Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed Friday 16th September 2011
http://www.ozasiafestival.com.au/Continent-by-CAVA.aspx?showid=78
Venue: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide
Season: Ended
Duration: 60min
This absurdist comedy is a blend of dance, choreographed movement, physical theatre and mime, inspired by the film by the Coen brothers, Barton Fink. A writer, assisted by his girlfriend and muse, is attempting to write a book and have it published. His workmates hamper, rather than help his efforts and the publisher barely glances at his manuscript because it is lacking something; an enclosed bribe.
As he tries to write he hits the occasional writer's block and his girlfriend tries to help point him forward. As he writes we see is characters come to life and, before he knows what is happening, he becomes involved with them, as reality and fantasy blend into one.
His characters engage in a game of Russian roulette, each try to cheat without the others noticing and, in a passing nod to The Matrix, there is slow motion bullet dodging. Two performers suddenly become a bicycle, each suffering a puncture, which he tries to re-inflate. The cleaners play golf with his discarded balls of screwed up paper. All of these segments run seamlessly together, keeping the audience laughing at the antics of these excellent performers.
Written, directed and performed by Kazuaki Maruyama, with fellow performers Yukiko Tanaka, Takaaki Kuroda, Hiroyuki Fujishrio and Thin Hosomi, the production is packed with energy, excitement and imagination. The set is simple but colourful and effective, and their costumes are equally bright and contrasting. Yuko Kosikawa's lighting and Eriko Yoshioka's eclectic mix of music, from Latin to Klezmer, assists that feeling of strangeness created by mixing the real and the surreal.
This was a fun, family friendly night that was over all too quickly, and definitely proved a big winner with everybody from the youngest to the oldest in the audience alike.
Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Arts Editor, Glam Adelaide.
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