our return to Perth it would soon be threadbare from overuse. 

Another bloke in black tie presenting the winner of 

the best actor (female) award at another ceremony 

in Hollywood. He looked pretty good, too. 

Imagine my horror when the awards' Caitlin Beresford-Ord told me that not only was it not a black tie event, but they often had trouble convincing male actors to even wear a necktie. 

For shame!
I say that for two reasons. First is that this event, done right, is not just a back-slapping exercise. As Steve said in his article, it should be a (much needed) way to promote the industry and its practitioners – and the theatre community, of all people, should understand you have to wear the costume to play the part. If we want the Perth Theatre Trust to open their precious new venue to this event next year, and we want sponsors like the impressive list Caitlin sent me* to continue to support it there, let's show them we want that support and deserve it.
The second reason was put to me forcibly by my No. 1 handbag, who said that she, and many of her female friends in the business, would love to throw on a big frock for the awards but struggle because the blokes all dress down so determinedly. I've seen enough rooms full of fabulously turned out women and crappily-dressed men to last a lifetime, and this needn't be one of them. I'm sure Samantha, Melanie, Jo, Arielle, Vivienne and Adriane will be dressed like the winners they all are, and the least I can do is throw on a monkey suit in return. Why don't you join me.


Postscript: The gongs have been run and won, and Mr Bevis gives you the lowdown on the winners and grinners here! 


*These events don't happen by themselves, and ticket income never meets the costs. Put your hands together for the Perth Theatre Trust, The City of Perth, The Equity Foundation, MEAA, RGM Artist Group, Frog Management, Onward Production, Memory Lane, Media at Work, Class Act Theatre, Michael McCall, Staging Connections, The West Australian, Post Newspapers and Creating Events for buying a round.

Theatre: House of Fun

Fish in a Vortex Productions

Created and directed by Nate Doherty

Featuring Fran Middleton, Mischa Ipp, Whitney Richards and Chris Isaacs

Blue Room Theatre

November 3 – 20, 2010

Welcome to the Lion's Den
Northbridge’s Blue Room Theatre has been mining a rich vein of domestic comedy/dramas lately with The Pride and Jack + Jill, and the motherlode continues with House of Fun, Nate Doherty’s sharp and entertaining story of shared living in Perth.

Three girls, the statuesque, promiscuous Angela (Mischa Ipp), the ambitious Facebook-addicted Gemma (Fran Middleton) and the sweet, naïve Winnie (Whitney Richards) share a house – although not everything in its fridge – with a volatile mixture of camaraderie and bitchiness.

Winnie has a new friend, the charismatic Quentin (Chris Isaacs), who makes a sudden arrival at the house and into their lives. Quentin is trouble, and the hassles he brings and causes drive the story forward.

The early scenes, with the girls staking their various claims on cheese and counter space, are nicely observed, tightly paced and often hilarious. The Blue Room “stage” is only the floor at one end of a room, but the performers’ execution of complex exits and entrances in this limited space is snappy and precise, adding greatly to the momentum of the piece’s dialogue and action.

Whitney Richards (pic: Poppy Penny)

Ipp, Middleton and Richards deliver totally convincing performances; as well as nailing their characters beautifully, their ensemble work is as tight as a water ballet and an entertainment in itself. It’s perhaps unfair to single any of them out, but Whitney Richards is just great as Winnie; she buries herself in sweetness and compels you to care for her character. When she finally realises that Quentin is not the man for her, and worse than that, you want him out of her life just as much as she does.

Isaacs’ performance is also strong, but in the end it’s the housemates you want to hang with, not the intruder.

The strength of the script is its observations on life for 20-somethings in cities like Perth; it’s drawn from stories collected as the project developed (a nascent version had an airing in The Blue Room’s Early Stages program) and they have the unmistakeable ring of truth about them. Far less convincing was the plot line of Quentin’s nefarious activities, and the production sags noticeably while it is being worked through. While it’s obviously necessary to have some dirty work happen to bring Quentin’s relationship with the girls to a head, I’m sure Doherty will find a better vehicle for it if House of Fun gets the further exposure I think it deserves.

An edited version of this review appeared in The West Australian on 17.11.10 read here