REVIEW: Love and Money (The Dust Palace)
Money CAN buy love [by Sharu Delilkan]
Mike Edward and Eve Gordon in Love and Money
Be warned that the cast of Love and Money don’t only bear all physically, they bear their souls through this intimate emotional journey. This clever piece of theatre is slickly peppered with cirque-theatre that’s the hallmark of The Dust Palace.
Having seen Venus Is at Q Loft over a year ago, I was looking forward to seeing how The Dust Palace was going to use TAPAC’s theatre space. And in keeping with the company’s ability to make the audience feel part of the show, Love and Money definitely delivered. Having random furniture scattered around the room meant you never knew which quadrant the cast would appear in throughout the evening – something that really worked and helped to keep the show’s pace.
Love and Money is a slick selection of burlesque style circus performance with revealing stories about the beautiful, gritty lives of strippers. I particularly liked the range of scenes from a rock-like concert to the intimate bathroom dance.
REVIEW: The Bartered Bride (NBR NZ Opera)
Bartered then betrothed [by Sharu Delilkan]
Taryn Fiebig as Esmeralda, part of the circus troupe. Photo by Neil Mackenzie
The word ‘opera’ conjures images of elitism and grandeur among people who don't frequent the art form.
And if you identify with that majority, NBR NZ Opera's version of The Bartered Bride would be a great first opera to see.
It's easy to understand, simple storyline and of course it’s highly accessible because it’s in English. That doesn't mean that you won't occasionally end up glancing at the surtitles. However, it is a lot less taxing when you don't have to yoyo between the surtitles and the stage to get comprehensive understanding of what’s happening.
Bedřich Smetana's dream to establish a Czech national opera was realised with The Bartered Bride, his second opera. A comic look at Bohemian life, it's a tale of true love prevailing despite the best efforts of a scheming marriage broker, a couple of social-climbing parents and a dancing bear.
REVIEW: Venus Is… (The Dust Palace)
Q’s Loft loses its virginity [by Sharu Delilkan]
Venus Is... Eve Gordon.
Everyone is familiar with the Roman goddess Venus, that’s often associated with love, beauty and fertility.
So naturally I was bracing myself for an evening brimming with decadence, desire and debauchery.
And coupled with the excitement of Q’s new studio space The Loft’s first show Venus Is..., the evening promised a spicy piece of history in its making.
I was surprised by the nervous anticipation I felt when I arrived. “What could we expect?” I wondered, from the nationally renowned aerial theatre company The Dust Palace’s latest show Venus Is... But I soon realised I was not alone. The palpable excitement in the air, as everyone gathered in the lobby space outside The Loft, was akin to one witnessing an historic event.
Venus Is..., as billed, is a lecherous, steamy, athletic, naughty, poignant landscape of sex, lust, sadness, literature and song.